Anne's Journal

  Saturday July 30 It's all happening. Yesterday, Steve and his assistant removed our stair hand rail, installed a 'pig's ear' variety on the opposite side, removed some shelves and created a lot of noise. In the middle of this, the electrician arrived to instal a socket at the bottom of the stairs. All three men, two of them six footers, working in the same confined area. There was a lot of laughter.  To-day, Steve came back to do some of the wall repair necessary, promising to decorate the hall stairs and landing before the stair lift installation on the 11th of August. His idea, not ours. We'd assumed that it wouldn't be done until later. Steve has always looked after us well. No job that we ask him to do is too small. This morning, Pam found a small dragonfly indoors, under the sun lounge widow. We believe it to be a female Common Darte r.   Moth-ing has quietened considerably at home. We had our second ever Box Tree Moth , the first was last year. A moth wh...

 Wednesday July 27 Plans for a whole day's birding were aborted by both of us sleeping late, it was 8.30 a.m. when I woke, having had a lengthy awakeness in the night. I had planned on a trip to Titchwell in search of a few year ticks, I'm not confident that my knees would allow that much walking at the moment. Instead, we went to Swanton Novers Raptor Watchpoint where we spent a very entertaining couple of hours.   The birds were good. We saw singles of: Honey Buzzard, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Goshawk, and Kestrel. Linnets flitted the hedge, no other passerines. a few Large White were the only butterflies.  We parked between two other vehicles, well apart from one another. The group of birders to our right kept us entertained throughout. Almost as soon as we stopped, a very pleasant man who resembled CatWeasel, pointed out to us the tracks of a mole appearing to our right. We could see the disturbed soil with occasional slight movement. Another larger man wearing a sma...

 Sunday July 24 It's all about moths at the moment. Whn will we go birding again? The young Green Woodpeckers continue to use our garden to feed. There must be hordes of ants for them. I'll never get tired of watching that long tongue flick out to gather the insects. It's such a goony looking bird too. The youngters have  grey streaks in their green plumage. All is quiet in our House Martin nests. We know that the first brood has flown, is there another on the way? One of the Trimingham Bee-eater pairs has two hatched chicks - a conjecture by staff. We intended visiting again when young were being fed, with a better chance of getting views. It's been so hot than we have stayed indoors - still. Added to this, the RSPB have taken the webcam down to be used elewhere, until Tuesday. Although it wasn't giving riveting results, one viewer said that all they'd seen was weeds waving in the breeze, at least there was a chance. Surely the wealthy RSPB could have afforded ...

Friday July 22  The extreme temperatures brought about by the southerly air flow dubbed the Spanish Plume by meteorologists - when did the weather forecast get so lyrical - all over, thank goodness. Tuesday was the worst day. The UK record was broken on Monday, surpassed on Tuesday - when we were at Natural Surroundings opening moth traps.  The traps were heaving with moths and other insects. Every time the top was lifted slightly to enable a tray to be removed for inspection, many escaped.The final count was  586 moths of 115 species. I wonder how many escaped? The bottom of the traps was littered with beetles, lace-wings, flies, wasps, caddis flies etc. Richard and I were kept busy, he doing the difficult job of calling the names, me doing the recording. I had a printed list, and added another A4 sheet of 'write-ins'. We were able to stay in the shade for most of the time, it was still very hot. We had to leave without refreshment as we had booked a Stannah stairlift ap...

Sunday July 17  The first bird I saw when drawing the bathroom curtains, was a young Green Woodpecker, bounding its way across the lawn to mine the poolside flagstones for breakfast.  We had two youngsters flying about yesterday, making a very unusual noise. One I'd not heard before  - and we have young Greens every year. No camera upstairs (note to self), it soon flew away. I had every intention of doing some weeding and renovation of at least one of my alpine sinks. The original Gentian round sink seems to become full of grass. They will flower soon and I want to make them look good before then. The heat, 82F, 28C, put a stop to that plan. Emptying the two moth traps came first, the moths rather flighty despite being moved into the shade and ice blocked soon after first light. It means that, however careful I am, we lose some every day. One always thinks that there was something really good amongst them. Best this morning was a Tansy Plume.   Described by Norfolk M...

 Wedneday July 13 Taking advantage of an appointment free day, and a slightly  lower temperature, we went birding. It was after 9 a.m. when we left home, having decided to open the moth traps first, a lengthy business at this time of year - but a real chore after a day out. Let alone the problem of keeping the moths cool during the day. Ice blocks on the lids then a layer of towels usually does the job, but in this heat, everywhere indoors gets too hot.  The best moth this morning was a Coronet, a moth we do not trap every year.   Another lure went out on Monday, and we trapped another clearwing new for the garden, a Six-belted Clearwing, our fourth species.   Our birding day did not start well. Apart from a harrassed and worn male Blackbird gleaning dead moths from our patio, our first bird was a Collared Dove in North Walsham.  A favourite area is an old part of the main road, needing a considered dive right off the A148, across double yellow lines on a h...

Sunday July 10   June and July is when birders become more involved with Dragonflies and Butterflies, spring migration is over, Autumn's yet to begin. Except that non breeding and unsuccessful waders begin their journey back south. A few Wood Sandpipers and Spotted Redshanks in Norfolk heralds the arrival. Snettisham has a White-rumped Sandpiper, Cley a Night Heron seen flying into and out of Nortjh Foreland Wood at dusk. The latter also holds Spoonbills and Great White Egret as well as the established Grey Heronry. We have been trying out more pheromone lures in the garden for my favourite Clearwings. One Lunar Hornet Clearwing, a monster, looking just like a wasp.   Two Yellow-legged Clearwings   Yesterday, there was a BC organised Cley moth-ing session. Ten members of our moth group were joined by about ten others.Ian Robinson, BC moth officer ran the event, with a fair amount of tactful help from Greg - who is much more familiar with the moths found here. He hadn't go...

Monday July 4  Butterfly Conservation‘s Catfield Fen and the RSPB’s Sutton Fen nature reserves in Norfolk are nationally recognised for their special wildlife. Sutton Fen is closed to the public. The RSPB says Sutton Fen is one of the least visited places in Britain. It may be just 150 miles from London, but it's possible that only about 50 people have visited it in the last 100 years - fewer than reach the summit of Everest most years or have been into space. Ian Robinson, newly elected Moth Officer for the Norfolk branch of Butterfly Conservation, is also RSPB officer in charge of Sutton Fen. "The only reason it has remained like this and was never drained is because it used to be one of the two great centres of Norfolk sedge, which is used to make the ridges of thatched roofs," said Ian Robinson. When the chance came for a moth trap opening plus a walk ar ound the reserve, organised by Mr Robinson on behalf of Butterfly Conservation members, I quickly put our ...

 Saturday July 2 We started at 8 a.m. and were home by 4 p.m, very tired , but happy. A day of not many species seen. yet with many enjoyable cameos. Valley Farm Lane had an idling Red Kite overhead, a seemingly unaware family of two Red-legged Partridge chicks and their parents on the verge. The small young were huddled underneath the female, watchful male nearby. Suddenly, they all legged it, the adults legs moving so fast that they looked like Sanderlings on speed.  Abbey Farm's Little Owl put in an appearnce for once  It was very difficult to see, the same colouration as the bark on the base of the fallen Oak tree which is its nesting place.   Snettisham was notable for the lack of water and birds in the Wash. Non breeding waders gradually build up in July, not here yet. An Oystercatcher sat tight on her eggs within a few metres of the car in the steep sided entry road after the gate. I could just about manage to fit her in using my long lens on minimum zoom. The...

Friday July 1  Mainly due to so many medical appointments, lethargy, and lack of impetus, we haven't done any real birding for some time. 'Real' birding ? Sitting outside yesterday afternoon, going through the moth traps : A Song Thrush sang from a afew gardens away At least a dozen juvenile Blue Tits swarmed the feeders, until bullied off by the heftier Goldfinches. Our temporary resident, Garden Warbler, sang from John's Birch tree, his favoured singing post. Two juvenile Great Spotted Woodpeckers fed on the sunflower hearts, a Green Woodpecker yaffled as it flew away from our vegetable garden area. Opening the bathroom window at near dawn this morning, I startled the nine Jackdaws, noisily probing the back lawn, a single bird was on the sun lounge roof below me, appearing to peel away some panel adhesive.   So, what I meant was leaving the house with the intention of doing some birding in a known birding area. I suppose. A nonsense. I never stop birding, wherever I a...