Few Birds

 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 hill, into a concealed opening. The old road is muddy and twig strewn, only used by tractors and the occasional dog walker. The hedgerows are untrimmed, the verges  as wild as is possible. The farmer also leaves wild flower margins on his fields. An apparent haven for wildlife. Yesterday, we saw two species of Butterfly, Small White and a Skipper sp - and no birds at all. Even the Whitethroat was quiet. A small group of three attached cottages is a haven for House Martins and a single pair of Swallows. The Martins were zooming around. We have a party of about 20+ chittering above our homes in Ridlington at the moment. A pleasure to see. Second broods well on their way.

A section of Norfolk arable and wildlife friendly summer countryside.


 

The best thing about low tide at Snettisham ( isn't it always for us), is the lack of other birders. Pam investigated the flower rich entry path, finding very little wildlife, whilst I scanned the mud. Halfway out to the horizon a huddled line of white turned out to be a mixture of gulls and terns. Black-headed and a dozen Mediterranean Gulls, Punky Sandwich Terns and a few diminutive Little Terns, the latter a Norfolk year tick. The increasingly winter-white foreheads  of the Sandwich makes them look punkier that ever.

The distant shoreline was a later Turner-esque blur of colour and shapes, this one moving with the birds and zephyr.I loved it. 

Even better. As we stopped at the exit gate so that Pam could open it, I heard the purring of a Turtle Dove coming from a nearby bush in the grounds of a Chalet.  Pam then saw it fly across the pit, landing in a tree top on the far side. I photograpehed it........it's my photo of the year so far - not.

 

The Holme Road is no longer a dread. Unfortunately seven of those narrow, pre-formed, black and yellow, speed bumps have been installed along the metalled road. Still a comparative pleasure. Having lunched in the NOA car park, we met a Hobby flying along the dunes, and then, Pam heard a Grasshopper Warbler reeling from the dune bushes. 

So, not many birds, but a very enjoyable selection of those missed so far, or not seen well in Norfolk. We were happy that full moth traps did not wait for us at home.

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