Snettisham Highish Tide

 Saturday September 3

Which weekend day would be the better? We chose Saturday as it is the traditional go home day for holiday traffic in North Norfolk, it should be going in the same direction as us. Dodgy logic, but it turned out to be accurate. Indeed, there was very little traffic compared with the last few months. 

Even fewer birds seen en route, we'd only scraped into double figures when we arrived at the chalet park. The coast has a sprinkling of migrants, unavailable for us, where have our resident birds gone. 

Opening the entry gate has a reward at this time of year. Blackberries. I managed to snatch a few, very sweet after all the sun. Pam picked me a handful on the way out - plenty left for the birds.

We arrived at Snettisham reserve pits an hour and a quarter before a 5.9 metre high tide. At this height, it does not cover the whole of the wash. leaving enough room for the thousands of birds to remain on the distant, low vegetated, shore and mud banks. As always, the near mud is occupied by dozens of Ringed Plovers, many first year birds amongst them, plus a few Dunlin and Sanderling. Then, the march of Oystercatchers and Black-tailed Godwits, smaller numbers of Redshank, a few Curlew, one Grey Plover, a Turnstone amongst them. The Knot, in the main, congregate on the actual shoreline, rising like wayward smoke on the encroaching tide.


 

Careful scoping brought us views of a second Little Stint for the year, and the first Spotted Redshank and Curlew Sandpipers. I saw at least four of the latter, isolating their position for photography was well dodgy. Especially as they were very mobile. I did manage one - very greatly magnified.

 


The main pit was full of Greylag and Cormorants, no waders on the islands today. Five Spoonbills were scattered through the Greylag at the far end, not feeding, but not sleeping either.

As high tide approached, Terns flew in, a few Sandwich Terns still carrying food for their young. Both Common and Little Terns joined the throng. This photo is marred by the shadow of a blackberry bush twig but shows the white mass of Sanderling on the right, with the equally white, terns on the left.


 

We shared this magnificent spectacle with very few others, half a dozen birders and a dozen dog walkers and their families. Sitting watching the birding activities in warm Autumn sunshine, no sound apart from the natural, is soul satisfying. Absolutely blissful, and well worth the journey. 

Moths 

Yesterday, we trapped an unknown micro. I couldn't find out what it was and ObsId.  came up with something that was wrong. My usual guru is away this weekend, I sent a photo to Andy, who is also a micro enthusiast. I hate bothering others and try to do so as infrequently as possible. Opening my emails when I got home, I found a reply from Andy. It's a Musotima Nitidalis. Golden-brown Fern Moth. Its a very recent immigrant from New Zealand/Australia, thought to have been imported on ferns. Garden Centres have much to answer for. Our first was about two or three years ago, one caught by Sue and Ian - dead by the time we saw it.  We then caught one ourselves so I should have known what it was. It's still not in the Sterling et al Micro book, but does appear in the more recent edition of the Manley photographic guide. About 5mm in body length, it's small and pretty.

Ian and Sue's record may have pre-dated the one shown below, they may not have recorded it on the site.

New for Norfolk in May 2020 when an adult moth was netted at Horsford woods (A. Starace, 23/05/2020) Further specimens trapped in a nearby garden at Horsford (M. McCarthy, 21/10/2020) and three at Hevingham Park (A. Brown and S. Lane, 02/11/2020) Last but not least a November record at Hindolveston (M. Nash, 07/11/2020)

Norfolk Moths  website

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