Sunshine in the Murk

 Sunday November 27

Again, domestic failures inhibited our plans for the day. The shower again. This time, Pam used it for the first time and more water came out of the hose than came out of the shower head. That so called electrician has a lot to answer for. Steve had contacted his usual plumber but he was busy with his family and the electrician had assured him that he was able to fit showers. The plumber's youngest daughter has five chambers in her heart, two Aortas and two Carotid arteries in her neck. She's only three and is on her latest stay at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Hers is the only known case in the world. Steve came round this morning to fix the shower leak.

It took him the duration of a long phone call from Sara and a jigsaw completion by me, to fix it. In the murk and gloom of a typical November day, we drove west as far as Brancaster Staithe.A trickle of water in the channel. most of the boats taken out of the water for winter storage, very few birds on view. We enjoyed a coffee and late lunch whilst watching Brent geese gargling their flight across to the marsh, Turnstones turning over every stone they encountered, one Little Egret using a boat as shelter, a Rock Pipit and a Pied Wagtail using the same boat on which to perch. The Wagtail was not happy with this, constantly chasing the Pipit off.

I had hoped for a view of the White-tailed Eagle at Holkham. I was not surprised, but still disappointed, to find that the viewing gateway was already filled by two cars.  The bird was on view too, per BirdGuides, perched in Decoy Wood. We tried the now tarmacked gateway we used to use but the tarmac had lessened the space and Pam was not happy that we were not fully off a busy road.

News had come through of Waxwings in Sheringham. Not familiar with Common Road, we set the google maps satnav, which is much more small place accurate than the car's Garmin. A right turn off Holway road took us through a surprisingly extensive housing estate. A few birders gazing upwards brought us to a halt. The Waxwings were perching at the very top of an extremely tall tree, a few making flycatching short flights, others flying away and then returning. There were seven in all. The light was appalling, the air held the promise of rain, which was never far away all day. I took a few photos from the car window, mere silhouettes before some very heavy editing.





 

The day was dark, low grey clouds, showers, the lovely Autumn gold and yellow leaves lying everywhere now a soggy reminder of their past glory. Waxwings are always a ray of sunshine. Such charismatic birds, loved by all.

Apparently, when the birds flew away, they were feeding on berries at the edge of Beeston Common. That must have been where the handful of birders present, including Richard the Hat and David B went, when the birds last flew away. We tried to catch their attention as they walked past but they were too busy chatting.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 12

Image
 Monday May 6 Most of the morning was occupied getting in touch with the car insurance people and then Autoglass - then waiting for Autoglass to get back to us.  A  stone chipped our windscreen on the way through Skye, since then its become a one foot plus horizontal crack on Pam's side. End result. We take the car to Lewis or Skye or wait until we get home. The garage here 'doesn't have the equipment to deal with the sensor in the front screen'. Ian, Heather's husband, says he does them all the time! Ah well, live with it.  Almost the first bird we saw as we drove north was a lovely male Hen Harrier. It was distant but I had to try, one of these days I'll get a decent photo. Original photo before editing, taken with 500mm lens    Edited     As we drove down to Loch Paible, a flock of fifteen Whimbrel dropped in to the near corner.We needed to turn the car, by which time the birds had gone, this Wheatear posed nicely for me.    A short d...
Read more

Moth Migration

Image
 Wednesday October 9 Like birds, moths migrate when the season and weather conditions are right. Recently, we have had easterly winds with a mouth watering fall of birds which we have been unable to walk and see. Many Yellow-browed Warblers, Eastern Crowned Warbler in Shetland, a possible Amur Stonechat and an Asian Desert Warbler in Norfolk. Our moth traps have had a reasonable sprinkling of the migrant moths - although some could be breeding here by now. Palpita Vitrialis Scarce Bordered Straw Delicate   and Rusty Dot Pearl
Read more

Day 19

Image
  Monday May 13   The day started slowly and ended at a gallop. A morning spent doing chores meant an even later start than usual, well past mid-day. Loch Druidibeg was the intended destination but we missed the turning and ended up at Loch Eynort. Both are in South Uist, but Druidibeg is not signposted on the northern approach. We even found a parking space in the small six car parking area, where we sat looking at a pretty empty sea. Eventually, Red-breasted Merganser, Shags, a Great Northern Diver and an Otter on the sea and Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Cuckoo, and a Lesser Redpoll from the small wood alongside. AS we reversed away, Pam noticed the reg plate on the car beside us. It was WOC, Ian and Sue's car. We left them a note and drove on in the rain. We found Druidibeg this time. RSPB Scotland Loch Druidibeg, a community nature reserve formed in partnership with local crofters and the community estate. It is a Special Protection Area and Site...
Read more