Sunlit Days

 

Sunday November 26

Recently, I read an article which started with, ' Make the most of sunlit days' , with the thoughts of November and short winter days to come. Sunday was dark, grey overcast, very cold - 1C when we set off - with little wind. Thank goodness for the latter. A someone turn the lights on day. Birding always lightens my spirits, never mind the weather. 

The back lane to Abbey farm is often productive. The drawback is that it is a long single track lane with no lay-bys. This year, the first section of meadow, beloved of Curlew, Stock Doves and Partridges, also has a triangle of seed crop. It looks like a mixture of Quinoa and sunflowers to us with other stuff we can't name. 

A flock of at least a hundred finches were using the hedgerow to perch before flying down to feed. There was a constant to-ing and fro-ing of birds. Not still in the trees for long and then, landing down in the seed crop, was a bit of an ID nightmare. All we could identify with certainty were Yellowhammers, the males' gleaming yellow heads obvious. Busy looking at them, a car crept up behind us, we had to move on. Another flock, nearer to the farm, had Redwing to enjoy. As became more obvious as the day went on, there has been an influx of Thrushes and Starlings during the past week. Dark-beaked Blackbirds flying madly down the hedges, skittering restlessly about. Not many Fieldfare. Another small finch flock had at least one Brambling amongst them. It's always good to see Grey Partridge.

The end reserve pit at Snettisham was full of water and birds. Mainly Greylag as usual, at least six Little Grebe, a dozen Goldeneye, and our first Tufted Ducks here for a few months. The miles of mud at low tide contained fewer birds than we ever remember seeing here in the winter months. Even the Shelduck's numbers had dwindled. Careful scoping found the lone male Pintail asleep amongst the Mallard. My 500mm lens produced this photo.

For me, the mud and creeks are an art form in themselves. This is an extreme crop of the Pintail.

A car pulled out as we approached, freeing a parking spot on Hunstanton cliffs. Two Fulmars were using the updraft along the cliff edge to sail back and forth, occasionally appearing above the bushes. The enormous flock of Scoter was still present. Again, I spent a while looking for a Velvet amongst them, no luck.

As th light faded even more, we pulled into Brancaster Staithe. I cannot remember ever being the only car there before. Two more soon joined us. It meant that we could drive about for the best angles to look at all the nooks and crannies. A few Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwits and Great Ringed Plovers busily probed the glutinous mud.

Dunlin

Face-off. Dunlin and Ringed Plover

Ringed Plover
Bar-tailed Godwit

Bar-tailed Godwit with food - the only reason for including this photo.

Dragging ourselves away, adding Marsh Harrier and Red Kites at Holkham, we had a quick look at North Point Pools in the gathering gloom. A lot of water, Lapwing and Wigeon, very little else.

Time to drive home, probably arriving in time for the Everton/Man United match.

We did - and we won 0-3, a good away win against a team docked about 10 points for some financial mis -doing or other. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Man City have also fallen foul of the same misdemeanour. Nothing has happened to them.......... come on FIFA.


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