As we sat under a hawthorn this week a bird moved up the far side of the bush sat atop and sang his heart out. A repeated ‘A little bit of bread and no cheeeeeeze” was the signature tune of this Yellow Bunting.
This is a farmland species that is not as common as it once was, but still has a reasonable representation in Norfolk.
We’ve talked before on Letter from Norfolk about the complex family of the flava Wagtails. There are several subspecies and many intergrades. One such subspecies is the Blue headed Wagtail – always nice to see.
As Andy and I stood chewing the cud aside the local cattle paddock this week we heard a couple of Yellow Wagtails call as they flew over us. Before they landed among the cows I heard a half mumbled prayer offered up to the birding God by Andy … “be a blue headed, be a blue headed”. Sadly the prayer went unheard but Yellow Wags are still great birds.
Sat in the dunes was a canny little girl waiting in the sunshine for the first migrants.
Weak with travel migrants make easy targets for Kestrels. This one was eying up a pair of Blackcaps when I took this shot.
Some people are reporting the video in the last post isn’t working properly. If you find the same problem try the following link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhojkHMyaJg
Many thanks
Carl
I know people love Badgers. I get requests all the time to take people to watch them. I also know those same people want farmers and landowners to have a trouble free existence. Please put aside a moment to watch and listen to this video. Thank you.
A little warm weather brings out one or two cold blooded beasties.
We saw this little charmer a couple of weeks ago on a bright morning
. Adders appear elusive but can be surprisingly common in some areas.
After the very windy day on Thursday it was odd’s on to nothing we would have a few new birds on the patch today now that it’s settled down a little.
There’s a small patch of reeds around 500m from the back door of Falcon Cottage. The area is no more than the size of a large living room but there’s been talk of it attracting Bitterns, Bluethroats, Crakes and all manner of mouth-watering birds. I thought I would check the area out early this morning.
Even before I got there I could hear we had a couple of new visitors. The ‘metallic pinging’ coming from ahead of me denoted a couple of Bearded Tits had dropped in to the reedbed. They are not common in this part of Norfolk. Almost immediately they rose upward and flew off west. As I strained to see there bouncing little forms disappear into the distance I heard two more beside me; there had been four! All males.
I managed to get a few others on the remaining birds and a few photographs before these too irrupted skyward and moved on.
In the past I’ve alluded to the fact that some birds we encounter in the UK are not officially recognised as having a sustainable breeding population. They’re not on the British list; they escape or are introduced and just die out.
One hanger on is the Reeve’s Pheasant. Around Breckland in South Norfolk there are small pockets of breeding birds. I was told of one such population I didn’t know of (thanks Mick) around two to three miles from one I did know. Whether these ’new’ birds are the result of an increasing spreading population or are recently introduced birds I do not know. One thing is for sure, they are beautiful creatures and may one day be officially recognised as a British bird despite their Asian origins.
Those of you that live in the UK, are of a certain age and in the ‘know’ will understand the above title.
Fish aren’t often the subject of a posting on Letter from Norfolk. A beast we saw the other day however demanded a slot. An Otter length Pike was being fished from the river by its captor. Taken away into a dark place to eat in private this was no doubt a hearty meal.
As usual click to enlarge.
Today it was spring. Blue skies, a warm southerly wind at last and birds arrived … in their hundreds. Chaffinches piled past us on the clifftop, splattered with Bramblings and Siskins; even a Blue Tit or two couldn’t resist the urge to migrate. A couple of Black Redstarts on the hill and another at Falcon Cottage heralded the start of a movement that was long overdue. Redwings, Fieldfares, Blackbirds and Meadow Pipits flocked over the fields and flew west. Snipe gathered around the local water before bursting upward and Chiffchaff could be heard in the woods to the north of us. Tens of Buzzards poured past, sometimes in company of others sometimes alone, sometimes west, sometimes off the sea. I counted 24 Sparrowhawks through this morning; an unprecedented movement. A single Red Kite then three more flexed and circled their way west. It appears the sun on their backs gave everything the urge to rush … to breed. Magnificent birds, magnificent day.
Letter From Norfolk 