Lounging Around

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When I’m setting up new tours I like to do a reci! A good look around the area’s we’ll be visiting pays dividends rather than ‘going in cold’.

When doing a visit to the south coast last month for just such a future tour (details to be issued on www.wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk soon) we stumbled across a few Wall Lizards. The origin of these reptiles is uncertain, they may have been released from captivity or they may be a relict population. I guess we will never know for sure but they are certainly breeding and have established a viable population that has been there for a good number of years. Whatever their source they are smart looking!

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Spot on

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I was beginning to get that jaundice feeling on Monday. Too many hours on the laptop. I needed to get out and take a few pictures. I made Tuesday an official day to myself.

Titchwell looked good; it had a Spotted Crake and a Long tailed Skua around. I had another call to make on the way and arrived during the warm afternoon.

The Crake had not been seen all day and the Skua had disappeared early morning … typical.

There were folks in the hide that had been there for hours that were giving up on the ghost of the crake. I was a little disappointed for them as no sooner had they left than the Crake ran out from the reedbed and did all but a song and dance act out in the open; in fact everything a crepuscular Crake is not supposed to do. I took some rather distant shots as it came and went a few times and then moved on.

There were other things around; some nice Wood Sands and an absolute cutlery drawer full of Spoonbills but I decided to walk to Thornham Point. Mainly because I hadn’t been there for years and secondly that’s where the Skua was last seen.

I met and talked with a few others but all that was seen were a few distant Arctic Skuas and a bevy of shorebirds. It was a long way carrying a tripod and heavy lens but I so enjoyed the walk.

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Any twitchers here? – I don’t think so!

 

Spoonprints

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A good number of Spoonbills started to gather at Cley last month. Evenings seemed to be best to see them. As I sat in the hide photographing them I began to notice the intricate patterning on the bills of the adults and wondered if they are unique to that individual. In other words can we identify individuals by their bill pattern? A bit like fingerprints. A nice spot of study for someone?

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Narthecium ossifragum

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Narthecium ossifragum means ‘Brittle boned’. It’s the Latin name of Bog Asphadel a plant of our boggy areas with subtly beautiful yellow flowers. The name came from the belief that the plant made the bones of grazing sheep weak. As always there’s some truth in these old fables. The sheep would be grazing grass on wet acid soils where the Asphadel grows. The acid soil would have yielded grass with low calcium content that would ultimately have had an impact on the calcium in their bones.

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A Warm Summers Evening

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In the warm light of the summer evening on Wednesday we watched a Buddleia bush come alive with butterflies. White and Red Admirals, Brimstones, Peacocks, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers as well as the odd Grayling.

I thought the stars of the show were the Silver Washed Fritillaries; three on one flower was good. That was until a couple of White Letter Hairstreaks came down from the treetops to feed. 

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Laden

We saw this Bee species the other day. It was so laden with pollen it could hardly fly.

Eye Eye

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It never ceases to amaze me what flies around in the darkness of the night. A beautiful Eyed Hawk Moth in the moth trap the other day. Exquisitely beautiful.

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Brilliant just brilliant

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Identified from Downy Emeralds by their yellow frons (nose) we saw several Brilliant Emeralds hawking around a small secluded stream in a deep heathland valley the other week. Anyone who has tried to photograph any one of the Emerald Dragons will know how secretive and elusive they can be; often only perching high within trees. We were just lucky I suppose but towards the end of the day one individual at least was more than obliging.

Several Keeled Skimmers were also in the area as was a nice Emperor, several Four Spot Chasers, Large Red and Azure Damselflies.

I have to thank my friend Dawn for giving directions to the stream where the Brilliant Emeralds were patrolling.

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A start on the heath

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It’s like being in a crowded room with everyone talking and amid the cacophony of noise you hear your own name. You pick it out as if it’s the only thing being said. It stands out from the background like a black silhouette on white,

I have been walking the heaths and searching this summer; searching diligently but to no avail, for a daytime roosting Nightjar. I’ve never seen one during daylight other than in flight. Great care has to be exercised not to wander from paths – the last thing in the world we want to do is disturb breeding nightjars or indeed other breeding birds.

I look at every likely log, post and branch I pass to see if that familiar shape leaps out at me. I thought I’d found one the other day as the form of a bird materialised on the end of a log. It took me an instant to recognise it was in fact a young fledgling Redstart. I stepped back to a reasonable distance to see if the parents came into feed as it was obviously quite young. In fact it started to hop about and find food itself. It appeared to be already independent.

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Out of context

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The identification of a species starts with the habitat it’s in. By itself it is not conclusive… but it’s an indicator. You wouldn’t expect to see a Blue Tit out at sea or a Manx Shearwater sat in a tree. Occasionally, very occasionally tho’ it happens that you need to ignore that first part of the identification process.

It took me a second or two to put a name to this chap making his way through a woodland canopy. You would normally expect a Reed Warbler to be swinging his way through the stems of a Phragmites bed not picking insects from leaves at the top of a Sycamore. So why was he there? I guess the need to feed a family and the draw of an easy meal put him where the food was.

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