Darting about in the bushes

We went to see the somewhat elusive Dartford Warbler occupying the dune bushes at Holkham last week; and had more success than some others!

Camouflaged

Some large flocks of Snow Buntings along the Norfolk Coast at the moment. These birds were within one of two flocks we saw on a coastal tour last week. Superbly camouflaged against the shingle they are just the pinnacle of evolutionary design; hardly perceptible until they moved.

 

Winter Visitors

There are a few Shorelark wintering along the Norfolk coast this year. Some in a variable numbered flock others as scattered individuals.

It was Sparrow with his Bow and Arrow

A valentine’s day bow and arrow from this Tree Sparrow.

Strange how this species seems to be doing better (ie: more common and more widespread) in Victoria, Australia as an introduction, than it is here in Norfolk. This individual was among what I would term as a ‘relict’ population at Welney WWT.

It’s all in a name

When you look at bird names from around the world most of the time you can half guess what the bird is going to look like. Anything with ‘Lesser’ in front of it is going to be small or smaller. Anything with ‘Greater’ is going to be somewhat bigger. Then there’s specific stuff like Rough legged Buzzard has feathered legs, White faced Heron is basically a heron with a white face. Shoveller has a bill like a shovel. More often than not it says what it is on the tin! Well … you get the drift.

I came across a duck in Australia. It looked like something that a kid had drawn or maybe an trainee Victorian taxidermist had put together. It has a massive bill about a quarter of the body length, an eye ring that looks as if it’s just exited specsavers, an eye patch worthy of a panda as well as a stripy body that wouldn’t look out of place in a herd of zebra. So you would think naming it would be easy. Naaa! The Pink eared Duck is named after the smallest amount of pink feathering on the head. Bizarre.

Long legged lady

Not what you expect to see out on the marshes. A long legged girl named Beatrice.

She was beautiful. Bedecked with jewelry she it was obvious she came from the cider capitol; Somerset. Before you get the wrong idea she was born in 2011 and she’s a Crane. All part of the ‘Great Crane Project’ You can read all about her here  http://www.thegreatcraneproject.org.uk/cranes/meet-the-cranes-2011/beatrice