Green Hairstreaks look to be having a good first hatch this year. I wonder if the cooler spring suits them? We watched a pair ‘dancing’ around a crab apple tree earlier this month. This one repeatedly settled to rest in a small sheltered spot to be warmed in the sunshine.
A good day trip into Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire this last weekend. Good weather, good company and good Butterflies … plus a few Orchids thrown in. Thanks to Tony for the subsequent identification of the Duke of Burgundy aberration.
Dingy Skipper
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy form Leucodes
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Greater Butterfly Orchid
Grizzled Skipper
Small Blue
Twyblade
Greater Butterfly Orchid
No wonder Bitterns died out; just look at the drumsticks on that!
Our largest land mammal in the UK is the Red Deer. It’s quite a formidable beast that needs to be treated with some respect. Until you are next to one its size is easily under appreciated. They are large. As we finished a tour the other week and were making our way back to the car we came across this individual. She seemed unphased by us but we didn’t get too close. Giving these animals their own space is always advisable.
The crest of the coastal ridge around Titchwell is a regular spot to see Doterel at this time of the year. Birds drop in with some regularity to feed before moving on their way up the Pennines and into Cumbria, Scotland or beyond to Scandinavia. These are a montaine breeding species with a role reversal in the sexes. The male rears the chicks alone without any help from the more brightly coloured female.
Many of the 27 birds I saw in this years well watched ‘trip’ were female; many of the males perhaps already holding territory in the north. About half the flock are present in the photograph below; best viewed by enlarging.
The tour to Minsmere earlier this month was a good one with some excellent sightings as well as good company. A nice drake Garganey put in an appearance as did a Little Gull close in front of the hide. Even a Hobby or two were putting on a show between the sauntering’s of Marsh Harriers. The few waders we saw were in full summer garb. The Knot in particular, dressed in brick red were impressive. The distant high-pitched reeling of a Savi’s Warbler even caught our attention. This irregular visitor is not often seen but we got half decent repeated views of him sitting in a bush singing away with his bill wide agape. However, it was the Bitterns that made us smile; beating their way across the reeds and pools they took on the appearance of modern-day Pterodactyls. Next years day in May 2020 is up for bookings https://www.wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk/tours/special-day-tours/
My heart has been lifted over the last few weeks. It’s not often one feels positive about something and it’s purely anecdotal of course. However, I have been bumping into Cuckoos a lot on tours lately. In fact I’ve been hearing and seeing them on almost every ventures outside, in some random places too! I even went out to put rubbish in the bin the other day and one flew over the churchyard opposite. Let’s hope this is the start of a turnaround in the decline of perhaps our most iconic bird.
I wandered down to the local Sandmartin Colony the other day. They make entertaining and challenging photographic subjects. No netting on this part of the cliff so they are able to nest in the cliff-face as freely as they wish.
On the Scottish Tour I ran earlier this month we found a rather scruffy moulting Mountain Hare. At first given his apparent ear length I thought he was a Brown Hare. However he was on a pasture aside a rough upland moor and was standing his ground but as I got a closer he got a little edgy and went around the other side of a drumlin. As he did so he showed his pure white tail that lacks the dark streak of the Brown Hares we often see in Norfolk. His darkening pelage is a far cry from the all white beasts Tania and I photographed up in Scotland during January. Sadly the numbers of Mountain Hares are now much depleted from when I first started running the trips to Scotland 11 years ago.
Next years tours to Scotland in April are now advertised. Two trips to choose from. Details are here and here
The Purple Heron at Burnham Overy showed well on today’s tour despite the rain.
Letter From Norfolk 