We held the ‘Photographing Orchids Workshop’ at the beginning of the month. Not only did we come across birds nest orchids; we also came across the nest of a Meadow Pipit secreted into a tussock of grass.
Archive for Jun, 2019
29
Jun
19
Nesters
25
Jun
19
It’s all black and white
Some great butterflies on the Northamptonshire Tour at the weekend. The Black Hairstreaks, which always remind me of ‘Where’s Wally’ with their stripy legs and antennae, performed wonderfully; there were a lot of them too. Wood Whites were a little more elusive and it took us some time to find them; perhaps symptomatic of their rapidly declining status. Eventually we came across a little glade where they were flying around in the heat of the afternoon.
22
Jun
19
Orchids
A good year for Bee Orchids in this county this year. Not a spectacular year for Man Orchids.
19
Jun
19
BBBHM
These things are honorary birds really.. Akin to humming birds Broad Bordered Bee Hawkmoths are now around. We saw this one at the turn of the month feeding on Valarian. .
17
Jun
19
East Coast Birding Tour
Just back from this years East Coast Birding Tour. Some fantastic birds again, visiting sites along the east coast of Yorkshire and Northumberland. If you are a photographer and haven’t been on this tour yet … book a place on next year’s trip. You will not regret it. All food, accommodation, boat trip, guiding and transport included. Details are up on the website now and itinerary is available here https://www.wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk/app/download/11123944/Itinerary+-+East+Coast+Seabird+Tour+2020.pdf
All photos taken on this years tour.
16
Jun
19
Frits Galore
A visit to Lincolnshire at the turn of the month gave us an opportunity to see one of the largest hatches of Marsh Fritillary Butterflies since Victorian times. I counted 2500 or more in one single small meadow. Beautiful living stained glass windows.
14
Jun
19
Spring turns to summer
Some happenings along the rivers at the moment.
Simon described them as the avian equivalent of Cyd Charrisse. Only such a writer as he could come up with a turn of phrase that equated a Black winged Stilt to the female dancer in the 1952 production of ‘Singing in the Rain’. If you take a look at a few pictures of her and see the length of her legs you’ll see what he meant.
We were having a wander along the North Norfolk Coast taking in a few spring and passage migrants. By chance news reached us of two Black winged Stilts that had made landfall close to Well-next-the-Sea a few minutes earlier. Given we were so close it would have been rude not to pop in and see them; so we did. They were a pair. Male and female birds – the male is jet black on the back the female is slightly browner. They did a bit of wandering after we left but have since been seen back near Wells. I guess we’re in for another Norfolk breeding record. One of the (few) plus points of climate change is that we get to experience some of the Mediterranean species as they move north following the temperature contours.
10
Jun
19
Cuties
Lots of cute kits!
09
Jun
19
Shrike a light
Why would I need a scope? This was a mammal tour and we were going to walk down the dunes and look at some seals. Absolutely no need for a scope and tripod. Why on earth would I bother to cart it all the way down to the seals?
Each spring I run a mammal day in Norfolk. We start at around midday and finish close to midnight. It’s normal to get a dozen or so mammals on the list sometimes more, sometimes less. On the walk down to the seals we had the weather to our backs and to be fair it had improved from the persistent rain of the last couple of hours but the wind was gathering speed. I was scanning the hedgerows and fence lines to see if I could pick up on a Water Deer sheltering from the wind, when a flash of white caught my eye. It was a distant shrike sat on the fence. It was seemingly feeding constantly; dipping down to the ground then returning to the fence. I could make out through bins that it had a black forehead and a rose tinted breast. Time of the year told me it was more likely to be a Lesser Grey Shrike than anything else but I had heard an unseasonal Great Grey Shrike was in Cambridgeshire. I really needed my scope to get a closer look. …Ooops!
I put the word out, with a cautionary caveat, to a few local birders and friends as well as RBA (Rare Bird Alert). This was the only potential Lesser Grey in the UK at the moment and I didn’t want to state it categorically was a Lesser Grey without a closer look. I fired off a few distant record shots and tore myself away to take my guests down to the beach to photograph the Grey Seals.
It was as we were stood on the beach I took a look at the photos on the back of the camera and realised it was undoubtedly a Lesser Grey.
As we returned to the dunes the first local birders were arriving and I told them where it had been but said by now it was probably sheltering from the wind in the bushes … which on examination it was.
A nice bit of icing on the day which we finished at around 10pm with a couple of adult badgers along with two rather large cubs.
Letter From Norfolk 