Going Back

Some say it’s never good to revisit part of your past. They could be right. The rose colouring of time often makes experiences seem better than they were. However, every Spring I lament not looking out on the pond at Falcon Cottage. I created a migrant bird haven. A place where birds could shelter for a while; take rest and recover before moving on. The list of species that visited the garden on the ridge just east of Northrepps was nothing short of astounding but it was the regular and reliable spring occurrences of Ring Ousel that I looked forward to most of all. Sadly, since moving on, the garden is now not what it was.

We had good but brief views of Ring Ousel in Scotland two weeks ago. The vanguards of breeding birds had arrived and we found a female on Cairngorm sheltering from a ferocious wind. Here at West Runton earlier this week there was a splattering of birds moving through. A nice male posed in the cattle paddocks briefly; but you could tell it was anxious to move on. It never settled for long, even when viewed from a distance. The need and the rush to breed is strong.

However … birds never show as well as they did at Falcon Cottage.

Wrapped up in Raptors

When the opportunity presented itself to go a little South in the Broads on a tour the other day we lapped it up. The first summer male Red Footed Falcon at Haddiscoe was just the biz.

Semaphore

We stumbled across this Curlew the other week. Flagged and numbered I suspect he was ringed and tagged on the Wash but I’ve not yet received information back from the ringer.

 

Skitty Coot

Wherever you go in the UK you will have a high chance of seeing a Moorhen. Even on the smallest pond, the shallowest ditch or the narrowest flowerbed; the Skitty Coot will be there. This young one was strutting his stuff outside the centre hides at Cley the other day.

Flity

There have been a few sightings in coastal locations of Broad Bordered Bee Hawkmoth this year. We encountered this individual on tour the other week and although a bit ‘flity’ he did hang around long enough for us to photograph him. Wonderful little beasts.

 

Norfolk Wing

This year’s ‘Norfolk Wing’ the online magazine from Wildlife Tours & Education is now available here

Garden Tick

A glance at the wind indicator told me I should be looking out of the window as I ate my toast on Wednesday morning. The Sycamores weren’t alive with birds but there was a bird flitting among the leaves that I presumed was a Pied Fly and a Wheatear was balancing on the fence. I needed to get outside and take a closer look.

The Pied Flycatcher, or whatever it was, never did show again and the Wheatear moved quickly on. However, a Phylloscopus warbler that momentarily hovered in a little enclave among the Elms held my attention. It was bright. It was very bright. Only after another 30 minutes did it show briefly again and give its identity away. The sparkling white underparts, the lemon tart throat and that supercillium told me I had a new garden tick. Wood Warbler.

First Flight

We watched as a dragonfly lava climbed from the pond up to  the underside of a lily pad leaf. It split it’s case and a pale ghost of a dragonfly hung out … dangling down to the water. After half an hour in one swift movement it escaped its prison and hung correct way up; wings crumpled. Over the next half hour the wings expanded and dried moving from vertical to horizontal. The emerged insect now quivered in the heat of the day and suddenly took flight.

Shouting Loudly

It was hard to ignore this Cetti’s Warbler it was very shouty! Despite that it was also very stealthy as it popped up here, and then there, without even showing us how it got between the two!

Darting

Dartford Warblers appear to have had a decent winter. Good numbers on the heath. This male flitted past us the other week but was gone before I could get a decent shot.