The glacial ridge orientated east/west running parallel to the coast here in Norfolk is ideal for Firecrests. We found up to eight singing males when the weather started to warm a little. When I saw this individual it wasn’t singing just foraging avidly So I presume it was a female. She had a seed or something stuck to her bill. No matter what she did she couldn’t shake it off.
I’m leaving for a while. I’ll be back though. At the end of the month. By necessity I have to cease posting on Letter from Norfolk and Facebook until then. All will become apparent towards the end of January. In the meantime I’ll leave you with a sort of clue. See you at the end of the month … with a slightly different format.
A trip out with Temple Seal Trips a week last Sunday was enjoyable. Derek and Jim, the crew and skipper, certainly make the trip as good as it is!
A walk along the cliff tops. A south westerly; impossible migration.
Yet Starlings passed me in flocks and Meadow Pipits tripped along the cliff face. Seven Great Spotted Woodpeckers dotted within the woods, when yesterday there had been none. In from the sea a tired squadron of Fieldfare; riding the coast a ‘V’ of Brents. Flushed from the path a baker’s dozen of Snow Bunting and riding over the fields a shape shifting formation of Golden Plover.
A south westerly; impossible migration?
We happened upon a sprinkling of flowers on Sunday; a carpet of nodding bells upon the floor of a small copse. Where last week there had been none, this week we were treated to a show. A show that gave a promise that spring is on its way.
A true herald of warmer days Snowdrops have to be everyone’s favourite.
Not sure why these photos loose so much detail when up loaded to WordPress as the file is not compressed, but if you click to enlarge they appear a little better.
Sat in a hide last week we heard a familiar two toned whistle shortly followed by the sight of an electric blue flash across the water. This Kingfisher had an orange lower mandible and therefore was female – the males having an all dark bills. It’s the females that wear lipstick!
Repeatedly diving into the one patch of water that was sheltered from the wind and free from fish cloaking ripples, sometimes she caught a fish and sometimes she missed. We saw five being caught and eaten. The reeds on which she perched were dancing in the northerly and she manoeuvred her body to keep very sharp eyes steady on the water. Leaning forward to accommodate the movement she revealed her jewellery. The bird was ringed on the right leg.
I’m not aware of anyone ringing Kingfishers locally; it would be interesting to find out just where this little lady was from.
This year seems to be a little odd. Very few Acorns, very few berries and up until yesterday, when over 4000 Pinkfeet flew over Falcon Cottage, not as many geese as would have expected either.
The sound of the Pinkfeet flying over is something worth hearing. A distant cackle rising to a conversation halting din but by far the best sound uttered by geese is the murmuring of Brents. These small travellers from the north are my favourite. I passed around 500 in a field on the coast the other day and managed to photograph one or two of them. I was struck by how few juveniles there were in the flock. I wonder if this is a concern. Perhaps we better reserve judgement until a little later into the winter when more have arrived.
As I drove west on the coast road the other day I saw something white out on the marshes. It wasn’t the sparkling white of an egret and I suspected it may be a Spoonbill. They have a duller, not as bright, plumage about them.
It had the look of a roosting bird; one of our returning breeders perhaps. It took all of 60 seconds to stop and exit the vehicle to discover I was looking at a plastic bag; albeit a very avianly shaped one. I climbed back into the driving seat thinking “It’s happened before and I guess it will happen again”. I had travelled another half mile before it did happened again. Cursing the farmer who had littered the marsh with fertiliser bags I stopped the Landrover and raised my binoculars once more only to discover a pair of bags with long legs and bills. They were indeed Spoonbills.
No sooner had I focused upon them they were off moving west.
Letter From Norfolk 