Wrapped in a cloak of Satin

Shags seem to be quite easy to find here this winter. We came across one individual while out photographing earlier this week. When we started taking shots the Shag was quite distant but gradually it came closer and closer until it gave us frame filling photos. Ok not so unusual in breeding colonies on the Farne islands or in Scotland but quite scarce in our part of the world.

I like these birds. From a distance they look very innocuous; not gaudy or showy, very much the plain Jane. When you get close it becomes overwhelmingly apparent they are quite spectacular. The subtle metallic green hues, the emerald shining eye, the curly crest feathers and the bird is wrapped in a cloak of satin plates. We agreed between us this one bird alone made our day.

Thirty Something

Stone Curlews are habitually sociable birds. We are used to seeing them in pairs or littered sparsely across heaths. They are part and parcel of our Breckland landscape in Norfolk; their eerie call resounding out around the fields on moonlit nights. Like some other birds such as Hirrundines and Ducks they accumulate into large flocks prior to migrating.

We ventured into south Norfolk the other day to find such a flock. After staring at fields in all manner of likely places one or two Stone Curlews suddenly materialised among a Sugar Beet crop. No sooner had we seen these then others appeared as if from nowhere. Two, four, eight, ten and so it went on. We ended up in the mid thirties in this tight little group. Undoubtedly there were more we couldn’t see. The majority will no doubt stay for another few weeks until early November when they will fly south to southern Europe and North Africa. A few may stay to sit out the winter … if it’s a mild one.

Click to enlarge

Exchange

We quite often hear of rare American birds that reach the UK; what we don’t often hear about are our birds that reach the States.

If you look at any map of North America and find a place that is central, a place equidistant from the sea whichever way you look, then the chances are you have found Nebraska. Here, among a flock of wintering Sandhill Cranes, a local has picked up on an associating Common Crane from this side of the Atlantic. Although Nebraska has hosted Common Cranes previously on migration, this is the first time a wintering individual has been found.

We saw Cranes in three different parts of Norfolk on our last six tours. Here’s a pair we saw a few weeks ago.