Not so Red

The Red throated Divers are still hanging around offshore here on the coast. This juvenile, which are darker on the head and sides of the neck than adults, was one of several that came in close in foggy weather a couple of days ago.

… and there was light

You wouldn’t think that something so small, and quite frankly ugly, could light up a heath on a dark, dark night. This female glow worm was … well … glowing the other night. Perhaps not so ugly after all.

Man o man

On our Photographing Norfolk Orchid tour last week we had some damn good orchids. The man Orchids were showing better and in greater numbers than I have seen them before. Each flower a perfect little man. A fabulous display.

Hares

Some cracking numbers of Hares around the Norfolk fields at the moment. At Kelling the other week we saw around 20 in one field.

Bronze serpent

A chance encounter with a slow worm on a couple of tours the other day was appreciated by all concerned. This legless lizard although harmless is quite beautiful. A bronze serpent.

Reed bed delight

Looking into the low winter sun across a reed bed the hanging seed heads took on a silvery light, a magical light; a chainmail luminescence that any photograph could never duplicate.

As we stared at the swaying stems they bent under the weight of tiny mouse like birds; Bearded Tits ‘chinked’ as they called to each other. Occasionally moving into the open but more often deep within the vegetation they hid among the myriad of stems. As quickly as they appeared they moved on and we were left with just the dancing reeds.

 

More goodies to come?

After the gift laden easterlies of early September we’ve now entered a phase of unpredictable South Westerly’s. The birds here on the hill and beyond that arrived on the easterlies have gradually dripped away to their wintering grounds. The confiding Whinchat below was the last to leave.

No doubt an easterly element to the wind in October will bring more goodies. I await them with anticipation.

 

 

 

Egg seller

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Watching a female Southern Hawker alight on a damp log the other week I was surprised to see her start laying within the clefts of the bark.

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A Bowl of Corncrakes

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Anyone who has tried to see a Corncrake will know just how secretive they can be; they are the models of stealth. You are looking where they appear to be calling from and a head pops up out of the vegetation yards away. Getting someone on it before it disappears is itself an art as descriptions of yellow flowers vie with those of red tipped leaf for the best direction indicators. Invariable the crake moves on before it’s seen well.

Not so on the Birders Tour to Mull last week; we were stood amidst an island of calling Corncrakes. As we watched a wonderful spring meadow respectfully from a distance the other side of a wall at one of the RSPB recommended viewing locations we were somewhat taken aback as this little chap made his way across the grass between sheep and geese … right out in the open.

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Draped on bushes

There have been some very beautiful dragonflies this year on our tours. This Southern Hawker for example. It hung itself, nay draped itself in the garden last week as we were talking away with friends.