Well! I was licking my lips at the thought of the hoards of migrants that would trip onto the Norfolk coast from the continent this Autumn. The situation can be summed up by telling you the total number of Fieldfare I’ve seen so far totals no more than a score … it appears lip-licking was unwarranted.
I was sat alone in a hide on the coast here last week. To be honest I was just enjoying the peace and quiet and having a bit of a reflective moment. When I was jarred into life by the appearance of this little chap almost in my face. He popped out of the reeds right in front of me. He heard the camera shutter go off and ran back in as suddenly as he came out. Seeing Water Rails in good light is always a treat so when he came out again I just put the camera down and enjoyed him for a while.
Everything seemed to be staring at me on tours recently. Snipe, Bearded Tit and even this Beewolf got in on the action.
Sat 5th Oct 2019 Norfolk Coast Migration: A search of hotspots along the coast for migrant birds – meet in West Runton or on route £49
To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sun 20th Oct 2019 Minsmere Migration: Migration will be well underway by October – meet in West Runton or on route £55 or £49 if meeting there. To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sat 15th Feb 2020 Goshawk & other Breckland Specialities: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Hawfinch and Woodlark among others – meet West Runton or on route £55 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
20th February to 24th February 2020 Southern Scotland Tour 5 Days visiting Lancashire and southern Scotland hot spots for winter birding. £698 More Details and booking instructions Here
13th to 15th March 2020 Norfolk’s Speciality Birds Long Weekend 3 Days visiting the Brecks, the North Norfolk coast and the Broads in search of all Norfolk’s speciality birds including Bittern, Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Crossbill, Hawfinch, Lesser Spotted Wood Pecker, Woodlark etc Staying in a lovely Norfolk Hotel £466 More Details and booking instructions Here
Sat 21st Mar 2020 Minsmere Specialities: Dartford Warbler, early spring migrants, Black Redstart among others – meet in West Runton or on route £55 or £49 if meeting there To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
16th to 20th April 2020 Scottish Birders Special Tour . A concentrated tour seeking birds unique to the Highland Region. £799 More Details and booking instructions Here
Sat 25th Apr 2020 Essex Birding Day: Abberton Reservoir and surrounding area for early spring and very late winter migrants £59 or £49 if meeting there To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sat 2nd May 2020 Minsmere Migration: Bird migration will be well underway by the beginning of May – meet in West Runton or on route £59 or £55 if meeting there.To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
8th to 14th May 2020 Birders Tour to Mull A 7 day day tour exploring the Isle of Mull off the Scottish West coast calling in at Yorkshire and Lancashire birding hotspots. £1680 More Details and booking instructions Here
Sun 24th May 2020 Hertfordshire Butterflies: In search of the Duke of Burgundy, Small Blue and Dingy Skipper butterflies – meet in West Runton or pick up enroute £65 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
27th May to 4th June 2020 UK Mammal Tour A 9 day tour covering the north of the British Isles searching out some infrequently seen mammals. Taking in Northumberland, East and Northern Scotland as well as the island off Mull £1867 More Details and booking instructions Here
Sat 6th Jun 2020 Badger Evening: An evening at a Badger Sett – No meal just hot drinks included – meet at a prearranged central Norfolk site £30 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sun 7th Jun 2020 Norfolk Orchids Photography Workshop: A day concentrating on photographing Norfolk’s beautiful rarer orchids – meet in West Runton £55 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Mon 8th Jun 2020 Marsh Fritillary Day: A day trip to Lincolnshire to see one of our most beautiful butterflies – meet in West Runton or pick up en-route £59 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
12th to 14th June 2020 East Coast Seabird Weekend watching and photographing the seabirds of Yorkshire, the Farne Islands and Northumberland. £462 More Details and booking instructions Here
Sat 20th Jun 2020 Black Hairstreaks and Wood Whites: A day in Northamptonshire to see one of the UK’s rarest butterflies and others on the wing – meet in West Runton or pick-up on route £59 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sun 21st Jun 2020 Norfolk Hawker and Swallowtails: A day seeking out Norfolk’s two most iconic insects: meet in West Runton. £55
To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sat 27th Jun 2020 Nightjar Evening: Meet in West Runton for an evening watching Woodcock and Nightjars £35
To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sun 28th Jun 2020 Photographing Suffolk Orchids: A day concentrating on photographing Suffolk’s beautiful rarer orchids – meet in West Runton in Suffolk or on route £55 or £49 if meeting in Suffolk. To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
2nd to 6th July 2020 Birds and Wildlife of the Jurassic Coast on the Isle of Purbeck and the Dorset coast looking at birds of heaths and cliffs as well as Dragonflies and butterflies. £998 More Details and booking instructions Here
Sat 11th Jul 2020 Large Blue Butterflies: A day trip to Gloucestershire to see the largest of British blue butterflies – meet at West Runton or on route £69 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sun 12th Jul 2020 Purple Emperors: A trip to Northamptonshire to see this most dazzling of British Butterflies – meet at West Runton or on route £59 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sat 18th Jul 2020 Norfolk Butterfly Day: A quest to see half of the UK’s butterfly species on just one day – meet in West Runton £55
To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sat 1st August 2020 Norfolk Wader Day: A tour of the Norfolk coastline searching for waders returning south after breeding in the arctic – meet in West Runton £49 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sun 16th Aug 2020 Brown Hairstreak Day: A tour to Suffolk in search of the most elusive of butterflies: the Brown Hairstreak – meet in West Runton or pick up enroute £55 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sat 3rd and Sun 4th October 2020 Norfolk Migration Weekend: A weekend along the coast looking for migrants – meet in West Runton: one day £49 both days £90 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
8th to 16th October 2020 Bird Watching on the Isles of Scilly 8 days during searching for and watching migrating birds on the beautiful Isles of Scilly. £1749 More Details and booking instructions Here
Sat 17th Oct 2020 Minsmere Migration: Autumn bird migration will be at its peak meet in West Runton or on route £59 or £55 if meeting there.
To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
Sat 31st Oct and Sun 1st November 2020 Norfolk Migration Weekend: A weekend along the coast looking for migrants – meet in West Runton: one day £49 both days £90 To book email carl@wildlifetoursandeducation.co.uk
7th & 8th November 2020 A Photographic Weekend in Wales:2 days in Wales Looking for the country’s special wildlife. Kites, Bottlenose Dolphins, leaping Salmon, Chough etc £289 More Details and booking instructions Here
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. .
We had to be careful we didn’t tread on these endearing little Natterjack Toads on tour the other day. There were a few about; moving in the damp grass.
Our largest land mammal in the UK is the Red Deer. It’s quite a formidable beast that needs to be treated with some respect. Until you are next to one its size is easily under appreciated. They are large. As we finished a tour the other week and were making our way back to the car we came across this individual. She seemed unphased by us but we didn’t get too close. Giving these animals their own space is always advisable.
As we walked down the dunes in East Norfolk the other week a large raptor was hovering in front of us. Although Common Buzzards will frequently hover in a headwind the only buzzard to habitually hover kestrel style is a Rough legged Buzzards. A quick check with the bins and sure enough it was a Rough leg showing a nice black belly and a white proximal area on the tail. This winter visitor is a big bird but still warranted some mobbing by a Marsh Harrier as well as one of the local Crows.
These adult Atlantic or Grey Seals were popping up around our boat the other week. When it comes to seals think ‘dog’ in terms of curiosity. They will always come close to check us out.
The feeding behavior of waders here in North Norfolk is sometimes interesting to watch. It’s not impossible to find a flock of Ruff feeding in complete harmony side by side and then on another occasion it seems as though they’re at war. These two Ruff were having a particular vicious spat with one limping away from the encounter.
