Gosling

Egyptian Geese are so cute when they are tiny.

A Collection

A few nice insects on the wing at the moment.

Godwit

Some of the Black tailed Godwits visiting Cley at the moment are just stunning.

Where’s Wally?

Have a go. Where’s Wally?

Sabre toothed Deer

This little lad came close enough to photograph the other day. Just look at those retractable tusks!

It’s all about Owls

I revisited the Short eared Owl site last week with one of my guests. We had to wait for a while but the marsh eventually gave up a few Short-eared Owls and a Barn Owl. One of the Shorties pushed up a rather alarmed Skylark as I pressed the shutter.

Craning a neck

A week or more ago I did a guided walk on Halvergate Marshes for the local authority. A lovely crowd of people assembled at Wickhampton Church (worth a visit for the medieval wall paintings) before we had an enjoyable few hours out on the marsh. We saw quite a lot but missing from the days bird list were Common Cranes. It wasn’t until I started to head home after lunch when I’d only gone a few miles that I saw a flock of twenty seven birds at the roadside … I couldn’t get them all in one shot! This is a good number for East Norfolk. I’ve rarely seen more within the county in a single group.

The UK still trails the continent on numbers though. I recall seeing around ten thousands coming into roost in Hungry within the Hortobagy National Park during a visit in October 2007. Closer to home in the Lac du Der region just to the East of Paris during early March 2015 in the last 2 hours of light I watched around twenty thousands of birds move North on gentle southerlies.

Cranes passing through the Lac Du Der region in France some years ago in Spring 2015

A Howl

Another shot of one of those amazing Short eared Owls that are gracing many of Norfolk’s marshes and dunes at the moment.

Merry Christmas

I’d only just mentioned to the girls that we should keep an eye open for Bob. Sure enough he appeared like some sort of apparition; feeding the gulls as we passed Walcott. It was good to see him. It’s been a long time since we got together and it was pleasing to spend a little time together.

Spending time with people has been difficult over the past twelve months. I’ve missed the camaraderie of friends and family; it was very pleasing Holly made it down from Manchester to spend Christmas with us.

We decided to have a morning walk at Cart Gap; that’s where we were heading when we saw Bob.

Scouring the beach we looked for mammoth teeth. This was the second day in a row we’d searched the shore for fossils. One day I’ll find a nice example.

It was Holly who saw a flash of orange behind the breakers. I suspected it was a Turnstone. No. On closer inspection it was a Purple Sand. Not one but three of them; picking and pecking at the alga on the walls and rocks. A nice find for Christmas.

I hope you all manage some time with family and friends this Christmas, you stay well and have a pleasant surprise or two. Merry Christmas from Tania and I (and Holly too!)

Turning Over

The photographs I’ve taken this year will soon be turning over and disappearing into annals of the Wildcatch Photography site; they won’t be available to view in the one place under the ‘Latest Photograph’ section.

So if you would like to take a browse of the latest photos please do so now … I hope you enjoy them.

https://wildcatchphotography.zenfolio.com/p34814967