Booted Buzzard!

There was a Booted Eagle reported from Cley yesterday, which turned out to be a pale Buzzard. I would never criticize people for making an honest mistake like this: better to call out and be wrong than be right and keep quiet, IMHO.

Today, while Linda, her Mum Mary, brother Barry and I were enjoying lunch at the Walled Garden, Little Plumstead, there were lots of raptors passing over. One of these needed looking at, before revealing itself to be a Buzzard: just for a second though... (I was shooting with an 18 - 135 TP lens, so apologies for the picture quality.)

Never a chore, unlocking the door!

On a beautiful Spring morning like today, unlocking the door of Hemblington Church is almost always a pleasure: birdsong, wild flowers and, of course, Brown Hares and Red Kites!

Kites and Crows!

We're lucky here on the Heath, in that both Buzzards and Red Kites are daily visitors above the garden. It's fascinating that both are routinely 'seen off' by the resident corvids - particularly the Rooks...

Easter Hares at the Church

This is our week for unlocking Hemblington Church: Linda and I are both early risers, so we unlock and Sue & Peter (who are generally not early risers!) lock up in the evening.

The advantage of doing the early shift is that we often enjoy close views of the local wildlife: today it was several pairs of Brown Hares, numerous Red-legged Partridges, as well as Chiffchaff, Green Woodpecker and Yellowhammer.

Happy Easter to all of you who visit the blog!

Final practice at the Barn?

Synergy - my fabulous Rock & Blues band - have three bookings still to fulfil, so (our normal Studio in Norwich having been affected by a fire) we returned to an old barn out in the Broads. Although a little cold and damp in the winter, we've enjoyed rehearsing there for over five years, sharing the venue with Garth's other, much heavier band, the Divide. (Their trademark skulls and skeletons can be seen in the photos!)

Ranworth Ospreys

With poor weather forecast and a busy few weeks ahead, I dashed out to Ranworth at 7.30 to see if I could glimpse the returning pair of Ospreys. After a brief wait one, then the second arrived at the nest: although very distant, still a terrific thing to see in Broadland! Other birds included Marsh Harrier, Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

Showground Antiques Fair

Today was the first of two annual antiques fairs at Norwich Showground - the next will be in October. Linda and I always look forward to these events, although we don't necessarily buy anything: it's just a great way to spend a couple of hours! Today, however, I added to my collection of Uranium glass, while Linda bought a piece of Wade, some bee-keeping equipment and a pair of vintage earrings.