Ticks galore at Cley!

Norman, Brian and I made the usual early start and were in Bishop's Hide by 7.45. A Cetti's Warbler sat still for photos right by the car park: the first of several we saw. In truth the most interesting birds from Bishop's were the Black-tailed Godwits, many of which were in gorgeous breeding plumage: some bore rings of various colours, but I couldn't read them! Distant views of a Short-eared Owl and several Swallows livened things up, before we moved to the Centre Hides.

As we walked, at least four Sedge Warblers sparked up: must be Spring! A pair of Little Ringed Plovers and more Swallows were good to see, as were a couple of Spoonbills. We decided to walk round to East Bank, where distant views of a pair of Spotted Redshank were noteworthy, as were much better ones of a couple of male Bearded Tits.

Coffee on the terrace was followed by a drive to the beach, followed by a trudge out to the 'new' North Hide. Eventually we managed really hazy views of a Wheatear (and numerous F-35s in mock combat)

A brief walk at Morston was unproductive, so we headed back to the Yare Valley...

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.