Glaucous Gull & Iceland Gull together at Waxham!

With unexpected fine weather, Linda suggested a run out to Waxham to look for the reported Glaucous Gull. Had we known the temperature would reach seventeen degrees we wouldn't have 'thermalled up': we might have thought twice about the three mile slog too!

In the event we were among the lucky few who found both white-wingers side by side on the same rock, something I never expected to see. Lots of seals flopping about all around them, with a few well-grown pups...

Hard going on the North Coast!

Norman, Brian and I headed north (as usual!) starting off at Cley. Visits to the beach, Bishop's and Centre Hides weren't particularly productive, but 70+ Avocets and a good flock of Black-tailed Godwits were interesting. After coffee a walk to Babcock Hide was totally pointless, the only bird of note being a leucistic Greylag.

A move along to Stiffkey (and a bit of walking) gave acceptable views of two Glossy Ibises - a third flew in from the east as we were leaving. Up to eight Cattle Egrets were also present on the water meadows, joined at one point by a Little Egret.

Last stop was Kelling Heath - we didn't hear or see anything apart from a Red Kite..

Finally: a glimpse of the Moon

It's been cloudy and rainy at sunset for days, meaning I missed the sight of the Moon snuggled among a cluster of three planets. Tonight there was a small gap in the clouds, allowing a few photos of the watery Moon and some interesting craters.

Spotless!

For the first time in absolute ages there doesn't seem to be a single spot on the Sun! Since sunspots are cooler areas of the Sun's photosphere, this could indicate that the Sun has uniformly heated up.

Taking liberties!

Our resident pair of Red-legged Partridges have made the garden their home territory: although they sometimes visit the front garden and the Close, they spend most of their time feeding and relaxing outside my office window. They (or others!) have bred in or near the garden on several occasions, once making a scrape in our circular flower bed, in which the female would snuggle down - once or twice even while I mowed the lawn!

How things have changed!

Whilst having a 'tidy up', I came across an old note book: back in the day I always kept meticulous field notes, which I entered into my 'proper' bird diary when I was back home. (Nowadays this practice has been replaced by my blog and a camera!)

Reading through the diary produced feelings of nostalgia, both because of the birding friends who have disappeared over the past 50 years, but also because of the number of lost habitats and the reduced numbers of species that can now be expected on a typical day out. The page below records a 1987 visit to Santon Downham in the Brecks, where England's last breeding pair of Red-backed Shrikes nested in the middle of a picnic site! (I should also admit that the diary records hectic drives across East Anglia to see my first Great White, Cattle and Little Egrets! For the latter, I left a dinner party I was hosting, scorching across to Welney to add the species to my life list before it got dark!

Distant Raven over the Heath...

When Linda and I returned from a quick visit to the local garden centre, we noticed a Red Kite drifting towards our bungalow. I hurried inside to collect the camera, but by the time I refound the Kite it was over the far side of the fields. As it headed off eastwards, I realised a Raven was following it (somewhat closer, but still distant!)

Slavonian Grebe but no Dipper!

I've been feeling a bit ropey recently, so only committed to half a day out. Picking Norman up at 07.15, we headed north-west to Bintree, where a good walk up and down gave us Great White and Little Egrets, but no sign of the Dipper...

We carried on to the coast, walking out towards the sea at Titchwell, stopping to enjoy reasonable views of a Slavonian Grebe and female Scaup on the Tidal Pool. With various detours for roadworks, the drive eastward to Cley got us to the Visitor Centre well past 'cheese scone o'clock': the centre was packed (Half Term!) but the cold wind kept the paths free! We trudged towards Babcock Hide (seeing a Raven over the Hangs) before finding a confiding group of twenty or so Russian White-fronted Geese. And so home!

Woodie makes a brief visit!

Looking from the office window I noticed this dapper Great Spotted Woodpecker in our Ginkgo tree: I just had time for two photos before it zoomed away!

SOLD OUT!

Once again our popular annual music quiz is sold out well in advance! Thanks to all of you who support our events in aid of the beautiful Hemblington Church: watch out for more dates in the future!
(If anyone is looking for tickets, do get in touch: there are always a few 'returns'!)

Snowfinches!

Well: Greenfinches in the snow, at any rate! As the snow began to settle in our garden the wild birds swooped in to feed: over twenty Greenfinches and twenty more Blackbirds arrived to take advantage of the suet, mealworms and apples that Linda had put out for them.

Strange glowing light in the sky!

Haven't seen the Sun for ten days - even then it was through a gap in the clouds. Today we've actually had four hours of uninterrupted sunshine here in East Norfolk - I was able to clean out the pond pumps and filters! There are a couple of reasonable sunspots - always interesting to watch them develop...

Survivors!

The strategy of spending most of their time lurking in and around our garden has paid off for our resident Red-legged Partridges: the game shooting season for both RLPs and Pheasants finished on February 1st and Linda and I are pleased to have both species enjoying the free food and shelter!