Hawkers most welcome!

Beautiful sunny day for a walk around Strumpshaw Fen - Willow Emerald on the meadow behind the Dr's cottage was a surprise, as was the confiding nature of the Hawker population:- Migrants, Southerns & Browns all posed nicely! Amazingly, the Wryneck is still scoffing ants on the riverside path!

Italian Sparrow!

Well: it had to be done! Linda, Martin & I took a sliced loaf (wholemeal, naturally!) to Northrepps as bait for the much-observed Italian Sparrow. Martin has seen this putative species in Italy and saw nothing in this individual to ring the alarm bells...
Several Buzzards drifted over the nearby turkey farm, causing all kinds of panic!

We moved along to Salthouse and then Kelling Quags, where several insects masqueraded as wasps and large numbers of Migrant & Southern Hawkers posed for the camera - unlike a typically flighty Clouded Yellow, which flew between us at warp factor five! An interesting Wagtail fed distantly between the legs of a cow: its call and general appearance suggested Citrine...

Wryneck patch tick!

How pleasant to share this beautiful and confiding bird with Linda and a small appreciative group! Having failed to connect at 7.00am, we had to attend to some business in Norwich: imagine how pleased we were to discover the bird had returned to its favoured feeding-spot on the river bank at Strumpshaw! Other things of interest included dozens of Migrant & Southern Hawkers and a very ruddy Ruddy Darter

A right load of carp!

Linda and I finally added Common Hawker to our Norfolk Odonata lists: one buzzed us at close range for five minutes at the North Pool without once settling or slowing down for a decent photo!

On an entirely different note: two nice Carp from the Yare Valley! (8lb and 10.25lb) What a great place! Brown, Migrant and Southern Hawkers buzzing around, Kingfishers on the rod-tip and a Honey Buzzard overhead!

East Coast Clean-up!

An early-morning (pre-carpark fees!) excursion to Horsey Gap for Linda & me revealed all the hoped-for migrants: Pied & Spotted Flycatcher, Wryneck, Redstart, Wheatear plus several intriguing warblers, including a bright yellow Willow Warbler and a frosty little individual with a biggish bill: Booted? Also: finally caught up with Southern Emerald Damselfly at 'the Blocks': a lifer for me! Best butterfly was a sumptuous Dark Green Fritillary....

I have to laugh when I read some of the comments on a well-known forum (which I don't post on) Some of those people must walk around with their eyes closed!

Just not cricket!

Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena may well have been acting within the letter of the law, but they - and Michael Clarke - seem to have forgotten who pays their wages: cricket fans! I bet Clarke wouldn't have wasted time and moaned about the light if his decision to declare (twice!) had brought England to the brink of defeat with a few balls left! Never mind: 3 - 0 will do! And a sunny day tomorrow to try for a few photos of bugs and birds!

Uncommon Commons!

Another snatched outing: this time to Upton Fen. I keep going back in hope of finding a Common Hawker, which (according to http://www.norfolkdragons.co.uk) is a reliable site for them. Anyone ever seen one there? Or do I need to hike out to 'the blocks' at Winterton again?

Today there were plenty of the usual suspects: Migrants,Browns, Southerns and Emerald Damsels. Additionally, there were Wall Browns everywhere: I must have counted 50! Other interesting finds included a patch of White Helleborines (Sadly gone over!) and a possible Keeled Skimmer