A beautiful sunset in Broadland tonight, with Venus just peeking from beneath the cloud belt...
Happy New Year to regular readers, and anyone who chances upon the blog: let's hope for clear skies and good birds in 2022!
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Friday 31 December 2021
Happy New Year!
Last birds of 2021
Despite the gloomy weather, I thought I'd have a final run around local spots, more for exercise than anything else. As I drove north on Woodbastwick Road, I was delighted to see a Little Owl perched on a manure heap right by the road: one to keep an eye on!
First stop - in the pouring rain - was Ranworth Broad. A scan of the few Greylags failed to reveal yesterday's reported Lesser Whitefront: apart from an attractive hybrid of some sort, a lone Pink-footed Goose was the only odd-man-out. (I wonder if we have another case of the 'Three White Storks' here?) A walk out to the floating visitor centre added Siskin and a very mealy-looking Redpoll, while a pair of Kingfishers were good to see.
A move to Cantley was fairly unproductive, the only Geese being thousands of Pink-feet and a few Canadas. Last notable bird was a nicely-marked Buzzard near Hassingham. So that's it: 195 for the year: a low total, but some cracking birds!
Sun and Chili Corals
These two families of coral are notoriously difficult to keep, but since they are so beautiful (and colorful) we felt it was worth the effort. It's like being parents again: both corals only feed at night, so one or other of us has either to stay up late or get up early. In the darkness their polyps open to feed: we use a turkey baster or pair of tweezers to offer them pieces of fish or copepods. So far, so good!
Thursday 30 December 2021
Finally! A White-fronted Goose for 2021
Hard to believe that it's taken me until the penultimate day of the year to catch up with White-fronted Goose! It appeared with a group of Canadas while I was photographing the extremely distant Taiga Beans. A couple of really pleasant birders (one local, one from Vancouver) kindly pointed out both: thanks, gents!
Two Peregrines took occasional sorties across the marsh, putting up several hundred Lapwings each time they did so. From Buckenham I moved on to Thurne and then Ludham looking for Cranes and owls: three of the former flew in to feed distantly near St Benet's Abbey.
Wednesday 29 December 2021
A possible addition to the year list?
Linda and I had to visit Wayford Bridge near Stalham this afternoon, so we decided to carry on around the loop to Walcott and back through Waxham, Horsey and Acle.
A very brief seawatch at Horsey gave us lovely close views of a Sanderling (and lots of Turnstones, of course!) Best bird, though, was a large diver flying north: I reckon it was a Great Northern...
Near Ingham the now resident herd of Bewick's Swans were in their usual field: probably around thirty birds. (No Whoopers today)
Monday 27 December 2021
Best birds of 2021
Once again, it's time to reflect on the highlights of a year's birding: where did the last twelve months go?
Grasshopper Warbler, Strumpshaw Fen |
Bee-eaters: Gt Yarmouth |
Glossy Ibises: Hickling |
Pacific Golden Plover, Cley |
Roseate Terns, Cley |
Roller, Icklingham |
Black-winged Stilt, Hickling |
Long-billed Dowitcher, Potter Heigham |
Caspian Tern: Potter Heigham |
Ring Ouzel, Blakeney |
Garganey: Strumpshaw Fen |
Short-toed Lark, Weybourne |
Honey Buzzard: Hemblington Church |
Black Guillemot: Cley |
Iceland Gull, Cley |
Barred Warbler: Cley |
Cattle Egrets: Martham |