International Astronomy Show!

What a hectic three days this turned out to be! A five o'clock start, working through 'til 6.00pm: but the crowds were amazing! We sold half our stock and lots of space-flown hardware displays and I'll be on the phone and 'net next week trying to buy in some more!

There were a few birdy highlights: lots of Buzzards & Red Kites by the A14 and A 426, as well as a Wood Warbler singing in the 'Nature Reserve' at the rear of our Premier Inn in Warwick.

The Francis Rossi lookalike below is, in fact, one of the World's greatest telescopic imagers, Nick Symonek: Essex Boyz Oy Oy!

The full Monty!

Just to attempt to clarify the situation: there has been a Monty's visiting Strump & Buck: numerous people (including Ben, Justin & myself twice!) have seen it: it's an immature male with some weird features. There are also at least two strange looking male Marsh Harriers: one I have seen twice & photographed that seems only to have four primary 'fingers' and another very convincing-looking pale individual with a whitish rump. My comments a couple of days ago reflect the number of times I've heard people call out Monty's for one of the above or even for the very pale member of the 'Odd Couple'. (One of the people in question reported a Peregrine Falcon (photographed on the deck!!!!) as a Goshawk earlier on this year!)

Wild & windy!

Kim & I took a quick stroll around the main 'loop' at the Fen, but the strong winds kept most small birds down in deep cover! We did manage a distant Hobby from Tower Hide and more views of the curiously-coloured Marshies food-passing and carrying nesting material. Swifts & House Martins were everywhere, while the south side of the Yare was patrolled by a beautiful Highland / Angus Bull.
Once again, a Grasshopper Warbler reeled briefly near the Sandy Wall.....

A case of mistaken identity?

A run around the Fen today was unproductive until I reached the sluice, where I managed a couple of shots of a Cetti's and a female Blackcap: both can be challenging subjects.
No Nightingale today, but I did grab a distant image of a male Marshie that seems to have only four 'fingers': I can't help but speculate that some optimistic souls might be mis i/d-ing this as Ben's super Monty's.....

Berkeley Square?

For the second time, I heard fragments of bubbly song from a Nightingale along the Woodland Path (in the dense cover by the fallen tree) I first heard it last week, but decided to keep it to myself - rare breeders and all that - but since Ben L has posted it on his blog, I might as well!

Nothing much else doing: the two 'odd' Marshies were much in evidence, as were hundreds of Swifts and Hirundines. Despite a good grill of the various flocks, nothing with a pale (or red!) rump!
Couple of Buzzards and a few singing Mistle & Song Thrushes, and that was that!

Having a funny tern over one that sort of got away!

A brisk walk around the Fen produced some closer pictures of the Marsh Harrier with the white vent patch: what a lovely bird....
A Common Tern with a strangely-coloured bill flew down river: it called like a Sandwich Tern - do these ever hybridise with commics?
As I was walking along the riverbank I saw a  pale male Harrier with a somewhat buoyant and unusual flight: my immediate thought was 'Monty's' and I snatched some pretty useless photos as it flew away. On reflection, I'm certain it was just that: an immature male.
Lastly - the Bluebell woods are beautiful now: I even found a Cowslip for extra colour!

Damsels & Dragons

Having decided that I must photograph a Hairy Dragonfly, I took a walk around the Fen, bumping into the regular crew in Fen Hide. Good craik, but nothing much to see apart from 100+ Swifts, so Kim & I moved on to Tower Hide. Here we enjoyed excellent prolonged views of a Kingfisher and the 'Funny Harrier Pair', before back-tracking to the woodland trail. Here we finally connected with our Hairy target, as well as several Large Red Damselflies. Great stuff!

Patch tick!

Yes! A brand-new species for my mid-Yare Valley list: unfortunately, not a bird! Saw my first Strumpshaw Hairy Dragonfly today - two, in fact! Also saw a Large Red Damselfly, so things are beginning to move. As for birds: a little quiet, really. Walked around with Stu and we saw or heard Little Egret, Swift, Lesser Whitethroat, Cuckoo, and a couple of Sparrowhawks......

Lots of butterflies: Peacock, Brimstone, Small Tort, Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Large & Small White and a few Holly Blues.

A north coast jaunt

Just for an opportunity for a good walk and lunch at The Swallows, Linda & I spent the morning around the NNT reserve at Cley. Nothing screeching, and we missed all the unusual bits that turned up in the afternoon, but good fun nonetheless. Other than birds, we came across Weasel, Stoat, Grass Snake and Eddie Myers!

The joys of blogging!

Since two Hairy Hawkers had been reported from the Fen I felt I really had to go and look for them: predictably to no avail, although I did see my first Damsel of the year (a Large Red)

There were more butterflies than I've ever seen: Orange Tip, Green Vein, Small & Large White, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Brimstone, Holly Blue and Speckled Wood - dozens of each!

Most interesting birds were a couple of Hobbies, a Bittern and all the regular Warblers. Lackford Run held a large shoal of decent (1 lb+) Roach...

A stroll with Martin!

My oldest and best birding mate Martin R and I share a love of birds, political discussion and coffee, so today (despite any really special birds) was terrific value: a 7 mile trudge through the adder-free dunes at Winterton with frequent latte stops!

Birdy highlights were good views (and poor photos!) of a Lesser Whitethroat, numerous Buzzards, a Garden Warbler or two and a smart Wheatear.

Evening stroll....

Such a beautiful evening, Linda & I took a walk around the Fen. Nothing special, but very enjoyable and close views of many Chinese Water Deer. I eventually managed a 'through the flowers' shot of a Reed Warbler, but failed (yet again!) to photograph a singing Lesser Whitethroat!

As we drove up to the Blofield traffic lights at 8pm, a beautiful Barn Owl sailed across the road in broad daylight!