Common Hawker at Winterton!

Having a free afternoon (last for a while!) I went for a final look at the North Pool at Winterton. Since the Shrike hadn't been reported today, I had the place to myself: excellent! On the way south from Horsey Gap I came across a few decent birds: lots of young Stonechats, Wheatears and at least ten Whinchats. Loads of Southern & Migrant Hawkers, as well as hundreds of Swallows coming in off the sea.

At the pool there were still four Southern Emeralds, as well as two Common Hawkers and loads of Darters ovipositing: what a beautiful, quiet place to sit and reflect...

Stonechat

Southern Hawker

Whinchat

Wheatear

Chiffchaff

Southern Emerald

Southern Emerald

Southern Emerald

Common Hawker

 

 

Common Hawker

Common Hawker

Common Hawker

Emerald Damselfly (for comparison!)

Weird wader!

Looking at some more images of the small wader several of us watched through the heat haze on Thursday: any chance it could be a Semi P?

 

 

Back lanes!

It's been a while since I walked around the Heath, so I dodged the showers and did the circuit. To be frank, there's not much about at this time of year, but it was slightly depressing to see the vast numbers of game birds that have been released just in time for the Partridge (Sept 1st) and Pheasant (Oct 1st) shooting seasons.... I hope my little flock of feral Guinea Fowl have the sense to hide in a tree!
Lots of Migrant and Southern Hawkers patrolling the lane, with a few Swallows still and the resident Alpacas!

Hail, hail, the gang's all here!

Full  house at Strumpshaw today: Norman, Kim, Brian, Adrian & Mike! We spent a pleasant morning catching up on the goss and managed some decent birds too! I guess the star turn was the obliging Osprey, which carried out three laps of the reserve without finding any water to fish in!

Backup was a Kingfisher - always good to see - and a fly-through Bittern and Bar-tailed Godwit. Mystery bird was a stint-sized wader on what remains of the Tower Hide Pool.

Willow Emeralds much in evidence, as were all the usual Hawkers and a couple of Hornets were fascinating to watch along Lackford Run.

Dragons & Damsels....

With all the Osprey / Cuckoo / Whinchat excitement, there wasn't space for any Odonata photos: since I'm quite pleased with some, I thought I'd remedy that today! Migrants and Southerns were expected, but the Norfolk Hawker seemed latish... Couldn't resist a pic of a Willow Emerald getting it in the neck from her old man!

Fabulous day in the Yare Valley!

Unbelievable! One of those days I shall remember for a long, long time! The day started well (but late!) with a good selection of Odonata at the Fen: Norfolk Hawker (late!) Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker, and literally hunreds of Migrant Hawkers. I decided on a walk to Buckenham, and just past the 'White Cottage' noticed a distant but distinctive silhouette on overhead cables. Trying to keep to the footpath (which has been ploughed over for potatoes!) I eventually got in position for some good shots of a gorgeous juvenile Cuckoo.

I walked round to the pump: predictably the scrapes were bone dry.... On the way I added Whinchat to my Yare Valley list! Aside from that, just hundreds more Hawkers and a flock of feral Barnacle Geese!

Returning to Strumpshaw, I bumped into photographer chum Brian Tubby. We enjoyed a catch-up and I was just about to leave when I saw a distant Osprey. We ran (!) round to the river, where Brian found the Osprey sat on a dead tree. It soon moved off, so I elected to chase it round to Fen Hide. Here I watched the bird wheel round and return, to be joined by a second Osprey! Stunning! I really hope Brian got on them both!