Festive Red Kites!

Linda and I went for a walk this morning: the sky was full of Red Kites! I'll never get bored with these wonderful birds...

 

 

Star in the East!

Just before dawn, Jupiter and the Moon are close together in the eastern sky: a beautiful sight!

Bean Geese, Water Pipits and Stonechats at Buckenham Marshes

A quick walk out to the River Yare and back was surprisingly productive for Linda and me: around a dozen Bean Geese flew in to their usual favoured spot, while out on the marshes Pink-footed and White-fronted Geese mingled with Canadas, Barnacles and Greylags. The usual Peregrines were in evidence and large flocks of Reed Buntings fed among the path-side scrub.

Quite a few very confiding Stonechats followed us as we walked, while four Water Pipits near the hide were a lot more flighty (Unlike the flock of Meadow Pipits on the grazing marsh!)

Bure Valley Conservation Group

Many thanks to David, Tina, Ian and all the other members of this truly wonderful local group for the warm welcome they gave me when I was guest speaker at their meeting in Upton today. Thanks also to good friend Sue for keeping me company and sharing her chips afterwards at the White Horse.

The BVCG are the most incredibly active local group: they do a fabulous amount of hard work in both the Yare and Bure Valleys: without them the region would have far less wildlife and far less opportunity to enjoy it...

Wild Goose chase with bonus Cattle Egret...

Linda and I had a lot of pre-Christmas recycling to attend to at Strumpshaw tip, so we thought we'd carry on to Beighton to look for the reported Tundra Bean Geese. Well: they may have been there, but with over 10,000 Pinkfeet in three vast flocks at Beighton, Wickhampton and Halvergate Marshes they were never going to be easy to pick out. Astonishingly, I did find a solitary Whitefront!

Other birds in the area included lots of Buzzards and a few Marsh Harriers, while 'the Pens' out on the marshes provided distant - but welcome - views of a Cattle Egret and Hen Harrier.

 

Little Owl - always sweeter on the local patch - and a non-scary bird scarer!

Joyce and Andrew - a very nice couple we met through various activities at our beautiful little local church - have occasionally told us that they often have Little Owls perched on the porch or derelict barn of their house. Now I've walked past this delightful Georgian manor several hundred times and never caught a glimpse. But today I did! On the way home from the Dr's I glanced across and glimpsed a Little Owl lurking among the ivy-covered beams. I didn't pause, but carried on home to pick up Linda and a camera: fortunately this grumpy-looking little waif was still in the same place when we arrived back ten minutes later. Also nearby was a flock of over a dozen Egyptians: I have encountered the species on the Heath in the past, but this was the most I've seen together...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Linda bought a black cat with reflective eyes at yesterday's car boot: we just thought it was cute and would go well with all the other kitch in the garden! I discovered later that they are sold to scare birds and cats away from seeded beds. No-one seems to have told the birds, though!

Cambridge: two lectures and a pantomime!

Every couple of years I'm invited to do a talk at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge by the Cambridge Astronomical Society. Very prestigious and lots of fun: one talk for the adults and the second - for the Cambridge Young Astronomers - in the middle of a pantomime! This is put on by a smashing bunch of guys - an eclectic mix of boffins, teachers, and some retired old geezers like me! The kids are amazing: one of the Q&As was about nebulae, and they recognised all ten of the images projected on the big screen: only in Cambridge! The 'pantomime' was 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - I played Arthur Dent!

My lecture to the adults concerned the increasingly apparent link between comets and global extinction events: it seemed to be well-received and attracted some insightful questions. Linda took the photos and set up our sales stand: I'm delighted to say that meteorites and meteorite jewellery seem to be popular gifts this Christmas!

Waxwings in Norwich: back for another look!

Since neither Brian nor Norman had managed to connect with a Waxwing flock this year, we stopped off at Jerningham Road, Costessey on the way back from the North Coast.

Arriving at around one o'clock, we found just a single lady birder present: the Waxwings were immediately apparent at the top of a sycamore tree by the sports ground. Within a minute or two they flew down to feed on the rowans right by our car: since this coincided with a break in the clouds everyone managed some decent photographs.The very territorial pair of Mistle Thrushes were ever-present, but today they were completely disregarded by the Waxwing flock. Interesting to note that one of the birds seems to have survived a close encounter with a raptor - presumably a Sparrowhawk - and that several wore silver rings.