Terrific birding at Minsmere and Dunwich...

Linda, Brian and I took advantage of the beautiful weather to head south east to the Suffolk coast. We had such a great day, I'm going to split the photos into two posts, starting with Minsmere.

Following a walk through the woodland (where we all saw a Spotted Flycatcher) first stop was Island Mere. Within minutes we enjoyed decent views of the first of five Bitterns we were to encounter. Also distantly visible was a family group of three Otters, as well as a Hobby, Cuckoo, Bearded Tits, Common Terns and Little Grebes.

A move round to the East Hide added some good waders - Curlew Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank being the best - as well as several Kittiwakes (one of which - not the one below - had a distinct reddish tinge to its legs,) Also present were numbers of Mediterranean Gulls and Common Terns.

The walk back to the visitor centre added the fifth Bittern of the morning, flying north towards Dunwich, as well as Common Blue and Brown Argus. Lunch and then a move onwards to Dunwich!

Where did Summer go? Odds and ends at Strumpshaw Fen

As usual, I met Brian T and Brian S in Fen hide just after 7.00am: despite the coldish breeze we managed distant views of a Bittern and fleeting views of a Grasshopper Warbler exactly where it was last week! Three Common Sandpipers flew over without stopping...

The two Redshank were still present, having found a tiny strip of mud on the 'accidental broad': later they flew around in front of Tower Hide, joining a large group of Swifts with just a single House Martin. Several Common Terns fished the pools with virtually 100% success and numbers of Marsh Harriers quartered the reedbeds.

Some amazing pitcher plants and a randy pheasant!

Despite our best efforts at driving it away, our garden has become home to a pretty little fancy Bantam of some sort: it eats flower buds and emerging seedlings, but - let's be frank - is quite a cutie! It has begun associating with 'our' Pheasants and, to our astonishment, it   mated twice with the male this afternoon. Although they are different genera, I can't help wondering if there might be an outcome...

As you may recall, I semi-collect insectivorous plants: three of the Pitcher Plants are in full bloom at the moment and what splendid flowers they are! They remind me of the 'eyes' of the Martians in the original Gene Barry 'War of the Worlds'!

 

 

Rose-coloured blank at Winterton and a Monty Python moment!

Since RBA was reporting yesterday's Rose-coloured Starling as still being present around the repeating station at Winterton, Linda and I took a break from gardening to have a look for it.

Despite arriving early and giving the dunes and village a good bashing, we never caught up with the target: there were lots of 'gangs' of Starlings around, but they all steadfastly refused to be pink!

It was fascinating to watch the breeding displays of the Little Terns: the males were attempting to emulate the Monty Python 'Fish Slapping Dance' with a Sandeel! (Before anyone chirps up: these birds were nowhere near the breeding colony - they were just in front of the café.)

The Little Terns (and a few Common Terns, too) were having no trouble catching Sandeels, unlike the Scottish Puffins. I note that several newspapers are already blaming 'Global Warming' on Puffin decline, regardless of the evidence that over-fishing for Sandeels (predominantly by Danish boats) is a major factor: various journalists point to a decline in catches of Sandeels '...as a result of climate change' while failing to mention that the annual catch in the northern North Sea is still half a million tonnes! Interesting to note that Puffin populations on the Atlantic coasts don't show the same recent levels of reduction...

Garden full of Doves!

At the moment all the resident birds are bringing their families to the garden to feed: Starlings, Blackbirds, Great Tits, Partridges, Pheasants and several pairs of Stock Doves.

What under-rated birds these are! With their compact size, gentle demeanour and timid nature they are a little reminiscent of Turtle Doves...

Plenty of raptors keeping a watch on this annual bounty: Kestrels, Sparrowhawks and Buzzards have all been hanging around since first light!

 

Webb Society AGM at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge

Linda and I were invited to take a few meteorites along to the Webb Society's AGM: quite a decent crowd, including plenty of friends and acquaintances from various astronomical societies up and down the country.

Great to have a long chat with Simon from the Widescreen Centre as well as Peter from Bedford AA and spectroscoper Jack.

The bronze statue is, of course, past Director Sir Fred Hoyle.

A garden full of Starlings (and other fledglings!)

There was a time a few years ago when Starlings were becoming quite scarce: perhaps they still are elsewhere. But here on the Heath these engaging birds are increasingly abundant, especially at this time of year when the garden feeders attract literally hundreds of young birds.

Not just Starlings, either: Pheasants, House Sparrows, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Blackbirds and the various pigeons and doves are all regular attendees with their offspring at Linda's garden banquet!