White Stork fiasco and return of the Hedgehog!

The White Stork was back on its favoured flooded meadow by the A47 today: it's definitely unringed. It (or another White Stork) was on the deck near Burgh St Peter, just a few kilometres away. Strange thing: both are shown on the same RBA map, but the Suffolk one is not labelled as an escape, while the Norfolk one is! Where's the logic in that? I noticed the other day that the long-staying Wrentham Black Kite - a known falconer's escape - was on the map with no caveat about its origin!

At home, the young Hedgehog continues to visit the garden, and seems to enjoy the dog food we put out for him as well as some of the bird seed!

 

Photographing some chicks, man!

A very cool and blustery morning at the Fen produced nothing to set the pulses racing and absolutely not a single Dragon, Damsel or Butterfly!

Every water bird seemed to have a flotilla of chicks in tow: there's no escaping from how cute these look, especially the Grebe 'humbugs'

On the way home, I stopped to photograph this impressive bank of Salsify near Hemblington Church: there's some wild yellow flowers nearby, too!

An exercise in frustration!

I've been listening to a Turtle Dove 'purring' away in our hedges for over an hour, but not once has it dropped down to feed, despite the presence of a dozen or so Wood Pigeons, Collared Doves, Jays, Pheasants and Stock Doves.

Meanwhile, our builder Ian is making steady progress: Linda and I love what he has designed for us and the quality of his work is absolutely first class. Can't wait to sit out in the sun with a glass of fizz in the very near future!

 

 

 

White Stork

Although any White Stork in Norfolk is immediately dismissed as an escape from Thrigby, this one seems totally unringed. A beautiful bird, whatever! Amazingly, there was a convenient place to park and turn round right by the flooded meadow where the Stork was feeding!

(Perhaps someone would like to explain why this Stork in the Yare Valley is labelled 'escaped' on RBA, while one in the Wensum Valley today isn't! I think it was Peter Allard who pointed out recently that the Thrigby Storks are ringed....)

The people on the train had a good view!

Any thoughts?

I haven't had any feedback on the well-marked Stonechat I photo'ed at Winterton last month. I post the images again, together with one of an 'authentic' Caspian Stonechat: all input gratefully received!

Make yourselves at home!

At the moment we're in the middle of having a new patio laid. The start of this project has been somewhat delayed: we had hoped it might be completed before the expected arrival date of the Turtles. Sadly, it seems like they won't be visiting us this year: however, the building work doesn't seem to be putting the birds off their stroke (as it were!)

Garden visitors

Still no sign of the Turtles this year: still - eleven years in a row was extraordinary for a small garden. That's not to say there's nothing to see from the office window, of course: the Yellowhammer is still a daily feeder, as is this delightful young Hedgehog and numerous other 'goodies'!

The Brecks with Brian: Hobbies, a Turtle and a Hairy Dragonfly!

With a decent day forecast, Brian and I headed south to look for a Tree Pipit. In the event, the weather was pretty damp and overcast all day and we never had a sniff of a TP.

Nevertheless, we had a great day out, starting off at Weeting Heath for typically distant views of Stone Curlews, carrying on along the Woodland Path for Turtle Dove, Cuckoo, Linnet and lots of Garden Warblers.

A move to Lakenheath Fen was rewarded by at least 30 Hobbies, tazzing around like aces in a First World War dogfight: occasionally one or two got near enough for a photo, but the light wasn't conducive to good images...

The Fen Hide produced Kingfisher, while one or two Bearded Tits hung around long enough for a photo.

In case there was any doubt about how much better results can be achieved with a more expensive camera and lens: I post two of Brian's images. The Hobby was at least a quarter of a mile away, yet you can actually tell the species of Damselfly it's about to catch!

 

 

 

Hobby by Brian Tubby

Hairy Dragonfly and prey by Brian Tubby