Actually our little snowman is more of an iceman these days: his years in the freezer have glazed and darkened him - his shape has changed too! Still: it was good to show him around the garden for a last look at the summer flowers. Meanwhile, as soon as a brief spell of sunshine hit the Buddleia, a Painted Lady and a Red Admiral appeared from nowhere!
Just finished chatting with the fabulous Jules Button on 'Suffolk Sound' radio: as always, most enjoyable!
As promised. here are the details of what's 'up there' in September, plus all the month's bright passes by the International Space Station.
Linda and I had a free morning (after unlocking the Church) so we headed eastwards to Breydon Water, being (critically!) held up by a shunt at the Stracey Arms. Parking at ASDA (we did some shopping later!) we walked under the road bridge, meeting several birding aquaintances who told us the target bird - an immature Sabine's Gull - had just flown.
The islands beyond the 'Lumps' held good numbers of Spoonbills, Little Egrets and assorted waders: a couple of the photos I took of them appear to show a possible candidate for the Sabs.
Amazingly, the sky cleared before dawn, allowing wonderful views of this morning's near-total lunar eclipse. I find these events even more impressive than solar eclipses (I've never seen a total solar!) because of the eery red colouration of the Moon's eclipsed portion.
While Brian and I were searching for the Red-necked Phalarope at Wells on Tuesday, we chatted with Tom Whiley, a fellow birder who had seen the phalarope just before we arrived. He mentioned that he was a follower of 'Birds of the Heath' and ran a blog himself: he asked if we could post reciprocal links - this I have now done! Tom is a tremendous artist and photographer - his blog is just one of the best!
I used to visit the Fen several times a week: it's where I met Brian, Norman, Mark and many others. Sadly it has steadily metamorphosed into a country park, with all kinds of 'activities' for kids. However, it still attracts interesting wildlife, and if you visit early and avoid weekends / holidays it can still be a peaceful, enjoyable venue.
My visit today was a quick walk round to Tower Hide, in an attempt to finally add Garganey to the year list: I think I probably did, in that one of the female-type 'Teal' had a blue speculum. Lots of other confusing waterfowl, including the 'mini female Red-crested Pochard' below!
Great and Little Egrets were abundant, as were Migrant and Brown Hawkers, Emperors and Willow Emeralds... Naturally there were a few Hummers too!
...until the near-total lunar eclipse: but will the clouds stay away? Last night visibilty was perfect - fingers crossed for Friday morning.
Brian and I headed straight to North Point Pools at Wells, in an attempt to grab Red-necked Phalarope for the year. Despite a hike round to the high ground to the north, we failed to find the target, although fellow-blogger Tom had seen the bird earlier. (Hobby was a bonus)
The move to Cley was not desperately productive: lots of the expected waders - including three Green Sandpipers - but no Garganey. After coffee we moved to Gramborough Hill, where a Glossy Ibis was good to see. A good search added Stonechat, Ringed Plover and Wheatear to the day list.
We decided to have a last bash at North Point, but had to be content with a Little Gull, lots of Spoonbills and another Glossy Ibis
