We've just emptied the moth trap in bright, warm sunshine. A Buzzard calling over the garden, Long - tailed Tits and a marauding Nuthatch on the feeders.
After a routine visit to the eye clinic at Cromer Hospital this morning, (yes, another injection next Tuesday afternoon), we set off west along the coast. The promised early cloud cover did not lift until mid afternoon, which made for a cooler day than the previous two.
The first punctuation was a visit to Cley Centre for morning sustenance - Eccles Cake for Pam, scone for me. We found a seat by the window from which we saw very few birds on the scrapes, compared with yesterday.
During a short visit to Coastguards, a single adult Gannet made its leisurely way east, hugging the water. There were six Curlew on a distant field.
Blakeney was a mistake. Blocked roads on the way in and worse on the way out. The harbour car park was jammed full. On a September Friday? After reversing with tucked in side mirrors, jockeying for position with on coming traffic - following a tentative driver was not helpful - we escaped and decided to give Morston a miss.
We'll call it the Drove. I've heard others name it but, it's not named on the local map. It's an unmade road to the north towards the sea marsh, east of Wells. The hedgerows are a haven for small migrants and there's a concrete sugar beet collection pad at the end. There is a track down to the marsh which we have driven in the past, but it now looks very overgrown. We have seen many 'good' birds from here. Pallid Harrier, Isabelline Shrike and Red Breasted Flycatcher to name three.
As we approached the pad, a parked car came into view, its startled driver occupied with taking off his trousers. A slight fumble when he saw us, and he then continued to strip to his maroon boxers, before donning a pair of shorts. Perfectly respectable.
Despite the stench from two fields full of pigs, we parked for a quarter of an hour. A peregrine flew in from the marsh, a Sparrowhawk took off from a nearby tree and a flock of Pinkfeet flew inland. At last. Pam saw Pinkfeet from Cley last week and also had a flock fly over the house. I missed both. We also saw a Marsh Harrier fly past. Excellent.
Next stop North Pools, Wells.
I reckon most of North Norfolk's Greylags were congregated here. There were hundreds of them, interspersed with a few Barnacles, Canadas, Egyptian and another flock of Pinkfeet.
Scoping from the car, I found a greater number of Ruff than last time, about a hundred Black-tailed Godwit and a few Lapwing. The Wigeon have now gained their warm chestnut flanks but the custard stripe on the head of the males is yet to come. A walking birder caused the birds to take off, many of the geese disappearing into the distance. Looking at the birds which re-settled, it was hard to believe that so many had gone.
We couldn't drive home inland via Stiffkey as the road was closed. We chose Wighton, Binham and then Holt.
No photos to-day. The car was emptied before its successful MOT on Tuesday and many things have not been returned - including my camera. My fault. Suffering from a UTI has made me dozier than usual.
Moth trapping is not very productive at the moment. Despite warm days, the nights are cold and often brightly moonlit. We did have our first Black Rustic of the year yesterday, always a delight, and our first 2019 Orange Sallow to-day.
Canary-shouldered Thorn is always admired.
I've been experimenting with my macro lens.
Last Tuesday, Natural Surroundings opened Longworth traps they had set the previous night as part of the 'Dark Skies' fortnight ( a natural history event celebrating Norfolk's lack of light pollution). We were in the cafe when Anne came in to tell us that they thought that they had a Weasel in one trap, a very unusual occurrence. There were also Harvest Mice.
Pam and several others went off to view and photograph. No. I didn't have my camera !! Pam's photos were requested by NS and will probably appear in their newsletter and Twitter feed. I also have permission to include them here.
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