Wings and Legs

Sunday, November 1 

Rain and wind to see us off on our day out. Not as much as yesterday afternoon when we did an hour's seawatch at Walcott. Such a joy to see a procession of Gannets in all plumages wheeling their elegant way to both west and east. I picked up a distant Bonxie and was able to see it harrassing an adult Gannet - their favourite prey in the northern isles. We're so accustomed to the prey usually being terns here. A smattering of Guillemots, all flying east, punctuated the Gannet fest.

The 'what's the deer lying under the tree', mystery is solved - thanks to friend Kath. It's a Sika in its winter garb. They only turn dark brown in the summer.

I nearly didn't get any photos at all that day. When I got home I loaded the card reader and moved to slot it into my PC. Somehow, my arm was jolted and I dropped the whole thing into a newly delivered, piping hot, mug of tea. Pam leapt into action - whilst I was still trying to get up - tipped the mugful into the wash basin and returned the reader + card in situ. I wiped the card, tapped the reader, re-assembled it and tried again. Everything worked, so we had deer photos.

Back to Sunday. We knew that we wouldn't catch high tide at Snettisham, so stopped off at a wood outside Holt where birds are regularly fed. Not using feeders, merely spreading food on posts and the ground. Pam spread some seed on a nearby post. Before she got back in the car, Coal, Great, Blue and Marsh Tits had appeared to grab breakfast. When the Grey Squirrel had departed, a Nuthatch dropped in. 

A healthy male Chaffinch in fresh plumage is a handsome sight.

 

 The day was notable for the number of Starling flocks we saw. Small to enormous in number, they were obvious all day, hurtling single mindedly, as one. to where? Probably part of the European Autumn influx  There were also several flocks of winter thrushes. The hedgerow near Abbey Farm held Redwing amongst the Chaffinches, feeding on the Millet crop in a nearby field, and Hawthorn Berries.

There's a very good crop of Sloes this year too. This roadside bush was lampered.

 

The tide was well out at Snettisham, many more Sanderling than we'd seen here last month, male Pintail, white breasts gleaming in the murk, scurrying Dunlin and a host of distant waders, too distant to identify.

The final pit was smothered by Greylags, the air full of their raucous calls. Not even Cormorants had endured their cacophany. Sleeping Lapwing, huddled between them on the islands, seemed oblivious. Huddled on the far bank, a white blob stood asleep. I kept scanning back to it. Eventually a yellow-tipped beak emerged, a Spoonbill. 

Just the one fungus seen all day, on a dead Birch tree stump. Still haven't found my book.

 

A full house of the expected Raptors. Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel and Red Kite.

 

The sun appeared again as we approached Cley. Friend Kath had told us that we could view the Legs from a service road in front of the houses overlooking the marsh. Successfully in place, behind a camera pointing birder on the footpath below, we scanned with increasing urgency. A strong wind was whipping the reeds between us and the path into a violent frenzy. Neither of us could see the bird, We changed position several times before driving to the gate opening at the start of Beach Road to turn round. There it was. Our first UK and Norfolk Lesser Yellowlegs for a considerable number of years. Surely we should be able to find it from the service road now, it was too far to photograph from here.

Back we went with the same result, no bird in sight. The field did have some tall sedges and the grass was also long, it must be hiding. Back to the gateway, from which we could - again - see the bird. The sky was overcast as I got out to lean on the gate. Pam used her binoculars to tell me where the bird was so that I could press the shutter - I couldn't locate it  through my viewfinder. The rain increased, I retired. 

I ended with four photos where the bird was discernible. Others have been able to take super shots from nearby in sun. This is maybe the least bad of the four.

 

Embarrassing.

The next available day before a month's enforced Lockdown is Wednesday. Here's hoping that the bird is still there and the sun is shining. Please.