Tuesday Vacation

 Tuesday October 26

The moth traps were emptied first. Our first December Moth, one of my favourites, plus a Rusty Dot Pearl, which is an immigrant, amongst the expected

Maybe Hickling NWT reserve would have put moth traps out last night. No, they hadn't, their season is over already. We drove to Whiteslea Lodge. A Jay, there's a shortage of acorns this year,  they are regularly seen in flight, two Stonechats and a Cetti's Warbler enhanced the onward ride. We actually saw the Cetti's, alerted by its burst of song - as usual. Parked at the end for a short while, a mixed flock of Blue Tits and Greenfinches passed through. One Bearded Tit gave us a race as we drove the long straight back to the Centre. A hardy Red Admiral and a single Common Darter were the only insects obvious.

We haven't been to Ludham Marshes for some time. Half term is not sensible as it's a popular walking spot, where both dogs and children abound. St Benet's car park was not full, but viewing was hamperd by tall weed growth. We found a relatively sparse area from which we could scan the marshes, with a distant Thurne in the background. Always incongruous to see sails moving through the land without any water in sight. The confluence of the rivers Ant and Bure is nearby.. Pam called 'Cranes'. Appearing from the Thurne end came a large flight of Cranes. As soon as they came into my line of vision, I shot off a few photos, more in hope than belief.

 

When I got home and loaded the photos, I counted 26 birds in the flock. What a splendid sight they are, the most we've seen together for a couple of years. 

Apart from a couple of sparring Kestrels , that was it.

 

Home to view Steve and Wayne's handiwork. Their visit has been anticipated all year. Lack of materials and pressure of work were the reasons given for the delay. They have completed the renewal of the brick archway over the side wrought iron gate. Pam's dad built it. He was very proud of it too, as it was his first ever effort. Unfortunately, it had become unstable. The garage door, which had started peeling, has been sanded. We bought the undercoat and paint in North Walsham this afternoon, on our return. That should happen tomorrow.

 

Velvet

 Sunday October 24

A reasonable trap of moths this morning, despite the wind and cooler temperatures. We were late too, Pam made another bread pudding. The highlight was a moth new for our garden.Until last week, I'd only seen one before, in Dungemess. Richard kindly brought one to NS, the first for his new garden in Beeston. It was a Streak.

 

Pam found it hiding in the sheet behind the MV Robinson. Despite being refrigerated for a couple of hours (accepted practice), it was very active in the pot. I hate that as it knocks scales off their wings. A quick photo and it was released.

Winterton - Friday

Towards the end of the really strong northerly winds, we drove to Winterton dunes car park, for the first time in months. It was open for business, but much of the cordoned off section facing the sea has disappeared. Sad to see such drastic erosion.

Settled in our favourite spot, two familiar birders in the lee of the shed behind us, I scoped the less than angry sea. I soon found the flock of Common Scoter, diligently, and slowly, searching through them. The flock kept appearing and disappearing in the troughs, diving for food at intervals. I saw glimpses of white......As is their wont, the flock drifted fast north, then rose and flew east before ditching and starting all over again. They'd done this for the second time, when a lone Velvet Scoter flew north, close in over the breaking surf. Excellent, we both got good views.

 

 

Not Far From Home

 Thursday October 21

Finding that - for the second year running - I couldn't get my favourite tomato (Ferline) and Runner Bean (Wisley Magic) seeds from any supplier, I turned to Amazon. I was able to find all the seeds I wanted, with replacements for the tomato and Runners, at good prices, and with free postage. Result. 

Then, we drove to Walcott via the field a mere 400 metres along the road from home where about 1500 Pink-footed  Geese were resting. It's lovely to hear their calls from our front drive. I intended taking some photos, as well as scoping for any unusual passengers, on the way home. They'd gone.

Walcott front was full of parked cars, we found one space from which we could have a look at the sea. The sea was foaming in, driven by a very brisk northerly. Two people on the beach were watching what turned out to be a Guillemot in the near surf. They then tried to catch it, driving it further out. Why? Especially when, he succeeded, got soaked to the waist by a surge around the breakwater, waded out, and then placed the bird on the beach! The auk was last seen drifting out again.

 

 

Bacton would give us a broader view, the extensive car park is only used by a few dog walkers at the moment.

During our stay, there was a steady trickle of Gannets, mostly juveniles, a few auks, Red-throated Divers, Cormorants, Wigeon, Kittiwakes and two Great Skuas. All being jet propelled east by a following wind. How can something so frustrating be enjoyable? But it was.

Covid Getaway

Tuesday October 19

Since moth-ing at NS has changed to a Wednesday, we have decided that abandoning the house and garden to Sam and Adrian on Tuesdays is a good idea. It gives them the freedom to carry out their work without our chat and interference, and all of us to avoid unnecessary contact. I am as guilty as others in being ultracrepidarian, ubiquitous and sesquipedalian at times. That should up my vocabulary tally for the week.

Another dull, overcast with some light rain, day. It didn't lighten until early afternoon.Very few birds made an appearance as we drove west, a Red Kite was the highlight - always. 

Finding an RSPB warden checking permits to drive at Snettisham was a surprise. That's only the third time ever. Finding no water at all was not - a surprise that is. An extremely low high tide three hours before we arrived was anticipated. Scoping found a scattering of the commoner waders feeding on the mud. Curlew, Redshank, Dunlin, Grey Plover, a small flock of Golden Plover, a single Knot, Lapwing, with one Greater Black-backed Gull on the far tideline.

The pit was full of Greylag, dossing on the islands. One Little Grebe braved the battalions. 

On the return journey, Pam called a 'very pale Brent', all alone on the middle section of the mud. A Pale-bellied Brent Goose, photos had to be attempted.

 

Earlier in the year, we saw a small flock on North Uist, where they are expected winter visitors.

The road to Thornham marsh was closed. As was the road to Burnham Norton. No reason given.

Favourite Brancaster Staithe, tide rushing out, had avidly feeding Black-tailed Godwits,both deep-thrusting beaks and suctioning legs, mud shrouded.

 

 

Pam noticed a large fish (?) corpse on the edge of the tideline, near the fishing boat pier. Maybe a fisherperson would be able to identify it. I'd love to know.

 

Wells, North Point Pools, didn't look promising. Much less water on the east, none to be seen on the west. Scoping came up with a large Lapwing flock , more Greylag, Wigeon, a few Teal, seven Egyptian Geese asleep in the field and one Ruff amongst the sleeping duck.

Holkham looked very birdless. We eventually added a Marsh Harrier and a Great White Egret to the day list. Best was a heart warming English rural scene. Belted Galloways feeding contentedly on the rich marsh grass, a truly bucolic scene. For the first time to-day, the sun broke through to highlight the painting.

 

 

 

Transitions

Sunday October 17 

Spitting rain, a  heavy grey overcast sky, we drove to Buckenham. 

As we approached Lingwood, a large Rolls Royce floated sedately towards us, before turning into the Kings Head Pub car park, where another in maroon was already parked. Continuing, a black Jaguar EType, a powder blue Morris Minor and several other, unrecognised, vintage cars went by. All sporting a small Union Jack out of the onside window. A club outing of some kind I guess. The car park was already crowded. At one time, an EType was my most wanted car. Sara and I sat in a red one in a Swansea car showroom window, waiting for Dad to negotiate a change of car. We pretended to be on holiday in it.

After the railway crossing in Strumpshaw, we came across a dozen cars parked in a grassy area. What was that about. There were several walkers, but not that many. 

Our first marsh viewing area is from the second level crossing, where we can pull off into a gateway.  Lush vegetation meant that all I could see of the geese was heads and necks.  I remarked that there were probably a lot of Pinkfeet spread over a wide area. A flock of Canadas was also obvious. On to the next gateway. Now I was able to scope many more geese, identifying three Barnacle Geese amongst the Pinkfeet. Genuinely wild birds? 

Suddenly, the flock catapulted into the air, there were thousands. It may not be unusual, but, we have never seen as many Pinkfeet here. The sky was black. Poor photos which give some idea of the flock's size.

 

The noise was tremendous, a real assault on the ears -  I love it.

Gradually, the geese returned, most of them dropping out of sight,  the other side of the Cantley beet factory bank. 

Eight Chinese Water deer around the eastern marsh, at least one more on the west.One Grey Heron, two Cormorants, a small flock of Skylark and a Marsh Harrier sporting two green wing tags looking like headlights. I wonder who has been tagging like this.

The Hide pool was full of noisy Greylag, several Shovellers, Lapwing, Mallard, Teal and Wigeon. A lone Dunlin, with a longish beak, had me puzzled for a while. Maybe an Alpina form. 

When we left, there was hardly a goose to be seen, what  a transition.

Brief Sea Watch

 Tuesday October 12

After a 4 p.m. hairdresser appointment at Walcott, we drove to the sea front parking area. Despit it being past five o'clock. there were still a few cars around. Low, golden sunlight, and enough surf to make the sea interesting, we settled to enjoy the view. 

A few small groups of Brent Geese flying west, and the occasional gull were the only fly-bys. Until our eyes were 'in' . We became aware of the Red-throated Divers hugging the surface far out - and then, one appeared close in amongst the surf.  An adult in breeding plumage, not a common occurrence. I would wish for better light.

 

Also bobbing about in the middle distance were small numbers of auks. We identified, Razorbills and Guillemots, a small cluster of three Puffins was the highlight.There appears to be a wreck of emaciated auks along the east coast. We didn't see any on the beach, plenty at Cley it seems. So sad. Something has gone wrong in the food chain.

I didn't see any Gannets, Pam saw one juvenile. When we were last on Hunstanton cliffs, the tide was very low, exposing a sandbank over which the sea was breaking. At least fifty Gannets were plunge diving around the exposed bank, attendant gulls hoping for scraps.

Walcott sea wall is always good for Turnstone waiting for food from passers by. Chips or bread. Very healthy.

 

No Sanderling yet.

A couple of days ago, Pam found a moth on the trellis near the actinic trap. She potted and fridged it - and forgot it. This morning, she produced it, asking me if we should take it in to NS. As I hadn't seen it before, I used OBSID for the initial identification,  before checking in a moth book, and on the Norfolk Moths website. Our NS moth group agreed that it is a Gem. An immigrant new for our garden and to our Norfolk list. We had previously seen one at Dungeness, in Kent. A good find by Pam.

 Recent catches have included:

 Red-line Quaker 

Delicate 

Dusky-lemon Sallow

 Mottled Umber

Autumn

 Sunday October 10

Pam Ayres says it better than I ever could.

 Yesterday's weather stirred Pam into making Bread Pudding, the first for many years. Inspired by Sue G's recipe plus a few additions, the eating is as good as its looks.

The moths are mainly brown too. A Dark Swordgrass was the pick of the catch this morning, an immigrant.

 

A second Delicate, two very worn and bedraggled Palpita Vitrealis and a sumptuous Chestnut.

 

Ho hum. The Long-billed Dowitcher at Potter Heigham was reported again yesterday, seen from the Weaver's Way footpath, not a place we can access.

Dip

 Friday October 8

I say 'Dip', but it didn't really feel like one. Potter Heigham Marshes has had a reported Long-billed Dowitcher present for over a week.  It seemed wrong not to go for it - but the viewing is so difficult that I was reluctant to do so.

After a third six weekly visit to the Cromer Hospital Eye Clinic when an injection was not deemed necessary, maybe we should try. Despite over two days without rain, yesterday was glorious, the approach track took us through some very large puddles. Tuesday's wind had the temper of a virago, throwing her vicious spears at an innocent victim.

One advantage of this heavy rain was that many reeds had been beaten down, giving a few gaps through which to view the water - albeit through a few stalwart stems. .Pam held pole position on the way there, I had my scope out for the return journey. Many sleeping wildfowl. Wigeon, Teal, Mallard and one female Tufted Duck, Shovellers, Greylag, Egyptian Goose, Pinkfeet and a lone Little Egret. We kept changing position, no sign of any waders apart from a solitary Lapwing.

A cycling birder drew up alongside. He'd cycled all the way round, finding a Green Sandpiper and a a few Little Ringed Plovers. He'd last seen the Dowitcher a couple of days ago,  with a dozen Black-tailed Godwits. It looks as though they all departed overnight.

News came through of an Eyebrowed Thrush on the beach at Sea Palling. Waw. We've only seen one, in south east Scotland - we twitched it from our chalet in Carrbridge. One reported on St Agnes when we were on Tresco, resulted in a special boat arriving, everyone erupting onto the jetty at St Agnes, running up the hill past the Turk's Head, spending twilight hours searching the small fields past the Post Office  where it had been seen. Well, the boatmen made some money.

Home to open the traps, not expecting much. 81 moths of 23 species.

More than we expected, with three moths new for the year.

Merveille du Jour

 

Delicate

 

Dusky-lemon Sallow

 

 Sometimes, one has to accept sub standard photos of good moths, head first in an egg box, refusing to play ball with the camera.

The Boss

Tuesday October 5

A busy Monday, researching and ordering a new lawn mower - ours died - and then completing an hour long re-application for  a Blue Badge. Fortunately, I checked the date on my Blue Badge, finding to my horror that it ran out on September 27. I should have checked earlier. The form is horrendous, requiring several documents regarding disability, proof of identity, proof of home address, a photograph etc. I'd expected that applying for a new one would be simple compared with the first one. It wasn't.

I was looking forward to a morning's birding.to-day, moth-ing at NS is on Wednesdays from now on. It rained very heavily overnight, it continued to do so until after ten o'clock. Remarkably, our moth traps had more moths than for a week or two. It included Mallow, Green Brindled Crescent and two Palpita Vitrialis, all new for the year. A beautiful Red Underwing and Dark Chestnut too.The Brick pictured below was a Sunday night trap, also  new for the year.

 

We eventually decided to leave Sam to clean the house in peace, driving to our chiropodist appointment in Sheringham via the back of Gunton Hall. Despite a wire fence and undergrowth, I was able to take a few photos of a magnificent Fallow deer stag and his hinds. 

 

Highlights

 Sunday October 4

At last, a day free of appointments and happenings. We had a full tank of petrol too. West Norfolk, here we come.

Very little of note in our usual stops, we didn't see any species of tit all day, nor finches, apart from Chaffinch and Linnet. We added Coal, Blue and Great Tits when we got home, plus Goldfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker. Pam saw a Magpie - I had to wait until there was one on our back lawn.

Our arrival at Snettisham pits coincided with the very lowest point of the tide. I was so busy watching a Herring Gull drag a dead rabbit across the shore before pecking at the eyes, that I forgot to photograph it. Grisly, but interesting. If the animal died from myxamatosis, would the bird be affected by that?

Around twenty Pintail, mud loafing in a line, only two drakes approaching breeding plumage, were our first of the year. Small flocks of Golden Plover, and Mallard, isolated Grey Plovers, Redshank, Curlew and Dunlin with a few Teal. completed the mud list. I added Little Grebe, Moorhen and Egyptian Goose on the pits.

Views of two different Sparrowhawks, five Red Kites, one Marsh Harrier, one Kestrel, and two Buzzards completed the raptor list. 

What a surprise. Despite the - now - blue sky and sunshine, Brancaster Staithe only had six parked cars. We haven't called in to one of our very favourite places for months, because of its popularity.The entry road was free of its usual cars jostling for parking and passage. Full of boats of all shapes and sizes, none have been taken out of the water for winter storage yet. Pretty empty of water still, a few ducks and waders waiting to be winkled out from their crowded resting places.

Teal are amongst my favourites, I find the males stunning, although I find it difficult to do justice to their dapper beauty.

 

The blue sky was reflected in the wet mud.

A few Brent Geese broke away from the cloud which lifted off the marsh.

A Curlew appeared, dwarfing the nearby Teal.

Another immensely soul satisfying day. Time to go home and watch the best football match I've seen this season. I can't remember a better one, ever. Not one with both teams playing exciting, skilful, technically brilliant football. Liverpool 2, Manchester City 2. A just result I think. I haven't read what the papers say yet. I could relax and enjoy it too, as I wasn't emotionally involved !

And we filled up with petrol in Roughton.  No queue.

 

Bacton Bounty

 Friday October 1

We'd planned to stay in to-day as we had big plans for Adrian. Our aged Raspberry bushes failed to thrive this year, they needed replacing. The old already disposed of, the new canes waiting. the soil needs to be removed up to a spade's depth and replaced with fresh. That means barrowing onto an adjoining veg plot, digging replacement soil from the same plot. All in a day's work a few years ago, Adrian's job now.  Then, enriched with organic manure - also ready and waiting. It rained. He managed a few indoor jobs before leaving, hoping to return to-morrow.

Mid afternoon, we drove to Bacton in order to hand in an Amazon return parcel, then, on to the car park overlooking a very calm sea. 

Binoculars revealed a few dark blobs mid distance. Telescope time. In total, I saw four summer plumaged Red-throated Divers, six winter plumaged Guillemots, an adult Mediterranean Gull and a regular, though sparse, procession of Gannets flying south. The latter were nearly all this year's young. Enjoyable.

Our moth group sessions this week have been both meagre, and lacking in variety.  Our own traps have been marginally better. On Sunday night, we had our second beautiful Convolvulus Hawk-moth of the year, this one in good condition, despite its long flight across the channel. 

 

The diminutive macro, Marbled White-spot, was a surprise, they are early moths, the book states ''flying late May-July''.

 

Another immigrant this morning, despite overnight rain and wind, was a Rusty-dot Pearl.

Brought in on southerly winds. 

  

Some good birds soon, I hope. Shetland seems to be coming up trumps at the moment. Several Norfolk birders, including Penny, are already there, or on their way.