The Holy Grail

Tuesday September 19

As we parked at Natural Surroundings, an unknown man entered the gate. Another stranger at a supposedly invitation only moth group? Visitors should pay an entry fee, all regulars pay an annual membership fee.

Getting to the cabin, a small group surrounded the stranger and I was nodded in that direction.He had brought a Clifden Nonpareil, trapped in Surrey, for us to see. Waw. Never thought I'd see one. Big, blue underwing, rare immigrant to the south coast. He displayed it on the wooden bench for all to photograph. It wouldn't open its wings fully for me.....

What a splendid moth. That leaves Deathshead Hawkmoth now........ 

Then, we got on with opening the traps, an anticlimax to-day.

Three Short Outings

Wednesday September 13

It started off sunny and ended in rain. We haven't been to Winterton Beach for months - avoiding the summer crowds. As we entered the village a Common Swift zoomed past overhead, heading south. Small groups of Swallows and House Martins, mainly the latter, fed along the dunes, gathering fat resources for the journey ahead.

Thursday September 14

A raging north westerly tempted us to Sheringham east car park after moth-ing at Cley. No Greg to-day, he was sea-watching at West Runton.

We parked at the front of the clifftop car park and in half an hour from a wind-shaken car saw, 4 Gannets, 1 Red-throated Diver, two dozen Wigeon and 4 Arctic Skuas.

As Sue B had said at Cley cafe, no real quantity but good quality. She'd seen Grey Phalarope, Bonxie, Long-tailed Skua and Black Tern as well, having spent most of the morning in the western Sheringham car park. I had expected the first Brent Geese to-day in the favourable wind.

Friday September 15

It's even longer since we birded Buckenham Marsh, another winter birding spot. Scanning the Cantley end of the marsh on the drive down was fruitless apart  from 2 Mute Swans. The large pool was full of Greylag and Canada Geese with about a dozen Avocets, a scattering of Teal and probable Garganey. The latter was distant and disappeared into the reeds. It just looked right.

Stopping in the Fishermen's car park, along with one other birder in the sole car there. I continued to scan the gates for Peregrine. The birder in the other car came across to point out a bird perched on a distant gate which he couldn't ID for certain. His scope was of the extending tube variety......It was a lovely adult Hobby which later flew over the car park. We also had two Wheatears squabbling over a gate post perch, three Kestrels, a Chinese Water Deer and Pam saw a Roe Deer. 

All very enjoyable in pretty awful weather. Some sun with lots of heavy rain showers.

Even Longer.....

Sunday September 10

School holidays and August are not a good combo for enticing Pam out birding. She's still as keen but the motivation plummets. We did manage a day out on the 1st for a change, curtailed by my leaving my Leki stick in the hide at Abbey Farm. This meant a detour which missed out the coast on the return journey - it was the first time I've left my belongings anywhere....Very annoying.

Lowest of low tides at Snettisham with the usual waders on display, scattered widely across the mud flats. Good to see a flock of returning Golden Plovers and two Greenshanks. Grey Plovers are one of my favourites, especially in their summer plumage, jet black pinafores.

A group of this year's Grey Partridges dashed across a field entrance near Abbey Farm.

We continue to moth trap almost daily, always catching interesting moths in ever diminishing numbers. We put out two traps one promising night at the beginning of the month. The actinic near the Buddleias at the bottom of the garden was full of Large Yellow Underwings, the egg boxes festooned with these large nuisances. A very valuable, sturdy  bird and bat food, but, they move around the boxes disturbing everything. We call them Blunders.

Frosted Orange

Maidens Blush

Dusky Thorn

I've also given a presentation at Blakeney Village Hall, entitled ''A Taste of Thailand'', to the North Norfolk group of the Butterfly and Moth Conservation group. Disastrous start. I only had 5 minutes to try and acquaint myself with their aged laptop before Judy started. I depend on the names of the photos showing at the top and forward arrows at the bottom. All other laptops I've used did so. Especially at the beginning, before nerves settle, not having to remember names is a comfort. I ploughed on, with advice from non - tech novice Judy and better from Greg - in stereo, of no use whatsoever. I'd sorted it by the interval. No-one seemed to mind much, bless them. It was good to see so many friends supporting us. 

I'd taken my own laptop as a back-up but it doesn't have the appropriate socket for attaching their projector. Ah well. I have since received an email - via Judy - from the couple who spoke to me at the interval, saying how much they'd enjoyed it. Much appreciated, praise is seldom received and always welcome.

Long Time No Post

Tuesday August 15

Mothing seems to have taken over our lives in the last month or so. Very enjoyable but I'm getting bird starved.  Pam's hands and shoulders are bad, particularly the right one, which means that I'm not going to push for lengthy driving when I can't share it.

After moths this morning and a visit to CleySpy for new eyecaps for my Swarovski binos - lengthy because they exclaimed at their dirty state and cleaned them beautifully - we stopped at Salthouse duckpond in the hopes of seeing the Ibis. Bob C and David N were already there having seen it earlier. During a lengthy chat with Bob, David called that the Glossy Ibis was distant but in view. Not for long. It soon disappeared back into a line of reeds.

Home to empty our own moth trap. We've had some good moths in the last few days. Here are a few:

Magpie

Webb's Wainscot

Currant Pug

Bordered Beauty

Orange Swift

Miller

Tawny-barred Angle

Frosted Orange

Heath Rustic

 

Norfolk in July

Sunday July 9

Not a productive day on the bird scene. Still no Spotted Flycatcher at our usual haunts, a very low tide with very  waders as yet returning from their summer sojourns. A few handsome deep red Bar-tailed Godwits, an almost white Ringed Plover and a few small flocks of Dunlin.

Snettisham was a holidayers hotspot to-day. Several cars and groups of cycling children swept onto the reserve, abandoning their transport to cut samphire along the tide's edge. What next?

Poppyland showed well, swathes of deep orange/red flowers backed by saltmarsh, dunes and wind turbine strewn sea. A picture of coastal Norfolk.

 

Notable Moths - July

Sunday July 9

Our mothing group has  been responsible for some notable records this month. A very productive and pleasant session for Abbey Farm Open Day on July 2, run for the Butterfly Conservation Group by Greg B, produced a new moth for most moth-ers present. A Breckland speciality, Royal Mantle. It was kept potted so that it could be made available to others. I didn't photograph it. 

It looked like this :

 There were also many Micro moths of interest - and new.

Our regular Natural Surroundings session on Tuesday July 4 had the excitement of a fourth record for Norfolk, the immigrant  Splendid Brocade. Again, it was potted and taken away to Norwich to be shared with others. As it's an inmmigrant, it can be released away from the trapping area.

Greg trapped a very rare Plume (micro moth) in his Overstrand garden. It had to be confirmed by Jon Clifton (its genitalia detail inspected )as a Crombrugghia laeta, itself a sub species of the very rare Breckland Plume. A first for Norfolk, well done Greg.

Our own garden produced some nice July moths too.

Clouded Magpie

V Pug

Varied Coronet

Rodophaea formosa Beautiful Knothorn (Micro)

 

Timing Problems

Friday July 7

We'd planned a day's birding along the North Coast - until we both overslept. Neither will wake the other as 'they must need the sleep'. And we'd not put the moth trap out the night before.

Pam did have a couple of urgent chores, a blood test at Cromer Hospital after yesterday's doctor appointment and a, getting old, cheque to pay in. HSBC have closed their North Walsham branch, Cromer is the nearest of the three remaining branches.

Cromer is a drop in clinic for blood tests, Pam had 17 waiting before her turn came. They do up to 150 every week day. The bank was a walk from the parking place where the nearest half to town was occupied by market stalls. During my long car waits I finished reading, Birdwatch and British Birds magazines and, three copies of a Wildlife magazine Greg passes on to me. Not wasted time. 

I then suggested that we visit Holt Country Park for butterflies. The sun was out and the car park almost empty, we were able  to park anywhere and at whatever angle we liked. 

Watching the Buddleias in the centre was fruitless, the bramble clump and Buddleias at the top end eventually proved fruitful. A White Admiral was active in the bramble although never perched for long nor in a convenient place. Why should they?

 This little fellow and two male Blackbirds did not help them to settle.

Distant orange brown flits  became an obliging Comma 

 and eventually, two sparring Silver-streaked Fritillaries. 

They were much more interested in fighting each other than in settling on the deep purple flowers which set off their colour beautifully. This is the best I managed, using my 300 mm lens on my Canon D70 from the car. Must go back with more time and patience.