Norfolk

It's a bit silly to go to the north Norfolk coast on a Bank Holiday weekend and then moan because there are lots of people about...

Anyway...

Lots of birds at Titchwell, too. Mixed flock of Dunlin and Curlew Sandpipers

Curlew Sandpiper with Phragmites in the way...

Bathtime for Ringed Plover

Redshank

Teal dabbling

Snipe probing

Will Bowell and David Roche had counted 24 species of wader on the lagoons and beach, which I think would have been...

1. Dunlin
2. Curlew Sandpiper
3. Black-tailed Godwit
4. Bar-tailed Godwit
5. Lapwing
6. Golden Plover
7. Grey Plover
8. Sanderling
9. Temminck's Stint
10. Little Stint
11. Redshank
12. Spotted Redshank
13. Curlew
14. Snipe
15. Green Sandpiper
16. Common Sandpiper
17. Oystercatcher
18. Avocet
19. Ringed Plover
20. Turnstone
21. Greenshank
22. Ruff
    
23. Knot?
24. Wood Sandpiper?

Before hitting Titchwell, we took a walk along the hedgerows at Burnham Overy Staithe, only to find it congested with dog-walkers and a selection of eccentrically-dressed birders, and devoid of birds. Nice Migrant Hawkers, though.

Lunch was had at The Chequers Inn, Binham, and was very good. I can recommend the steak and ale pie. Am I getting middle-aged?

Nearly forgot to mention that I had a Titchwell tick - a small boy having his bum wiped by his mother, on the main path to the beach, fully exposed to the cold north-westerly wind. Poor sod. No wonder he didn't look very happy. Is there anything people won't do on nature reserves? It seems not...

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Local birding

Green-winged Teal (right, front)

The above Green-winged Teal was probably the highlight of our day in the Peterborough area, today. It was first found at Woodwalton Fen NNR a couple of weeks ago but has only been visible intermittently, as the Teal flock it's hanging out with like to hide in the reeds. So that was quite lucky.

Male [Common] Teal

Chinese Water Deer

Chinese Water Deer are very odd-looking beasts. There's something rather teddy bear-ish about their faces. They seem to be quite tame - this one came wandering towards us.

The marks on its body are intriguing. Is it the result of fighting or just moulting? You can often see clumps of very coarse fur lying on the ground at Woodwalton - it almost looks like porcupine quills.

You can read more about them at the Deer-UK website.

We started the day at Aversley Wood - a few springy shots below.

Dog-violet

Blackthorn blossom

unidentified flowers!

new Hawthorn leaves

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Seeing some birds

To start with, Ferry Meadows Country Park, Peterborough:

Cormorant

Black-headed Gulls

Moorhen



Great Crested Grebes

On to Eyebrook Reservoir:

Green-winged Teal

Smew (I always think 'White Nun' should be an alcoholic drink for birders

To finish the day, CEGB Reservoir, Peterborough:

Iceland Gull!

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Dullness

Teal


Black-headed Gull

Walked all around Ferry Meadows in hope of finding some redpolls to sift through, but didn't even manage a Siskin or a Bullfinch. Pretty poor stuff...

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Ferry Meadows

I have been hoping to get some good photos of Gadwall for a little while now. Lynch Lake at Ferry Meadows is the best place in the area for this... The birds feed close to the shore and though they initially swim away from you, they soon come back again!

Coot a la Tranter :o)

Round on the nature reserve, there were plenty of Teal (above) and Shoveler to have a go at. Unfortunately, both species spent most of their time either asleep or with their heads underwater.







A Grey Heron had its eye on some fish for elevenses. I accidentally got some action shots! There is a delay between my finger pressing the shutter and the camera taking the picture. This means lots of pictures that don't show quite what you had in mind. I wonder if I will ever succumb to the temptation that is DSLR?


I didn't notice the ripples of light reflecting from the water back onto the gull until I got home...



Sometimes you stop and wonder whether there is a god of digiscoping smiling down on you. This was very lucky indeed. The Song Thrush hopped up from beside the railway into a tree near where I was standing. It was a bit dark but I got the scope onto it anyway. Amazingly, it stayed while I got a handful of shots - which were in focus! This does not happen every day...

You can tell where the Bullfinches have been laying into the guelder rose berries...

And, in time for Christmas, a Robin.

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece