What a Spectacle....

Friday 7 June 2014
A male Spectacled Warbler had been at Burnham Overy Dunes for four days, was very settled and even building a nest, so I thought it was about time I took a stroll as it was only some 15 minutes from home. I have always loved Burnham Overy Staithe and the morning's walk was no exception with the glorious sunshine making the harbour look superb. Little Egrets were in the creeks as Oli and I started our walk from the harbour along the sea wall.

Little Egrets are pretty common now around the harbours and on the Saltmarsh but always a joy to see.

 Little Erget in reflective mood

There were very few people about which was a bit of a surprise but then the Spectacled had been there for four days and all the hardcore listers would have already seen it so with news that it had been seen at 6 am (it was now 7am) we continued with baited excitement. En route along the wall Redshanks were doing their thing and calling for any available post.

Half an hour or so later we reached the Dunes, turned west and joined a group of some eight people. The Spectacled Warbler was showing well, singing, song flighting and in the process of building two nests. Absolutely fantastic, no crowds a lovely warm and sunny morning and a male Spectacled Warbler. Keeping a respectfull distance meant photography wasn't easy as the bird was small and very active, but just occasionally it would sit up on a piece of Sueda and sit still for a few seconds.
Here some of the heavily cropped snaps:

 Collecting nesting material and singing at the same time ..

Two hours watching this with crowds never exceeding a dozen people, were we really in Norfolk watching a second for the county ? (the first eight years ago which only a few people saw).  Too good to be true so we left - the right decision as more people started to turn up. Grey Partridge and four Spoonbills were an added bonus. Burnham Overy Dunes -photo by Oli.

The walk back and Lapwings were feeding in the creeks.

and a Little Tern on a fishing jaunt did a nice fly by to draw our early morning to a close.

The day however belonged to this cracking little Sylvia Warbler

Stone me !

Tuesday 1 April 2014
Not an April fool, rather a very nice April surprise. Not too far away is a field full of stones. Look at the two brown stones near the centre, and go slightly left (ok it's a rubbish picture)

but there in the field and perfectly camouflaged was a Stone Curlew ! 

 I watched this bird for an hour as it slowly stood up and did nothing ! But the real rarity value was that I was watching such a great bird all on my own, and in birdwatcher-filled Norfolk that's quite an event. It was a beautiful morning, sunny and 17 degrees. Perfect for the bird to sit still and admire the heat haze rising from the field, playing havoc with my attempts to get a sharp shot - it was just too far away.

A more enlarged pics - also in the hedge were Tree Sparrows and overhead a Red Kite, Sparrowhawk and five Buzzards - all in all a very pleasant hour.

Still some Redwings about - this a week ago

 and in the Edgefield area good numbers of Crossbills, this flock of 63 birds (not all in the photo)

Ad a great morning

Friday 14 March
A foggy start soon lifted and then beautiful sunshine. So prime conditions for some emerging Adders. Not too much to say other than saw eight in all, mostly females and pre slough, silvery sides, so in a couple of weeks they will look even better. Here some pics.......

Bramblings give it up

Finally....
After lots of shots through the kitchen window (never clean) and much slithering about (too far away) and poking round corners (too obvious and they flew off) I finally caught up with our garden Bramblings this evening. We have five birds visiting the garden at the moment, one a cracking male, not in full breeding plumage but give him a few more weeks and I reckon he will get even blacker. They mostly visit early morning to feed when the feeders are in the dark and then visit on and off during the day.

another from behind trying to resemble a Wryneck ! really fantastic patterning

 with a couple of cousins - no ? ok full species difference Chaffinches 

I love 'em !

At Last.....

First Siskin of the year
While the garden has been filled with birds this year there has been a noticeable lack of Siskins, which were present continually through Jan, Feb and March last year. So this morning was a great  surprise as a Siskin paid us a visit - lets hope he stays for a bit and brings his friends !

A Garden Hour

Before Work...
A quick hour in the garden was really good fun on a nice sunny morning. It started with some stupidity in the pop up hide as once I was properly installed something went ping and all the birds flew off as the hide almost deflated ! Some hasty improvisations and I was up ( rather in ) and sitting again - less time available now.

First bird in was quite a surprise, a Nuthatch, and before I had time to sort the camera's settings. A good photographer would have done this before getting in the hide of course. My pics then were a bit over exposed - still it's a Nuthatch and although I was ready after this, it never re appeared at the nuts, despite calling all the time.

Then after about ten minutes the usual suspects started to arrive... Woodpigeons first and despite the use of a No Wheat Mix to try and keep them at bay a bit, they found the sunflower hearts feeder. They really do dominate and it was hard not to shout at them from my cover so the smaller birds could get a look in. Luckily they quickly decided to feed on the ground and keep the feeders open to others.

 Once again close up views allow the conundrum of the irregular iris - why oh why do they ( and Oystercatchers, and Black Woodpeckers ) have this ? Hey Ho   .... an unanswered enigma

Then came the Goldfinches, never an underestimated bird. They do love Niger seed and are really quite fearless

In recent years CJ WildBirdfoods have developed the Niger seed feeder so it is more efficient. Gone are the small slits which cost the birds too much time and effort to access the seed, and now are the larger port feeders, and I must say a great success in our Stanhoe garden. These feeders with a smaller access area than general seed mix also allow for better cleaning, overall excellent ( of cousre available from The One Stop Nature Shop ! ) 

 Hmmm... thinking about it

 Getting stuck in...

Great birds so worth a couple more portraits.....

 Almost unbelievable colours for a UK bird

Then of course no garden would be without one.....

Greenfinches are a bit uncommon at times here at Stanhoe but luckily today a few came in to feed.

 and the final entry before unveiling myself from the hide was a Collared Dove

all in all a very pleasant hour, pity the Bramblings didn't appear which is what I was really after, still there's always tomorrow......

Poland part 2

The second day...continued
this should have been a seamless post but for some reason the blog site kicked me out and before I had time to check the post, also a problem with upload quality of previous pictures (well that's my excuse). So to finish our last day in Poland. A clearish sky developed around 3pm so I suggest a trip back to the concrete road part of the reserve hoping for a nice sunset.