Vampire Deer

Saturday 10 March 2018
I should have been in the south-west today at the Lundy Field Society AGM but consequences of the snow and various other work and domestic related activities had me firmly in Norfolk for the weekend and mostly working. However the trips to and from work can often be wildlife rich and today was no exception. With the roads almost all passable now and clear of snow it was travel as usual. The road from Docking to  Deepdale is usually the most productive.

I have only seen a few Chinese Water Deer but know the are regularly seen by others with many people getting really good views, but apart from a very brief roadside glimpse, I've never managed to catch up with them - all my sightings being Titchwell and at distance. Today was different and as I slowed down to look at what I presumed was a Muntjac I was delighted to see a Chinese Water Deer in the field.

I was a little surprised as I know they prefer wet marshy habitat but they are expanding in Norfolk so I guess not surprisingly areas around the coast will have them. They originally came to this country as introductions to Woburn Park in the late 19th century and have subsequently escaped and it's alleged some deliberate introductions from Bedfordshire. The good news is that while they are declining in their native South-east Asia they are doing well in the UK with around 2100 animals which makes up 10% of the world population.

On a rather less encouraging note males with long tusks are prized by Trophy hunting in the UK - an argument I am not getting involved in. Ecologically they appear to have little impact as they mostly graze on grass. I look forward to seeing these again soon.

An interesting day

Friday 9 March 2018
I started the day with an hour at Sculthorpe Moor near Fakenham and got lucky with a touch of early morning sunshine. The paths at this lovely nature reserve were less than lovely and covered in ice so tentative walking slowed me down a bit I a modelled myself on a Penguin type approach, bit of a slow moving waddle. I ended up at the Volunteer's Hide and was confronted with a mass of movement around the feeders. Blimey there seemed to be everything there, Bullfinches, Bramblings, Siskins, Redpolls, Goldfinches etc etc. I decided to concentrate on the Redpolls in case they stopped feeding, a mistake because it was the Bullfinches that fed early and then disappeared, but nevertheless these Redpolls were looking great. There were about a dozen Lesser Redpolls and a couple of Mealy Redpolls.

In the previous month I'd made several trips to see Coues's Arctic Redpoll and had at best only poor views. Mealys had proved better for views but no decent photos and while it seemed everyone who owned a camera was posting crippling pictures of all three species I was still struggling to even get decent views. Well this morning was different for two of the three as these birds were close.

Many people with experience of this group advise caution and rightly so. The differences can sometimes be subtle and overlap between the species makes it even harder. Lesser Redpolls like the picture immediately above are the smallest of the three and when you get to see a male like this one are relatively easy due to all the red in the above the bill, around the face and on the underparts. The fringes to the flight feathers and wing bars are yellow buff in colour.

Compare that to the bird in the top picture and the fringes are pale. Overall the bird is paler than the Lesser . Other characteristics are the under wing coverts which typically have multiple blackish arrowheads on a white background as seen here when it was giving some grief to another Redpoll on the feeder.

I definitely need more practise with these but the Challenge Series Winter by Martin Garner is great and I have lifted some text from it here in my descriptions. A few more Redpolls: Mealy, Lesser then both

Also arriving at the feeders were Siskins although after about twenty minutes the Bullfinches had disappeared. Here a few Siskins:

With only an hour available I had to drag myself away for a meeting at Pensthorpe. Following the meeting which took significantly longer than it should have done due to punctures (it's too long and painful a story but bet not many people have had 7 in eight months) I headed for Holkham Bay to look for the Shorelarks. While watching some 9 of these delightful birds running around on the dunes news came through of a Snowy Owl. I don't really twitch but as this was some 50m from the shop I was off !
A very short walk down the drove and there on the sea bank was a small group of people with scopes ! And out near Scolt Head sat unmoving was a first winter Snowy Owl. Nice. A long way off for pictures but you can just see it below:

and to finish the day off a Barn Owl at Bircham

A Fare Day

Saturday 3 March 2018
Birds and snow again starting with a Snipe just outside of Hunstanton.

and then a flock of Fieldfares in the fields between Snettisham and Bircham

But still no Fieldfares in bushes or trees just all on the ground, until a phone call from Oli to say that Fieldfares were at his old house in Hindringham and there were trees in the garden plus bushes with berries - I was on my way ! Twenty minutes later and there were indeed Fieldfares and bushes and trees. The birds were very confiding, intent on feeding. This was indeed a window of opportunity as that evening the big thaw happened and the Fieldfares left. Here a selection of Fieldfares:

Roadside Birds

Friday 2 March 2018

Fieldfares were becoming increasingly easy to see as their normal flighty nature gave way to a food foraging preference. I couldn't find any birds up off the deck so most of the pictures were of birds grovelling about in the snow. 

 a distant Marsh Harrier from the coast road near Burnham

 and back at home I'm pleased to say one of seven Tree Sparrows in the garden

 a visit to Flitcham to see the famous Starling flock that made it to the BBC news. Here just a very small part of that flock on a bitterly cold day -10 degrees

Later that afternoon

(cont'd 28 February)
Snow = snowball fights and we were no exception that afternoon. I was mostly taking the pictures but then put the camera down to show Tom what a real snow fight was about - luckily there is no record of this otherwise social services would have paid us a visit!

 Here a few images of Sam Tom and Teasel at the playing filed:

 and as you can see Sam wasn't taking prisoners either !

 My particular favourite !

and then it snowed proper like

Wednesday 28 February 2018
Woke in the morning at first light to some real snow and first birds in the garden were a pair of rather disgruntled looking Grey Partridges clearly annoyed some of the feeders were lying idle.

and then a Pheasant
 I attempted to get to work which resulted in a normal 20 minute drive taking two hours, continually re routing to avoid snowed up lanes.The Hares didn't really have anywhere to hide.

 In the village some Redwings were looking for food and a bit more approachable than usual

The day however was less about birds and more about the snow as it turned out. Upon my laborious return from the shop (no other shops on site at Deepdale open including the garage so I shut after an hour of seeing none) I was issued to the playing field for the obvious !

The beast from the east

Tuesday 27 February 2018
As so began the snow ! Gently at first and then with high winds drifting that cut off most roads in and around Bircham. More to follow..........