Back in February 2009 I was Best Man at David and Suzanne’s
wedding at Cley Windmill and last summer it was meant to be the turn of my good
friends Debs and Marna but needless to say it never happened.
It was rescheduled for the weekend just gone and as such we
headed up there for the weekend on the Friday with the added bonus this time of
actually staying there.
The drive up was tedious in places with plenty of
coastal traffic but by lunchtime I was at Titchwell for a walk. It was nowhere near as busy as I expected
with more dog walkers and beach goers than birders and with overcast skies it
was more conducive to the latter but the diggers were out re profiling the main
freshmarsh and as such the majority of the waders were tucked in the far corner
at the back and the Spoonbills had done an early morning bunk.
It was a pleasant enough walk though and my first visit up
here this year. A Hobby elegantly caught
dragonflies over the reedbed where Marsh Harriers hunted and Pied Wagtails and
Meadow Pipits scurried around the muddy margins.
I could see Blackwits and Avocets and hear Greenshanks and
Ringed Plovers and down on the brackish marsh there were Turnstones and
Redshanks while an adult Herring Gull and two whining youngsters squabbled over
a freshly dead Common Eel.
The tide was as far out as possible and both Godwits,
Oystercatchers, Knot and Turnstones were feeding on the mussel beds while
squeaky Sandwich Terns and 12 Scoter passed offshore. It was odd to see more
beach goers than birders and off towards Brancaster was rammed.
I retraced my steps picking up cs,
three flouncing Wall Browns and four Curlew Sandpipers that came in calling
with some Dunlin over my head. Seven
Whimbrel came in off the sea and headed inland calling as they did so.
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| Whimbrel |
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Lesser Marsh Grasshopper
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'But I am far more colourful...'
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A quick coffee and then east towards what I believe is called
North Pool at Wells. I saw this wetland
area from the A149 back in February last year but had never stopped to
look. There were plenty of waders here
with Green and Common Sandpipers, Golden and Ringed Plover, adult and juvenile
Ruff, Greenshank, Snipe and Blackwits while a juvenile Spoonbill preened
amongst some Avocets.
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| Ruff |
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| Spoonbill |
There were Geese everywhere with Canadas, Greylags,
Egyptians and even six Barnacles and amongst them strode a fine adult Common
Crane that managed to walk behind one obstacle or another whenever I switched
from scope to camera!
There were Gatekeepers and Walls Browns here too and a male
Marsh Harrier had a good go at catching a wader for lunch just before I left.
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| Walls Brown |
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Gatekeeper
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After checking in at Cley Windmill it became a lazy evening with
my first ever visit to the Cley second hand book shop and a few arty snaps of
the ‘wedding scene’ just in case the weather was dire the next day. I got us
dinner in Sherringham where more Whimbrel passed over the heaving town centre
and a drink with the ladies in the evening rounded the day off.
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My first Short-winged Conehead for some time
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Saturday was Wedding Day but not till 4pm which gave me some
post breakfast birding opportunities. It
was grey and threatening but not cold as I walked down the East Bank. Two
microlights once again pushed everything off Cley and, like at Rainham, I am
sure it is illegal to fly that low over a SSSI let alone dangerous when several
hundred birds take to the air.
There was a good selection of common waders on Arnold’s
Marsh and more young Sandwich Terns
following parents around but it was generally quiet. It was great however to bump into Nik Borrow
for the first time in many years. He was part of the ‘grown up’ crew along with
Charlie Wilkins and Ian Lycett who took me on my very first long distance
twitches back in the late 1980’s. I still have a fine original piece of artwork
from Nik on my wall of both Goldcrest and Firecrest in an autumnal Sycamore.
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East Bank
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With the weather holding I went to Kelling for a walk down
to the Quags. It felt birdy but in fact I heard a couple of Chiffchaffs and a
Whitethroat and that was about it although a Water Rail did come up out of the
clear stream and clamber through the hedge.
My quarry was avian but not a bird as I was after Red-veined
Darters that have been established here for a few years now and I soon found several
tandem pairs dip egg laying in the pool but alas none would come and settle on
my side of the fence. However, I could
see them well enough and their wings shimmered red in the weak sunlight. Emperors were the commonest Dragon down there. I checked the Hogweed and Ragwort for other
inverts and found several Tachinids and the imposing Mesembrina meridiana along
with a very pointy Robberfly. There were
a few Hovers but it was the male Volucella zonaria that I was most pleased to
find. I am not sure if I have seen one
in Norfolk before.
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| Mesembrina meridiana |
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Eriothrix rufomaculata
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Fat Tachinids...
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Sphaerophoria scripta
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| Volucella zonaria |
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| Volucella zonaria |
The rain started at about 3pm and it looked like the service
was going to be in the mini marquee rather than outside in the grounds but at the
last minute the Rain Gods gave the ladies the break in the weather they needed and
it all went perfectly and even lasted till after the pictures had been taken.
Sunday dawned very grey and threatening and I actually
packed the car before breakfast which was shrewd move as it happened as the
heavens opened during repast and as we sat our goodbyes it only got worse.
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Lily the village cat
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I drove into the rain around the entire Norfolk coast on our
route down to Lowestoft and the Wrens and it only really let up as we hit
Caister. Amazingly the sun them came out
and a glorious afternoon and evening was spent in their garden and while the
ladies caught up, Antony and I gave the garden a good going over in what
basically became a mini bioblitz. There were at least 11 Hoverflies, four
Bumbles, several other good flies, Field Grasshoppers, Wolf Spiders, six Butterflies, two Dragons, Ant Damsel
Bugs, a Sharp-tailed Bee, Bishop’s Mitre and three Ladybirds.
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Ant damsel bug - Himacerus mirmicoides
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Ant damsel bug - Himacerus mirmicoides
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Common Frog on Water Violet
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Eriothrix rufomaculata
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Gasteruption jaculator
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Helophilus pendulus
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| Helophilus trivittatus |
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Coelioxys sp - any help appreciated (AWr)
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Seven Spot Ladybird (AWr)
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Myathropa florea (AWr)
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Sphaerophoria scripta (AWr)
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| Pardosa Wolf sp |
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Soldier Fly larvae
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Mitopus morio
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Field Grasshopper
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Eristalinus sepulchralis (AWr)
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Eristalinus sepulchralis
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| Eristalinus sepulchralis |
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Caddis Fly sp
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Eristalinus intricaria
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Myathropa florea
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Oedemera lurida - note slightly open wing cases
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Syrphus ribesii
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https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8897700366528304175/3708988014394531255#
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Missing Sector Orb Weaver - Zygiella x notata
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Unsurprisingly there were a plethora of moths to looks
at. Antony identified a little brown one
that I found the other day while out with Nicole but it had only been seen a
couple of times in Suffolk before but as if my magic one appeared on the
Fleabane within minutes of arrival. He was most pleased. His stash of moths from the previous night
were roosting up prior to an evening release and this gave me the opportunity
for a crash course (once again) into the world of the Macro. I am hoping that my memory has served me
well in putting names to those I snapped...
So here goes nothing... feel free to correct me!
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Apodia bifractella - Antony's happy moth
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Canary Shouldered Thorn
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| Canary Shouldered Thorn |
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The Cabbage
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Black Arches
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| Black Arches |
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| Black Arches |
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Angle Shades
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| Angle Shades |
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Flame Shoulder
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Dusky Sallow
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Dark Spectacle
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| Dark Spectacle |
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| Coronet |
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Grey Dagger
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Knot Grass
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| Knot Grass |
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Large Yellow Underwing and The Turnip
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| Large Yellow Underwing |
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Lime Speck Pug
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Orchard Ermine
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| Willow Ermine |
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Willow Beauty
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Iron Prominent
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| Lesser Swallow Prominent |
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| Pale Prominent |
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White Point
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Wax Moth
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Vine's Rustic
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The Turnip
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odd Tawny Shears apparently
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Straw Underwing
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| Lychnis |
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| Straw Underwing |
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| Red Underwing |
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| Red Underwing |
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Poplar Hawkmoth
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| Poplar Hawkmoth |
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male and female Orange Swift
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| female Orange Swift |
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Old Lady
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| Old Lady |
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| Yellow Barred Brindle |
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Monopis monachella (AWr)
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| Monopis monachella |
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| Monopis monachella |
Swifts still zoomed overhead and a groups of Swallows
lingered around while three female Sparrowhawks circled above resulting into
two in full ‘get off my land’ shenanigans.
There was a fine Chinese for dinner and even the long journey home in
the dark did not seem too onerous after such a lovely day.
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