Yesterday saw us back out in the easterly Broads – not really
a wildlife related excursion, more of a drive in the sunshine and lunch at
Waxham. The Pink-feet were still in fine voice around the inland fields and
Marsh Harriers and Buzzards were obvious as usual but the Cattle Egrets were
not with the very muddy Galloways this time.
A stop at Rollesby failed to produce the Great Northern
Diver or Smew but the Great Crested Grebes were splendid and all decked out in
their spring finery. I suspect that that
they may be one of our most under watched resident birds. Those head plumes are sensational and of
course look better on the bird than on a hat.
A Woodcock came out of the Alders and performed a lengthy circuit and
was illuminated all the way. A real treat.
An attempt for Purple Sandpipers naturally failed once again
although their were 21 Turnstone and six adult Med Gulls at the end of Links Road.
This morning I persuaded myself to get up early and headed
down to Kessingland for a walk along the beach.
It was pleasant enough and not even that doggy but I could not find the
solitary Lapland Bunting in the miles of shingle and Marram.
The flock of 60 Snow Buntings flew over my head and the
entire length of the beach towards Pakefield and I could not be bothered to
tramp back that way again. Skylarks were
in fine voice and quite approachable and I put up a couple of Meadow Pipits and
a pair of Stonechat while Dunnocks and Reed Buntings were in the Sea Buckthorn
where Robins and Blackbirds hovered to pick the last of the now white berries.
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| Snow Buntings! |
Back at the car a pair of ringed Long-tailed Tits were
captivated by their reflections in a car window and spent and age flying back
and forth to check out the neighbours while a Dunnock watched what they were
doing.
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| Long-tailed Tits |
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| Blackbird |
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| Dunnock |
I stopped at St Edmund’s Church on the way out and quickly
found Luffia lapidella on several gravestones while I found the same at St
Nicholas in Wrentham along with fresh Ectoedemia heringella and some nice clumps
of flowering Primroses with the odd Celandine amongst them, Spring is not far away.
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| St Edmund’s, Kessingland - a grand thatch |
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| Luffia lapidella |
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| Polypody Ferns |
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| St Nicholas - Wrentham |
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| Laffia lappidella - can you see it? |
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| Luffia lapidella - such camouflage |
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| Ectoedemia heringella |
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| This huge Laurel will be amazing when it blooms |
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