Hunstanton/Titchwell

Grey Plover, Purple Sandpiper, Fulmar and Common Gull on the beach at Hunstanton












Record shot of one of the Wolferton "GoldenPheasants"

contaminated or not, I still tick em...

BT Kestrel

Not a Peregrine, but a Kestrel... on the BT Tower in Bedford town.

Norfolk ringing

My 1st ringing session away from Holme saw us catch and ring around 30 birds, a high proportion of which were Yellowhammers, followed in 2nd place by Blackbirds and Greenfinch. Thankfully we were able to ring in the warmth of the car and avoid the bitter wind outdoors...

Titchwell

Male Brambling near the feeders
















A selection of Grey Plovers and Curlew shots from Titchwell beach. Whenever I have tried to get decent shots of Grey Plovers in the past, the birds have alays run/flown away from me, making these shots most satisfying...

xbills...

Part of a group of nearly a dozen Crossbills, that gave amazing views around the boardwalk at Dersingham; single birds would frequently come to drink in the puddles around the base of the boardwalk. These were the 1st Crossbills that I had had the oppertunity to photograph and have shown on every visit, since we 1st saw them about a month ago.

Reading Laughter

After standing in the rertail park for 4 hours, the remainder of the day was spent exploring London. This group of 7 Black necked Grebes showed well in the concrete bowl of Staines Reservoir, along with a slightly diminished poplulation of Ruddy Ducks...












This was the only shot I managed of the Laughing Gull (Left hand bird). The picture was taken with no zoom at all, so as you can guess, the bird was pretty close... Unfortunately it only remained on the ground for less than a minute but gave fantastic flight views. At the point we saw it, the bird was developing its black head and is now (mid March) in full summer plumage, definately worth another visit. This was my second lifer (new bird) of the year following the Lesser Scaup on the Ouse Washes in Cambs.

Half term

Part of a flock of 16 Snow Bunting, Baited to the eyeballs and extremely tame... Great views, a hell of a lot easier than trying to get shots at Holkham!!














A solitary Pink foot close to Lady Annes Drive at Holkham NNR












Blackwit at Titch (Black tailed Godwit at Titchwell)

Half term saw me record 131 species over the week, not bad considering that most of the time we stayed local. 4 Grebes, 8 Geese, 17 Ducks, 10 Raptors (including Owls), 9 Finches (+ Crossbill) and 5 Buntings.... it all adds up! A great morning in Holkham bay revealed GNDiver, Razorbill, 6 Slavonian Grebes, 2 RNGrebe, Long tailed Duck and Velvet Scoter along with masses of Common Scoter and good numbers of Eider. The Black Brant showed well amoungst the Brents (Dark bellied) and the Shorelarks and Snow Bunts abliged around the Saltings. Crossbills gave amazing views at Dersingham (finally!) and the Woodlarks were in full song.... Roll on Spring!