Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Yellowlegs and Kite





















Had I remembered to put the memory card back in the camera I would have had more pictures... To be honest, the wind was bitterly cold and the call of a nearby hot cup of tea was too much to resist. Good numbers of Kittiwakes were feeding offshore at Holme (53 in one count) and 3 Little Gull appeared on cue during the afternoon seawatch. Saturday bought Hen Harrier and Bean Goose at Abbey Farm but the unboubted hilight of the weekend was laying eyes on the creature below....














After many weeks of frustration ,the Snettisham Black-eared Kite finally gave itself up, offering amazing views and providing me with my 202nd Snetts tick. The first weekend I had a chance to see it and it dissapeared on the friday, after being present all week. From here the Kite dissapeared to the broads (though it was claimed around the Snettisham/Wolferton area over the weekend) and then moved back along the coast to Cley. Here, it remained for a number of days before returning again to Snettisham. Thinking the bird was to be safely "in the bag" I was proved to be wrong as it then made a return journey back to Cley, where it remained just untill the new year. At this point I get a little confused as to the birds movements but the important point is that story ends with the bird returning to Snettisham and me being able tick it.... something I did with enormous satisfaction.

One of the caravans along the beach at Snettisham. Similar to the destruction of the College Wallaby shed but on a arger scale...

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your birds are so different from ours - although we do have a shore bird similar to your yellowlegs-I am not familiar with a Black-eared Kite. We do have Barred Owls here though. Very interesting blog and great photos. Thanks.

10:01 PM  
Blogger David's Birding Diary said...

The Black eared Kite is one of the eastern races of Black Kite and is in fact a first for the UK. Both Black Kite and Lesser Yellowlegs are rare but annual visitors to Britain. Cheers David

11:51 AM  

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