Just Another Shopping Trip

Houghton-On-The-Hill – Little Cressingham – Saturday 16^th May 2015 

Houghton-On-The-Hill

We had to go to Swaffham to re-stock the birdfood for the garden. We left home at about 3pm it was bright and quite breezy, the temperature was 18˚C.

Kestrel Hovering

After getting the birdfood and doing a little shopping we arrived at Houghton-On-The-Hill at 4pm it was quite windy and there were a few visitors at the church. We sat and drank our coffee; the area was alive with birdsong but the only birds we saw were a few Robins until the visitors to the church left and then gradually we saw more and more movement.

The first bird we saw a beautiful male Bullfinch, I think it was may have been one of the first we’ve seen this year but he was particularly stunning being in full breeding plumage. Unfortunately I was so engrossed in watching him that I forgot to get any shots of him.

There was a steady flow of Butterflies but in the wind they were travelling so fast it was as much as we could do to just to identify them. Then we had a little visitor to the car. A small Bee that was laden with pollen, when we looked it up upon returning home we found it was an Amber Mining Bee a quite common solitary Bee that nests in the ground, forming a small mound to enter into the nest where she lays her eggs which hatch and the larvae stay underground until the following Spring when they emerge and spread out to begin the cycle again. The Amber Mining Bee is an early Bee being present in late April – June, it is quite common and is one of several similar species. Our son and daughter-in-law are keeping Red Mason Bees this year, a member of the same family.

Amber Mining Bee

We saw a a couple of Buzzards riding the thermals probably over Bodney and then gradually a few Swifts appeared and then more and more. I wondered if these were migrating birds that were passing through. Jan spotted a Kestrel and got some lovely footage of it hovering in the blustery wind. The air was alive with all sorts of insect life.

Looking Over South Pickenham

Moving along Peddars way we stopped at a couple of fields overlooking South Pickenham. We saw the Cockerel which appears to be living wild in the area and then we had a real treat when a Stoat ran across a bare patch of earth and then into the long grass. We saw his black tipped tail and his head as he bobbed through the grass before disappearing. Seeing a Stoat always makes our day and although we couldn’t see any Hares where we normally see a few, this more than made up for it.

A Feral Cockerel

We continued on to Little Cressingham seeing a few Hares and some lovely birds including a Whitethroat and Linnet before making our way home. We had one more treat as just before we came into Watton a Buzzard glided low across the road in front of us, another sight which is just beautiful.

We were in a bit of a rush to get back because we are great fans of Speedway and the World GP from Tampere in Finland was on the TV this evening.

 

Little Cressingham

Lillac

May (Hawthorn)

Linnet

What we saw:

Male Bullfinch

7 Buzzards

Robin**

Swifts**

Dunnock

Kestrel

Blackbird

Chiffchaff (heard)

Whitethroat

Linnet

Chaffinch

Pied Wagtail

Red Legged Partridges*

Pheasant*

Swallows**

Corvids (Rooks, Jackdow, Crows & Magpie)*

2 Hares

Stoat

Small White Butterfly*

Wood White Butterfly*

Brimstone Butterfly

2 Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Amber Mining Bee

* = Too many to count

** = Several

Little Cressingham

Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.