I can't post any pictures because once again, my iMac is dead! A big new update yesterday caused this problem, plus with an update to iOs half my iPad apps are not working, grrrr!
An update on the 5 Painted Lady caterpillars; they have now all emerged and will probably be released tomorrow.
We set off for RSPB Snettisham seeing a Kestrel and a Jay on the way. We needed to renew my Diabled Parking Permit but the RSPB Office was closed so we went straight onto the Reserve. Because I have this special parking permit we are able to drive through the caravan park, through the Shanty Town and along the sea-front to the Rotary Hide. The hide is such a long walk from the car park, I would never be able to get there if I didn't have the permit.
Snettisham was hit particularly hard by the Winter storms of 2013. The access road was washed away and all the hides were damaged. Although the road has now been restored you can still see signs of the damage, some of the Hides are still in the freshwater lagoons where they were blown and although The Rotary Hide has been restored there is no glass in the windows.
One of the problems with Snettisham is because the Reserve is on the shores of The Wash the tide goes out a long way and consequently most of the birds are a long way off. There is still plenty to see both on the mudflats and the freshwater lagoons but it is a site where a telescope is extremely useful.
When we arrived there were two other people in the hide and they greeted us with: "Did you see the two Great White Egrets?" We've spent most of the Summer hoping to see one of these but today was not going to be the day. Why is it whenever you go anywhere someone always says something like you should have been here yesterday or last week! Do you know how to tell if it is a Great White Egret rather than a Little Egret other than the obvious size difference, which is only really helpful if you see the two birds together? The Little Egret has a black beak and yellow feet white the Great White Egret has a yellow beak and black feet. Needless to say, every close and distant Egret (and there were many) was scanned but they were all Little Egrets.
No Great White Egrets withstanding, we did see plenty of other birds including Greylag Geese, Knot, Common Sandpiper, Redshank, Turnstones, Shelduck and a small flock (collective noun-murmuration or chattering) of Starlings numbering about 50-60. These birds appeared high in the sky from out to the sea, a lot of them were young birds with light heads. I wondered if they were migrants from other countries, our resident Starling population is swollen over Winter by migrants from mainland Europe, Scandanavia and Siberia.
Although we were there at High Tide it was not a particularly high one so the birds were still a long way off. There was an interesting man in the hide from Leicester, his wife had gone back to the car. He told us of his trips to Norway and Alaska and he showed us a picture he had taken at Rutland Water of an Osprey who had an enormous Trout, which must have been at least 8lbs.
There were many unusal wildflowers along the beaches and the blackberries were in abundance. We saw several Dragonflies but were unable to identify them. On our way out of the Reserve the trackside bushes were alive with birds. The only ones we saw were Goldfinches.
We made our way to Abbey Farm at Flitcham, travelling through the Sandringham Estate. It was very quiet on the Farm, again all the action according to the visitors happened in the days before we were there. There were Greylag Geese, Teal, Jackdaw, Rabbits, Wood Pigeon in abundance, Stock Doves, Coots, Moorhen, Lapwing and one lone Common Sandpiper.
However, the day had been a very pleasant day out and our two last sightings made it special. As we were sitting in the car park at Abbey Farm there was a freshly felled tree in front of us. I saw something moving along the top of the trunk amongst the entwined Ivy stems, at first I thought it was a large Beetle. It was only when it got to the end of the trunk and moved to the next trunk did we see clearly what it was. It was the UK's 2nd smallest Mammal, a Pygmy Shrew (only second to the Harvest Mouse). These tiny Mammals have to eat 125% of their own body weight each day to stay alive and have such a short lifespan due to their high metabolism. A real privilege to see one, they're not particularly rare but it is unusual to see them because of their size.
Then when we were just a few miles from home just coming out of Ashhill a Barn Owl was flying along the edge of a roadside field parallel to us and no more than two metres from us.
Definitely the best 'til last.
Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.
No comments:
Post a Comment