Cockley Cley Area, Foulden Common & Threxton – Wednesday 8th April 2015
Red Legged Partridge
After such a long break it felt really good to be out and about so quickly. Jan had seen a Brimstone in the garden in the morning and by the afternoon she had added a Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and a Peacock all seen at Foulden Common, not bad four species so early in the season.
Comma Butterfly
We left home at 1.45pm and headed towards Westgate Street at Hilborough beginning today’s adventure where we left off with yesterday’s. It was quite a bright afternoon with plenty of sunny periods although it did cloud over a couple of times during the afternoon. The wind was light and the temperature was 16˚C.
Peacock Butterfly
We had only got as far as Hilborough House when I noticed a Grey Partridge in a roadside field. Jan quickly spotted the other half of the pair and although even being so close to them I completely failed to get any decent footage of them and we ended up in stalemate with one of the Partridges looking at us from behind a dense hedge. While we were sitting there to see if they would venture back into the open there was much coming and going of Pheasants, Red Legged Partridges and sauntering leisurely down the path towards us a big buck Hare. Unfortunately the Grey Partridges didn’t break cover so we moved on.
This next part of our travels was dominated by Hares, Pheasants and Partridges. We did see a Kestrel and a Brimstone Butterfly and I caught a quick glimpse of a Buzzard flying low away from us. We parked at the entrance of one of the rides and listened to the birdsong and watched some Chaffinches close by the car. Shortly after this stop we saw our first Deer, a Muntjac who had ventured out of the forest.
We stopped just outside of Foulden and watched a Lapwing in a field, there were also some Greylag Geese (9) and a pair of Egyptian Geese in a farmyard. I think these birds were kept birds because one of them had an orange neck ring on. I have seen these rings on Wildfowl and Wetlands videos before but never on a bird in the wild. Around the pond there was also a pair of Coot, a pair of Mallard and a Lapwing. We saw another Hare lazily making his way from one field to another. In fact most of the Hares we saw today were quite inactive and appeared to be enjoying the sunshine, one of the Hares was so relaxed it was laid out full stretch on its side. We saw a Buzzard circling above Foulden.
Foulden Common
Making our way through the village of Foulden we came to Foulden Common , which looks a really interesting place. I remained in the car while Jan went over to read the information signs. This is where she saw the Butterflies and I saw a Dragonfly fly over the car. I wasn’t quick enough to identify it but it looked like a Hawker and the Norfolk Hawker is one of the earliest Dragonflies. After Jan returned to the car we continued through the Common until we came across 5 Roe Deer Hinds grazing lazily on the edge of the Common. While we were filming them a Muntjac “photo bombed” them. There was also a couple of Canada Geese close by as well.
We made our way to Northwold but we didn’t see very much except some more Greylag and Canada Geese before heading towards Cockley Cley. Stopping at an entrance to one of the Rides in the forest we had our coffee while we watched Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Long Tailed Tits, Marsh Tits, a Dunnock, a Treecreeper, a Robin and a Wren busily flitting about in search of food. A bit further along on one side of the road we saw a pair of Buzzards riding the thermals without a wing beat and on the other side a lone Buzzard high above Cockley Cley. In the field we saw a Curlew land putting up 4 Oystercatchers who circled round before settling down again. There was also a lone Greylag in the field.
Foulden Common
Roe Deer Hinds Foulden Common
Returning to the location where we saw the pair of Stone Curlews yesterday, we couldn’t see them but all that meant was that they weren’t moving around because when they sit tight on a field they blend in so well. There were plenty of other birds there: Corvids (Rooks, Crows & Jackdaws), Lapwings, Skylarks, Wood Pigeon and 4 Roe Deer Hinds. We decided to head for home, briefly stopping along the cut through road between the A1065 and the B1108 and saw a Teal and a Moorhen in one of the partly flooded fields.
Making one small diversion on the way home via Threxton we were rewarded with the most exciting sightings of the day. Just before we got to Hall Farm we pulled into a gateway of a field hoping to see a few more Hares before we got home. We did see a Hare but that wasn’t all. Sitting amongst a pile of white feathers was a female Sparrowhawk enjoying her late evening supper.
Female Sparrowhawk Having Supper
We couldn’t see what her supper was but she was obviously enjoying it so much that she was quite oblivious to us. We could see her crop getting fuller and at point she stopped as if she was completely stuffed before going through the motions of coughing up a pellet, although we didn’t see her actually do that, before continuing with her supper. Then it all became a bit surreal because I was telling Jan how beautiful the Sun looked as it was setting behind the trees, I turned to try and get a picture of it (just pause here to see if you can guess what happened next…) when I got a hand on my shoulder and Jan squealing with pleasure, I turned around and said: “What?” Jan replied: “A Barn Owl just landed on the gate!” Of course I didn’t see it being so pre-occupied with the Sparrowhawk and the sunset. We were parked about a foot from the gate and I didn’t see the Barn Owl, what a wally! Anyway the Sparrowhawk was still enjoying her supper so after about 10 minutes we left her to it. It was a shame that the light was now quite bad because she was only about 50 metres from us but we did get some footage and snaps of her.
What else could possibly happen, well before we got to Hall Farm another Sparrowhawk chased a bird over the hedge in front of us. We did see two Mute Swans on Saham Mere through the trees before getting some milk and finally getting home.
This is what we saw:
2 Grey Partridge
Red Legged Partridge (too many to count)
Pheasant (too many to count)
Wood Pigeon (too many to count)
Rooks (too many to count)
Crows (too many to count)
Jackdaws (too many to count)
Magpie
Kestrel
12 Greylag Geese
2 Egyptian Geese
14 Canada Geese
5 Buzzards
Lapwings (too many to count)
2 Coot
2 Mallard
Moorhen
Teal
2 Mute Swans
Chaffinch
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Marsh Tit
Goldfinch
Treecreeper
Long Tailed Tits
Dunnock
Wren
Robin
Skylarks
Curlew
4 Oystercatchers
2 Sparrowhawks
Barn Owl (well one of us did)
2 Shelduck
Dragonfly (possible Norfolk Hawker)
Brimstone Butterfly
Peacock Butterfly
Comma Butterfly
2 Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly
39 Hares
10 Roe Deer Hinds
4 Muntjac Deer
Natural Art
Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.
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