In Loving Memory....

Thats it then, this web site is dead, it is deceased, it is no more!After 10 years of residence and nearly four years(!) of blogging WildlifeAylmerton comes to a close. Synomonous with dodgey bird photography and probably even dodgier spelling, I'ld like to thank those of you who took time to have a look occationally, and a bigger thanks to those who visited regularly and even got in touch. I hope for the ley-men out there, the contents of this blog sparked even a little interest in the wonders of nature, and the fact that you don't have to travel thousands of miles to see wonderful things. For the birders, I hope, apart from the odd stringy report (bloody Hen Harriers in July...ridiculous!) that my reports were reliable and gave a good account of real birding. I do leave with some great memories from this little parish, suffice to say that Aylmerton wasn't well known as a birding site prior to our arrival but, the next time there is a Honey Buzzard influx, I know where I'll be the following morning! However, all is not lost for those looking for a cure to insomnia because a new house means a new web site! So my grainy pics and 3 day late reports will still enter d'tiniternet!

Follow if you dare (or can be bothered)......

http://sites.google.com/site/tg23birdininabox/

Taking the gloss off....

The past two days have seen me having appointments south of Norwich, and after missing out yesterday, I connected with one of three of the Glossy Ibis that have been present at Caister St.Edmunds for nearly a week. unfortunately I flushed the bird from close quarters along the river there, giving great flight views and photo opportunity-if had realised that the image stabilisation wasn't on! What a doofus!

Glossy Ibis...don't enlarge for crap pic!

Reconnaissance

After work I hit the coast line as close to our new house as is practicable, which took me to Trimingham. A look in the wood here held single Willow warbler along with Great Tit 2, Blue Tit, and Long-tailed Tit 2. Some great habitat here and one to keep an eye on. Walking along the cliff top had single Wheatear and best of all three fairly confiding Snow Bunting

Osprey

On way to work this morning I pulled over at Haworth Hall by the lakes to see if any waders had dropped in - nothing, but as I tur around a cracking Osprey flew across and disappeared behind the trees.

SBO tick

Lunch time saw me at Filby Broad, I was hoping to may be jam inon an Osprey, it was very warm with cotton thick cumulus cloud, ideal for raptors. No fish-eater here though, but scanning behind the broad produced 2 Common Buzzard, Hobby, Marsh Harrier and a distant, presumably Red, Kite.

A text from Rob later in the afternoon saw me pack up work early and shifti ng it up to Sheringham Obs where, in the wood after a short wait and creeping into the undergrowth, reasonable views of the newly found Greenish Warbler were had as it fed within the canopy of a sycamore. At last! A rare warbler here that I really should have seen here a long time ago!!

Greenish Warbler "......you aint seen me, roight?!"

A walk up the track this morning produced an imm Marsh Harrier moving east with singles of Hobby, Gol;den Plover and Snipe going west and a Chiffchaff in the hedgerow.

Sunshine State

A weeks family RnR in Florida last week was greatly appreciated in the middle of the moving routine. With a promise not to take my bins or 'big boy' camera it was all fairly relaxing and unadulterated fun. ofcourse this didn't stop me from seeing loads of wildlife and a decent list of birds including Bald Eagle, Common Nighthawk, Brown Thrasher, Red-shouldered Hawk, Anhinga, Osprey....

Snowy Egret


Dragon sp.


Regal Moth.....what a stonker!


Common Nighthawk....all taken with compact camera

Mystery Bird (or is it?)

So I stop for some lunch on some high ground just outside Northrepps and scan for birds. Almost immediately I pick up a Common Buzzard high up against the clouds and can hear a distant mewing. Watching this bird, a second appears, head on in the same area. Looking a little longer winged than the presumed adult I figure this may be a juvenile (they appear slimmer than the adults when fresh). Then it turns. "W.T.F!!!" out loud, as it shows an extensive white tail base (not pale or diffused but dazzling white!) with a clear cut, demarcated, black terminal band! I've seen Common Buzzard with pale tail bases (I look at every Buzzard I see!) but nothing like this! (Although they do occur, see below) This bird has now got my full attention ! Underneath though the bird is pale, too pale maybe for the other, highly unlikely candidate, but that tail is still screaming at me. I manage a very distant pic, cursing the fact that I don't have my 'scope with me, and as quickly as I found it, I lost it - raptors, never was any good at 'em!

Some comparison images blattently stolen from the net...

Common Buzzard by Brian Small.....

gorgeous Rough-leg, somewhere in Russia.....

my pale, screwed up, (short handed!) thing.... a Common pretender? (Pump it up to 200% if you can't see the speck!)

Saturday

A morning dog walk up the track produced 3 Common Buzzard (2 ads and a juv) and a brace of Hobby hawking below the former. House martin and Swallow much in evidence over the village but no sign of any Swifts.

End of an Era....

After a roller-coaster of a summer trying to make long term plans, and on the cusp of booking some far away flights somewhere, a crazy two hour period this week found us having an offer excepted on a house we have been courting for months followed by a 'cash' buyer for our place after being on the market for ten days!!!!!!!!!!!!! The move is not a million miles from here, in terms of distance or move date (!) but it is not in Aylmerton. However, between the packing and running around there is an autumn to come so I'm sure WildlifeAylmerton hasn't seen its last post trumpeted just yet, here's hoping for one last goody.....

Cley

Went straight to Cley from work this afternoon and spent a couple of bird filled hours in front of the scrapes here getting a great wader fix! :
Spotted Redshank 15
Greeshank 18
Green Sandpiper 6
Common Sandpiper 5
Wood Sandpiper 1
Ruff 20
Yellow-legged Gull 5
Little Stint 5
Curlew Sandpiper 2
Ringed Plover 6
Little Ringed Plover 2
Dunlin 30
Golden Plover 2
Spoonbill 1
Whimbrel 2
Black-tailed Godwit c30
Redshank
Avocet
Lapwing
Cetti's Warbler 1

Avocet


Avocet with juvenile Marsh Harrier

Spoonbill

Just arrived... 4 Little Stint with 2 Curlew Sandpipers

Juvenile Spotted Redshank

Gadwall

Mothing

Had loads of moths last night for a couple of hours. Amongest the Yellow Blunderwings of all sizes, Common Rustics and Ruby ,were first Rosy Footman for the year, and two new ones for me and the garden an Oak Nycteoline and a fabulous Antler, the latter was really smart looking.

Antler


Oak Nycteoline

Un-Great-spotted Cuckoo

Saw my first Cuckoo of the year today (!), I mean my first Eurasian Cuckoo...the (supposedly) commoner one!

Great-spotted Cuckoo

This is how to enjoy rare birds, a week later with about 5 other people!! Nipped down to Kelling this evening where the Great-spotted Cuckoo from last week (which I resisted temptation to go and see) had reappeared. The bird gave great views in fading light and was feeding happily on caterpillars. Had Ladybirds been part of its diet it may well have O.D'd on them, as they are in biblical proportions at the moment up here. The cuckoo was my first UK sighting of this species.

Great-spotted Cuckoo






....Bishy Barnebees!!!

New Moth

Ran the trap last night, and along with the usual suspects including Dunbar, Ruby Tiger and Scalloped Oak was my first ever Oak Eggar, an absolute cracker of a beast! I also had time to have a look at the micro's today, which made a change! A look at the weeds around the pond found several skipper butterflies, with Essex Skippers out numbering Small Skippers.

Oak Eggar


Gypsonoma dealbana


Agriphila tristella


Essex Skipper



Skylark

Cley

Took a trip up to Cley today for a change of scenery to look at some waders. It was a bright, warm morning with a light westerly, no major rares (least of all the Great-spotted Cuckoo from Salthouse!) but it was nice to do a bit of birding. Had a bit of a scare after sitting for half an hour looking out over Arnolds Marsh, walking back to my car only to receive a message on the pager "Pec Sand....Arnolds Marsh!! No way!!! Scuttling back rather peeved at myself, all was fine as the only bird looking anything near a Pec Sand where it just been watched was a juvenile Dunlin! (Although someone did claim a distant Redshank to be the bird as well!

Curlew and Whimbrel "in-off"


Shoveler



Black-tailed Godwit


Spoonbills-up to 14 have been at Cley over the summer, which I think is the biggest flock seen in Norfolk





The ones with black primary tips are immatures.

Crossbills

The summer lull in birding, combined with some more pressing issues at the moment have resulted in very little observations. However today whilst taking a break in the garden, a flock of 7 Crossbills passed overhead, calling away. The rough grass behind the garden has been cut from its very long state and paid immediate dividens in the return of the Barn Owl.

Six-belted Clearwing

A visit to the North Norfolk coast mid week enabled me the opportunity to visit a site where a species of probably the strangest family of moths, the Clearwings, had been found in recent years. The Six-belted Clearwing hadn't been seen in Norfolk since 1823 but was refound back in the summer of 2007. These amazing creatures look like a cross between a tiny wasp and a hoverfly, and only resemble a moth when seen up close, fantastic!!

Six-belted Clearwing

Bit of Mothing

Along with Rob and Nigel, I took a trip out to Buxto Heath last night for a spot of mothing. Unfortunately the generator packed up at prior to the midnight hour so we had to come to a premature halt to the proceedings. We did manage a handful of species prior to this though which included some new ones for me.
Brown Silver-line 4
Bright-line Brown-eye 1
Elephant HM 1
Double-striped Pug 1
True Lovers Knot 6
Scarce Footman 1
Broom Moth 1
Striped Wainscot 4
Four-dotted Footman 1

Another new sighting for me was my first ever Glow worm-Magic!

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet Felbrigg mid week


Four-dotted Footman


True Lovers Knot


Striped Wainscot