Sunday Sunshine

Well it was supposed to be a wet and dreary bank holiday Sunday, but thankfully the weather people got it wrong again and we've had a day of almost unbroken blue skies! Ok, so we did have the cool northerly still taking the edge off expectation (we want a nice warm south to southeast drift!) but it was fine and then ended up very good! Birds were about today, happily! :
Cormorant -3E
Shelduck - 10 on Spring barley field
Yellow Wagtail - 2 in the Winter Barley
Common Buzzard - at least 4 in the area but no definate migrants
Marsh Harrier - a female type drifted east over the garden
Hobby* - 2 together, typically distant, FoTS. GYL 68
Grey Heron - the local bird took refuge on the power lines briefly!

Grey Heron getting wired!



Marsh Harrier missing an inner secondary


At the front of the drive we have an exposed earth bank and today it was covered with small bee's, this time they were Tawny Mining Bee, apparently they also like nice lawns, so we're pretty safe! They also seem rather attracted to our Leyandi Hedge.

Tawny Mining Bee



For the second time this month we were graced with Common Crane from the garden, this time there were 12! They initially came in off the sea at Cley, shortly after we picked them up way out to the west and then spent the best part of half an hour watching them as they thermalled then glided east, eventually coming right over the village and onwards. Although we get the Cranes passing through Aylmerton every spring (these birds are wanderers from the Broads population) the most I have seen is a party of four so tripling it is good going!

Common Crane record shots of twelve over today.









This evening I couldn't resist a trip up the road to Salthouse to see a Dotterel that had just turned up this afternoon. Having not seen a spring bird for a few years, I'm glad that I did go, as it performed wonderfully being a classic bold confiding individual. What a great way to end April... bring on May!!!

Dotterel