A www.blueeyedbirder.com adventure:
Somehow it was another lovely spring day – two on the bounce
has been such a rare thing this year and we started well at Westleton Common
once again with the Nightingales singing but not really giving themselves up
like they did on Wednesday.
The Woodlarks were up on the wires again and there was more
Chiffchaff and Blackcap song along with a brief Bullfinch and wheezy
Yellowhammer. The increase in leave
cover in five days was noticeable. A few
Hoverflies were loafing around and it was good to find a single Eudasyphora
cyanella too.
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| Eristalis pertinax |
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| Eudasyphora cyanella |
Onto Westleton Heath for a circuit in the warming air. Dartford Warblers were once very showy and
active with Linnets and Stonechats equally visible but the Woodlarks were only
heard way up in the blueing sky. I was
pleased to find the Stone-curlews once again and we had a wonderful encounter
with one of the Nightingales. Blackcap
and Lesser Whitethroat joined in in the heavily scented Gorse around us.
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| Dartford Warbler |
Lizards were out basking along with a few Hovers but there
were strangely still no Butterflies on the wing. Enid identified some interesting plants with
Lesser Chickweed - Stellaria pallida, Climbing Corydalis - Ceratocapnos claviculata and Heath Groundsel - Senecio sylvaticus and
there were some patches of very pale flowers amongst the pink Storksbill.
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| Climbing Corydalis - Ceratocapnos claviculata |
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| pale form Storksbill |
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| Lesser Chickweed - Stellaria pallida - the flowers have no petals |
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| I found more Eye-lash Cups - they look a little different to the North Cove ones |
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| Common Lizard |
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| Eristalinus sepulchralis |
Minsmere took up the rest of the day and was glorious.
Bitterns boomed wherever we went and we were lucky enough to see one moving
between reed patches from Island Mere where Sand Martins now flicked left and
right and Bearded Tits were seen with bills full of insects.
The woods here were full of Orange Tips and the first Damselflies
too which I was surprised to see were Variable – thanks to Roy for confirming
my suspicions. There were Bee-flies and
Nomad Bees and the constant sound of Med Gulls passing overhead.
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| Comma |
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| Green-veined White |
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| Orange Tip |
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| Variable Damselfly |
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| Variable Damselfly |
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| Gall of the fly Lipara lucens |
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| Ruby Tiger cat? |
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| Eristalinus aeneus |
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| Nine-spine Stickleback |
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| Rudd - Bittern food |
A comfort stop at the centre allowed a good catch up with
Steve Grimwade and the EBS group before a casual glance up produced a Common
Crane on a controlled fast descent glide as it dropped in high from the north –
undoubtedly heading back to the Levels.
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| Cowslip |
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| Ex- Marsh Orchid spikes? |
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| Common Crane - high and hazy |
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| Mossy Stonecrop - Crassula tillaea |
Two Whitethroats were singing at the start of the North Wall
and Sedge Warblers were on top of the brambles.
Bitterns boomed and Sand Martins fizzed overhead. It was delightful to be out. Down at the sea a fine male Wheatear, that I
suspect was a Greenland bound bird hopped around without a care in the world. Seeing my first one of the year is always a
joy.
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| Wheatear |
On the scrapes the single Knot of Wednesday had been joined
by ten others and we also found Little Ringed Plover and Turnstone amongst the
breeding waders. Twelve Sandwich Terns
were roosting on an island and a single Kittiwake dropped in for a wash and
brush up. And even here the Bitterns on
the other side could be heard. They were
a constant backdrop to the whole day.
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| Avocets |
A male Adder was briefly where I saw him on Wednesday but he
did not linger long and slithered away and Stonechats balanced on the highest stems.
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| Stonechat |
We came back via South Hide and the Bitterns were so close
that you could hear the intake of breath before the booms. I remarked that we needed extra Bitterns and
promptly found three playing chase way out over the reedbed! A fourth bird got up to join them and they
spent five minutes circling before all dropping back down into the still brown
reeds. Never seen anything quite like it!
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| Bitterns |
A new spring in our weary steps brought us back to the car
park and the end of a great day out.
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