Sunday 15 May 2011

Good Run Comes to an End .......

Avocet.

Well as the title indicates the fantastic run of connecting with major target birds came to an end yesterday evening  when i dipped the Great Snipe at Cley in Norfolk , i spent from 4pm til 9.15 pm in the Avocet hide which was rather full , you could feel the anticipation and excitement grow amongst the crowd of birders gathered to see this delightful bird but sadly the very anticipated viewing never happened , the weather conditions didn't really help as it was quite windy , it was apparently heard  but that might of been the tape recording someone played near the end of the evening  , still as disappointing as the dip was i had a truly good days birding.

Close view of an Avocet from the Avocet hide.

I started of at Titchwell and soon connected with the superb Wood Warbler that was by the picnic area , it called off and on and gave some superb views , i really enjoyed this bird , there were several local Robins with young nearby as well as Chaffinch feeding young as well , a pair of  Great Tits were constantly in and out of a nearby nest box and you could hear the young birds inside  !

I did not spend long here as i wanted to get to Cley , i decided it best to check out the wader pools along Beach road before i stake out at the Avocet hide , wow what a selection of waders i saw , first and foremost was a superb Lesser Yellowlegs which is the second one i have seen this year or maybe its the same bird i saw in Somersett a few weeks ago ????? , in the same pool there were at least 4 Wood Sandpipers  and then i saw a  Temmincks Stint which was a new bird for the years . 

Lapwing from Avocet hide.

From here i headed of to the visitor center and got my permit then made my way to the hide , and as i said earlier i spent 5 hours here and although i never saw my target bird i still had some quality birds , first up was a fantastic close view of an Avocet , this was a very aggressive bird chasing off every bird that came to close to its territory and young chick  , maybe the Great Snipe had got to close at some point ??

 I also had a very confiding Lapwing which performed well for the camera , there were a pair of Little Ringed Plovers zipping around and the selection of waders kept growing with , Greenshank , Whimbrel and Common Sandpiper  all added along with 2 Temmincks Stints putting in a brief but welcome appearance .
A juv. Spoonbill did a fly around and landed in a pool not to far from camera range .


Spoonbill juv.

The Greylag Goose in the foreground had a dutch ring around its neck , apparently thats how they ring them , i   have to confess i am not to sure i like the way these birds are ringed , its not that they are being harmed or look bothered by them i just think it takes away the charm and looks of the bird .

Whilst waiting for the non appearance of the Great Snipe someone picked out the earlier seen Barn Owl and Short Eared Owl flying together which was great to see . At least 3 Common Snipes put in an appearance plus there were very good numbers of Sand Martins flying here there and everywhere and they were joined by a good number of Swifts as the evening drew to a close , i had a good selection of mammals today including a Weasel   plus 2 Brown Hares .