J U N E 2 0 0 8
June 3rd
Spent the evening getting some nice images of a Greater Butterfly orchid, 2 palnts were located in a local woodland - click here for picture
June 8th East Norfolk Fen
Tried looking for Fen orchid but without success. Did have 1 Swallowtail, 1 Norfolk Hawker, sev Four Spotted Chaser, Broad-bodied Chaser, 3 Hairy Dragonfly, 10+ Azure, 5+ Variable, Blue-tailed, Large Red Damsel. Also Bittern booming, 2 Hobby, 1 Tawny Owl & 1pr of Cuckoo.
June 9th Mid Norfolk heath
4 churring male Nightjar makes a minimum total of 9 churring males thus far with other areas to cover. Also 2 Woodcock & 1 Tawny Owl
June 11th Mid Norfolk woodland
Common Spotted, Southern Marsh, Bee & 2 Greater Butterfly Orchid 2 days later located a 3rd spike!
June 12th Burnham Overy
Arrived at 5.20am amd walked out to the Little Tern colony with the intention of getting some pictures in the nice early morning light, I was disappointed to discover that for soem reason there were no nests, eggs or chicks. There was some 25 Little Terns still frequenting the area, but they were flying off out to the shoreline and loafing on the islands. It would appear that they have abandoned their attempts to breed here this year, maybe the wet weather has been factor? Anyway photography was more difficult although the Oystercatchers were much more obliging, giving me a noisy welcome when I arrived. (click here for pics)
Other birds noted were 40 Black-tailed Godwit in the harbour area on the walk out, 2 Little Grebes with 2 & 3 young, the first Sedge Warbler young of the year. 2 Marsh harrier & 2 Gannets flew east offshore.
I also assisted a young Natterjack Toad on its journey crossing the path.
Pyramidal, Bee & Southern Marsh Orchid noted, plus several Small Heaths
June 12th Holme
Good spread of orchids, Bee, Southern Marsh, Early Marsh noted, plus a single spike of the rare Man Orchid (click here for pics)
Several Small Heaths, Common Blue & also Mother Shipton on the wing
June 13th Burnham Overy
Arrived at 5.20am and repeated yesterday mornings efforts without any improvement on the shots from yesterday!!
June 14th Mid Norfolk Heath
Myself and Andy Wilkinson continued our survey of the mid Norfolk heathland. Tonight we discovered another 2 males & female Nightjars plus 2 prs of rhoding Woodcock.
June 28th Strumpshaw Fen
Today myself and a visitng photographer concentrated on getting flight shots of Norfolk Hawker. There was around 7-8 Nofolk Hawkers on the wing and we the SW breeze was ideal for shooting along the dyke of the meadow trail. After 5-6 hours of shooting we had both managed some reasonable results - click here for images.
We also had 2-3 Black-tailed Skimmer, good numbers of Four Spotted Chaser although these were mainly worn individuals.
We then headed over to Great Yarmouth where we had lots of opportunities taking more Little Tern flight shots, plus we also noted 3 Mediterranean Gulls - adding to the photographic opportunities of the day
June 28th Mid Norfolk heathland
The photography today continued at a local heathland where we concentrated on Keeled Skimmer & Silver-studded Blue, the Keeled Skimmers (c5 on the wing) proved difficult save a teneral individual found roosting early am, but the Silver-studded Blues, (50+) were a joy to watch & photograph. We also noted 5 Woodlark, a family party which was good news confirming successful breeding at this site
June 30th Mid Norfolk Heath
Another Nightjar evening survey. Covering yet another area we recorded another 4prs &2 churring males.
June 1st - The Nunnery - Thetford
Today was taken up with a guided walk & a wildlife photography presentation at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust event. The event attracted just over 200 people despite an overcast grey day!
June 2nd - Blakeney Point
I succumbed to the long walk up Blakeney point to see the Trumpeter Finch discovered on Saturday. I walked up with Scott Mayson and the chatter en-route soon saw us standing with a small group of birders looking at this rare vagrant to our shores. This is a bird of desert or semi-arid habitat, and the only other place I have had the pleasure of watching them was in Israel!!
Considering the winds, weather and other rarities turning up in recent weeks this bird was probably from that geographical area.
A digi-scoped record shot below courtesy of Scott (Thanks Scott!!)
Also Whimbrel 1 west, plus Little & Sandwich Tern, & 8 Common Scoter flew west
