Monday 27 June 2016

BITTERNS GALORE

Sunday the 26th June the N B C car trip.

B****y weather, will the forecast ever get it right? good job we were in Stingray with Troy Tempest
at the helm. It was still raining on our arrival at the RSPB's premier reserve Minsmere, downing a coffee, a Mr Kipling cake , sandwich, a Kit Kat, a Jam tart, etc I managed to catch up with the rest of the crew.

 Apart From Trish joining us, we were the only participants Troy (Bob) Wendy and myself and I'm pretty sure our dear friend, Graham was there in spirit.



Bearded Bellbird

Sand martins whirring around like a cloud above their nesting chambers didn't seem to mind too
much about the rain.  An interlude of, I think it was sunshine brought out a good selection of hover
flies and a few other bits and bobs, it wasn't long before Wendy picked up a Hobby probably picking
off some of the newly emerged dragonflies. As expected Little Egret and Marsh Harriers were soon added.



Mindfull of the dark clouds approaching, the Beach  hide was beelined for, so not much time to look
for Wasp spiders, Lizards and the like.



Feeling hungry I ate another Kit Kat and a sandwich that Wend had brought. Munching away we
watched a perch full of Kittiwakes, the resident flock of Barnacles were about, as were around a
dozen or so sum plum Med Gulls. Also in their finery were beautiful Black Tailed Godwits. No sign
however of the infamous Black browed Albatross. Troy found our only yum yum Sandwich Tern.




Passing the sluice gates with more dark clouds arriving Wend' pointed out her second Hobby.
Moving ever onward I stopped for a general look for invertebrates, the only thing of note was one



of our lovely Soldier flies, this was a Flecked General don't you just love the names. Sadly it was
dead may be parasitised by something , don't ever come back as an insect!
One of a group of Linnets in the gorse

Singing Golfinch


We made our way back to the car park noting the Koniks, as I began to feel a little peckish.

Suitably refreshed, we reckon Trish had some Victoria sponge at the cafe, we trundled off to
the Tower hide, as I entered a Bittern was about to  land in the reed bed directly in front of the hide.










A lot of neck


Look at those long legs





























In all six different Bitterns showed in under one hour, as all this was going on a fine Short Eared Owl
was giving super views near the sluice but we were a little distant, with the threat of a good downpour we decide to remain in the hide.

Even with the inclement weather wildlife has to go on, we had homes to go to. Minsmere is a fare
distance to travel approximately two and a half hours from Northampton and its no mean feat to drive
all that way and back in a day, so many thanks from all to Bob for getting the business done.

Minsmere always has lots to offer, the warden told tales of Bee wolfs attacked and dismembered by
Wasps, flying Antlions,  etcetera, won't belong before we're back then.

Anyways must go now, apparently my dinner is ready.







NBC Car Trip

Hello

Yesterday a car-load of us headed to the North Norfolk coast, stopping first at Sandringham where we were treated to at least one Firecrest.

On next to Holme in an effort to see the Great Knot, only to see the complete flock of summering Knot  (which it spends it's time with) lift off and fly rapidly east! A Marsh Harrier and a Turtle Dove were some compensation.

We drove to the RSPB reserve at Titchwell but there was no sign of the GK. Three Ruff included a couple of moulting males, one of which was displaying between bouts of feeding. Up to four Spotted Redshanks were still in summer plumage, three or four first summer Little Gulls were mobile as were three summer plumage Mediterranean Gulls. Some fledged juvenile Marsh Harriers clearly required further practice at food-passing, losing the hard-earned prey on two occasions!

On next to Brancaster where we walked down to view the Knot flock on Scolt Head. Little, Common and Sandwich Terns fished the shallow waters as we scanned the mostly soft greys of the Knot, interspersed with summer plumage 'Red Knot'. And there it was, the super Great Knot, keeping to the edge of the flock and then coming down to feed on the receding tide! After putting the news out we helped other birders on to the bird as they ambled amongst ordinary holiday makers enjoying the classic sandy Norfolk beach.

We concluded our successful car trip back at Titchwell where Bearded Tits showed well, five Spoonbills were in flight, a Bittern boomed and we watched the antics of the volatile breeding Avocets as they tried to force out any other bird from 'their' stretch of mud and shallow water.


Regards

Neil M


Firecrest
Sandringham.

Ruff
Moulting male at Titchwell.

Upside down Little Tern!

Brancaster

Sandwich Tern

Brancaster

Wednesday 15 June 2016

Headless Swift Photographed At Pitsford

The remarkable photos below, believed to be of the same individual, were taken from the dam at Pitsford Water recently.

The photographer, Dave Jackson said "I can say with absolute honesty that these shots have not been cloned in any way. RAW files are available for anyone to see if they doubt the authenticity of the photos"

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in cloning or wants to know what a RAW file is or if you want to chat to other like-minded people about digital photography, please see Robin's 1st of June post below.



Friday 3 June 2016

Blisworth Rail Interchange

Hello

The residents of the villages of Blisworth and Milton Malsor directly to the south of Northampton are engaging in a battle to prevent arable land between the two villages being swallowed up in the production of a rail interlink site. This includes the construction of yet more giant warehouses on the Northamptonshire landscape and vast areas of concrete which in total size has been equated to 125 football pitches.

The action group would welcome experienced naturalists to complete surveys of the affected land but don't feel confident in their abilities to properly assess the local bird life. Should you be able to assist or provide some tuition to members of the group they would be most grateful and I have contact details accordingly.

For more general details please visit:-

www.norailinterchange.co.uk

Regards

Neil M

Wednesday 1 June 2016

NEXT N.B.C. PHOTOGRAPHIC MEETING

The next Photographic meeting will be on the Saturday 2nd July at the usual venue of the
Fishing Lodge, Holcot.

This comes after our last meeting by Dave J  "What makes a great wildlife image?" which
was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who attended.


Jeff Blincow has kindly agreed to keep us on our toes by talking about CLONING.

Jeff is a very good and respected speaker giving us the low down on the creative side of
cloning images and should not be missed!

Start time will be 10.15 am, lubrication and sustenance will be available as usual.

The meeting is open to all Bird Club members and also to anyone with an avid interest
in Wildlife Photography.

Hope to see you there, Robin.