My blog is mostly about wildlife, particularly birds, walking, days out, all growing things and anything else that comes to mind.
To view pictures in larger format, just click on any picture for the picture gallery....

Monday 25 April 2011

Rye Meads, Norfolk and Hatfield Forest... that's Easter :D

I drove up the M25 on Saturday.... not too bad but glad I wasn't going south at that time.

I went to Rye Meads and was well rewarded..

One of the little Grebes was having a wash and brush up.


A pair of Black-headed gulls weren't... they were ensuring the continuity of the line!


A cormorant sat in the afternoon sun.. trying to keep cool.

And one of the pair of Kingfishers was sitting about and fishing.

Along the river, a couple of boats moved slowly.. it could have been a mid-summer's day!


Orange tip butterflies were every where.


So off I went having had a very enjoyable couple of hours or so!

Norfolk!

The following morning, Pete and I headed off for Norfolk at crack of dawn (well, it was just about daylight)

Sunny and warm!! Nooooo... the further north we went the foggier and duller it got.

We arrived in the car park at Morston being the 2nd car to arrive!

Brent Geese took off into the mist..

And a moored boat swam out of the mist into our line of vision.

We walked along the coast path towards Blakeney.

It seemed there were Sedge Warblers lining the pathway.. and ducking and diving - hiding from our view most of the time. Finally this one popped up just for a few seconds singing away..

All along the pathway, these plants hosted dozens of these insects.
If anyone can name both plant and insect that would be great.

Having arrived at Blakeney, the mist had lifted a little and very occasionally we saw a weak sun.




Black headed Gulls made the most of the incoming tide to start fishing for food.
Sadly this one found rubbish!

On the way back, I was lucky enough to spot a Wheatear which are such beautiful birds.
Having assessed the weather we decided to head inland in search of sun and warmth.

Sedge Warbler who sat still for a moment.



Lunch bought from the cafes in the Car Park; Bacon sandwiches and pots of brown shrimps and crabfish... oooooooh!


We headed off for Welney..

Loads of Avocets about - beautiful birds

A few Little Egrets..


And in the car park - a Sedge Warbler who posed.

We drove home - an excellent days birds with about 59 species seen throughout the day, including: Hobby, Skylark, Willow Warbler, Wheatear, Black-tailed Godwits, Little Ring Plovers (nesting), Marsh Harrier, Swallows, Sedge and Reed Warblers, Ruff (!), House Martins and Kestrels (on 5 difference occasions throughout the day).......

On Monday (today), Pete took me over to Hatfield Forest arriving very early before many people were about. The birdsong was incredible and beautiful.

A Grey Squirrel was having brekkie!

A Common Tern was having a few turns around the lake; we watched for some minutes and it disappeared. Disappointing as we thought it had left but we found it later on the Tern raft - fingers crossed it won't be alone before too long.



Six Great-crested Grebes on the lake and two obvious pairs; one with 3 young (lovely) and another pair still nesting.



A greylag goose had four young in tow.

And finally - got a much better view of the Whitethroat and a picture too! Seemed it was the weekend for finally getting to see Whitethroats!


And then finally home as the morning drew on. And the M25 was kind! Phew

A great weekend with amazing birds and a variety of weather conditions
Great company and thanks for some rather scrummy meals Pete :)

13 comments:

The Quacks of Life said...

lovely tern pic and your kingfisher was better much than mine. yours posed on the nearer branch jammy so and so

Unknown said...

You have had a very productive Easter with some great pictures. the Kingfisher is ace and I love the Avocets. Your misty shots are very moody and we too have an abundance of Orange Tip Butterflies in North Yorkshire. thanks for sharing Kev

holdingmoments said...

A great Easter weekend Tricia.
Excellent bird list.
I love the Brent Geese heading off into the mist. Very atmospheric.

Chris said...

You got some nice sight Tricia, even if the weather has not been that nice with you... Cool you can see kingfisher... I see them in France occasionally and got to see one last year but no pictures! And the avocet, I used to see them every days when I lived in Camargue, I've not seen one for years!

Midmarsh John said...

A couple of lovely outings there. My favourite picture has to be the Kingfisher - what a beauty.

Lynne said...

What a busy girl you've been over Easter! Well done. Lovely pictures.

Tricia Ryder said...

Ta Pete - just luck I guess ;)

Hi Kev...thank you for your kind comment- was rather pleased with the KFisher shot - best one I've got I think!

Keith.. thanks. The Geese only flew a few feet before they disappeared altogether!

Chris - Thanks. Avocets are such beautiful birds!

John - thank you. I think it's the male. The female went into the nest hole in the bank and didn't come out again whilst I was there so hopefully she's on eggs.

Lynne - Thank you :) Busy but great!

Anonymous said...

Hi Tricia.
What a superb range of photos!
The Kingfisher, love the catchlight in the eye.
Well caught with the Warblers.
Butterflies lovely too.
For the atmospheric shots, you can't beat the Geese, and the boat.
As for the inflight Adult B/Headed Gull in pristine Summer plumage, those open wing shots are superb!!


paul.

Tricia Ryder said...

Paul - thank you. The KF just turned its head in time to get that pic! And those warblers required an awful lot of patience in trying to spot them! I pity the gull its meal though :(

oldcrow61 said...

What a beautiful kingfisher. You have some wonderful pictures here. I particularly like the two of the mist.

Neil said...

Great stuff!

ST said...

Stab at plant- wild celery?
top fly, is a- St Marks fly.
bottom fly- jury still out, do you have any other pics. as the head seems to be bent under.

Tricia Ryder said...

Neil - Hi and thank you!

OC - thank you... I rather liked the misty effect. Didn't think the pictures would even be worth keeping at first :)

ST - thanks for the ID help and no further pics of the other fly. But thanks for the St Marks!!

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