17/04/2010

April 15

We were not due to meet Bridget and Aileen until 9, woke early and had time to make a leisurely way there via Abbey Farm and the Wolferton Triangle. Not a lot of birds but a lovely sunny morning. Shame about the icy NE wind............
On an ebbing tide, Snettisham produced the expected waders, huge ribbons of Knot leaving their pit-side roosting beach in squadrons of several hundred. Spectacular always. A male Wheatear flew across the path, posing on a rock to be admired.
Holme produced a singing Sedge Warbler and our first flock of Pinkfeet for the month.
Leaving the lull of the tree- lined path at Titchwell, the north easterly brought an unwanted glow to the cheeks. A chance meeting with John who was with us in Brazil, a mothing chat with the Geesons and a pair of Red-crested Pochards on the Freshwater pool before a rapid departure for the sanctuary of the car.
A and B wished to visit Sculthorpe Moor, one of our favourite places. We walked to Whitwell Hide first, settling to watch the feeding table activity. A handsome pair of Bullfinches, Tits - including Coal - and one fleeting visit by a Marsh, a horde of Chaffinches, and one pair of Reed Bunting kept us more than happy. A single Common Buzzard soared over the marsh, a Marsh Harrier actually landed on a visible mound in the reeds.



Two tiny Bank Voles kept darting out - apparently legless - from the reed bed, snacking on dropped seed and disappearing rapidly before repeating the performance. Mesmerising.




On leaving the hide a Treecreeper did its thing on a nearby birch but we saw nothing else before reaching Jarvis Hide where we heard a Golden Pheasant's, need of WD40 skreek, from the holly thicket outside. Eventually he showed himself in all his strutting splendour - apart from the very worn tail end feathers which drag on the ground.




More than happy with the day's outing, we said our goodbyes and made our seperate way home.

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