Skomer Island

I fell asleep on Monday night with fresh, cool air and the sound of the sea coming through my bedroom window and the feeling of anticipation for what was coming the next day.  In two words, Skomer Island.  The drive to Skomer Island from the golf club was probably 1-1/2 hours.  It's not that it was really all that far away; just that we were driving on small, busy roads.  It seemed like we would never get there. But, we did, finally, and drove up the the small gate house.  We thought we had got an early start, but the parking lot was already full with cars. We also noticed that some cars were turning around and heading away. Uh oh, what's this?

There would be no landing on Skomer Island that day.  If I had been a balloon in the back seat, I would have deflated.  What am I writing - I did deflate.  I couldn't believe it!  Here we were on this picture perfect day and there would be no landing on the island.  It was explained to us that while they would be able to take people out to the island, the wind was predicted to pick up as the day progressed and they would not be able to get people off.  Something about the wind, the tide, the boat landing ... I was crushed.

Cliff, anticipating that this could occur, had considered an alternate itinerary.  We squabbled about it for a moment, but as is true of his thoughtful planning for my whole visit, it turned out perfectly.  At least while the winds cooperated, the boat would be taking people around the island.  We reserved a spot for the 11:00 am excursion and while waiting we explored the cliffs near the boat launch.

     

Of all the birds I saw, maybe it was the Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) that was the most cooperative for photos.  I saw the whitethroat many times, but with this photo I was finally on the right side of the sun for this nicely teed-up and very cute, little bird. 

I can never resist nuzzling horses.  I don't think these are wild horses, but I'm not sure.  The coastal land is also used for grazing and the paths through the heather and grass allowed us to walk right next to grazing cows and sheep.

We came to a gate with this sign.  Who ever knew there was such a thing called a kissing gate?

Nor can I resist the sweet, doughy eyes of a cow. 

Because we wanted to get a good seat on the boat, we ended our rambling and walked to the boat launch to stand in line with a dad and his seven or eight year old daughter.  I gave my typical greeting, "Hi, how are you?" to which he replied, "Okay, I guess." He explained that he and his daughter had left their home in north Wales at 4:00 am to be assured a place on the boat for the Skomer Island landing.  It was right then that I perked out of my funk at not being able to land on the island. Everyone here today was just as disappointed as I was.  What was I thinking?  Later, on the crowded boat, the little girl fell asleep resting against her father and with the hood of her pink jacket shielding her eyes from the bright sun.  At the time I didn't think of it, but now I wish I had got a photo.

At ten pounds per person (I think young children were free), the boat owners made a killing.  They packed, I would say overpacked, the boat for the 75-90 minute excursion.  Even though the boat traveled slowly around the island, it was still very bumpy and, for the birdiest part of the trip, we were on the wrong side.  Nevertheless, I was still pleased with the photos I got. 

Double click on each photo to enlarge image

Razorbill (Alca torda)

Flotilla of Common Murres (Uria aalge)

Murre colony

Puffin (Fratercula arctica) 

   

What's to say?  Out of focus, but iconic!

Needless to say, we saw lots of birds.  There were also kittiwakes and gulls, but with one exception, impossible to get a photo of these.

Herring Gull (Larus argentalus)  

Considering the circumstances, I felt very satisfied with the quality of the bird sightings and the opportunity to see the breeding colonies on the rocks.  It wasn't great for photographs, but I was pleased with the images I was able to capture.

We were hungry and went back to the car to get our Marks and Spencer sandwiches and water. To eat, we hiked to a nice spot along the coastal path that overlooked Skomer Island in the distance.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking the coastal path just taking it all in and fully enjoying where we were.  There was always something to look at - flyby gulls and gannets, seals resting on a rock, flowers, cows. sky larks ... so much to remember. 

    

   

There were several  Sky Larks displaying over the fields.  The one above finally landed in a spot close enough where I could find him in the grass.  I used my crouch and sneak-up technique to get this so-so photo. Still, you can see the bird's beak open in song.  No wonder this bird was the muse for many great poets, like William Wordsworth, who actually wrote two poems to the skylark.  

At one point, I caught a glimpse of a black, crow-like bird flying just along the cliff edge and then spotted its red bill and legs.  Chough, chough, chough, I called out.  I had been tipped off to look for the Red-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) here by a fellow we met a week earlier during dinner at the Barnsdale Hall Hotel.  Exciting to see.

Finally, nothing about this blog entry would be complete if I didn't also include my friends, Joy and Cliff Young, with Skomer Island behind them.  Thank you so much, Joy and Cliff, for our spectacular time in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

The beautiful, but deadly Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Atlantic gray seals on a rock

Coastal Wales

Next:  Ramsey Island

Arrival in Wales: an introduction

Leading up to the Wales trip Cliff watched the weather obsessively. Comments like, "so far the weather looks good for our Wales visit next week" would pop out of Cliff's mouth every so often.  My impression from Cliff and Joy is that the English don't like to vacation in England. The weather is too unreliable.  For me, who would only be visiting England for two weeks, it didn't matter.  In fact, a little cold and rainy weather provides the proper atmospherics for a visit to Britain.  But, let's face it, nice weather is welcomed anytime by everyone.

When Monday morning arrived it was again raining hard.  Again, we dillydallied getting out the door.  But we had errands to run in town before our departure so we finally did pack up around mid-morning and got on the road to Wales.

We had purchased sandwiches from Marks and Spencer for our lunch - (excellent pre-packaged sandwiches, by the way.)  We arrived at the nice location above with a pullout for the car.  As I ate I scanned the mountain creek for either Gray Wagtail or Dipper but did not see either. It was not really deep or wide enough for Dipper, but certainly seemed reasonable for the wagtail.

    

Sometime a little later we arrived in the town of Llandovery and stopped for postage stamps (for postcards) and a cup of tea.  In Wales, all signs appear in both Welsh and English.  As you can see in the above photo, the sun is beginning to shine.

The street above is just a small, residential lane that was so typical of the Welsh villages, towns and city we passed through.  The photo does not reveal how attractive it was in real life.

The sign above gives, in both Welsh and English, the history of a castle ruins that was adjacent to the parking lot where we parked for our walk to the post office and tea shop.  I like it because it's bilingual. And, of course, the castle dates back to a time well before Columbus discovered America.  For history buffs here's more about Llandovery Castle.

We continued on to our destination.  Sometimes it was overcast and sometimes the sun broke through the clouds.  Cliff said, more than once, "Wales is very wet." I guess he was trying to warn me.

Finally, around mid-afternoon, we arrived at our destination, the Newport Links Golf Club and Resort.  Driving toward the golf club on a narrow, little lane revealed the beautiful Newport Bay on the Irish Sea. I couldn't believe it when I opened the curtains in my room and looked out at the view before me.

The room was large and attractive and the bed was extremely comfortable.  There was free wireless and the sun was shining.  In short, it was perfect.  We would stay here for three nights.  You'll see from the rest of the photos that the weather remained perfect for our entire stay.  Quite possibly, it is the nicest place I have ever visited.  

As soon as we checked in and unpacked we got out to walk on the smooth sand, tidal beach as quickly as possible.  We were giddy with happiness at our good weather fortune.  Of course, we didn't know it would be perfect for our whole visit, so we wanted to take advantage of every minute.

The rocky, coastal cliffs of Pembrokeshire are completely beautiful.  The cliffs bracketed the beach and people hiked the coastal path along the top.  As it turned out, this was standard scenery for our entire visit.

From the beach, we then walked along the coastal path and Nevern Estuary.   I became distracted by a couple of butterflies that I stopped to try to photograph.  Joy stayed with me and Cliff walked ahead.  The butterflies were not cooperative and so the photos took awhile.  When we continued walking, Cliff was out-of-sight.  This led Joy and me to unexpected good birding fortune.  Wanting to catch up, we walked faster.  Still Cliff was not in view.  We walked even faster.  When ahead we saw a group of people standing on a bridge over the estuary, we thought, Cliff must be with them.  We walked up to the road and scanned with binoculars.  Cliff was not among the people standing on the bridge.  We stopped at the road trying to figure out how we could possibly have not caught up with him.  Just then a woman drove by slowly and, perhaps seeing our binoculars, stopped to tell us that the people standing on the bridge were looking at a Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis).  We hurried over to the other birders and one guy had a spotting scope on the bird.  Despite looking for Kingfishers in several locations throughout my two week stay, this was the only one we would see.  We got great looks through the spotting scope and binoculars, but unfortunately the bird is very small and was too far away for even me to attempt a photograph.  For terrific photos of the Kingfisher check out Alfonso Perdel's blog entry Los tesoros de un Rio and scroll to the bottom.

By the time we returned to the hotel, we found Cliff sitting on the patio drinking a beer.

Next:  Skomer Island 

The Eels Foot Inn and the Cuckoo

Our accomdations for our visit to Minsmere RSPB was the Eels Foot Inn in the tiny Suffolk village of Eastbridge and just a very short distance from Minsmere.  In fact there was a path just beyond the inn that one could walk to Minsmere.

  

On Sunday morning, 6-13-2010, we had breakfast, settled our bills and enjoyed a leisurely departure.  We had a moment to speak with one of the young new owners (unfortunately, I cannot recall his name) who had just days earlier finalized the purchase of the inn from his mother-in-law.  We joked that I was the first American to visit under his new ownership.  We were all standing in the parking lot and Malcolm pointed out the Cuckoo (Caculus canorus) calling from a leafless tree across the road.  The young owner's comment, "Where's me gun?  The damn thing is waking me up at 4:00 am."  We laughed and Angela reminded him of who many of his customers were.

Several days prior to my departure for England, the New York Times ran an Opinionator article by Olivia Judson titled Cuckoo! Cuckoo! which I have linked here.  I recommend it as an excellent piece on how the Cuckoo is so successful with its nest parasitism.  Though I did not get a photo, I saw a couple of Reed Warblers which is a favored bird for the Cuckoo's parasitic egg-laying.  Each time I wondered for which nestling was the Reed Warbler gathering food.  The article also has a video showing the Cuckoo's successful technique and compares this with other European nest parasite birds.

And, yes, this is the same Cuckoo that woke me at 4:00 am when I thought it was 6:00 am.

Other photos of the Eels Foot Inn.

The dinner menu

   

The bar - with my favorite bitter, Adnams

The dining room

Needless to say, I highly recommend The Eels Foot Inn.  The rooms are new, large and very clean but there are only six, so in peak birding season call early for your reservation.

It's a hard place to leave, but sadly we had to leave.  We finished another terrific day birding for our final birds and departed around 4:00 pm for the long drive back to Leamington Spa.  My vacation was already half over.

Thank you, Angela and Malcolm.  As I write this, I can recall every moment.  Cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo ... !

Next:  Arrival in Wales:  an introduction.

Suffolk and Minsmere

After successful birding in the RSPB's Rutland Water, Titchwell Marsh, Snettisham and Cley Marshes along the North Sea coast and wildlife trust Hinkley Broads in Norfolk it was time to move on the meet with birding friend, Malcolm Richards, and his wife, Angela, for a weekend of birding at Minsmere RSPB.

Departing Norfolk on Friday morning for our 10:00 am meeting with Malcolm and Angela, our route took us to a chain ferry to cross the Yare River.  By taking the Reedham ferry across the Yare we cut 30 miles off the bridge route for the river crossing and drove through many rural villages and along narrow roads that where just light gray lines on the map.  In the photo above, you can see the chains pulling the ferry across the narrow waterway - clever ferry design for a narrow crossing.

People live on boats and boat recreationally along the Yare River.  It was early on a gray, cold morning but the people on the boat above to be heading somewhere.

Finally, we arrived at Minsmere RSPB shortly after 10:00 am to meet Angela and Malcolm Richards in the Minsmere cafe.  I met Malcolm in Michigan in September, 2008 when he was visiting Angela's brother who lives in South Lyon and was looking for a birding partner for a Saturday outing.  He returned for another visit this past May and we went to Point Pelee and to Magee Marsh to see spring migrants.  My 5/18 and 5/23 blog entries focus on the birding we did those weekends. Malcolm also birded with others during these visits and thanks to another visit he and Angela made to Florida in 2009, he has quite a nice North American list.  After coffee together, Joy and Cliff left to return to Leamington Spa and Angela, Malcolm and I started birding.   

At Minsmere I finally got a fairly close photo of a Magpie (Pica pica). These birds are everywhere and, like our common Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), they are spectacular.  However, also like our Blue Jay, they are not greatly desired birds secondary to their aggressive and carnivorous reputation.  I'm not sure there is a discernible difference between this bird and our Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia).

Yes, that is a bird in the photo above.  Two [Eurasian] Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia) were reported in one of the Minsmere ponds, but by the time we got to this location they had already departed.  Later in the day we were in a different hide and watching a Marsh Harrier hunting over, what else, the marsh, when suddenly a large, long, white bird flew by.  I yelled out, "hey ... what's this?" and others got on the bird as well.  A review of the range map for this bird in the newly released second edition Princeton Field Guide Birds of Europe suggests that the Spoonbill may be the most uncommon bird we saw at Minsmere.      

Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) was seen again, much closer this time, at Minsmere.  Unfortunately, another silhouetted raptor photo - a specialty of mine.

At some point on Friday afternoon, we came upon this perched Kestrel and I was able to see the bird up close, especially to see the differences with our American Kestrel.

On Saturday morning I was awakened with daylight and the sound of a Cuckoo calling.  Angela, Malcolm and I had arranged to meet for breakfast at 7:30 am and I wanted to get out before this to look for a Barn Owl.  I thought it must surely be 6:00 am at least, so when I checked the time I was shocked that it was only 4:00 am.  I knew that daylight arrived much earlier there, but I didn't know that it was as early as this!  The Cuckoo called continuously (more about this later), and thinking that it might be perched on the easily viewed utility wires, I had a quick, but unsuccessful, look out over the open area of the inn parking lot before returning to bed.  I finally got up for good around 6:00 am and out to explore the village of Eastbridge and to look for a Barn Owl.  

The village of Eastbridge is very small and completely charming.  I apologize for my cliched description of an English village.  As for the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) - I flushed a largish, pale bird from some weedy trees growing against a barn along the roadside - but never did see the bird.  Later, at breakfast, an elderly couple who are annual visitors to the village, described seeing the Barn Owl hunting in a field when they stopped to talk with one of the villagers they were acquainted with. I felt a pang in my stomach.  I knew I should have tried harder to chase that bird. 

After an English breakfast in the Eels Foot dining room, we departed again for Minsmere, but this time to a different area nearby called Dunwich (pronounced dunich) Heath.  Target birds:  Dartford Warbler and Stonechat.

We saw both birds well.  With the Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata) there was absolutely no chance to get a photo.  The first bird we saw was a male, perched on the heath vegetation and singing.  Later in the day we saw a family group moving through the heath and there were a couple of other brief sightings.  This was a bird I had wanted to see, but honestly did not really think I would.  It is a completely beautiful and unique little bird.  The above photo is the backside of the Stonechat (Saxicola torquata).

Stonechat is another bird I had hoped to see.  Late in the day we saw another flycatching in the late evening sun even as a Hobby (Falco subbuteo) was hunting nearby.  Above is the distant evening Stonechat.

This is one of the final birds of the day - Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrenella).  This bird was perched and singing up high on a large conifer tree.  This was the only Yellowhammer I saw the whole trip.

Saturday evening we had dinner at a pub, The Ship, in the village of Dunwich.  At one point, I think we were the only diners in the pub without a dog.  Our plan, hatched early that morning, was to remain out late enough to see Nightjars (Caprimulgus europaeus).  In England this is going to be very late, because it does not get dark until very late. Earlier we had spoken to a fellow who told us where to find them.  He also told us where we could find Stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus), too, but if we found the right field, we did not find the bird.  It was not quite dark yet, but getting colder.  We found our field and walked along a farm fence to a corner where we could also scan for Stone-curlew.  It got colder and duskier, but still not dark.  Finally, Malcolm said, "I hear one."  The bird called again and he said "there," pointing in the direction of the vocalization - a completely unique sound described as churring.  We heard it over and over but no birds were leaving their perches to fly over what appeared to be a perfect field for their hunting. It was also hard to tell exactly where the vocalizations were coming from or even how far away the birds were.  We felt certain there was more than one.  Finally, we were all freezing.  We left our spot to see if we could get closer and possibly see the birds.  We hiked back out on to the heath.  The birds were vocalizing and seemed very close, but we never did see them.  The Nightjar churring is linked here.  It was 10:30 pm when we left and there was still light in the sky.  We walked quickly to keep warm and also because we had last call on our minds.  We arrived back at the Eels Foot just in time to order a much anticipated nightcap.  We suddenly remembered to inquire about the score of the World Cup USA vs. England game.  The game had been played to a 1-1 tie (I think the English might say draw) while we had been out birding. A great end to a great day!       

Sunday morning began at a more leisurely pace (see The Eels Foot Inn and the Cuckoo) and we birded Minsmere for our final day there.  This is the Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), a bird that is most often heard singing rather than seen - indeed, the very bird that so inspired Milton, Keats, Wordsworth and many others with its song. In our case, we saw the bird but did not hear it.  A nightingale nest in the center of a bush was found near the trail and both parents were actively working to feed the begging young.  I took three dozen or more photos of the bird while it came back and forth to the nest and perched reliably on the same branch.  I ended up deleting all but about five.  In an arbitrary decision, this is perhaps my best.

We first saw Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) at Rutland Water RSPB and again at most other marshes, but they are fast and disappear into the grass quickly.  This bird at Minsmere was singing vigorously on perches along both sides of the marsh trail.  It was a pleasure to photograph this cooperative little bird.

I had brief views of Bearded Tit at a couple of locations, but none that I felt were really satisfying.  While photographing the Sedge Warbler, I was distracted by a male Bearded Tit carrying a fecal sac flying toward me just over the top of the marsh grass.  I thought it might perch.  No such luck.  It steered itself to a bush in the marsh and dropped into the center.  Watching the bird fly across the marsh was the satisfying view I had hoped for.

Malcolm wanted very much to try again to find Mediterranean Gull (Larus melanocephalus).  This is a bird he knew was around, but we could not locate it on Friday.  Spending Saturday on Dunwich Heath allowed no time to look for it, so this was our last chance.  By this time we had visited all the hides.  Finally, about mid-morning, in the birdiest pond, Malcolm was finally able to pick out two Mediterranean Gulls. He let out a shout of relief.  Each year, apparently two to three pairs will breed at Minsmere.  Surrounded as they were by hundreds of very noisy Black-headed Gulls (Larus ridibundus), the pair stuck close to each other.  It is a beautiful gull reminding me very much of our Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla).   

By this time on late Sunday morning, we had spent most of the past 72 hours birding.  We paused for a welcome moment of relaxation and Malcolm and Angela posed for this photo in the dune grass at the edge of the North Sea surf.  

Like our Semi-palmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), their Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula). Curiously, we saw none of the more widely distributed Little Ringed Plovers (Charadrius dubius).  The uncommon Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) would also have been possible, but unfortunately there were none around for us.

Against the gray sky, this photo of a closely perched Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) is not great, but it was a fun bird to see.  One of our final sought out birds of the weekend, we watched this bird displaying in the sky before coming down to perch on this thorny perch.  Typically a common bird, this is the only one we saw all weekend.  After watching this bird, we reversed our direction on the path and came up to some birders lounging in the dune grass who asked what we saw. When I responded Meadow Pipit, they shrugged their shoulders and continued to sit.  Walking on further, we saw another bird land on the dune trail ahead.  Malcolm said it was another pipit.  I said it was a sky lark. Later, when he had time to review the data on bird sightings for Minsmere, Malcolm suggested that it may have been a Woodlark (Lullula arborea).  We'll never know for sure.

Minsmere and Dunwich Heath was a perfect weekend of birding.  I feel so fortunate to have received Angela's and Malcolm's invitation to spend the weekend with them at Minsmere.  Never having met Angela before (who made me laugh when she described herself as "only half a birder really") I had no idea what to expect, but the whole weekend was great.  

Next:  The Eels Foot Inn and the Cuckoo   

"Norfolk is flat, very flat"

Just as I began working on my England and Wales blog entries, I had a computer catastrophe!  My motherboard shorted out, but at first I didn't know that and I thought I may have lost all of my trip photos.  Now my laptop is in the shop and my photos have been dowloaded to a new hard drive while I wait for my laptop to be repaired.  Fortunately, I had these photos already downloaded for a blog entry, so here it is.

I've been home nearly a week and I have dragged my feet, probably secondary to travel fatigue and work being busy upon my return.   I've also not been able to think of a clear narrative with which to write about my birding in England and (later) in Wales.

I think this may be because it was a non-birding trip that had a lot of birding.  I visited friends who were not birders.  In fact, I clearly recall an early email to discuss planning where my friend, Cliff, reminded me that, under no uncertain terms, he and Joy were not birders.  I recall responding that I knew this and that was perfectly fine.  So, with this out of the way early, then plans began to be made and, well frankly, our travel included visits to many wonderful Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) sites in Norfolk, Suffolk and Wales.  I think Joy and Cliff must have finally thought - well, she wants to go birding, so let's take her birding. Indeed, we turned out to be on a birding trip after all. The title of this blog entry comes from a comment Cliff made several times.  "Norfolk is flat, very flat.  We don't like flat." 

We spent the first three days in Leamington Spa where Joy and Cliff live.  I caught up with my jet lag, took some photos in their backyard (see my earlier blog posted during the first couple of days) and we visited local walking and birding places.  We had lunch out at a nice pub on Sunday and I had my first pint of bitter in nearly 20 years.

Tuesday morning, June 8th, day one of our drive to Norfolk, arrived with plenty of rain.  We sort of dillydallied getting out the door.  Not much point in rushing to an early start when it's pouring.  Despite the rain we finally did get our the door.  First stop: Rutland Water Nature Reserve in Rutland County.  For most English birders the draw here are nesting Ospreys which have been recently reintroduced to England.  The pair at Rutland Water have been successful and currently have nestlings which has pleased everyone.  As we know, the Osprey is a  beautiful bird.  The visitor center had a scope focused on their nest.  I'll make another observation about this in a later post.       

The one decent photo I got at Rutland Water was of the Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) above.  This is, I think, the most common bird in England.  Initially, I had difficulty finding them, but the male bird sings all day and they became easy to see once I figured out their habits.  At least at this time of year, they are far more common than the house sparrow or starling (I don't know what it's like in late summer and fall when Chaffinch stop singing and starlings begin flocking).  As you can see from the photo above, a completely charming and beautiful bird - wonderful to have as the most common. 

The bird on the wire is a Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus).  While I saw this bird many times, including once very close at Hinkley Broads when I did not have my camera (?!?), this finally is the only photo I got of the bird.  It was probably also one of my favorite birds.  As I write this, I am still kicking myself at not having my camera when I was all alone with a singing Reed Bunting only twelve feet away.

At first, the identification of the bird above confused me.  It is a Dunnock - formerly known commonly as the Hedge Accentor.  I was using two field guides, one old and one new.  Turns out that Hedge Accentor and Dunnock are one and the same, Prunella modularis. Another clearer photo is in my first blog post.  I include this particular photo for the more natural habitat and because I like the rain drops that are clinging to the thorn branch.  Did I say it was raining this day?

Tuesday night we stayed near Rutland Water at the Barnsdale Hall Hotel, an old country estate converted into a hotel and resort, and departed Wednesday morning for our next stop, Titchwell Marsh RSPB in Norfolk.  For mid-week, I found Titchwell quite crowded with birders. We all liked this RSPB very much.  

Sky Lark (Aluada arvensis), Sky Lark, ah beautiful Sky Lark!  Common in their meadow habitat of which there seems to be plenty.  Even in this terrible silhouetted photo above you can see the beak of the bird open in song - the very song that captivated Wordsworth, Shelley and so many other poets of the great age of English poetry.  

While I like all birds, those who know me as a birder, know that I like little birds best.  Songbirds and shorebirds.  So, when I see a little bird, like the common Linnet (Carduelis cannabina) above for the first time, I find it thrilling.  And, to get such a photo of a bird that was not all that close; well, this is the icing on the whole experience for me.  They fly around in little flocks, like our goldfinch and redpolls (same genus), and I became familiar with recognizing them on the wing and hearing their little twitters.

Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) is, arguably, one of the more difficult birds to see in England.  It has a small range and, of course, being a bittern, is naturally difficult to see. Word got out about this bird and soon people were lining the trail just across the marsh from this bird on the hunt. The bird was not deterred by the presence of so many people and did, indeed, catch a fish which my friend, Cliff, caught on camera. 

The [Pied] Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) also has a limited range in England.  Like our avocet, it is a pleasure to see.  It is essentially the same size and has the same sweeping foraging habits.  We saw many of these at Titchwell and later, with young, at Minsmere RSPB.

Finally, this hunting, graceful [Eurasian] Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) was seen hunting over Cley Marshes Nature Reserve on Thursday, 06-10-2010.  We went here to see if we could find Bearded Tits, which we had seen very distantly at Titchwell.  It was too windy on this day for finding Bearded Tits, but this kestrel hunting over the marshes was the first good look I got at their kestrel.  We also got our first good look at Marsh Harriers (Circus aeruginosus) here.  We never did see Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus), despite reports of one hunting at Titchwell.  Our Northern Harrier, or their Hen Harrier, (Circus cyaneus) is seen only in winter in this region of the country.

Finally, an anecdote to end this blog entry.  To end the day on Wednesday, 06-09-10, we visited Snettisham RSPB and, even as it threatened to rain (and did rain), we hiked out a long path to the North Sea.  At the beginning of the hike, Joy noticed a new bird with just its head and neck visible and asked, "Oh, what's that?  It look's like some kind of goose."  Cliff responded, "No, it's a shelduck.  I saw this bird at Rutland."  I didn't know what it was and took a photo.  After dinner, and back at our hotel, the Heacham Manor, I was reviewing my photos and decided to delete the photo of the unknown bird.  I didn't know what it was and besides I had only the head and neck - which is all we saw of the bird - in the photo.  Delete.  Still later that same night, I was reviewing my field guide and came across Egyptian Goose.  The bird we had seen was an Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus).  Though an introduced species from Africa, it is a breeding bird just in this corner of Norfolk.  I had deleted my only photo of the one Egyptian Goose we saw the whole trip.  The description in the old Larousse Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland describes the Egyptian Goose this way - "more like a shelduck than a goose."  The next morning at breakfast I shared this discovery with Joy and Cliff and we all had a good laugh.    

Next:  Suffolk and Minsmere RSPB.