Meteor Shower

At about 10.15pm Jenny & I had a 15 minute look for the anticipated meteor shower. Most, so I am told, are smaller than a grain of sand. The sky was part covered with cloud but in the clear sections where we had an uninterrupted view of the stars, we saw 4 in 15 minutes, a white flash of light zipping across part of the sky and then disappearing, impressive! A crick in the neck led to a hasty retreat back indoors!

A "Poplar" Moth

Whilst at work at the Library today, John one of my work colleagues said casually "We've got one of those Hawk moths here" and I went outside and it was rather very precariously perched on the edge of the outside door jamb. I moved the Moth for its own safety, which was a very impressive Poplar Hawk Moth, onto the outside wall. This awakened it and it's wings started whirring and it flew up and away and safe! Poplar Hawk Moths are a common species which usually frequent Poplar & Sallow trees.

It was probably attracted to the outside wall of the Library by the white outside light which is on at night for security reasons. This is the second time I've seen this species of moth outside the Library, we had another exactly a year ago in the same spot!

Baird's Sandpiper

Hearing of a Baird's Sandpiper at Hickling, after work I paid an evening visit to Rush hills scrape which always a very pleasant walk. Parking at the church and following the footpath past agricultural fields and woods where I often encounter Marsh Tits, this evening they were calling their distinctive "pitchoo" calls. I walked to what must be the most badly designed hide you'll ever see. The open door is facing north so you always have to walk to the far side and then in. The hide is situated quite a way from the scrape so views are always distant. The birds that frequent the Scrape are mostly ducks and waders that feed in this productive area. Whilst inside you either have to stand tall (you need to be at least 5 foot 10 inches tall to view through the square holes (fortunately I am exactly 6 feet tall!) or crouch down and get severe neck ache looking through your scope!

Anyway, there were a lot of Lapwings on the Scrape, with 2 distinct lines of them at the back (of course!) of the Scrape, a few Ruff walked between them and hidden behind the furthest line were several Dunlin and the slightly smaller more elongated form of the excellent Baird's Sandpiper, shorter legs, and it was an adult bird with a uniform grey/ brown scaly pattern (recalling juvenile Curlew Sandpiper) and buff head and chest and slightly but noticeably shorter bills than the Dunlin. It gave the appearance of crouching near the ground with it's flattened oval shaped body. The Baird's Sandpiper is a native of North America and is a rare transatlantic visitor to these shores.

It spent much of its time feeding with 5 Dunlin usually behind some Lapwing but it's scaly back and noticably whiter underbelly meant it could be picked from the slightly larger and browner Dunlin (all in winter plumage) with some confidence even with a telescope with just 30X magnification. When a fellow birder kindly let me look through his Swarovski HD scope with 60X magnification it could easily be picked out.

It later flew to the far left hand corner of the Scrape right at the back where Little Ringed Plovers at least 2 were seen (but could only be picked out at this even further distance with the 60X scope).

Helleborines

The Broad- leaved Helleborine is the last local orchid to flower in the year.  During a stroll through a Gunton Woods this evening,  I was delighted to count 14 plants at the usual spot. They have obviously had a good year as most had already flowered, flowering much earlier than last year. The plants were also a lot taller than the previous year, reflecting the excellent growing conditions this year (alternating conditions of sunny weather followed by downpours that we have experienced this summer).

Looking at the second picture, it clearly illustrates why the Broad- leaved Helleborine is so aptly named.

Hot & Sultry

It was a very hot sunny day today and first thing I walked along the Lowestoft North beach seawall. During my walk, I saw lots of Common Terns & several Turnstones plus 2 Dunlin in full summer plumage feeding on the rocks of the old seawall almost completely surrounded by the sea during this high tide. Between the groynes, a Common Seal fished. On the Oval, amongst the Gulls slept the tatty adult Yellow- legged Gull, which as usual was the first to fly off when the groundsmen entered the grounds.

A trip to Southwold with a diversion via the Wolsey bridge at the Hen reedbeds, was in order to try and see a rare Egret. Looking from the style I instantly spotted the excellent Great White Egret, a large white heron from the Mediterranean which sported an all yellow bill, obviously feeling at home on this hot sultry day (the temperature was around 27C) skulked in the far reeds by the pool before flying out over the pool and out of sight.

At Dunwich a very pleasant walk along the beach revealed several Common Blues and at least 1/2 a dozen Grayling butterflies. With several of them landing on the pebbles on the beach posing nicely for the camera!

Slippery customer

After a visit to the Lowestoft North Beach area yesterday evening, I resolved not to look there this morning as I had seen very little.

This was a big mistake as a Roseate Tern spent the early morning on the groynes there but as usual I missed it, this must be around the 12th time I have twitched one unsuccessfully in Lowestoft and not to mention the countless visits I spend trying to find one myself in this area in July & August. 

Some birders go in for year lists, I could never do this as I have rotten luck I usually miss a lot of birds this way & Roseate Tern is currently my bogey bird this year, I've even missed them at Minsmere this year where everyone else has seen them. Perhaps I should compile a list of birds dipped, I'm sure I'd be the undisputed winner here, last year in the Spring I tried to twitch Thrush Nightingale, Great Reed Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Purple Heron, Temminck's Stint and missed them all I had about 8 successive unsuccessful trips to Minsmere for these birds, this must be some kind of record.

Back in the garden, 4 Painted Lady butterflies were on the Buddlea and at around 11am as I was attempting to hook the washing line onto it's hook, I heard something rustling underneath and I was just in time to see a Grass Snake slither out of sight.

Greenfinch R.I.P.

Yesterday I was out in the garden photographing Red Admiral & a couple of Painted Lady butterflies (after seeing Migrant Hawkers dragonflies flying early in the morning & a Brown Hawker in the early evening) when I heard a rustling noise from the fish pond and a very bedraggled male Greenfinch was literally a foot away from me. It sheltered under a bush, but was clearly something very wrong with it. The bird just stayed put and didn't fly off as you would expect from a healthy bird.

I put out some seed and left the bird. I checked the bush again this evening and sadly found it's corpse. I retrieved it and buried it in the garden, a sad end for such a fine looking bird, but I take heart that it's descendants; juvenile Greenfinches are feeding on the sunflower seed feeders as I type this blog.