Lockdown birding/ wildlife watching

On Wednesday 25th March, looking around the garden an obliging Dark-edged Beefly was seen and photographed the sunny spot near the kitchen window was a favoured area. Hearing 'mewing' no it wasn't Cosmo the Cat! but 1 of 4 amazing Common Buzzards drifting slowly south directly over the garden at 10am. Cosmo found a Peacock butterfly that flew over top the back of the garden. Extra frog spawn was in the pond and a mating pair of Frogs were seen in the fish pond too. A Wood Pigeon was seen on the back garden fence and I heard Great- spotted Woodpecker and a Chiff- Chaff singing. PM Update: the Peacock butterfly was more obliging just after 2pm when I was able to get pics of it resting in the central round flower bed. Examples of both insects posted below.

Last birdwatch before lockdown

On Monday 23rd March, on a very sunny day but with a very cold brisk east wind, I walked to to the sewage beds at Kessingland sewage works, 5 Chiff- Chaff were seen or heard singing from this area. Whilst on the beds itself, a male Pied Wagtail was seen and then a fine male first year White Wagtail that was initially camera shy, but eventually briefly came closer. In the closer bed, the "Alba" wagtail was seen under the rotating arms spraying the water about briefly (see rougher atmospheric shot = the header picture). It then flew to the back and then seen flying over to the adjacent bed perching and walking on the far wall and the top of the sewage arm. Also seen were 2 fine male Reed Buntings fed on the beds too. Walking down to the common area, a Comma flew up from the path and 2 Chiff- Chaff seen. A mewing Buzzard flew over and a Peacock butterfly also seen. Walking down to the fishing lake, a further 5 Chiff- Chaffs seen, bringing a total number of Chiff- Chaff seen 10+. I drove over to Covehithe and walked down to the Broad, where by the far end 2 female Goldeneye seen at the back plus 3 Tufted Ducks, 1 male and 2 females and Great crested Grebe. At Benacre Broad, no sign of the GND but 2 Avocet seen busy feeding at the back, the western end of the Broad. More erosion had taken place with the hide now closed due to the coronavirus and the sea only 15 metres away.

Tawny Owl in the house?

At 2am, Thursday 19th March, I was woken up by an extremely loud hooting of a Tawny Owl, it sounded like it was in the house! Quickly checking there wasn't one, I looked outside and I saw one flying north to the houses opposite. A second Tawny Owl was calling from there too. I can only assume the bird was perched on our TV aerial.

A Chinese themed 24 hours

Last night after staring at empty shelves in the local supermarket, the shelves were bare of bread, milk, any fresh meat, pasta, toilet rolls, any cleaning products, paracetamol, ibuprofen (don't take ibuprofen if you think you have the Coronavirus), frozen chips and frozen vegetables. I did manage to buy a pack of Chinese Chicken pot noodle soup, a delicacy I haven't tasted for a long while and I reminisced about my visit to China aboard the Wildwings June 1999 trip with Ricky & Andrew E as companions. We were on a train for the long journey from Beijing to Beidehei. Some staff handily came along the aisle and handed out a plastic cup of Chinese pot noodle, someone else came round with boiling water and the resultant concoction was absolute delicious and very tasty. I remember the wondrous look of surprise on all our faces when we tried it. The soup today reminded me of those halcyon days and the extreme sense of anticipation and wonder of the avian delights we were about to encounter at Beidehei, we were not to be disappointed! Oh, how I wish I had the camera set up I have today, to record those fine encounters with the local indigenous and migratory wildlife, but I digress. A trip to Carlton Marshes from 3.30pm today, Wednesday 18 March, revealed a singing Chiff- Chaff, my first of the year. I parked at the end of the Lane by the railway line, although I didn't see it. There was a grey leaden sky and little was on show save for a distant Buzzard perched on a wooden gate and a very curious but wonderfully pale golden coloured Chinese Water Deer (hence the title of this blogpost) that just stood and looked at me in the field beside the footpath. A male Marsh Harrier quartered the fields. I walked slowly along the path and managed a few shots before it slowly walked away. These Deer are becoming very common along the marshes and I must have see around 20 individuals. 3 Barn Owl seen, 1 seen hunting really close briefly and 1 slightly further away plus a distant bird hunting the reed/ field edge. But again no sign of the mega elusive SEOs which seem to be eluding me whether I go (7th attempt in recent weeks for this species). A crackling Fieldfare had one perch up high in the poplars and 3 Stonechat (2 females and 1 male) seen too.

First Butterfly of the year

On Tuesday 17th March, at about 3pm, walking over to the Education & Training Centre at James Paget Hospital, a Small Tortoiseshell flew up (resting either on the path ahead of me or on the nearby grass and flew south, my first butterfly of the year and really nice to see. A perfect tonic for all that is going at present in the UK/ world.

Rook at no.3

On Tuesday March 17th from around 6.50am, A Rook was perched on the TV aerial of the house over the road and its distinctive rasping voice was heard!

Merlin & Water Rail= perfect tonic

On Monday 16th March from from 5.20- 6.15pm, I drove out to Fritton woods and walked to the Mound. Around half way out, a dark brown Merlin flew low over the ground and perched on a gate post where it was seen hunting.A dark, compact Falcon, with flicking wing action, it flew down and pursued some prey in the grass before returning to its post. Great to see as I haven't seen one for several years. This was also the case with a squealing Water Rail, that cried from the nearby reeds I walked down to the reed edge and a tiny watery channel had the said bird running across from left to right, again another bird not seen in the last couple of years. A close Barn Owl hunted over the reeds by the river and another more distant Barn Owl hunted around the River Yare area. A Bittern was also heard booming. Meanwhile over to my extreme right a male Marsh Harrier quartered the fields too. Still no sign of the elusive SEO, but a great trip out nonetheless.