***MEGA***MEGA***MEGA***
Trumpeter Finch.Blakeney Point.Norfolk
After saying it time after time 'that's the last time i walk that', there i was trudging along from Cley to Blakeney point. This time to catch up with the trumpeter finch. After what seemed an eternity i arrived at the point and made my way to the small gathering of birders that had made the journey by boat.
I picked up on the location of the finch once set up and it then flew a short distance overhead further along the track. It then disappeared into a hollow amongst the dunes until disturbed by a warden it then relocated onto the stony area near the tracks leading to the plantation.
Although at a distance for my lens it showed well whilst continually feeding on the plants and i was able to fire off quite a few shots. It would vanish behind clumps of vegetation and in hollows it frequented but would eventually appear again.
The rump showed a lovely pale pink colouration along with the prominent chunky orange bill and orange/pink legs. The plumage was a buffish sort of grey with pale edging to the wing feathers and pale surround around the eye.
It then became more mobile after feeding spells and was quite elusive at times venturing to the point and apparently flew towards morston quay before turning back. It seemed to return to the same area most times though and mixed in with some linnets in flight before parting from them and returning to the stony area and sueda.
On the way back to the car at Cley i watched the Little terns in flight and displaying on the beach complete with their catch,trying to impress. I grabbed a few shots before heading on and this time the journey wasn't as exhausting due to the tide being out and the ground being firmer nearer the shoreline.
Will i walk to the point again? Probably....
An early morning walk round the pit and good numbers of willow warbler and whitethroat were evident. On the water only mute swan and canada geese with young made up the numbers with coot and a couple of great crested grebes thrown in. A group of four oystercatchers circled over noisely a few times but moved on over the railway line.
An unexpected bonus was a grass snake sunning itself on some bramble, as i approached it moved away deeper into the bush but i got a record shot showing the milky eyes, sign of shedding skin due. It was 2ft plus in size.
It was still fairly breezy and not too many butterflies were seen, just a speckled wood to photo. A large family group of noisy long tailed tits were unfazed by my appearance and a couple of these brown/white fluffies' came close.
I eventually found a couple of dragonflies but numbers were not that numerous. A black tailed skimmer posed well while sunning and the only other one seen was a common darter. A nice sight whilst watching these was a lesser whitethroat which was actively moving from one side of the track to the other, joined by another and then what looked like a third,family group?. and only one bird posing for a snapshot.
