Bee-eaters continue to wow. July 2022

Bee-eaters.

It was great to hear that during July the habits of the Bee-eaters changed and there were numerous comings and goings bringing in food to the nest holes....this meant one thing and that was the chicks had hatched. Followers of the live web cam may have seen up to 3 birds entering the hole recently so there is a lot of feeding happening in both chambers which is great news. I have been volunteering a lot doing night shifts keeping an eye on the nests . On one evening after turning up myself and a RSPB staff member Josh watched a Long eared owl fly over the field and drop into the quarry. We located it in a tree being frantically harassed by a pair of Blackbirds, it didn't hang around too long especially when they started swiping at its head!

Other news in July.

This Hare cut a lovely image sat in the daisy patch.

The male Blackcap was still visiting the garden feeding on the suet blocks and on one occasion brought the female along too. Over the last week or so I haven't seen either birds so could be on another brood or moved on. 

During the month I have seen Oystercatcher pass over the garden, a couple of groups of Whimbrel over, the first group numbering 16 and then the following sighting had 12 birds in. On a warm evening Sarah and I ventured along to the end of the village near Middle Street to listen for Great Green Bush Crickets, a local friend had already heard one calling from this spot and we met him there and sure enough it was calling loudly, but too tucked into the scrub to see anything though.

This is possibly the first White Letter Hairstreak butterfly I have seen in the garden ? I know I have seen Green Hairstreaks but I'm sure this is a first. Although slightly worn you can distinguish the white letter "W" on the lower hindwing, and a lovely bright orange edging too.

 

Bee-Eaters in Trimingham. Sunday 5th June 2022

Sunday 5th June 2022

When Andrew Chamberlin found 4 Bee-Eaters not far from my doorstep I couldn't resist to get up there quick and hope to connect. This was only the second time I had seen Bee-eaters in the UK, the first was a fly past not long after moving to Trimingham and now once again in Trimingham my second encounter consisted of 4 birds !

They were very vocal and showed on a few occasions as they actively fed, the weather was awful and so images needed brightening against a dull grey sky. Fantastic sight to see and a big thanks to Andrew.

 

August 2021

 August was a split month for the weather, the start was warmer than expected or indeed forecast and then the last half took a grey and windy turn for the worse, but I still managed to obtain some decent sightings and photographs. First up at the start of August was a message of 15 Spoonbills heading east along the coast from Cley, Spoonbill was a new species for me to see here or from the garden but I haven't managed to get a photograph of any as of yet, so as the birds were being tracked along the coast and they reached Cromer still heading my way along the coast I took my Dad, staying at the time, and headed for the clifftops and looked towards Overstrand eagerly awaiting their arrival. It wasn't long before we distantly saw the group all lined out following the cliffs, as they reached Trimingham they seemed to head inland....!! It seemed I wouldn't be getting any photos this time either. But they came back into view and seemed like they couldn't decide on what direction to take, just circling around, luckily they kept to the shoreline and proceeded towards me. 

Happily I now have my Spoonbill photos.

On the 7th Sarah and I watched a lone Red Deer along the lanes towards Gimingham, and also a single Banded Demoiselle along Church Road. I had a few sightings of Curlew moving along the coast during the second week. 

During the warmer days at the start of the month it was very noticeable that Peacock butterflies were having a fantastic year. I have never seen so many, the garden seemed full of them, along with a couple of Commas and Small Tortoiseshell and just one or two Painted Lady's.

This Southern Hawker rested up in our holy tree for a short time.

And a Banded Demoiselle kept hanging around the garden one afternoon, a real delicate and beautifully coloured Damselfly.

My second only Garden Tiger moth (both being seen in Trimingham) this one was crossing the lane on our morning walk, I carefully placed it amongst the side verges.

The second half of the month saw the winds pick up and blow in continuously from the North, sea birds and wildfowl started to move through in numbers, Gannets, Wigeon, Teal and quite a few numbers of Skuas were being reported from along the coast, but mainly distant. Double figures of Swallow passed the coastline on the 21st, probably the last ones to be seen this year?

In July we saw a remarkable number of Mistle Thrushes together, and on the 29th we counted another 9 together heading southeast. Not a packed month I thought but remembering the Spoonbills made it a rewarding one until the last day of the month that is....it all escalated then!

On the morning of the 31st Sarah said to me that she had seen a bird flit over the garden fence into the neighbours, not sure what it was she described the tail as being a red colour, I thought Redstart or Black Redstart, the latter would be new for the garden if it was still hanging around, and sure enough as if on cue the bird flew onto a shed roof and displayed  itself as a Common Redstart, still a lovely bird and only the second one from the garden. I rushed inside to get my camera to get a photograph, it had probably just arrived that morning and as I clicked off a few images it was to be the start of 40 minutes of awesomeness! Not only did it hang around but it began to feed and pose around our garden, over 400 photos later it flew off. What a momentous visit though.

Being a newly arrived bird I thought that I would go and check around the churchyard to see if any other birds had dropped in.

Heading into the churchyard after the episode with the Redstart I was eager to see if maybe a Pied Flycatcher had arrived too. I moved onto the east side and having only been there a minute I saw a bird flit out from under the small yew bush, catch an insect and then zip back in. I picked up on buffish colours on the underparts and thought maybe it was the redstart again, but it was slightly smaller and as it flew out of cover again I immediately saw white in the tail, not a redstart then, and I knew  that I was watching a Red Breasted Flycatcher. Panic set in and I ran straight home, just across the road, to get my camera, this was another species I had seen before and in Trimingham but a photo had eluded me so far. I headed back towards the churchyard and met a fellow birder/friend at that precise moment and eagerly stated "Red Breasted Flycatcher".... we moved on around the church and I located it still in the same yew bush feeding. For the next hour we patiently waited to see this lovely little, elusive and flighty bird move around the trees and give itself up every now and again but it was dull and it kept to darker areas of the trees causing a lot of manual adjustment settings on the camera to be made and a big headache,  happily for me I managed to grab a couple of photographs. It was mentioned that this was the first one to be seen this year which put a silver lining to the day and indeed month.

JUNE. In the studio much of the time!

June.

The start of the month looked promising for one bird in particular, the Rose Coloured Starling or Rosy Starling as it's also known. There had been a large movement of these birds across europe moving from Hungary and now there were quite a few birds across the water in France. It wasn't long before the odd bird was showing up further south. Then there was a report of a bird in Cromer followed by reports of maybe 2 different birds in Roughton, I unfortunately could not get to see them and despite searching the flocks of Starlings around the village or flying over I could not find one. The adult birds are stunning to look at, this bird in the photos was from Weybourne back in 2014.

Local birders were treated to a couple of Blyths Reed Warblers, one at Beeston and one near North Walsham, the weather was a mixed bag with some lingering sea fog for a few days. Mediterranean Gulls were starting to turn up along at Cromer but I didn't pick any out this way, later in the year is the time I see the gulls feeding on insects over the trees behind the house. There were some large numbers of swift passing over during the second half of the month, I estimated quite a few hundred from the back garden on a couple of days, made up of feeding birds and also non-breeders they probably included younger birds prospecting nesting sites for next year, once the young birds have left the nest they will not land or nest for the first couple of years of its life, they will stay airborne.  Near the end of the month a staggering count of around 6,000 swifts were counted past Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire, birds probably feeding further south as the weather was probably rainy further north and unfortunately they didn't venture this way. I had a new garden tick on the 24th with a group of Crossbill flying over low. 

The dragonflies are now starting to appear in the garden and down the lanes, a Black Tailed Skimmer was sunning itself early one morning down Church road and a Southern or Migrant hawker was patrolling over the garden.

Mothing has been very productive , although entering the last few days of June has put a stop to that with the strengthening winds. I have trapped 34 species of macro moth that were new for the garden year list which stands at 125 species at the end of June. Here are some of the great moths.

This Sandy Carpet moth was a new species for the garden and a first for me.

Treble Brown Spot, another new species for the garden.

The Scorched Wing, named so because of the 'burnt paper' look to the wings.

These Yellow Shell moths can sometimes be seen during the day if disturbed from hedges or resting on the underside of plants.

Much going on in May

Marvellous May.

Looking through my notebook for May I thought I had a few decent entries to write about, so I then checked through my 800 or so photos taken during May and found a few more subjects to add and came out with quite a wildlife filled moth. On a morning walk along the clifftops we saw a few more Swifts passing along the coast and my first pair of Sandwich Terns of the year. Further along the coast in the bigger towns there were good numbers of Swifts which is lovely to hear, but in Trimingham I have only noticed one pair, presumably not enough suitable nesting sites.

Common Swift

I had another 'funky' looking Buzzard over the house, it had also been hanging around Mundesley, it was associating with another buzzard at the time. Lovely to see these paler type birds, so striking.

Little Egrets

Entering the second week the birds were in full song everywhere with some migrant birds still moving through, 3 Little Egrets were a nice sight flying along the cliffs, seen from the garden. I got a Sedge Warbler and Whinchat along the clifftop fields, the Sedge Warbler was only heard as it was tucked away in set-a-side crops, Common Whitethroats were holding territories around the village lanes and clifftop scrub.

 Great Tit

Garden birds were now actively feeding their young, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Blackbird and Dunnocks all seemed to of done well. 

Goldfinch begging for food

Carrion Crow

The young birds had to keep their wits about them, the Crows and Magpies were always on the lookout for an easy meal.

Entering the second half of the month I added a great new bird 'tick' for the garden, a single Turtle Dove flew along the clifftops, high enough above the trees for me to watch it, a lovely addition and a sight that sadly is not seen enough. On the 26th Sarah and I listened to a Cuckoo calling from the coastal scrub behind the house, it didn't call for long but was a welcome sound none the less.

Painted Lady

Even with the glorious sunny days upon us, some days seemed to be butterfly-less. But a few graced us with their appearance, I didn't expect to see a Painted Lady quite so early, what a stunner they are. 

Painted Lady

Orange Tip

Green Veined White

Red Admiral

Marvellous Moths

On the mothing front the number of species being seen were increasing and adding to the year list, but I also managed to trap a few new species not recorded in the garden before. The tally for the year is now standing at 89 macro species.

Lime Hawkmoth

I've waited for a couple of years to get one of these lovely hawkmoths in the garden here, typically another one was trapped a few nights later ( more greener colouring made it identifiable as another)

Puss Moth

This is quite a large moth, lovely patterning.

Orange Footman

Pale Oak Beauty

Light Brocade

This was a welcome new moth and what lovely markings.

Scalloped Hook-tip

Some lovely new moth additions with plenty more species to be on the wing entering June, mind you they will have to run the gauntlet as I've seen a large bat, probably a Noctule by the size, active at the bottom of the garden recently!