A few weeks since I last posted and things are changing fast. The wheat is in full ear, the oil seed rape is full of green pods, some more wildflowers are out.
As soon as I heard my husband had a work appointment at Bungay I checked my diary was free then commissioned a lift with him as Strumpshaw Fen was only 20 miles away and there were swallowtails flying at the moment. The weather looked a little doubtful with a cool breeze and quite a bit of cloud forecast interspersed with a few sunny spells but I hoped for the best. After the survey appointment followed by refreshments in a nearby garden centre we parked up and I crossed over the railway line to the entrance of the reserve. Immediately I saw several people with cameras lined up pointing at the small flower bed just in front of the reception area... a swallowtail butterfly on the flowers! However just as I was getting my camera out, it flew off, did a few circles in the air before perching high up on a cherry tree where it decided to remain for the time being, At that time it was cloudy so I went over to the reception to say that I wa...
With a hot sunny day forecast we set off to visit RSPB Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire. We took advice and arrived before 10am but were directed to the overflow carpark as the main carpark was already full (and had been since 7am, due to the presence of the black browed albatross which had been seen in the area recently) The eight or so viewing platforms are spaced out along the cliff top with the visitor centre between them so we went right to start with as that was where the albatross was usually seen. There were hoardes of photographers with their long lenses, telescopes and tripods set up everywhere but people were keen to tell us that the albatross was indeed present, sitting comfortably amongst the gannets on the cliffs. It was hard to find it without binoculars but just noticeable by his obvious black back. I found people were kind enough to move out of the way when they saw I was using crutches! We then made our way back the other way...
The morning dawned rather dull and cloudy with light rain forecast so I decided to keep an eye out over an hour in the morning whilst carrying on with household chores. I filled up my feeders yesterday in the hope that might entice a few more species. First to arrive were a group of three long tailed tits which have started to visit the garden regularly. Then a robin, bluetit and dunnock followed shortly after. I noted three wood pigeons sitting up in the trees, with one venturing down to the feeders later. Not much else around for the rest of the hour except for a jackdaw that rather likes the fat balls. So a bit disappointing but the dreary weather probably didn't help much. Anyway a few species to enter on the birdwatch form so worth doing.
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