Wildlife

The Natural History of Trimingham

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We are very grateful to Mike Lawrence, natural history enthusiast, photographer, artist, and resident of Trimingham, for contributing this web-page. The photographs and text are all Mike’s own work, observed and captured in his explorations of the fields, woods and sea-cliffs of Trimingham.

MOST RECENT MONTHS

To view Mike’s more recent  contributions, go back and access  “Natural History Latest” under the Natural History tab on this website.

 

March 2023

I read that the weather for North Norfolk during March was 3 times wetter than normal and the worst since 1981 !!  Well I for once believe the forecasters, it was not a great month but nature doesn’t hold back and there were some sights to be seen.

My first sighting of March was a Peregrine falcon, probably one of the Cromer pair, mobbing a Buzzard over the garden briefly, the month was under way. On the 6th I saw a distant raptor from the house, thinking it was just a buzzard circling the fields, but upon checking it turned out to be a Marsh Harrier. Later that day, in worsening weather I looked out the back door and was very surprised to see a Moorhen walking around the garden ! It wasn’t a new garden list tick but definitely new for actually being on the ground in the garden. Despite the end of the day and really dark skies I managed a record shot before it hopped up onto the garden bench and over the fence into the next door’s garden.

The very next day, the 7th, we had hail stones and a light fall of snow, the garden and lanes were as if someone had sprinkled polystyrene balls everywhere, this is evident in the next photo of the emerging Early Purple Orchids.

The weather didn’t improve over the next couple of days and the birds actively returned to the garden feeders to keep their energy up.

This Long tailed tit looks a little bit wet, poor thing.

I spent an hour or so sea watching but with not much to show on the 12th, Lesser Black backed gulls seemed to be arriving back in the area, and the only thing noticeable on the sea was a Great crested grebe. On the 16th I saw a small warbler flitting around the garden, this turned out to be a Chiffchaff which was nice to see and a sign of Spring for me, and presumably the same bird was singing away on the very next day which was definitely a sign of spring with birds starting to move through. In half an hour I estimated 100+ Chaffinch headed east past the house, and with sightings of Golden Plover, Woodlark and Red Kite it was a very busy morning. But the birds kept showing, on the morning dog walk we saw a Stonechat and a singing Chiffchaff along the lane, best though were a lovely pair of White Wagtails feeding in a field being ploughed at the end of Church Road.

Compared to our regular Pied Wagtails these continental migrants are a lot paler and not so black and white as the Pied. The two birds I found were adult birds and a clear difference to be noted is the sharp definition between the black nape and light grey back. The Pieds do not show this clear cut change and are darker or more black in the feathering.

Even if it was wet, windy and dull, on a few evenings mid month the temperature was somewhat milder than usual and so I chanced at getting the moth light out in the hope of some new species to keep my year list moving forward. With the forecast as rain most times I placed it out, I only placed the trap in the garden until time for bed, not wanting to be woken by heavy rain on the window pane only to find a sodden trap ! But the few hours on a few nights certainly helped and I wa able to add some year ticks.

Common Quakers (variable in colour)

The aptly named March Moth

Oak Nycteoline

The daily returning female Blackcap finally stopped showing in the second half of the month, hopefully looking to pair up and nest build. Most species had now paired up and were acting more territorial.

A pair of Starling regularly came to feed on the suet blocks, and when hit with the sun the display of colour on their feathers are beautiful, greens, blues and purple, just stunning. And in keeping with Starlings, as the month moved nearer the end, on the 22nd I watched a large movement of birds heading east/southeast, and notably there were 600+ starlings among groups of finches in their hundreds.

Starlings

But the star bird on the 22nd was an Alpine Swift !! Earlier in the month there had been a number of Alpines reported further to the southwest of the UK, but there was always the hope of birds moving up into East Anglia and hopefully along the Norfolk coast. Over the previous couple of days there had been records along the coast at Sheringham/Cromer and venturing as close as Overstrand and Sidestrand so I was already keeping my eyes on the skies for one of my favourite birds. And sure enough upon walking out the backdoor to check on the sky I immediately saw a single Alpine Swift swoop over the trees behind the garden and head off along the coast. And there is no mistaking seeing one of the swifts, they are larger than our common swifts and a large white belly really stands out, and at this time of year there aren’t going to be any common ones around. This is the second one I have seen from the garden in Trimingham but as yet I haven’t obtained a photo yet!

The feeders were keeping busy every day with lower than normal temperatures, a lot of birds were collecting nesting materials, the local church Jackdaws being very fussy in getting the right twig for the nest, this is evident when you see the amount of fallen twigs not suitable to snag on the nest site and fall to the ground.

This Buzzard didn’t seem bothered by us sitting in the garden as it landed in a nearby tree to look for prey.

At the end of the month I spent an hour on the clifftop looking for migrant birds passing through. I was not to be disappointed either, seeing newly arrived House Martin, Swallows and Sand Martins flying along the coast. It was a real joy seeing these birds return to the area. In the bushes behind me I had around three Chiffchaff and a single Willow Warbler too.

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Chiffchaff

Let’s hope for some improved weather in April and some new wildlife additions.

 

 

February 2023

After a quiet January I was hoping to at least see some improvement through February and although fairly quiet there were signs of change and movement happening. On the 2nd whilst walking the dogs through the clifftop wood we watched a pair of Goldcrest and a single Chiffchaff all feeding together, nearly as much as I saw through the whole of January!

Snowdrops, Celandines, and Daffodils were showing now, out of the wind the sun had some nice warmth to it. On the 4th 3 Egyptian Geese flew over Church Road and on the 7th, after not seeing any in January, a Red Kite passed low past the house. A lull fell over the place for the next week or so but a probable Stonechat was seen along the lanes, seen just as a silhouette. It wasn’t until the next morning that I saw it in better light at the same location, a nice male bird presumably only just moved into the area. It then stayed in the same vicinity for around 8 days and was joined on the seventh day by another male, the changing weather overnight on the eighth day worsened and they were not seen the next morning, they were very flighty and not approachable as some birds can be so I didn’t get any photos. On the 19th I saw my first butterfly of the year, a Red Admiral which hung around for a couple of days, and with the warmth from the sun Bumblebees started to emerge and in decent numbers passing through the gardens looking to feed. I saw a small wader type bird fly over the field adjacent to Church Road and thought initially it was a Snipe but the call was not right for that so upon checking when I returned home it turned out to be a Ringed Plover ! A nice surprise. 

This year I want to get my moth trap out as much as possible and hopefully if it’s a good year I will be able to record more than seen previously. So with reports of moths on the wing in some peoples gardens I placed the trap out, I managed to get the trap out a few times before the weather changed and cold windy and wet weather did not allow me to trap as much as I wanted. But I did get to start my 2023 list off and running with 5 species of macros. 

Pale Brindled Beauty

Spring Usher

Chestnut

Oak Nycetoline

Oak Beauty

 

 

January 2023

Two years ago we had snow everywhere, this year it was a mixed bag of wet, windy and very cold weather, I also don’t recall it being as quiet either. There were still a lot of Blackbirds around, especially in the garden, a small group of Redwing remained in the area and could be seen every now and again perched in the tree tops. When I had the chance to look off the cliffs I noticed the lack of gulls that were usually present through the winter, divers were scarce along with auks too. A couple of times we saw Hares and Roe deer but that was confined to the beginning of the month only. Last year I saw a male Brambling hanging around the gardens, and Red Kites were seen but they were both missing this year, indeed this winter no Siskins or Redpolls, but one bird that brightened it up every single day was a female Blackcap, I had seen the male at the start of January and then the female, nice to have them overwinter here, but the male wasn’t seen again leaving the female to visit throughout the day.

The ground remained hard and frozen for most of the month, one morning the frost had settled on the car like frozen grass ! 

In the last week of January snow drops were starting to be seen and lots of bulbs starting to emerge in the garden, the lane verges and banks had daffodils growing through, hopefully surviving this year from being cut down by the farmers like previous years as thankfully the verges had been trimmed before they were established. On brighter days the Skylarks had started to take to the air in full song, it won’t be long before change is here. And finally I was able to see the green Comet E3, although when viewed it appeared just as a white blur with no distinct shape or tail, but I saw it.

 

December 2022

The weather was the main feature for the month, the first half drew freezing fog, cold temperatures and hoar frost making it look like a winter wonderland, and then rain near the end of the month. 

Foggy & Frozen

Everything was cast into an icy white coating.

The cliff slopes were frozen down to the sea, and cobwebs had become laden with ice, making them look string.

But it was the detail and beauty of the Hoar frost on the plants that looked magical, everything was covered with layer upon layer of ice throughout the night creating shards of pointed crystals, and the way they were built up on one side of the host plant was mesmerizing. 

Some leaves were more dramatic than others, where they were edged with sharp sword-like shards of ice.

Thistle heads were almost encased by the Hoar frost.

Branches of ice needles

The ivy growing on the tree trunks had an appearance of fur lined leaves.

Away from the Hoar frost, there had not been much around to see, bird and wildlife wise, but on the weekend of the 17th there were large numbers of Lapwing flying along the coast and over the house, watching from the garden during the morning I counted over 200 Lapwing pass over and I knew there were a lot more moving along, Cromer alone had reports of over a thousand birds through there. I also noticed Golden Plover heading the same direction as the Lapwings, usually seen side by side feeding in fields, more thrushes flying around and past the house in small flocks were turning up with Redwings mostly but also Fieldfare, and a few Snipe to add to the bounty. My own belief is that the weather was a lot harsher inland with harder frosts and snow in places, the temperature was definitely not as cold on the coast and many of the plovers could be seen in the clifftop or surrounding fields feeding along with a few Whooper swans between Trimingham and Sidestrand, and as the temperature rose and the hard ground thawed they were seen in large numbers passing over, probably with more of a choice of feeding areas now the frosts had gone.

Golden Plovers

With food needed by a lot of birds over the cold snap it was nice to see a large flock of Long tailed tits, dozen or more, frequenting the garden and a chance encounter with a Great spotted woodpecker. And so the end of another year, fingers crossed for a productive wildlife year in Trimingham, I plan to moth trap a lot more this year, who knows the Bee-eaters may even return!!

 

 

November 2022

The month started with decent weather, the warmest November on record they were saying, although that tended to be for inland as the temperatures certainly didn’t get up to those along the coast here, then the second half took a change and about turned with windy wet and fresh days and seemingly damp all the time. Previous years turn up some decent birds, for instance Pallid Swift the other year and Pallas’s Warblers and other scare finds, but they had all turned up during October so it was thin on the ground but here’s what I noted:

There were still a lot of Blackbirds hanging around, the odd Redwing was seen flying over or feeding on berries. Just a single Chiffchaff heard and seen along Church Road, overwintering birds may still arrive during the next month or so, Goldcrests seemed to be numerous too which is great to see, I noticed a few birds on most walks down Church Lane and also had them in the garden. I watched a few Curlew pass over the garden on a couple of days but missed out on seeing a couple of groups of Egyptian Geese heading my way, unfortunately I didn’t see them, probably heading inland to cut off the coast here. On two days, not consecutive, I saw a lone Golden Plover flying overhead calling frequently, possibly the same bird and presumably looking for a larger group to join. Along the coast the increase in larger gulls was  very evident, seem the Great Blacked Backed Gulls had arrived to spend the winter, on the sea divers were increasing, but when a large movement of Little Auks headed through our waters I thought I would be lucky and see some pass here, no such luck, the double figure counts passing Cromer heading east must of followed the line of flight straight out to sea as I didn’t see a single bird. During the later half of the month, stepping out into the garden I saw 7 Fieldfare head over the garden heading south, no doubt they had just come in off the sea to winter here. I saw a single Greylag goose fly over the house, Pink feet were seen but a lot further inland, the flocks held quite a lot of birds, on a couple of days near the end of the month when the mist and fog had set in, I could hear flocks passing over close, disorientated and looking for somewhere to land, no doubt safer following the coast  line I would of thought, with less chance of a power cable to contend with. A uplifting moment, even if it lasted just a couple of seconds, was a little Weasel run across the lane in front of me whilst walking one morning. I took to putting my moth trap out on a couple more nights before waiting for the new  mothing year to begin again, I was surprised by how many were attracted to the light considering the time of year, but undoubtedly due to the warmer start of the month. Large Wainscot, White Point and the most numerous being the December Moth, a lovely little hairy chocolate brown and caramel coloured moth with large feathered antennae.

To my delight though was a brand new species for the garden and for me since mothing started, The Streak.

So in putting my trap out just a few times over the last two months I had bagged myself 3 new species for the garden and new life additions. My total for the garden now stands at 256 Macro moth species. And I’m eager to add some new beauties next year, being set on the coast who knows what migrant moths may visit.

So a very quiet month indeed, but on the last day of the month Sarah and I took a stroll around the lanes, on the menu for photographing, seeing as I hadn’t photographed any birds for the report, were autumn colours and micro nature that’s hidden but beautiful to look at.

Autumn Colours

The colours of autumn going into winter can be stunning, when viewed up close the array of tones and depth of colour can be lovely, so many different shades of green, brown and reds, the hedges change from just being a hedge to a canvas of nature’s colour. 

This tiny little moss (Leucobryum Glaucum ?) is so vivid, also known as pin cushion moss.

Oak moss Lichen

Almost looking more like coral under the sea, this small lichen, just a few cm’, is harvested by some to use in the perfume industry.

This is a common lichen seen on trees, the Yellow Scale Lichen or a nicer name I think is Maritime Sunburst lichen. When viewed very close the lichen forms tiny little cup-like features.

These tiny little mushrooms are called Split-Gills.

Crust Fungi

Isolated patches or large spreads of the fungi, layer upon layer of detail.

These Polypore fungi, 1-2cm or smaller, they covered dead wood in large patches, the colouring had a purple tinge to the edges and when viewed in close they were so vibrant, this type also goes by the name of “Turkey Tail” and it’s easy to see why when you compare it to the erect held tail of the turkey bird displaying.

These Split-Gills resemble coral or fans opening out, these measured upto 1cm and a lot were found on the undersides of decaying wood or underneath growing branches . So much is to be seen when you look hard enough, so much beauty in nature.

 

 

 

October 2022

The month turned out to be a productive one and an eventful one too, with migrants on the move, mild weather and to add a back problem that keeps flaring up and to top it off Sarah and I both got Covid ! It was a month to remember for sure.

October started with a few sightings of Swallow and House Martins. Skylarks were passing over the house in small groups or single birds, on the sea the Red throated divers were increasing. On the 2nd there were lots of groups of House Martins heading west, increasing numbers were also seen further up the coast too. A fox was seen hunting on the cliff slopes, pouncing on presumably voles or mice.

I also saw my first Stonechat of the autumn.

On the 9th I saw a Hobby fly past the house, with so many house martins about it wouldn’t go hungry!

I had a single goose fly towards the house from the sea and it turned out to be a White fronted Goose, just the second time I had seen that species on the Trimingham patch.

With the weather holding out there were still butterflies coming to the garden along with Hummingbird Hawkmoth. A Brimstone flew between ours and Dot & Johns garden and briefly paused for a photo.

A Basking Shark was reported heading east from Cley, so I spent a while scanning the seas in hope of connecting but unfortunately I was not to be lucky. A lot of finches moved along the coast during the second week along with Pipits and a count of 12 Blue tits in the garden was a great sight, no doubt dropping off on their migration to feed up.

House Martins were still being seen passing into the second week.

On the 13th whilst on the morning dog walk we saw an estimated 500 or more Starlings passing over in groups! Also noticeable were an increase in Blackbirds, mostly 1st winter birds ( plumage is more dusky black and the bill colour is black unlike the bright adult bill colour) and Mistle thrushes were seen and heard a lot.

Mistle Thrush

Redwing started to flock across the sea, and I could see increasing numbers from the 14th to the 19th, the biggest group of around 50 or so was soon to be beaten the very next day on the 20th. The worsening weather greeted the hundreds of thrushes that were seen coming in off the sea and flying straight to cover for rest and feeding, the garden was alive with blackbirds, the odd song thrush but mostly all redwings. A group of 30 Lapwing was a decent number and probably the largest I’d seen from the garden. As the weather cleared somewhat, I picked up on a Black Redstart that was feeding around the rear of the garden and alighting the neighbouring roof tops, my second sighting of one of these from the garden.

If you walk along the coastal path beyond the main wood you may have noticed the ever increasing flock of small birds in the field. Made up of around 400 or so Linnets and a hundred or so Chaffinches, I also saw a lot of Meadow Pipits and a couple of Brambling mixed in. A lovely sight watching them all take to the air.

Linnets

Meadow Pipit

On the 21st I got word of a Yellow Browed Warbler along Church Road, so I headed out to try and get a sighting of a favourite little bird. I spoke to the finder before he left me to search on my own, unfortunately I did manage to find the bird, so I presumed it had moved on, but I would check over the next few days just in the hope it was still around. A worthy substitute  was a lovely little Firecrest which sort of made up for not seeing the warbler.

On the next day whilst Sarah and I were cutting up wood at the bottom of the garden, Sarah noticed 1 couple of Buzzards over the clifftop, then sighting 3 more large birds coming into view from the coast and heading straight overhead, these 3 turned out to be Ravens! Typically I had no camera to hand but what a great sight to see 3 pass over the garden. 

On the 24th I stepped out of the house early morning, the skies were dark and grey and low cloud, I then glanced up and to my surprise saw a Swift bird flying past, I eagerly went to get my binoculars for better views but the light was making it just a silhouette, but even so seeing a swift at this time of year immediately got me thinking of a Pallid Swift, a scarce swift that regularly visits our shores, usually at this time of the year or into November, and usually after our common swifts have long departed. A few hours later I heard a report of a Pallid Swift being seen at Sheringham! Surely it must have been the bird I saw from the garden?

Over the next couple of days birds were still moving over, Canada Goose and Barnacle geese were the first of the autumn, a single snipe flew in from over the sea. On the 25th a report of a Pallas’s Warbler in the clifftop wood was too good a bird not to go and see. The last one I had seen was a bird I found along Church road which showed well, this bird on the other hand was very elusive, giving itself up to a few people high in the tree canopies I had to wait nearly an hour before it called above my head in the tree top, 3 times it called giving itself away, before we caught a brief glimpse of it moving around feeding and then it vanished. I had to leave shortly after but it stayed elusive for the remainder of its stay that afternoon and was not seen the next day.

And now back to the Pallid Swifts, there now appeared to be up to 4 birds that were ranging between Sidestrand, Overstrand, Cromer and Sheringham, they just never seemed to push this far along the coast, but I was hopeful, indeed there were a lot of Pallid swifts that had ventured into the Uk with the mild weather we were experiencing. Then on the 28th I watched 2 swifts approaching the house! The light wasn’t particularly great but better than last time and indeed I could now see that they were Pallids. I could now definitely add this to the Trimingham Patch and Garden Lists. 

They didn’t hang about, moving off over towards the sea to feed.

The last time I had put out my moth trap was the 2nd July 2021 !  With reports of migrant moths being seen around the UK I decided to give it a go and although the damp was so heavy I thought it had rained overnight, I managed to get a fair amount of moths in the trap and added 2 new species for the garden list, one was a migrant moth that I hadn’t seen before, so I was pleased. The Garden Moth list now stands at 255 macro species.

Mallow

Scarce Bordered Straw

This brings me to the last day of October, Sarah shouted at me from the garden….SWIFT ! I got out into the garden in a hurry to see another sighting of a Pallid Swift drifting past the garden, the light was somewhat better than previous encounters and this time Sarah bought the camera to hand in time for a photo or two before it drifted off east along the coast. What a month that turned out to be, and the Trimingham Patch Bird list now stood at 192 species and my garden bird list stands at 120 species.

Pallid Swift

 

 

 

September 2022

I was able to get out on the first day of the month and already it seemed as though birds were on the move, the weather was obviously favourable. There were one or two Pied Flycatchers still present, but still preferring the tree canopies to feed in and staying hidden for most of the time.

I was most pleased to see 2 or 3 Garden Warblers on the same day too, a pretty plain looking bird and one that can be quite elusive and hard to see, so imagine my delight to photograph them eating elderberries!

Garden Warbler

Garden Warbler

Garden Warbler

Notice the large eye and the greyish collar, an elegant bird though. There were a few Chiffchaffs moving along the hedgerows busily feeding. Buzzards and Red Kites were seen heading along the coast, Med Gulls were still showing in large numbers overhead and on the sea. And a Peregrine flew past the garden, it’s been a while since I had seen one go over.

On the 3rd Sept, I watched 8 Bee-eaters head over Church Road heading west, despite them leaving the quarry they were still moving around not quite ready for the journey south, but some time later I heard of a report of the group over Minsmere, Suffolk so they were heading in the right direction!

Male Blackcap

A couple of male Blackcaps fed on elderberries and blackberries after I watched the Bee-eaters pass over, a single Pied Fly was still hanging around too.

Pied Fly

On the 5th the warblers kept moving through, I had a couple of Lesser Whitethroat, a Hobby passed over the garden heading south, along with 15 or so Buzzards heading in the same direction. On the 6th Golden Plover and Whimbrel were seen over the garden heading along the coast. On the 14th, after seeing a Grey Wagtail pass over the garden I decided to do the rounds. A group of mixed birds moving through the trees included Goldcrest, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Long tailed tit and Coal Tit.

Goldcrest

Long tailed tit

Chiffchaff

It can be tricky watching little warblers flitting among the leafy canopies, that was no exception on the 14th, there were a lot of Chiff/Willow warblers along the lanes. The chiffchaff if calling could be labelled, the Willow warblers were a lot brighter yellow in the plumage and normally paler legs than the chiffchaff darker leg colour, but some willows may show darker legs and paler feet! The bill on the chiffchaff (top image) is darker than the paler orangey bill on the willow (images below) and the supercilium (stripe over eye) is yellower and longer on the willows. 

Willow Warbler

And to add to the tally of birds a Common Redstart fed along the lane edges, when it wasn’t being chased off by a Robin that is.

Common Redstart

On the 19th a familiar sound was heard and a sign of autumn’s arrival. The Pink Footed Geese had returned! By the end of the month we were seeing hundreds pass over every day, how nice to hear them moving over us again.

On the 20th I was able to get my 190th bird species for Trimingham ! News of a Red Flanked Bluetail at the Kearns site was just too awesome a bird to not see anywhere. I had what was a brief probable sighting, but just a silhouette before having to leave the site. I then went back in the afternoon to try and see this bird, it had been seen alighting the fence on a couple of occasions but never when I was able to see it. A bird that is very similar in shape and size as a robin, being a 1st winter/female type bird it will appear as a little brown shy elusive bird, but with decent views the blue tail, white throat patch and orangey red flanks can be seen…if you’re lucky that is. After around 3 hours I finally grabbed a decent close view of this beauty, the throat patch, flank colour and tail all seen perfectly, but as I was going for the camera it was chased away by a Robin out of sight. But I had been able to get a decent view so couldn’t be happier, it was not seen the next day! This was the 3rd Red Flanked Bluetail I had seen in the UK and all elusive. These images I took below are of a bird at Salthouse back in 2014. You can see the size and shape, blue tail and in the second image the white throat and orangey/red flank.

The weather started to change for the worse as the month drew on with strengthening winds and rain, but when I managed to get out I was able to see my first Brent Geese and Red throated divers of the autumn. 

Willow Emerald Damselflies were once again seen in the garden.

The 2 male Blackcaps were replaced by 2 female ones.

And a second sighting of a Peregrine Falcon as it flew southeast past the house.

What a month!

 

 

August 2022

The Bee-eater watchpoint closed on the 26th with chicks successfully fledged. The first chick flew from the nest on the 16th. I was lucky to watch 9 birds, including young, calling and feeding as a group overhead before they headed high south. 

Credit: Fabian Harrison. RSPB LiveCam Images

Credit: Fabian Harrison. RSPB LiveCam Images

Credit: Fabian Harrison. RSPB LiveCam Images

And so my nightshift volunteering came to an end, but not without some excitement, on one shift myself and Sue, RSPB staff, scared off a badger foraging around on the nesting slope! A bit too close for comfort. And on the final night whilst patrolling around the quarry checking on noises myself and Fabian found 3 Badgers actively feeding around the quarry, mostly feeding on blackberries and digging for insects we still monitored where they went, and with 2 foxes in the area it was a busy send off.

On one evening the moon was so bright it illuminated the thick carpet of mist across the landscape, it looked like a scene from a far off country, what a moment that was. I managed to finally see a Barn Owl in the quarry, making that 3 species of owl seen whilst on shift.

Other stuff in August

During the first half of the month there were plenty of insects in the air, this brought down a lot of Sand Martins low over the gardens to feed on them, the agile and fast movements left me in no doubt not to try photographing them !! A Pied Flycatcher on the 11th was the first of a few to turn up, but in all they remained pretty elusive and kept to the tree canopies. Whimbrel continued to pass over during the month and an increase in Red Kite sightings started.

I tried to get out as much as possible with things already moving through. I managed to seawatch a couple of times, I opted for the telescope rather than the camera as I knew I would be scanning further afield. One species that was reported passing through on a number of days were Manx Shearwaters. This was a bird I hadn’t seen before on the patch so I was eager to connect and would you believe it……as soon as I raised my eye to the scope searching between the flags a group of 3 Manx Shearwaters drifted past, a new and very welcome patch tick which now stands at 189 bird species seen at Trimingham. The rest of the seawatch was productive too with  Great Skua, Arctic Skua amongst others. Sadly a couple of gannets that had succumbed to bird flu no doubt drifted past, a sad sight to see.

Red-Legged Partridge

A Dunlin over the garden was a new garden tick.

Pied Flycatchers

A Hornet Mimic Hoverfly graced the garden.

Female Blackbird Sunbathing, this helps with conditioning their feathers and probably helps eliminate parasites on the feathers.

On the 20th Sarah and I watched 4 Swifts feeding in the last light along the cliffs, the next day I saw 2 which are looking like the last ones I’ll see. There was also a lot of bat activity during the evening of the 20th, we had a few close encounters around our ears, but great to experience.

Med Gulls were noticeably increasing in numbers and most on the sea or catching insects overhead were these. We then saw a Brimstone butterfly in the garden which was most likely the same individual which continued to return most days.

And for the first time I had 2 Hummingbird Hawkmoths feeding side by side.

2 Curlew over the garden made a change from the usual Whimbrel sightings. I also had a flock of around 16 Turnstones pass over too which was a new garden tick for me and took my tally up to 119 species seen from the garden.

And lastly to Damselflies and Dragonflies. I managed to see a pair of Willow Emerald Damselflies in the garden, both attached and ovipositing. I had seen a few previously but not a pair together, such a beautiful green sheen to them and so delicate.

And now to Hawkers. I saw two species in the garden, Migrant Hawker and Southern Hawker. I was glad I had a camera to hand when I found the Southern, I think this may be a first for the garden or at least possibly the first to be photographed?

Migrant Hawker

You can see the difference on the tail with the Southern Hawker, the 3 distinctive Blue sections at the tip of the tail really stand out on this male.

Southern Hawker

 

 

 

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 from predators. On one evening after turning up myself and a RSPB staff member 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!

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.

 

June 2022

Trimingham Put On The Map !

As everyone will be aware now, Trimingham has been made famous by the arrival of Bee-eaters. And it has kept me busy too ! It started on the 5th June when 4 Bee-eaters were found at the Gimingham end of the village around the Kearns land. It was very soon evident that they were staying around the quarry off Middle Street and the hope of breeding became the main concern. The site was then kept an eye on by local birders whilst the RSPB were contacted and things started to be put in place to protect these beauties. It was a surreal feeling having bee eaters calling and passing over the garden, what a sight to behold. A few days later I counted 5 birds over the garden ! This 5th bird had joined the main 4 from somewhere, and this was promptly followed by a 6th bird joining the flock in the quarry, these two additions had been seen moving up along the coast from Sea Palling. One of these new birds had a large chunk out of its wing so could be easily identified wherever it ventured.

It finally went public when it was announced on Springwatch, since then volunteers have been assisting the RSPB with manning the car park and viewing area. I have been lucky to take part in the volunteering too, I kept watch on the site normally from dawn until the day shift crew turned up around 8am and then I have been assisting with night shift watches, what a spectacle it’s turned out to be with news crews, visitors turning up from all over the country and numbers well into the thousands.

How lovely starting your day off with glorious sunrises and Bee-eaters.

Other news from June

This male Great Spotted Woodpecker ( the red at the back of the neck indicates a male) was seen visiting Dot & Johns garden, it would announce its arrival by the loud calls and normally land on the telegraph pole before moving to feed in their garden, it visited mine briefly but preferred the sheltered position of theirs more. Later in the month it was joined on its feeding forays by a young fledged bird, it would stay close to the male before heading for the cover of the clifftop trees. 

The colour of the male greenfinch seemed to get brighter and brighter.

With the warm spells the numbers of butterflies increased, we started to see Ringlets and Meadow Browns by the end of the month. Small Tortoiseshells seemed numerous. Common Spotted Orchids could be seen along the clifftop path and slopes.

On the 12th I watched 6 Red Kites pass over the house all together, an unusual sight at this time of year I hadn’t seen before with them all heading to the west.

This newly emerged Angle Shades moth still had some drying out to do on the wings, the underwing was still crinkled and not formed yet.

A group of 4 Med gulls passed over the house, two adults and two younger birds.

A couple of damselfly were seen in the garden, and Common Blue and this Azure damselfly. One evening stroll down the lane turned into a experience of the bat kind, we were buzzed at close range by a handful of bats feeding under the tree canopy, wow!

It was nice to actually see a Tawny Owl at the rear of the garden rather than just hearing their calls, it perched up for a few seconds before moving on.

And lastly Hummingbird Hawkmoths, there was a large influx of these little beauties in the garden throughout the month, with numerous sightings through the day they had to be different individuals, I could tell by some photographs, state of the wings, these were not all the same moth and I heard a report of 15 in one nearby garden. A very good year for these little moths.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 2022

I am so happy once I see Swifts back in our skies again, on a couple of days they were streaming past the house continually, great sights.

Every morning, it seemed, large groups of Crows and a few Rooks would all head east along the coast, then some would return west later, presuming they were the same birds maybe on a feeding trip to somewhere locally ?

On one morning dog walk we located a Hybrid Carrion/Hooded Crow feeding in a field with crows between Trimingham and Gimingham. More similar to a Hooded crow except that the grey coloured parts were too dark and not the pale light tones a true bird would show.

A  female type Siskin visited the feeders in the garden, and later in the month a Male bird also fed in the garden, so I am presuming there are breeding birds around somewhere.

As the month got going there were a lot of Jays being seen moving along the coastal areas north of here, I saw quite a few groups of birds heading over. In the second week of May I walked into the garden and heard my first Cuckoo of the year calling from the churchyard, it didn’t hang about as I couldn’t locate it when I checked but then Sarah had heard one calling near the village hall so it must of been the same bird still moving further. A quick flyby Hobby past the house was the only sighting all month, fingers crossed the weather warms and I may see more pass over.

Common Whitethroats still sang from all over the place, some would be very confiding and watch you pass by just feet away whilst singing away. I wanted to see a Lesser Whitethroat, I was still waiting!, and eventually saw one as we returned from a dog walk one morning, and typically it perched in full view knowing I hadn’t got my camera..ha ha!

But I did catch up later and get a few photos, you can see the difference in the darker grey tones, dark eyes and no real brown on the back on the Lesser compared to the Common above.

Lesser Whitethroat

The Chiffchaffs could be heard every day and whilst photographing the Lesser Whitethroat one came down low enough for me to grab a photo.

Chiffchaff

Through the second half of the month you may have seen a mini invasion of Painted Lady’s through the gardens. It wasn’t on the scale that they sometimes arrive in but it was still numerous nonetheless. They are a quick flying butterfly sometimes disappearing as soon as you notice them, but lovely to see when they stop to feed.

This Puss moth was asking for trouble when I found it in the middle of the lane, so it was quickly moved to a safer spot where it rested until night before moving away.

And lastly the Early Purple Orchids. This year Sarah and I counted more plants than ever and they seemed to be widening the stretch they occupy which would be lovely to see a populated bank in years to come, sadly though on another walk past we found that most of the flowers had been cut and taken away. Not a happy sight to see and one I hope doesn’t happen again.

 

 

April 2022

Spring had finally arrived as we moved into April, a lot of birds were on the move and because it was decent weather a lot of migrating birds probably headed straight to their breeding grounds, missing out on stopping here. The male Brambling was still visiting the garden during the first week but seemed to have moved on after that, but not before having its picture taken.

The garden birds were still busy as ever and some were attending to their nest and young by the amounts of food they were carrying. The Long tailed tits didn’t seem to have started nesting yet as they could be seen together every day together, always making their presence in the garden known by their trilling calls.

The Dunnocks, normally 4 of them, busily displaying and trying to impress the female, they were forever chasing around the garden and on the lawn.

On the 11th 2 Curlew flew over the garden. The 12th was a great day, on the morning dog walk I finally caught up with a Wheatear this spring, and this male was in the company of a female bird too, extra bonus. 2 Swallows started of a slow trickle of birds heading up the coast, so nice to see them back again.

With two species in the bag for the year as it were’, the 12th was far from over. During the afternoon whilst scanning the skies from the garden I glanced just behind me to see a large raptor spiralling high, once I got my eye on the bird there was no mistaking I was watching an Osprey! It slowly spiralled higher and further out to sea towards Sidestrand, what a bonus.

But that wasn’t the end of my day….. a new garden tick presented itself on a neighbours roof, and one I had been waiting to get since moving here, a Black Redstart.

Now the 12th could end !

The next day I saw and heard 2 Blackcaps singing, they had finally arrived. We saw 2 Fieldfare pass overhead whilst walking the dogs. Swallows still passed albeit single birds and a House Martin was the first of the year. It was lovely to see and hear new species arriving each day. On the 14th I saw 2 Willow Warblers, one was very vocal and very showy, typical as I didn’t have the camera with me. A Common Whitethroat on the 15th was the first of quite a few to be holding territory around the village by the end of the month.  House martins were soon to be seen over the village and feeding over the fields near the village hall.

What a stunning colour on the Greenfinches  at this time of year.

On the 16th a female Marsh Harrier flew south past the house, easily told by the dark brown plumage and pale creamy hood.

Most mornings after the dog walk I would take time watching the skies for birds moving over before getting to work in the studio. On the 17th the walk produced 6+ Song Thrushes and more Common Whitethroat, 6 Jays were part of a wave that moved across the north coast area. From the garden I set up hoping to see something, and I ended up spending most of the day watching the skies, I had 21+ Buzzards pass over the garden, one of those got the heart racing as it very much resembled a Rough legged buzzard, but some plumage traits didn’t quite match up so it was relegated to Common, they are so variable in their plumage you think you’ve found something different. A smart bird nonetheless.

The day was a raptor day for sure as I also spotted a female Hen Harrier heading inland.

On the 18th I hoped for more raptors moving over, not quite as many as the day before but there were a handful circling on the thermals, one in particular was a stunning pale Common Buzzard. It seemed to stay in the area nearly all day, displaying and calling to nearby buzzards and putting on a great display over the house.

Sadly after the weather took a drastic turn for the worse, with cold winds and temperatures coming from the north and straight in off the sea it seemed to stop everything moving and indeed made it difficult to see any bird! There was nothing of note up to the end of the month and a real downer after such a promising start, but thankfully what a great start it was.

 

 

March 2022

Depending on the weather there were definite signs of migration starting and signs of spring. I had regular sightings of Common Buzzards and Red Kite most days at the start of the month. Small groups of birds tracked along the coast heading east/southeast, mostly made up of finches, especially Siskin, I had a different bird to the previous one feeding in the garden which is always nice to see, they are such a lovely little finch.
Two things that signify spring to me are sounds of a Chiffchaff singing and the sight of butterflies on the wing. On the 10th I saw my first Brimstone butterfly of the year, followed soon afterwards by a Peacock. I had to wait until the 15th before I heard a Chiffchaff singing in the trees behind my garden. On a morning walk Sarah and I noticed the leaves of the Early Purple Orchids just starting to emerge from under the roadside vegetation, and there seemed to be good numbers again too.
Early evening on a mid-month day mid month I received news of hundreds of Blackbirds passing over Sidestrand heading east/southeast, I looked and although most were flying at a height I did manage to see double figures flying along the coast and alighting the trees around the house. It’s great to witness migration events as they happen along the coast here.

Siskin  

Red Kite

The local birds seemed to be paired up and gathering nesting materials and the House Sparrows were taking grass and materials into a neighbours eaves. Buzzards peaked at 6 over the house one day, and mid month onwards saw a very large amount of Starlings passing east, hundreds were seen passing inland as well as along the coast on quite a few days when we walked around the village.

House Sparrows

Common Buzzard

Clumps of frog spawn and frogs mating could be seen nearing the months end in the small drain off pools along at Grove Farm, I only noticed them when I watched a beautiful Grey Wagtail flitting around the edge of one.

Frog Spawn

A couple of bird species I normally see during the winter months showed in better numbers now than I had seen since the year started, Golden Plover and Redwings, the Redwings were part of a movement that happened as the month drew to an end, 5 together past the church was the highest tally I’d got this winter and the Golden plover numbered around 40 one day flying overhead before seeing a flock of 200 or so circling fields looking for somewhere to land.  So birds were obviously moving but the changing weather played havoc some days with the high winds, but as soon as a window of opportunity arose birds took to the air, other notable numbers were of Pied Wagtails, Rooks and Magpies passing over, and hopefully better weather in April will really liven things up.

 

 

 

February 2022

It was looking like a very quiet report for February, the weather and especially the winds was horrendous, there didn’t seem to be a let up until the month neared to an end. Amongst the storms there were glimmers of change and the approaching spring. The daffodils were growing well along the lanes and ditches, one area will be less populated with flowering daff’s though as the farmer had decided to cut a whole length of bank just as they were gaining height and showing buds, why it couldn’t of been cut a lot earlier is only known to them, it didn’t really need cutting and wasn’t near a junction for viewing, all they had to do was look to see all the new growth and life emerging! 

But more pleasant to see were the snowdrops everywhere, the celandines were once again growing, the flower heads pushing up through the leaf cover, hopefully with some decent spells of sunshine the bright yellow flowers will soon be fully out adding colour to the lane verges.

Red Kites were still being seen from the garden and over the fields. Groups of Pink Footed geese were only seen passing a few times and not in great numbers. during the first half of the month I found 2 male Reed Buntings on overhead wires whilst out walking with Sarah and the dogs, the next day there were 5 Reed Buntings seen, these could be local birds or early movers, a nice sight to see though through quiet times. The hares were more noticeable during the month, already chasing eachother around the fields. On the 21st I saw my first butterfly of the year, a Peacock.

On the last day of the month whilst walking the lanes we came across a Stonechat flitting along the hedge and feeding in the field. With a lack of images for the month, due to the weather, I decided I would return with the camera hoping it would still be in the same spot, fingers were crossed as already the local Yellowhammers seemed to be moving it on whenever it settled. A short time later I arrived back where we had found it but I couldn’t locate it, perhaps the yellowhammers had seen it off their patch? Thankfully not much later I relocated it catching insects just along the adjacent lane. I spent some time watching it move from perch to perch busily feeding on the insects which the morning sun had seemed to have brought out in decent numbers. The Stonechats are a lovely bird with a nice orange colour to the underparts, a nice sight to see and know that changes are happening now we have reached March.

Stonechats can be a very confiding bird at times. As I headed home I noticed the flock of Yellowhammers coming down to puddles to drink, carefully approaching to within range of a record image I tucked myself up against the hedgeline and waited, just a couple of birds put in a brief appearance before the flock dispersed due to people and vehicles approaching. But the Yellowhammers are a stunning bird, the yellow colour on them can be so vivid as seen here. A wonderful end to the month.

 

 

 

January 2022

I had a fair bit of work to do in January and so birding was very limited to dog walks and garden, and on top of that it was a quiet month. Nearly every morning I woke to the sound of the Goldfinches calling from Dot and Johns Cherry tree, one count got up to 50 birds before they took flight! The lone male Brambling stayed around our two gardens for a couple of days but moved on, and what was likely the same bird a couple of days later associating with Chaffinches along Church Lane. On the days I did see it from the garden it was either tucked up against the branches or on the other side of the tree posing a challenge to get any photos, and besides that the weather was dull and grey and most birds only appeared as a silhouette, but I did manage a shot and there’s no mistaking a male Brambling with it’s lovely orange plumage.

Every so often we would see the Roe deer in some field or wooded area, and the last time we saw them this month there were 5. The ploughed fields and short crop field along off middle street still held a large number of Lapwings, and usually the flock held 300 plus birds! A group of 50 or so Golden Plover flew overhead one day and seemed to join the Lapwing in an adjacent field, not seen too many of those this winter. One day whilst talking to a neighbour at the back of our garden, I saw 3 Mute Swans fly from the coast direction, they then proceeded to turn and fly low overhead and follow the coast road southeast, quite a few swans had been reported around the the same time along points of the coast so a definite movement, which brings me to the final entry of the month and on a day that saw a decent amount of Red Kites reported from here to Overstrand. I saw 3 Kites low together that passed our garden enabling me to get a few images, a handful of Common Buzzards seen distantly towards Sidestrand, no doubt taking advantage of the blue skies and better weather, but the count from Overstrand were 11 Red Kites circling over the ridge. 

 

 

 

 

December 2021

December seemed to be a quiet month, what with working in the studio and the onset of christmas I was limited to observations only on the daily dog walks with Sarah. At the start of December there were a large number of Pink footed geese around, since moving to Trimingham I have not witnessed Pinkfeets’ on the ground around here, just flocks flying over, so it was a surprise to see 300 plus all in a field off of Middle Street. Mixed in with the flock were Canada geese and Greylags, the Pink’s only stayed that day but the Canada’s hung around for a couple. The large gathering of Pinkfeet seemed to move just a short distance over towards Mundesley, I heard a report of around 1000 geese feeding in beet fields on the outskirts of Mundesley and one morning saw a huge distant flock take to the air. Garden birds were busy feeding and devouring the sunflower hearts, the Goldfinches numbered around 40 one day and the Long tailed Tits hit 11 birds feeding together. Our garden was visited a couple of times by Sparrowhawks and unusually the male bird decided to perch on the fence for some time enabling me to get a few photos.

Nearing the end of the month I managed to see a handful of Redwing and a few Fieldfare, I hadn’t seen any thrushes for some time around the village except plenty of Blackbirds. And a group of approximately 300 or so Lapwings all together in a field is the largest flock I have seen !  And so 2021 comes to an end, there have been some great bird encounters and new species for the patch, I look forward to what 2022 will bring.

 

 

November 2021

To sum up the month, weather played a big part during November, rougher seas made sea watching a bit more productive, not that I was able to get any sea watching in!, the lanes seemed to be very quiet. There were a lot more blackbirds around though but only single Redwing were glimpsed.  Throughout the month I saw a few Blackcaps, maybe over wintering birds? Out of Trimingham I ventured along to West Runton to catch up with a bird I had only seen before in Spain, so a new UK species could not be turned down, it was a Short Toed Lark. It was feeding with Skylarks in a ploughed field and put on a decent show when I arrived, a lot paler than the other larks it stood out against the slightly larger and darker Skylarks, mind you if you took your eye off it for a second it might take a minute or two to relocate it as it busily fed along the ploughed troughs.

Short toed lark ( bird on left) with Skylarks

Short Toed Lark

Back in Trimingham I once again caught sight of Bullfinches behind the Village Hall, a male and female together, I had still only seen a single Brambling but a welcome sight were two Goldcrests in the garden.

One morning as we ventured out with the dogs I noticed a Black Redstart perched on a gravestone, I didn’t hang about trying to get a record of it, running back to the house to get the camera.

I love the smoky grey tones of these birds and the contrasting brick red tail stands out so well.

The bird hung around the churchyard for a few days but with the strengthening winds was elusive much of the time.

During November a lot of Starlings passed through or indeed hung around to feed before moving onwards. Some flocks coming in off the sea and passing overland were well into double figures and hundreds some days. On one day a large sized flock were hanging around my garden and neighbouring ones too, searching for feeding opportunities they had eyed up some white berries in neighbours Dot and Johns garden, I had not seen such a frenzy of activity as they swarmed down onto the palm type tree and within a couple of days it was picked of every berry!

I had seen a few reports of Woodcock arriving along the coast so it was no surprise that we saw a couple of birds whilst out and about, but I didn’t expect to see a bat on the 16th of the month!! As I sat outside watching the light fade I noticed this bat fly from the paddock behind the garden and proceed low over me and around the side of the house towards the church, it didn’t appear again so I’m not sure if it was a local feeding late or a bat on the move from somewhere else? Nice to see though. And after a spell of not seeing any deer, we saw 3 Roe Deer sheltering along a hedgeline.

I finally managed to see 3 Brambling together as the month came near to an end, once again I saw a pair of Bullfinch near the Village Hall but this time they were both stunning male birds, what beauties they are. On a walk down the lanes I counted around 80 Lapwings in a ploughed field, the highest count of Lapwing I’ve seen around Trimingham. And lastly to Fungi! Crossing a field on our walks we began seeing these bright orange fungus appearing along the sides of the public path. These brightly coloured fungi are called ‘Orange Peel Fungus’, lovely to look at and indeed as they got larger the texture resembled orange peel.

 

 

 

October 2021

It was a busy and promising start to October, lots of Skylarks passed over the garden, double figures of Jays whilst on the morning walks, Blackbirds had moved in and Mistle Thrushes were moving once again. A couple of Roe deer seen in the fields most mornings at the start of the month, seemed like the mother and youngster still. On the 5th I picked up on 5 Mediterranean Gulls mixed in with the large flock of Black-headed gulls off Church Lane. On the 7th around 1000 Pink footed geese passed over and a single Greylag goose in with them. A Yellow Browed Warbler was reported from behind the Pilgrims Shelter and too good to miss an opportunity of these little beauties I set off round there. Knowing the finder it wasn’t long before he put me onto it, feeding on insects along the hedgeline with a couple of Chiffchaff. 

On the 8th and 9th of the month I set up camp in the back garden! There were hundreds of gulls frantically feeding on flies, presumably just emerging. Black headed gulls swooped up and down along the front picking off flies one by one. The Black-headed were then joined by a large number of Mediterranean Gulls, adult birds alongside first winter birds could be picked out as they fed over my garden, all of them performing circuits over and over. In some images I captured the gulls taking them and lining up the next meal, a truly wonderful experience to watch and seemingly a recurring event as this is the 3rd time in 4 years, albeit at a later month this year.

I was actually able to get out to sea watch, I was hoping to see a Black Guillemot that was drifting along from Overstrand but could not pick it up. On the 14th I watched 2 House Martins moving past the house! Red Kites were starting to be seen along the coast. My next sighting of Roe Deer consisted of 5 together. On a morning walk as Sarah and I approached the church heading home we watched a lone Great White Egret fly over heading east, if I had been in the garden I would have been able to add that to the garden list….just my luck! On the same day a Minke Whale was reported off the coast here but despite hopeful watching we weren’t able to see it. It’s worth keeping an eye on the sea at the moment as there are a few sightings being reported.

This is a record shot of a Long Tailed Duck that drifted past the cliffs behind the shelter on the 23rd, a new patch tick species which moved the tally up to 186 bird species. There were also plenty of Razorbills and Guillemots on the sea and sadly quite a few that had perished from starvation, something noted from a lot of coastal places and in other countries bordering the north sea, unable to feed in harsh weather and being moved around by strong winds makes them too weak to survive, a great shame to see.

On a few evenings near the month’s end we had some beautiful coloured skies. 

On the 24th a single Swallow passed the house! It must be feeling the drop in temperature. I also have started to see groups of Golden Plover passing whilst on the morning walks, the flocks will continue to increase in size as the winter approaches.

And last but not least the final sighting was in the garden, a Willow Emerald damselfly, I had seen a few over the garden and in tandem during the previous month so this was the first one to be seen sat up !

 

 

 

September 2021

The first day of the month and the Red Breasted Flycatcher seemed to have gone, but there was a Pied Flycatcher still hanging about. On the 2nd I went to look for the Pied Fly and refound the Red Breasted Flycatcher, this was to be the last day though. The Pied Fly stayed for a few more days and I was able to get a shot of it.

Red Breasted Flycatcher

Pied Flycatcher

Also unexpected was to see a bat flying around feeding during the afternoon! Previously I had heard a report of a Natterers Bat flying around during the day, by the look and colouration of this bat I was certain this was the Natterers, a first for me. I was still seeing Swallows and Martins around….how much longer? A female Marsh Harrier and 50+ House Martins on the 5th and the Natterers still day feeding. Also on the Sun 5th 200+ Buzzards were reported flying past the Village Hall during the North East Norfolk Bird Club meeting, these were heading inland and I didn’t manage to see any from the garden but the next day I managed to see 60+ from the garden.  Grey Wagtails were seen on a few days passing over along with 8 Redshank.

Along the lanes Sarah and I were seeing a lot of unfortunately squashed frogs and toads, a few were rescued and this adult was happy in a large puddle away from the road. A surreal sight during the beginning of the month were over 400 Black Headed Gulls passing over the house, and during this time a single Swift feeding out over the sea would be the last one of this year. In the garden I had a pair of Willow Emerald Damselflies, on the 10th I was lucky to see a Spotted Flycatcher along the lane, this was the only one seen this year. The local Roe Deer seemed to be showing most days. I managed to have a single Wheatear fly over the garden and a pair of Hobby headed south trying to get ahead of the approaching rains. The Roe deer had been successful with one youngster seen alongside the female on a few days, totally unfazed by our closeness and more intent on feeding. On the 18th I had a Ring-tailed Hen Harrier (female) fly in off the sea and past the house, later that day a female Marsh Harrier did the same. 

“Robins Pincushion”

You may have seen these red clumps (Galls) growing amongst the Dog Roses in the hedgerows. They are caused by a small gall wasp, inside each gall would hold chambers for the young.

Nearing the end of the month birds were moving about, I was still seeing groups of Swallows, Chiffchaffs and Blackcap moved through, another single Wheatear on the cliffs would surely be the last for this year. And then on the morning of the 24th the iconic sound of Pink Footed Geese once again could be heard, we counted a group of 60 or so pass over east then five minutes later 100 flew overhead going west, autumn was here.

This cheeky mouse used the perch ring as a seat to lean against whilst feeding on my bird feeders! 

And now onto a special part of the report, neighbour Dot had been locking up the church and a small bat had fallen down from the frame onto the path, luckily it was moved on a piece of paper and hidden on a pot. Dot informed me and not wanting to miss an opportunity of seeing a bat close up and making sure it wasn’t vulnerable or injured I grabbed the camera and crossed over to the church. I thought it might have been the Natterers but it was too small and believed to be a pipistrelle. Such a  small and cute mammal, I managed to grab a few images then seconds later it flew to the rear of the church seemingly healthy and none the worse for the experience.

 

 

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

Such a stunning butterfly with all of it’s different colours and markings.

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.

The Redstart name is derived from it’s tail, and what a rich colour that is. The Black Redstart is greyer in plumage, whereas the Redstart has buffish tones to the underparts. 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.

 

 

 

July 2021

The start of July brought low cloud and drizzle, but it also brought a wave of Swifts ahead of the worsening weather, whether they were just dispersed feeding birds due to the rain or maybe non breeders starting to head south again? I must have had 100 plus pass in half an hour.

The 2nd of July was a Hawk-moth day! The energetic Hummingbird hawk-moth again and best of all my very first ever Bedstraw Hawk-moth, and it seems the first one to be recorded in the county for 2021. As soon as Sarah pointed it out feeding on the flowers I knew it was something good, a mad rush indoors to get my camera and luckily it stayed put for me to get some shots….what a beauty.

Bedstraw Hawk-moth

Bedstraw Hawk-moth

Hummingbird Hawk-moth (above & below)

An unexpected pair of visitors on the 4th were juvenile Siskins. I had had a male and female bird back in March/April but no sign since then so to see a pair of young birds was very much out of the blue, where had they come from? No evidence of parent birds around so who knows, but a lovely sight to see that they’d bred somewhere maybe close. And they were not in a rush to stop feeding, allowing me to get close enough with a macro lens to photograph one of them!

Siskin

Sarah and I had made a water trough feature for the garden and our first and only damselfly so far to visit was a Blue-tailed Damselfly. 

With bird sightings very quiet it seemed garden wildlife would make up the bulk of species this month. A brief sighting of a butterfly that was a Fritillary of sorts frustrated in not staying. Looking like a moth but actually a butterfly, Skippers were the next addition to be photographed.

This creased wing skipper is a Large Skipper, larger than the Small and Essex and also recognisable by the orange block patterning on the wings as seen here

The next 2 species need a bit more closer inspection to tell apart. 

First up is this Essex Skipper, the underside of the wing is a pretty uniform colour, on the upperwing you can make out a small broken black line, this is the male sex brand. The male is distinguished from the female by this sex brand on its forewings, which is a short line of specialised scent scales.

Another identifying feature on the Essex Skipper is the black underside tips of the antennae, seen clearly here in the photo below.

Essex Skipper

Now we can see the differences in the very similar Small Skipper. On the image below you can see the black male sex brand, compared to the Essex Skipper this is much longer on the Small Skipper and it is also unbroken.

The underside of the wing on the Small Skipper has a greyish dusting but what is identifiable are the antennae tips, in the image below you can see they are a orangey brown colour unlike the Essex Skipper which have the solid black tips and is a real giveaway.

Small Skipper

Nearing the end of the month I had Whimbrel pass by the garden and a very low Hobby shoot fast over the garden hunting, on the 22nd I heard Sandwich Terns calling from the sea front, no mistaking their noisy calls and a new species to be added onto the garden list.

Silver-washed Fritillary

What could of been the same butterfly as seen earlier in the month, this lovely albeit worn, Silver-washed Fritillary got itself stuck in neighbours Dot & Johns greenhouse, difficult facing the sun I did manage to get a couple of record shots though, and a new species for the garden.

And to finish off the month whilst out walking the dogs early one morning Sarah and I counted 23 Mistle Thrushes feeding in a cut Barley field, this is the highest amount of Mistles that I have seen all together, and there were still 9 or maybe these were different birds moving through. 

 

June 2021

The month got off to a good start with decent weather. The local birds were doing well with producing young, in the garden I was starting to see younger Blue Tits ( the most numerous of new birds) Great Tits, another Robin and a couple of new Blackbirds, everything was lively. Locally on the walks the Yellowhammers were in good song, as were Common Whitethroats and Skylarks, and Blackcaps still collecting food for young. During the first week, from the garden I spotted a Ring Necked Parakeet fly past, and also a pair of Spoonbill heading along the coast. 

Female Blackcap

On the 10th I watched 2 Little Egrets fly over the garden, this was one of 3 sightings I had of Little Egrets over the next few days around the village flying over, maybe the same birds or birds on the move? We had a couple of Painted Lady butterflies in the garden, and although there was apparently a large movement of them on the continent the numbers didn’t get any higher here.

Painted Lady

Dot from next door brought us a freshly emerged moth which she had found in the garden, this turned out to be a lovely Lime Hawk-moth, the wings were only just 8mm in length so it hadn’t emerged too long ago, Sarah placed it among one of our Clematis where it clung on under the shelter of the shade. What we didn’t expect was just how quickly it then transformed itself into full adult size! Five minutes later Sarah called me to the garden, the wings were now curled up but almost half the length of the moths body, I then went to grab the camera for some photos as it transformed.

Lime Hawk-moth.

Every few minutes it had grown out the wings some more. 

It didn’t take long for the wings to reach and then stretch beyond the body length.

This was 12 minutes after the first photograph!

And 24 minutes from the first photo it had finished, wings fully spread out and in it’s typical resting position. What an absolute delight watching this progression unfold, and later as it grew dark it departed, wonderful.

Mid month I spotted a Red Kite from the garden, heading in my direction. I dashed inside to get the camera and hope for it to fly over. On watching it approach I could see that it was holding some form of prey and eating it in flight.

As I zoomed in on the image I could see it was the leg of a bird! It continued to slowly circle and approach the garden.

On a couple of occasions it dropped the prey as you can see here in these two images, the speed of how it reacted and then caught in mid air was phenomenal! 

I think the prey was possibly a Jackdaw by the size and feather colour before it dispatched it, there are a lot of Jackdaw creche’ groups flying around at the moment especially around the church! I can imagine that the group saw the approach of a raptor as a threat and tried to move it on, but a less experienced bird fell victim to the Kite perhaps? When you see corvids mob a bird of prey, the raptor sometimes flip over and faces the aggressor with legs and talons fully stretched to defend itself, so it wouldn’t be hard to pick of a inexperienced bird.

Going into the second half of the month a lot of people might have noticed a lot of Red Admiral butterflies in their garden. A huge influx of these lovely butterfly was happening around with large numbers being reported, there were 20+ feeding on the Valerian along Church Road. Probably from a new hatching or maybe migrants, they were reported in numbers along upto Titchwell that I know of.

On the 24th of the month I went to photograph Bee Orchids. I had been informed of around a dozen spikes of these lovely plants on waste ground near the end of the village where I had seen a couple of plants a few years ago.

I actually counted 22 spikes/plants and there were probably a few more hidden, what a great sight to see so many, with the Early Purple orchids earlier in the year it seemed a productive time for the orchids.

Bee Orchid

The fuzzy little bee orchid flowers look like real bees feeding on three pink petals. As bees visit the plant in hopes of mating with the little fake-bees, this bit of bee orchid mimicry ensures the plant is pollinated, as the male bees transfer the pollen to nearby female plants.

Back to the garden and it was nice to get Hummingbird Hawk-moths in the garden once again, I never tire of watching these stunning little moths feeding on the flowers.

And to finish up what was a great month for wildlife and nature, I even managed to add a new bird species to the garden list…a Gannet !!

I watched it fly along the clifftop from the garden then circle and come back towards me and then later in the day what was presumably the same bird did the same fly past again? If it was a sick bird I would have thought it would be resting on the cliffs or on the water, but it seemed to be in good health and flying/gliding back and forth okay, so was it prospecting new sites for nesting perhaps? These are the highest cliffs in Norfolk along here so maybe, either way it got itself onto the garden bird list which now stands at 115 bird species.

 

 

 

May 2021

The month was definitely affected by the weather which wasn’t great but the birds kept moving through regardless, some of the good birds unfortunately kept inland and I failed to connect with them. The month began with a few Swifts moving west, so nice to see them again, Marsh Harrier also seemed to be coming in along the coast and I saw a female type, don’t think I’ve seen a male bird at Trimingham yet! On the 12th I gratefully found a Lesser Redpoll singing in the tree behind my garden, a new species for the garden and for the patch no less.

Lesser Redpoll

House Martins started to pass through as the month neared halfway, a Spoonbill flew past the house, Little Egret over the fields, it almost felt like May was going to finally get going but it didn’t manage to really. What I was looking out for were Golden Orioles, a super beautiful bird, and it seemed a large movement of them was taking place across europe and heading west, numerous birds were seen along the coast and as close as Sidestrand but I think they were taking a route inland and missing this corner of the coast?

One morning whilst walking the dogs Sarah and I picked up on a Osprey flying over Woodlands which had just previously been seen flying in at Sidestrand, it wasn’t long before it was being mobbed by the corvids as it headed inland. Cuckoos were being reported and heard at numerous localities but I am still waiting to hear my first one of the year. 2 Chinese Water deer hidden in a crop field was a nice sight, there seems to be good numbers of Roe deer around too.

The local Tawny Owl was again calling during the day and a Whimbrel calling at night was a lovely sound, numerous bats flew along the lanes early evening, when it wasn’t bad weather that is.

Male (above) and female Blackcaps

Whitethroats had set up territory at numerous locations around the village and hopefully will have a good year, just one Lesser Whitethroat was seen mind you. Blackcaps sang, seemingly all the time and everywhere! Lovely to hear them singing every morning, and if you weren’t aware of the difference between the male and female then these images show just that, the rich brown cap on the female is distinctive, that’s when it’s not skulking around mind you.

At the end of the month I turned to photographing birds at the garden feeders, in full summer plumage some of the common garden birds looked stunning, and young birds were starting to be seen too.

The pink flush on the male Chaffinch is lovely, and the Goldfinch just looks stunning in the sun.

Blackbirds seemed to be having a good season, I had seen a couple of young birds around the garden, alongside these I noticed young Robin and Goldfinch.

The young Goldfinch have the same golden wingbars but they lack the obvious red on the head.

This young Robin kept hidden a lot of the time, very mottled on the feathering but nowhere near ready for that red breast.

This year has been great to watch a pair of House Sparrows visit the garden feeders regularly, now nesting in nearby roof eaves the adults still visited to re-energise on the feeders. The male I think has beautiful colouration, the female may be drab next to the male but still has lovely patterning.

Talk about colour! How bright do the male Greenfinches look at the moment.

Mothing has been a wash out this spring, many inland locations have been spared the cold weather we have had on the coast here and their tallies of moth species show that, I won’t be chasing the target I set last year that’s for sure, but I am slowly seeing a few more species when I manage to trap.

 

 

April 2021

At the start of the month the male Siskin was joined by a female, they visited the feeders on a couple of days but were not seen as the month progressed, hopefully breeding somewhere. There had been plenty of White Tailed Eagle sightings around the county and a few close by so I was keen to add this to the patch and hopefully the garden list. Thanks now go to Sarah, whilst in the garden on the 9th of the month she looked behind the church, I was looking the other way, and immediately picked up on a bird of prey stating how large it was…there’s no mistaking a eagle when its that low and sure enough we were watching a White Tailed Eagle! !. I ran indoors to grab my camera and realised it was drifting inland so off I ran down Church Road till I could see the eagle through an opening, now quite distant but close enough to get a couple of record shots. After waiting and missing out on this bird for the last few years I now had it in the bag!

Mid month we heard our first singing Blackcap of the year, a group of 40+ summer plumaged Golden Plover were frequenting the ploughed field off Church Road. On the 20th my first Wheatear of the spring, last year I failed to see any during the spring instead having to wait till the autumn migration. Despite the cold northerly weather the birds were trickling through, White Wagtail and Common Whitethroat soon started to pass through and within a few days there seemed to be Common Whitethroats holding numerous territories around. 3 Wheatear fed together in the potato field off middle street, fresh in and gone the next day. More Swallows and Sand Martins flew over the garden and a welcome bonus was a Ring Ouzel past. 

End of the month saw a movement of Whimbrel along the coast, I had some over the fields and over the garden. Common Buzzards were passing in good numbers some days, 8 in one group seemed to be having fun on the cliff updrafts.

 

 

 

March 2021

Moving forward into March and the thought of Spring and just a little bit of wildlife around the corner, the memories of snow faded away. It was a mixed bag of weather, to be expected, with some misty foggy days and beautiful sunshine making it feel warmer even if the thermometer didn’t mirror that!

It was a welcome sight to see that the harsh weather and banked up piles of snow on the road verges had not perished the Early Purple Orchids that emerge every year along the back lanes. This year there actually seemed to be double the amount of plants just starting to come up.

Early Purple Orchids

Moving into the second half of the month I was able to get my moth trap out and start the year list off, not expecting many species I was happy with 4 types on the first go.

Clouded Drab

Hebrew Character

There was a movement of birds starting to move about and the prominent one I was keeping an eye out for were Ravens. A number of reports were being circulated of one or two Ravens around the neighbouring villages, and on one morning I narrowly missed out on a pair over the Plantation wood along the clifftop fields, typical I walked the other direction that morning! But on the 21st whilst in the garden I heard the unmissable ‘gronking’ call of one passing along the coastline, excellent, I could now add it to the patch list and also the garden list, and if that wasn’t good enough I had another bird fly over the garden and a possible sighting of a third later that day! 

Things ramped up a notch from the 25th of the month, I saw my first returning Sand Martin from the garden. With warm weather and blue skies the raptors started to move, I had 8 Common Buzzards over the house at one time and a lot of Red Kites were moving along the coastline, 5 passed in one group.

The very next day, the 26th, started in a bit of a panic! There were 3 Common Cranes moving along the coast heading my way, now these birds are not new for me here, I have seen a couple of groups but they have normally been heading away from me, and what happens most times is that they totally cut off this stretch of the coastline and head straight inland after Cromer back to the broads. The last sighting I read was at Sidestrand heading towards Trimingham!! Frantically searching the skies from the garden I thought I had missed them/drifted inland before me…..then they appeared low over the fields heading closer and this time I grabbed a few photos of them facing me for once.

A passing female Marsh Harrier finished the day nicely. Plantation wood looked stunning with all the daffodils and primroses.

On the 29th we saw our first Swallow of the year, soon to be followed by quite a few more and Sand Martins by the end of the month. On the 30th I had a male Siskin on the feeders, my first one to actually feed in the garden, it was joined on another day by female type.

Male Siskin

So March was turning into a great month, but the icing on the cake came on the last day of the month….a male Hen Harrier passed low south past the house whilst I was sitting in the garden during the afternoon, I had missed female ( ring tails as they’re known ) hen harriers before, tending to head across further inland, so actually seeing a male from the garden was a fantastic sight, and that puts the Trimingham Patch List on 183 bird species and the Garden Bird List on 112 species.

 

 

January and February 2021

The wintery weather arrives

The new year was upon us and being in lockdown there was no Birding allowed, at this time of the year it is quiet anyway and if I didn’t see anything on the daily dog walk then there probably wasn’t anything around. There was a definite feel of change in the weather, there were some lovely sunset skies and the temperature was dropping. Places throughout the UK were experiencing snow already and the prospect for us to get some was increasing. 

It’s amazing how the frost would make feathered patterns on the car windscreen and bodywork, like it had been created on purpose.

And then mid month the snow finally arrived, at first it looked like we were going to miss the worst of the incoming front but it did indeed hit us.

It turned into a winter wonderland, cold but a joy to walk through.

But this was just a taster of things to come.

 

Snow and more Snow

February arrived and there was the prospect of more snow on the way! This time we were in the firing line and it hit us. For the second time in three years Trimingham was transformed by a beast from the east.

This was looking along Church Road towards Middle Street, and it was just a little snowed in !

Rough seas and strong winds, but at least the paths here were walkable.

The strong winds had kept blowing the snow off the fields and the lanes were covered. This is halfway along Church Road where the public footpath cuts across the field, the drifts here had totally hidden the road which lies about four feet under the snow!

Middle Street junction which heads towards Grove Farm.

Even though birding was still not allowed, I was able to keep my eyes out for Woodcock. With this onslaught of bad weather it also drove in Woodcocks in their hundreds it seemed, and we were seeing them flying in off the coast as well as along all of the lanes, one day we saw 3 Woodcock and 3 Common Snipe together and later birds flying behind the garden. Hares were noticeable against the white backdrop and surprise sight were a pair of Chinese Water deer in a field that still had grassy crop for cover.

The cold weather stayed but no more snow, but it would be slow to disappear.

A week on and some lanes had been cleared to enable access to farm buildings and main roads, but we were now hit by high winds which blew the snow that had covered and accumulated on the fields back across the lanes and roads making them unpassable. This image above is the Church Road/Middle Street junction which had been clear the day before, now totally submerged again.

The next junction down towards Grove Farm had been cleared by a digger just days before, here you can see one of the cleared piles of snow and below you can now see the road totally covered by drifts once again.

But it finally melted and the roads returned to normality, and with improving weather and some lovely sunshine at the end of the month, bulbs and plants sprang to life, celandines popped up all along the lanes , daffodils reached for the skies and geese started to move around, bird life became noisier and busier and hopefully the signs of spring would win over anymore reports of bad weather returning.

 

 

December 2020

December and a look back at my highlights

Not much to report during December, plenty of geese back and forth over the village and still a lot of Blackbirds are around. Finch numbers are up on their groups with a lot of Chaffinch around my house. The only other note during the month was a mouse up in my bird feeder halfway up the tree!

With little of note here are some of my highlights of 2020:

This Ring Necked Parakeet put in an appearance over a couple of the days during the spring.

This Rough Legged Buzzard was reported further along the coast during the morning of the 25th April, how lucky was I to see it fly over my house, then if that hadn’t sealed the day a Osprey flew along the coast whilst I was in the garden.

During the summer months with the birding quieter except for local breeding birds, my attention turned more to mothing, and the onset of some new species kept me trapping as much as possible in the hope of something rarer, here are some of the new garden additions caught through summer.

Scalloped Hook-Tip

My first Lime Hawkmoth was a very welcome tick.

Varied Coronet

Canary Shouldered Thorn

The approach of autumn brought the prospect of some migrating birds and a new wave of autumnal moths.

The arrival of the Pied Flycatchers have been lovely the last couple of years, I hope this is repeated every year, this year the numbers were up on the previous and I never tire of photographing these birds.

Centre Barred Sallow (above) and Sallow.

This seasonal moth is appropriately named..the Autumnal Rustic.

We had a welcome move in weather during October and easterlies started to bring birds in, I was so pleased to find a little Siberian Jem along the lane past the church, the stunning Pallas’s Warbler. What a little beauty and my highlight of the year.

Pallas’s Warbler

And if that wasn’t enough I was able to see at least 3 different Yellow Browed Warblers, not as scarce as the Pallas’s but still a great bird to see.

Yellow Browed Warbler

As the autumn moved to winter I kept adding a few moths to the year list, but the weather was to start having a effect on how regular I got the trap out. One species I had been waiting for since moving here finally gave itself up, the beautifully marked Merveille Du Jour.

Merry Christmas to all!

 

 

 

 

November 2020

Due to work it has been difficult to get out and about except for when walking the dogs, and just a couple of visits to the clifftop. The weather was a real mix but definitely getting colder, I was receiving messages of good numbers of Great Northern Divers along the coast along with a couple of sightings of Iceland Gull. There was a great report of a few Waxwing in Overstrand, I’ll have to keep an eye out for them in the hope we have a major influx of these beauties – a couple of reports of Pale Bellied Brent geese along the coast too. On the morning dog walks we were noticing a lot of Pink-footed geese passing over, more than 400 passed overhead one day, the flocks of birds seemed to be increasing now breeding was well and truly finished. Good numbers of Yellowhammer could be seen along the lanes and around the quarry entrance, some of the birds are so bright with their day-glow yellow heads.

A lot of Great Skuas, otherwise known as ‘Bonxies’, were reported moving through off the coast mid month. I managed to get some time to see for myself but I was only able to view one passing here.

Near the Shelter another Yellow Browed Warbler was found with a couple of Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers. I managed to hear the Yellow Browed call before catching a quick view of it feeding through bushes – no photos of this bird unfortunately. 

Chiffchaff

Willow Warbler

The weather had an effect on me getting the moth trap out during November. Some nights I did not get a single moth but on others I managed a few – luckily for me two of these were new for the garden and a welcome addition to the list. Having not trapped this late in the year during 2019, I was happy to still be adding new species to the garden list which now stands at 211 Macro moth species. Whether or not I will be able to get the trap out and indeed catch anything in December is another matter but you never know, there are still a couple of species on the wing at this time of the year that would be new additions.

December Moth

Feathered Thorn

 

 

 

 

October 2020

Siberian Leaf Jewels Steal the Month

Anticipation was high for October, surely there would be some nice birding on the patch and hopefully new moth species for the garden entering autumn.

The weather was a mixed bag at the start of the month but the wind conditions and rain added to bringing birds in. Groups of birds were already starting to move along the coast, siskins were still heading through but in smaller groups than before. On the 3rd 15+ Brambling landed in a tree behind the back garden before heading off south over the house, a big fall of birds continued throughout the day with good numbers of Song Thrush, Blackcaps and Robins, near the clifftop I saw a single Hawfinch with chaffinches, Redwings were starting to increase and a Willow Warbler feeding in the ivy clad bushes. The next day, 4th Oct, numbers of thrushes were still coming in off the sea, 18+ House Martins, a couple of Swallows and Hobby passed along the cliffs, Blackcaps were dotted everywhere and a few Grey Herons were the first of a few to be seen passing over.

On the 9th I trapped a new moth species, a Green Brindled Crescent.

On the 12th I picked out my first Fieldfare of the autumn, thrushes were still scattered all over the place. On the 13th the wind conditions were coming in off the sea so I set about doing some sea watching. Upon arrival at the cliffs I noticed a few gulls sat up on the sea and groynes, strategically placed for the birds coming across the sea on migration about to make landfall and no doubt exhausted. The thrushes had to run a gauntlet.

A Fieldfare makes it to the safety of the scrub and bushes, narrowly avoiding the pursuing Herring gull.

This Herring Gull took some of the feathers of this thrush but was unable to down it.

Groups of birds were still heading in over the coastline, these Starlings at least avoided the gulls below.

Later that day the weather worsened and the rain picked up, this in turn downed a lot of thrushes, behind the house a fall of 30+ Redwing along with a few Fieldfare, Starlings and Blackbirds busily fed in the paddock.

Later that day the weather worsened and the rain picked up, this in turn downed a lot of thrushes, behind the house a fall of 30+ Redwing along with a few Fieldfare, Starlings and Blackbirds busily fed in the paddock.

I noticed goldfinches coming to a puddle to drink and bathe, then joined by Goldcrest drinking, my attention was drawn to the puddle now and then to a few Goldcrests feeding in a nearby sycamore tree, such a lovely dainty little bird and a challenge to get a nice photograph before they flit off out of the camera view!

I managed to grab a couple of shots which were okay, it was at this point that whilst watching 3+ goldcrests flitting around in the tree my eyes came across a tiny warbler……straight away I knew what this was and panic set in to follow it feeding, I had just found a stunner……a Pallas’s Warbler.

What a super beautiful bird these are, instead of being in China these little birds, close in size to Goldcrests, will head 3000+ miles to our shores most years, and this year the weather conditions were just right to bring a few in along the norfolk coast. Very similar to the Yellow Browed Warbler, the Pallas’s has a central crown stripe which the Yellow Browed does not, they appear brighter and if you catch a sight of them hovering to check for insects among the leaves, you should notice a pale yellow rump patch.

What a super beautiful bird these are, instead of being in China these little birds, close in size to Goldcrests, will head 3000+ miles to our shores most years, and this year the weather conditions were just right to bring a few in along the norfolk coast. Very similar to the Yellow Browed Warbler, the Pallas’s has a central crown stripe which the Yellow Browed does not, they appear brighter and if you catch a sight of them hovering to check for insects among the leaves, you should notice a pale yellow rump patch.

The weather had now brightened and I once again set up near the favoured sycamore trees for the Yellow Browed, I didn’t have to wait long before it returned and grabbed a few flitting images.

No visible crown stripe like the Pallas’s.

What a month October turned out to be, with favoured wind conditions bringing in the birds and photo opportunities of two stunning leaf warblers I couldn’t of been happier, and then there were the moths which did actually make me happier!

This Merveille Du Jour was a welcomed new addition to the garden list which I had been waiting to trap.

Yellow Line Quaker, another new garden species.

Grey Shoulder Knot
&
Brown Spot Pinion
Both new macro species for the garden, and an end to a great month.

 

 

 

September 2020

THE GEESE HAVE RETURNED

September got off to a good start. A morning walk to the front produced this lovely Wheatear, very relaxed and enjoying the morning sunshine on the clifftop bench.

I was hoping the month would produce some new moth species to get my tally up, and on the 4th I bagged a new species for the garden, a Juniper Pug.

On the 8th the first group of geese flew over the house, letting us all know the changing of the seasons are upon us. A count of 31 Pink-footed geese flew over and in the days to follow a few more groups were seen heading towards the Broads. Also on the 8th I caught two new moth species for the garden, a Centre-Barred Sallow and a Narrow-Winged Pug.

With the middle of the month already creeping up there was a movement of birds, namely Siskins. I counted quite a few groups moving over the house. 

I was getting some lovely moths during the middle phase of the month, some new for the year and one or two new for the garden, beauties such as Sallow, Brindled Green, Red Green Carpet and a lot of Black Rustics.

On the 19th I heard a Yellow-Browed Warbler calling from trees beyond the back garden – the trees were moving too much in the wind for me to pick it up though.

There had been a few sightings of Redwing around and a couple of possible sightings for me gave hope of connecting properly, but unfortunately it didn’t come about. On the 21st I counted 13 Common Buzzards pass the house all in a line. There had been a count of 16 birds moving past Beeston so these would have been the same group, but a few were no doubt just out of sight or had already passed – lovely procession to see, though.

A walk down the lane, still on the 21st, and I found a Yellow-Browed Warbler. It was a very elusive bird and over the next few attempts at trying to see it I only managed to hear it calling.

On the 22nd I witnessed yet another movement of Siskins, but this time they were in their hundreds – I must have had at least 300 go over the garden during the morning!

I managed to get a couple of new moth species for the garden before the weather would change – Autumnal Rustic and Large Ranunculus.

Then the weather changed and we were hit really bad, the worst since the 1987 Hurricane for sure. The 70+mph winds battered everything and caused so much wind damage to the plants. The effects could be seen all over – most stuff had some dying foliage, very sad to see, and it stopped mothing for September with my macro list standing at 199 species!!!

With the seas rough and a strong wind blowing in off the sea for days I ventured to the front to sea-watch – plenty of wildfowl and a possible Leach’s Petrel, and also the second geese species for the autumn with a decent amount of Brent Geese moving west.

Onwards and looking forward to October.

 

August 2020

A Windy August which hampered mothing but did bring some nice bits in. The first half of the month brought in new birds and new moths. I found this huge beetle near the moth trap one night. I had seen one the year before but this time round I was able to get a closer look and some photographs. It is a Great Silver Water Beetle, not the sort of thing you’d expect near a moth trap but they do inhabit coastlines along here and get attracted to the light. When it flew off it was like a mini drone taking to the air – you can see the size next to my little finger.

Around the garden or in our neighbours’ and overhead I saw a few species of dragonfly, Southern/Migrant Hawkers, Brown Hawker and Common Darters. This male Common Darter was seen with a female on the lawn and looked like it was laying eggs?

These next two moths were both new additions to my garden moth list, the Canary Shouldered Thorn and Twin Spotted Wainscot. The Canary Shouldered Thorn is a favourite with its bright yellow almost furry body.

Once again I was lucky to see a few Pied Flycatchers as they moved through on their way south – such a lovely little bird and one I won’t tire of seeing every year hopefully.

The second half of the month saw a movement of birds moving through but also strong windy conditions which gave way to some sea watching. There were groups of wildfowl and waders being blown through the choppy seas with sightings of Skuas and the odd shearwater too. I was able to see a group of three Black-tailed Godwits which were new for the patch list. In this photo we have the other Godwit, the Bar-tailed. The Black tailed has a white rump, whereas on these birds the white extends up the back.

This group of Sandwich Terns were resting up on the beach one morning, normally actively feeding as they pass along here.

Smaller birds passing through over land were not matching the numbers of birds passing out to sea but I still managed to see a few nice ones. This Lesser Whitethroat was my only sighting of one this year.

Wheatear had also been a no show bird in the spring just like the Lesser Whitethroat, so a couple of birds in front of me on the cliff one morning was a welcome sight even if it was for the briefest moment.

A young bird and adult Blackcap were a nice sight as they moved and fed in the bramble.

As the summer draws on I now check for the large Convolvulus Hawkmoth, watching the Nicotina plants every time I ventured out in the garden in the hope one was feeding on this favourite flower of theirs, and approaching the end of the month I got one, but this time not on the plants but resting up next to the moth trap.

And so despite the unwelcome strong winds and rain, August proved fruitful bringing in new and welcome species, and to finish up, news of the Great Green Bush Cricket. Although not seen, Sarah and I listened to one calling loudly in a front garden late one night at the end of the village.

 

July 2020

July was a mixed bag of weather, some sunny days, some windy days, some rain and some warmth, but here we didn’t have the heatwave some had experienced further inland. At the beginning of the month there were a lot of Swifts on the move. They seemed to be moving in different directions some days but what was noticeable were the numbers, a few hundred birds estimated some days but on the 8th I must have seen close to a thousand birds head east/southeast. What a sight seeing them move over, wave after wave! After that day the numbers eased and returned to the odd group now and again.

I finally got to see a Hobby this year, on the 11th !! – and sure enough just like buses they continued after that. On one occasion I had a pair feeding over the house along with a Peregrine. The garden was attracting plenty of insects, the marjoram was alive with bees and hoverflies, the butterfly bush was in bloom and bringing in a lot of butterflies.

It was nice to see the colourful Vetch along the coastal areas and lanes, the lanes also blooming with Harebells and Scabious flowers.

This Hornet Hoverfly was seen regularly in the garden. A large Hoverfly, largest in the UK, it mimics a Hornet to help keep predators away, but is entirely harmless.  The larva of the Hornet hoverfly can live in the nests of social wasps without getting stung!

Dragonflies were up in numbers – now the weather had warmed, I was seeing Brown Hawker over the garden and even saw a couple of Banded Demoiselles!

This Four Spotted Chaser sunned itself for a time, enabling me to grab a camera.

A friend had seen and recorded Great Green Bush Crickets around the village, and I think I had one calling from the bottom of the garden. This is possibly a newly colonised area for them as they aren’t recorded as far up the county as this, so I shall be eager to see or indeed photograph one…watch this space!

On a few days I would see Hummingbird Hawkmoth in the garden, with more than one individual as this one was very bedraggled and unlike the pristine one seen other times.

A Holly Blue butterfly ventured down from the Holly trees to feed, happily showing off the silvery underside of the wing.

On a couple of days during the month there were hatchings of insects which attracted a lot of gulls. The first hatch at the beginning of July were flying ants, and my God did they bring in the gulls! There must have been 300 or so overhead picking off this newly emerged feast. Most were Black-Headed Gulls but I did see Common Gulls too. The second time was at the end of the month and involved just Black-Headed and just a fraction of the numbers, but I watched them doing circuits over the trees and garden close enough to grab a couple of shots, including this gull about to gulp down an insect.

Mothing produced 45 species for the year list which now stands at 171 macro species. A few of these were new for the garden also which boosted the list numbers up.

Bordered White

Scorched Carpet

Oak Hook-tip

Varied Coronet

Sarah and I found out what had been cutting down plants and indeed making plants vanish? I watched a Nigella plant moving back and forth, wondering why it was the only plant seemingly doing so. We then saw a Bank Vole run from cover to the next plant victim and watched it chew through it in sections before taking it away! It continued doing this till it had all but one piece stashed away. It was obviously well fed as it even looked a decent size and we continued to watch it running around the garden selecting different plants to eat. Even the dogs were catching sight of it as it was so busy moving around.

 

 

June 2020

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 their lives – 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, so named 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.

The Silver Y moth gets its name from the Y shaped markings on the wings; it is also a day flying moth which is on the wing at the moment and is common in gardens.

Hummingbird Hawkmoths have been seen during the day a couple of times but should be seen more as we enter July.

 

 

 

May 2020

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 month. 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

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-aside crops. Common Whitethroats were holding territories around the village lanes and clifftop scrub.

Young Great Tit

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

Young 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. I grabbed a few photos of four species of butterfly showing their underside which may aid in identifying what you may see in your gardens.

Painted Lady

The Painted Lady has a lovely patterned underwing.

Orange Tip

The Orange Tip is stunning enough but look at the camouflaged underwing.

Green Veined White

What may look like a Small White flying around could turn into a Green-veined White when resting with the wings closed.

Red Admiral

Subtle colours but very patterned on the underside of the Red Admiral.

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!

 

 

 

April 2020

Outstanding April

Back-garden birding and lock-down were still in place – I am so lucky to be in a position where I can see so many different species of bird and wildlife, and April proved to be very good indeed.  The month started with a couple of Hooded Crow sightings in the area and I picked up another sighting of one past the house on the 3rd ( by the look of things it was probably the same bird that had been moving around the neighbouring towns and villages ). Sarah and I counted 16 Hares on the morning walk of the 3rd too, and Buzzards were starting to pass in numbers.

On the morning of the 4th I saw my first Stonechat of the year, along the clifftop. The next spectacle when we had gotten back from the walk was a group of 7 Common Cranes passing over the house! Sarah had been the one to pick them up as they honked overhead. A lot of the time they cut off this corner of the coast but I have now seen them on a couple of occasions and no doubt will see them hopefully regularly each year.

On the 5th I had a pair of swallows pass over the garden in the morning and by the end of the day I had had 6 pass over – so nice to have them return.

During the beginning of April there were large numbers of Peacock butterflies around. The colours are simply stunning on these butterfly.

The 6th was a fantastic day if only for the fact that I got 3 Spoonbill pass, following the coastline just beyond the garden – a great patch and garden tick. I didn’t manage any pics as there wasn’t a camera to hand but that wasn’t a worry – they were tracked along the coast and seen by other birders wanting this bird on their patch and indeed garden lists.

On the 7th whilst sitting in the garden Sarah said to me all of a sudden, “Slowly look to your right!?”  I did as I was told, and to my amazement saw a Ring-necked Parakeet (also known as Rose-ringed Parakeet)!!
This bird had been seen along at Overstrand previously and over the next week would be seen again over my garden and along at Mundesley among other places. No denying the colours are lovely. On this day we also heard our first singing Blackcap of the spring.

The 7th also brought the full moon in April known as the “Pink Moon”  heralding the appearance of the “moss pink,” or wild ground phlox, one of the early spring flowers native to North America which blooms at the time of the April full moon.

There was a large movement of Buzzards reported along the coast during the second week of the month and a few reports of “pale buzzards”. This pale buzzard here had been seen moving along the coast. They can be so striking to see that I regard them as something a bit more special compared to the normal common type.

I do like to watch the birds of prey as they lift up on the thermals off the cliffs. Being so close I have good views of them soaring and diving.

By now the tiny little wildflower “The Townhall Clock” had blossomed in the nearby woods, very easy to overlook due to its size. Each stem bears five flowers, one on the top and one on each of the four side faces – also known as Moschatel, I think the name Townhall Clock is a lot more fitting.

With a few Holly trees present through ours and our neighbours’ garden, the Holly Blue butterfly is a regular sight. Mind you, they seem to be forever on the wing and a challenge to say the least in getting a photo of one. So upon seeing one happily moving over some Bluebells with no urgency in flying off I frantically “legged it” indoors to grab a camera. Thankfully it was still there and so I carefully moved closer to grab some pics…happy days!

As the month progressed I saw my first Sand Martins of the year. Common Whitethroats started to become frequent on the morning walks (3 birds one day); Fulmar passed over the clifftops; a calling bird at night over the garden turned out to be a Moorhen. Then on the 22nd I managed to watch a new garden tick fly over the house, a pair of Bar-tailed Godwits which had been seen at Overstrand. They kept to the coastline before cutting over the house heading east, but most memorable for me on this day was my first Swift of the year, low over the garden and a joy to once again have them in our skies.

Whimbrel were on the move on the 23rd, and a group of 7 Barnacle geese flew past east only to be followed by a pair of Greylags heading west…then followed by the now turned-around Barnacles which then couldn’t make their minds up and indeed turned around and headed back the way they were originally going!!!

The best for the 23rd was a fly-by Osprey heading along the clifftop – I had a camera to hand and got a couple of record shots before it disappeared below the clifftop treeline, it was that low. The previous year I had seen one fly in off the sea on the 26th of April, so this bird beat it by a few days!  Hopefully a yearly experience?

There were quite a few groups of Jays moving through along the coast.

The 24th brought this different extremely pale buzzard over the garden as it drifted east with a couple of the usual dark common buzzards. This bird was more striking to watch than the first one earlier in the month. It was obviously moving around a lot as it was later reported by David Bryant at Blofield Heath a few days later – check out his blog:  http://birdsoftheheath.blogspot.com/2020/04/white-buzzard-is-this-same-bird.html

Every day I would see the Mistle Thrush go back and forth to the paddock collecting food to take to its young.  Unfortunately I saw a Crow chasing one of the young birds (was able to fly, but obviously not experienced enough in evasion) which did not end well for the Mistle Thrush youngster.

Common Buzzards continued to move through; a Peregrine was seen on one day cruising along the coast.

Sat 23rd and what a start to the day!
I had read that a Rough-legged Buzzard had been seen over Cromer. I thought how I’d missed out on one the previous year as it kept inland, and I stepped out of the house onto the patio and noticed a raptor approaching just in off the coast from Sidestrand. I ran inside to grab a handheld camera and raced out to see it approach the garden and head straight over ………….OH MY GOD!! It was a Rough-legged Buzzard – what a bloody awesome garden tick! It was the same bird that Ian had found over Cromer – the missing feathers identified that.

AND…….if that wasn’t enough, literally minutes after an Osprey headed past!! (possibly the same bird as previous hanging around?)

As the month drew to an end, the skies quietened somewhat. I had finally gotten a couple of sightings of Red Admiral ( seemed ages before one showed this year). As with the Holly Blue, I had a Brimstone alight on some Bluebells and gracefully wait till I had photographed it – not often am I able to photograph these as they are on the move more than Hollies.  A super packed April.

MOTHING

Mothing in April was quiet to say the least: with a target of 188 macro moths to beat from last year, this April was a slow start. The weather was windy at times and cold at nights – some nights I did not attract any moths and others just the 1 !! But the list is moving forward and currently stands at just 22 macros.

Early Thorn

Twin-spotted Quaker

Pine Beauty

Swallow Prominent

Chocolate Tip

Shoulder Stripe
Check out the head markings of this Shoulder Stripe – skull design or what!

Lunar-marbled Brown

Frosted Green

 

 

 

 

March 2020

Garden Birding and Staying Home
What a month March has turned out to be – something more akin to a virus-outbreak film at times when you hear the headlines! The first week in March started with hope of spring and new arrivals. Just two days in and Sarah and I watched a Barn Owl hunting along the hedgeline as we walked the dogs, and the celandines had really taken over the lane verges which was lovely to see.

Celandines

I managed to get just two visits to the clifftops for some birding before the restrictions came into play – it was quiet but there were things to see and enjoy. I chill out just watching gulls drift past me with the hope of something more worthy of a smile from under the moustache!

Most of the time the gulls consisted of Great Black-backed and Herring but I did get quite a wave of Common Gulls passing through one time – the Black-headed tend to drift over the house in numbers as they go to roost on the sea.

There were a few reports coming through of Red Kites along the North Norfolk coast. I saw one from the garden on the 7th, a young bird which had been hanging around Sidestrand. Sparrowhawk is usually seen most days from the garden but this lovely male bird drifted past me on my final trip to the cliffs – usually they dash past but this one slowed down enough for a pose. Later I had a pair dash past together hunting the clifftops.

As I watched a pair of Muntjac moving through the scrub on the lower slopes I noticed this fox following up behind them. The deer had noticed him but calmly watched as he went about looking for food, stopping at the slightest movement in case it was a vole. It could hear my camera clicking but couldn’t quite make me out tucked up on the clifftop.

With the weather a lot brighter it was only a matter of time before the first butterflies put in an appearance in the garden. First up was a Small Tortoiseshell followed by a few Brimstones and a Peacock.

The garden birds were either in full song and displaying or already collecting nesting material.

On the 17th and for the second time since living in Norfolk, another B2 Stealth plane flew over, this one not as jaw-droppingly close as the first but still a sight to behold. Apparently there had been a pair passing over but only one was seen through the wispy cloud.
On a morning walk we counted 13 Hares running around and boxing – great to see.

LOCK DOWN BEGINS

As restrictions started to be imposed, the dog walk of the day became a bird walk too, my first Chiffchaff  of the year singing and a Hooded crow briefly before being sent on its way by a pair of Carrion crows.

Back Garden Birding
Birding now took place from the back garden, which was exciting as from my location anything could fly past. A group of six Common Buzzards drifted east and the local pair were displaying right opposite the garden, diving and locking talons before tumbling.

One morning whilst sitting with my breakfast coffee, I noticed a few small groups of Chaffinch moving along the coast heading east, and by the end of the day it had turned into a mass movement of the finches and a few hundred had passed over. This went into the next day with group after group heading over.

A female Marsh Harrier slowly drifted east. These seem to be regular sight past the garden every year. A lone Curlew made itself heard as it circled around the garden before heading back towards the coast.

The temperature dropped somewhat nearing the end of the month, but with sunny days it made it feel very spring-like. Another butterfly was a Comma – I thought I would have seen a Red Admiral by now?

A pair of Coal Tits kept still long enough for photos! Usually they grab a bit of food and dart off immediately, but now they were romancing they had to time to pose.

 

MOTHING YEAR BEGINS

Despite a lot of windy and wet weather I was finally able to get my moth light again, and this time it was a success with my yearly moth list getting off to a start with five species recorded. I will try to beat the 188 macro moths caught last year, fingers crossed of course.

Hebrew Character

Oak Beauty

Early Grey

March Moth

Common Quaker

So a weird month with events we were not accustomed to, and maybe scary to think about at times. But immerse yourself in the wildlife and nature just outside your door and it all seems miles away.

 

February 2020

A windy and wet February

The wettest February on record and governed by strong winds, this was bound to be a quiet month with one storm after the other and very strong winds which just didn’t seem to end. I tried some sea watching during the first week – a few Auks and Divers on the 5th but on the 6th there were numerous Red Throated Divers on the sea. I counted groups of 30 plus birds as I scanned but then a fast-moving boat came along not far off shore where the divers were feeding and it was then I started to see a lot more fly off out of the boat’s way. I picked a point on the sea and counted as diver after diver flew past and within minutes I had counted 100 red throated divers and there were no doubt a lot more out there, and a pair of Great Crested Grebes added to the tally.

On the 9th I watched the full moon of February rise. this was called the Snow Moon by Northern Native Americans, earning the name from the heavy snow that can fall at this time of year.

The windy weather continued, and few birds were seen flying around in it. Gulls seemed the only ones to brave the rough seas.

Mind you, the Kestrels still had to feed and amazingly there they were fighting to hover in one spot over the cliff slopes, every now and again resting up and still having to balance themselves.

One lunchtime I took a look off the cliff during a dry spell, and although it was still very windy I managed to pick out a small wader flying along close in between the groynes. It turned out to be a Turnstone, a very welcome sight and hope of things changing. As I followed it onto the groynes, I then picked out three other Turnstones feeding between the sea defences.

After this we seemed to be bombarded with wet and extremely windy days. There were signs of change ahead, though: the Song Thrush had started to call on a few mornings, the Long Tailed Tits were no longer in their troop but now paired off along with the Blue and Great Tits following suit. Down the lanes the Celandines were starting to come out, and a lot of new leaf-growth on the bushes. At the end of the month close by there were reports of Stonechats and Great Skua on the move, so hopefully there will be more to see in March – and also the next full moon on the 9th March is called a “Worm Moon”.

 

January 2020

Quiet Start to the Year

It didn’t take long for January to pass us by. The weather brought us a lot of rain and some windy spells predominantly from the southwest, making it feel cold and also pretty much bird-less around the patch. Apart from garden birds the only notable birding was a group of 17 Golden Plover in the field between Trimingham and Sidestrand and close by in the set-aside crop near the wooden signpost, the Linnet flock were 100+ birds and a lovely carrying sound when all were perched and calling from the tree tops.

We were able to see the first full moon of the year – this is also known as a “Wolf Moon”. The name Wolf Moon is associated with early Native American tribes and villagers in Europe who observed wolves howling outside their camps around the same time of year as this phenomenon, probably more notably during the start of the year when the breeding season was underway and the calling between wolves more frequent.

Another new sight at the start of the month was Snowdrops starting to emerge – as the weeks progressed more and more could be seen around. *Here’s something I found out about the name:  “Snowdrops” was the nickname that the British people gave during the Second World War to the military police of the United States Army (who were stationed in the UK preparatory to the invasion of the Continent) because they wore a white helmet, gloves, gaiters, and Sam Browne belt against their olive drab uniforms.

So with little to see around I decided to head further afield to see a new species of bird, a Blue-headed Eastern Yellow Wagtail. Also being referred to as an Alaskan Wagtail, the bird in question had been staying loyal to dung heaps in Sedgeford since December and had been drawing in hundreds of birders. I set off early to arrive at first light and once there it was a game of waiting until it finally showed, and what a little beauty it was too.

Back to the Trimingham Parish and as the month drew to a close the wind and weather kept any thought of getting the moth trap out for winter species well and truly to the back of my mind! And with nothing being blown onto the coast, the only sight of gulls was black-headed gulls gliding out to sea in their hundreds to roost for the night.

The next full Moon is on 9 February 2020 at 7.33am GMT in the UK. This is known as a ‘full Snow Moon’.

 

December 2019

Highlights of the Year

December was a very quiet month, both inland and offshore. Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers were the only notable species around the lanes, and quite a few Blackbirds around the garden with a count of 8 one day. Offshore were a few lingering Great Black-Backed gulls and not a lot else. Hopefully January will possibly bring in an Iceland or Glaucous gull, but that will be dependent on the weather conditions. There were some great bird species throughout 2019 and a few new ones for the patch which at the close of year stands at 172 species for the patch. Moth trapping proved very fruitful and despite not getting any winter species of moth, the garden moth list stands at 188 macro moths in 2019, a total I hope to beat in 2020. Here are a few of my favourites :

A pair of Firecrest posed lovely for me in March.

I watched this Osprey fly in off the sea during April. April was also memorable for me with an Alpine Swift past the house.

Another mass invasion of Painted Lady butterflies during June was a sight to behold with ‘Ladies’ all over the place.

August brought in Pied Flycatchers around the village, four on one count, an unexpected number.

This ‘metal bird’ was a great sight to see coming in from over the sea in September, my first B2 stealth bomber.

September also saw a movement of Great White Egrets along the coast – this group of four passed close enough to be photographed.

Saturday the 5th of October was a day I won’t forget in a hurry – on the morning walk Sarah and I saw six waterspouts over the sea.

One of my favourite bird groups, the shrikes. This stunning Great Grey Shrike stayed for a couple of days in November.

And last but not least, this must be my favourite moth of the year and my very first Garden Tiger – what a stunner!

So that is another year over and fingers crossed for some exciting birds and wildlife in 2020.

 

 

November 2019

New Birds in November

November was a mixed bag of weather, but despite it feeling quiet at times around the place the month turned up a couple of wanted birds. The first week started great  with a decent-sized group of Goldfinches visiting the garden, and among these was a single Brambling, such a lovely bird and a joy to watch just outside the kitchen window.

Brambling

Goldfinch

The wind was also favourable during the first week to enable some sea-watching – I was hopeful of something good as there had been a lot of species reported all along the coast. On the afternoon of the 5th I was informed about large numbers of Gannet and Kittiwakes all moving east, so not to miss out on the event I headed around to the clifftop and scanning the rough seas the sheer numbers of birds on the move soon became evident. I watched hundreds of Kittiwakes passing through – some counts along the coast were in their thousands, and with a supporting cast of Auks, Common Scoter, Brent Geese and a fly-by Peregrine. It was a remarkable afternoon.

Kittiwakes

Gannets

The local Kestrels did not welcome the Peregrine moving in on their patch!

Peregrine Falcon

Kestrel seeing off the Peregrine

The next day was quiet considering the numbers of birds that had just passed the day before but with reports of Pomarine Skuas dotted along the East coast I was eager to add this species to the patch list. Well, I must have had the ‘birding gods’ looking down at me. As I scanned a group of gulls along the shoreline, they all frantically took to the air, and sure enough the cause of the disturbance……a Skua! Surely this must be a Pom’ – it chased the gulls persistently as Skuas do, trying to get them to disgorge any food they might be holding in their crops. If unsuccessful, the Skua moves on looking for its next victim. Luckily it followed a straight line just a short distance from the shore, enabling me to capture some shots and indeed photograph only my second ever Pomarine Skua.

Pomarine Skua in pursuit of gull

Pomarine Skua

A couple of days later I was rushing to the cliffs after just waking, after receiving reports and a photo of a Pallid Swift just along at Sidestrand Cliffs! It was actively feeding for some time before disappearing so I was very eager to catch sight of this beauty if it came my way, but sadly it was not seen again in either direction so it probably headed inland.

Moving into mid-month, things had slowed down somewhat. On dog walks Sarah and I were seeing good numbers of Goldcrest and a few Chiffchaff, and a single Woodcock was flushed as we walked through the clifftop wood. Woodpeckers were back and forth through woodland and the local Green Woodpecker kept visiting the paddock to feed.

Green Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Both of these woodpeckers are males: on the Green Woodpecker you can just make out the red centre on the black moustache; the female has a solid black moustache. On the Great Spotted Woodpecker you can easily see the red patch on the back of the head – the female does not have this.

On the 16th I was to have the best day of the month. There are some bird groups/species that you have as favourites, and one of mine are the Shrikes. On this afternoon I received news of a Great Grey Shrike near the clifftop wood!! Frantically I set about grabbing my camera and binoculars and replied to the finder “I’m on my way!” A few minutes later and I had met up with the finder along the front next to the wood. The bird had been seen heading to the trees from the cliff slopes, so we carefully scanned trying to pick it out but to no avail. I was worried it had departed and I would miss out on seeing it, so we headed slowly into the wood scanning everywhere. Our attention was drawn to a commotion going on with a robin and wren, a good sign of a potential predator being close by, and the Shrikes are seen as a definite predator of smaller birds. And then we saw it – tucked away in a privet copse feeding on what looked like a vole that it had probably caught on the slopes and then taken to the safety of the woods. They also like to impale or wedge their prey on a branch or thorn as they feed to hold it steady and this is exactly what it was doing. The Shrikes are also known as “Butcherbirds” due to their feeding habits: they will store food impaled on thorns or spikes of a bush like it’s their larder. They also will call like a songbird trying to lure in an unsuspecting smaller bird which they will take. Despite the gory mannerisms they are a lovely bird to see.

Here you can see the vole just caught

After seemingly vanishing for some time, we found it perched atop a hedge, where it allowed us to watch it for some time catching the last rays of sun before heading off.

You can see the hooked bill, used for tearing open its prey

The rest of the month stayed quiet, but I did manage to get a new patch species with a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers flying over the sea and on my last sea-watching day of November I again scored with a new patch tick in the form of a Great Northern Diver.

 

 

 

October 2019

” Quantity rather than Quality”

When October comes round it’s a time of expectancy and hope. You know birds will be on the move and there’s always the hope of something rarer.

The weather plays a big part and it didn’t really favour the coastline most of October, but with birding you never know what will turn up. At the start of the month there were some good blustery days where the sea-watching turned out to be okay, with flocks of geese and duck on the move – I counted eighteen-plus Red Throated Divers on the sea just off front.

You will get mixed flocks of birds moving through together when it’s rough. Here you can see Shelduck and Brent Geese. There were a lot of Shelduck moving through on this day, but not just wildfowl, smaller birds also were moving along the coast and thrushes moving across the sea heading inland. My first Redwing and Brambling of the autumn turned up on the 4th.

What people may have noticed at the start of October were the numbers of Jays that moved around – a large wave of them engulfed the area with groups of eight or so at a time heading over. As of writing there are still quite a few set up around the village, their raucous call giving them away in the woodland and seeing them flying off with horse chestnuts, about to be buried away for the approaching winter.

Saturday the 5th was a memorable day, and a sight some people may have noticed – indeed this phenomenon was reported happening from Trimingham along to Cley…..”Water Spouts”. Not close like the ones I had seen here not long after moving to Trimingham but all distant as a weather system moved along. In the above photo you make out the start of the funnel as it heads towards the surface of the sea. The weather conditions must have been just right for this event of water tornadoes, as I counted six off the coast here!

Back to birds – and one week in there were reports of Ring Ouzel along the coast, so I was on the lookout and whilst watching a Black Redstart, which is reward enough, I found a Ring Ouzel literally having to just turn around.

The name is derived from the red on the tail that you can see here – such a lovely bird.

And here is the Ring Ouzel, easily identified by the broad white bib – and notice the white edging to the wing feathers.

Just getting to mid month and there was huge fall of Blackbirds – the bushes and garden seemed to be alive with them. And fantastically I was able to tick off two Ring Ouzel flying low over the garden which gave me my hundredth bird species to be recorded from the garden.

On the 15th I watched flock after flock of thrushes flying in over the sea and heading inland. There were hundreds moving over, mainly all Redwings, but later that day I did manage to get my first autumn Fieldfare.

Strong winds coming down from the north required me to sea-watch – with reports of the small Little Auk coming in I was hoping to see one at least. Being the same size as a Starling, trying to pick them out in rough waters is a challenge at times but I did manage to see just one.

Eider ducks passed in good numbers, being pushed just that bit closer to shore in the strong winds.

Staying out at sea, on the 23rd whilst walking the dogs between Trimingham and Sidestrand, Sarah and I noticed a frenzy of hundreds of gulls scattered in patches on the sea. It turned out to be large schools of fish at the surface, presumably feeding. They were leaping out of the water, which of course brought the attention of the gulls, and they swarmed on the area whenever they came to the surface. This went on for nearly an hour in different areas along the coastline.

As the month was drawing to an end, new sightings kept things hopeful. In a field between Trimingham and Sidestrand someone found six Snow Buntings, so the next morning we headed along the clifftops with the dogs again and found just three Snow Buntings. They were elusive feeding in the grassy crop but gave themselves away every now and again – and what a little beauty they are! I had seen them flying past the coast here before, but these were the first on the ground.

Starling flocks were moving in along the coast, heading in from over the sea to winter here, and I watched a group of hundreds flying around the main clifftop wood, and later on watched two groups numbering around 500 pass over the garden heading towards the woodland. If you get the chance to watch or go to see a murmuration of starlings, then do so – it’s a natural thing of beauty.

The weather and temperature played a part in not allowing me to put the moth trap out as much as I would have liked but I still managed a few new species for the garden.

Large Wainscot

Red-Line Quaker

Dark Chestnut

Beaded Chestnut

Grey Shoulder-Knot

Finally on the last day of the month, the birds brought a welcome finale.

The fields leading to the clifftops between here and Sidestrand had been ploughed and as I said to Sarah, “The Golden Plover will soon be showing now it’s ploughed” – and lo and behold, I found five sat in the middle of the field…feel-good factor number 1!  Approaching home I then found a Firecrest foraging for food amongst a flock of Long-Tailed Tits – stunning….feel-good factor number 2!  And to finish I watched a pair of Great White Egrets fly past the front over the sea….feel-good factor number 3 and a great end to the month!

 

 

 

September 2019

“The Swifts depart and the Geese return”

Common Buzzard

September started hopeful with a few birds starting to move around. Buzzards were starting to pass overhead and a Juv Peregrine was seen hunting around the clifftop and fields on a couple of days. There were a few groups of Swifts still passing through, but the numbers were lessening. On the 3rd whilst walking the dogs, Sarah and I watched five Wheatear move from the undercliff to the field adjacent.

 

Teal

Seabirds and wildfowl were moving through slowly, Red throated divers were returning, flocks of Teal and Scoter increased and a few Arctic Skuas headed up the coast. I managed to get a new patch tick when a single Purple Sandpiper flew past on the 5th. House Martin numbers increased with large groups feeding over the main clifftop wood.

 

B2 Stealth Bomber

The 11th of the month was to be the last day I would see Swifts with two past, but something I did not expect to see “fly in off the sea” was a B2 Stealth Bomber!!! Quickly running for my camera, I was able to get a couple of shots before it banked and headed towards Overstrand. This was the first time I had seen one and it definitely left us all buzzing after watching it fly past.
Mid-month and the geese had once again started to return, a group of fifty-plus was just the start and every day we heard them pass over and in ever increasing numbers, so nice to be hearing them again – makes up for losing the swifts in the sky.

 

Common Redstart

The 17th to the 22nd turned out to be a rewarding time: on the 17th I added a truly unexpected new garden tick….a Great Skua flew high over the house!! I couldn’t believe it. The bird was then seen over Sidestrand before heading out to sea. Hummingbird Hawkmoth was becoming a daily sight on the verbena and I watched two feeding together on one day. The 18th added another unexpected garden tick: whilst in the garden I noticed something shoot across the paddock behind and then it called as it flew off…..a Kingfisher!!
There was a large movement of Jays going on and groups could be heard making a racket all over the place, six over the house together was the largest flock I saw, but well into double figures of birds passing through.

Common Redstart

The 22nd was a manic day from the garden. During the morning I stepped out of the house to find Sarah and my Dad looking at a bird in the Holy tree outside the door. Having just flown into the tree it then took flight and landed in a neighbour’s tree….Redstart!! What a welcome garden tick that was and unlike previous Redstart on the patch this one kept still long enough for a couple of photos. There were obviously a lot of flies on the wing as the gulls seemed to be filling the sky feeding on them. A large number of Med Gulls passed over the house – all I had to do was sit on the bench and photograph them flying over. This seems to be a regular event as I had photographed the Med Gulls doing the same the first year we moved here. Sarah alerted me to a flock of large birds starting to gather high over the church amongst the gulls. A loud raucous calling started and a circling group of seventeen Grey Herons appeared all of a sudden.  I have never seen such a large group of herons like this before all together.
But the 22nd hadn’t finished yet!! Scroll down for the next bird species.

Med Gull

Med Gull

Med Gull

Med Gull

Med Gull

Grey Herons

With reports of Great White Egrets on the move, a group of four were seen heading east past Cley. They were then reported moving east past Sheringham towards Cromer….fingers crossed. ( I had seen 2 GWEs the year before but did not have a camera with me at the time.) Then the report came through to me that they were passing Overstrand and still heading this way…time to grab the big lens and head round to the front – well, I actually ran!  Meeting my Dad there, we started to scan the skies and sure enough they came into view passing Overstrand and then Sidestrand. I then got plenty of photos before they gracefully passed down the coast.

Great White Egrets

Great White Egrets

Great White Egrets

As the month progressed, on the 26th whilst out walking the dogs along the coastal path, all of a sudden Sarah frantically alerted me ( I was checking the mobile at the time) to a Short-Eared Owl that shot up from the undercliff only to be confronted with us standing there!  It flew along the cliff edge and proceeded to hunt the grasses. Unsuccessfully diving at something, it moved further along. As we carried along the path, we again watched it hunting, but this time it managed to catch a vole. It then flew out over the sea and proceeded to eat it in flight before heading back to the cliffs. A fantastic sight to end the month on.

Black Rustic

Mothing during the month, on the other hand, was dire!  The weather just wasn’t good enough on most nights here or I trapped the same previously recorded species. But I did manage to get two new year and garden ticks, the Black Rustic and Lunar Underwing, of which I trapped quite a few. Hopefully October is not a wash-out as I try to add new species still on the wing.

Lunar Underwings

 

 

August 2019

Awesome August

August seemed to fly by, but there were plenty of sights to be seen and some signs of movement as the month drew to an end.

Peacock

 There had been an abundance of butterflies in our garden. Some days we had what seemed just Painted Ladies everywhere and some really fresh-condition ones. But it’s nice to see some different species get a look in now and again: Peacocks looked stunning in the sun, along with the Red Admirals. Nearing the end of the month a Brimstone flew through the garden, always a welcome sight as it’s normally the first one you see on an early spring day.

Migrant Hawker

 This Migrant Hawker held, and still does, territory over the neighbours’ garden as well as ours.

The patterning on the underside of the Painted Lady butterfly is very intricate and lovely, as it is I think on the Red Admiral. 

Painted Lady

Common Swift

Hobby

Along the clifftops I watched a pair of Hobby fly in off the sea – I had been noticing Hobby quite frequently and throughout August I watched them chase Swifts and House Martins. What an aerial combat they were! They are such an agile falcon (not unlike a large swift in shape) that they are one of the few birds that can actually catch a swallow or swift in flight. A pair will also work as a team by ganging up on a single bird, one pushing it towards the other. I also watched one Hobby mixed in amongst a loose group of Black-Headed Gulls catching insects on the wing with them.  

 

Pied Flycatcher

 During the last week of August there was a noticeable movement of Passerines. With reports of Pied Flycatcher all over the place I kept an eye out. I had seen them before from the back garden in the trees behind so it seemed a good place to start – and low and behold, one indeed showed as it fed amongst the tree canopy. But that was just the start of it – I continued seeing at least six Pied-Fly’s around the house, along with a Redstart on a couple of days. August had definitely ended well.

 

MOTHS

Mothing through August was exceptional. Not only did I add to the year list on nearly every trapping but I also added a few new species I’d not seen before. As the month came to an end it was the same suspects on the last trap and nothing exciting, but I hope to still get new additions to the year and garden list through September. The 2019 Year List now stands at 181 Macro moth species.

 Frosted Orange

 Tree-Lichen Beauty

 Flounced Rustic

 Bulrush Wainscot

Tawny Speckled Pug

Toadflax Pug

Copper Underwing

Old Lady

Dark Swordgrass

 Six-striped Rustic

 Rosy Rustic

And my favourite moth trap of all – finally I got a Garden Tiger!

 

 

July 2019

A Productive July Brought in Plenty for the Garden

Buff Ermine

July was still predominantly an insect month. There was a small amount of bird activity with a couple of Whimbrel passing over, a Marsh Harrier heading east and a lot more Swifts in the air. On one day I witnessed a pair of Hobbies teaming up against a small bird, trying to force it towards the other to prey on – one Hobby gave up whilst the other was lost to sight heading out to sea still chasing the bird. There was a lot of butterfly activity and plenty of new moths in the garden. This Buff Ermine moth above displayed a set of markings I had not seen before, depicting an elegant moustache – quite fitting for me to catch, I thought!

Small Skipper

The garden was awash with butterflies most days. At the beginning of the month there was a large movement of white butterflies – when Wimbledon was on the previous year the same thing happened and then during the second week there were hundreds of small and large whites moving along the coast, a lovely sight to see.

Gatekeeper

If you get the chance to see a Gatekeeper up close before it flies, you can pick out the two white spots in the black marking on the underside. There were a lot feeding on the marjoram in the garden and the bramble hedges were awash with them. They can be very territorial to a favoured feeding area, chasing away other larger butterfly.

Large White

Every so often the Hummingbird Hawkmoth would visit the garden, favouring the verbena scattered around. I never get fed up with watching these.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Among the many Large and Small White butterfly I saw just this one Green-Veined White, easily recognisable when feeding with wings folded.

Gatekeeper

One of the first butterfly of the Spring to see are the Brimstone, a welcome sight to the garden. It is commonly believed that the word ‘butterfly’ is derived from ‘butter-coloured fly’ which is attributed to the yellow of the male Brimstone butterfly.

 Brimstone

 Comma

The jagged edges of the comma’s bright orange wings are a giveaway. The name comma butterfly derives from the small white ‘C’-shaped marking resembling a comma on the underside of its wings.

Meadow Brown

The Meadow Brown is larger than the similar Gatekeeper – but notice the single white dot on the black marking as opposed to the Gatekeeper’s two dots.

Comma

Small Skipper

Southern Hawker

This Southern Hawker dragonfly was resting up on bramble early one morning along the lanes. You will see these and other species patrolling up and down a territory hunting other insects, their flight times being from the end of June right through to October.

Poplar Hawkmoth

The moth species started to dramatically increase in the garden – I had many new ‘year ticks’ and a few brand new species for the garden list. Hawkmoths were in decent numbers on some nights and always a delight to see in the trap the next morning.

Silver Y

This Silver Y is also regularly seen during the day in gardens, deriving its name from the Y pattern on the wings.

 Barred Yellow

There are a lot of colourful species of moth, definitely not a boring sight.

 Elephant Hawkmoth

Speaking to a friend, we discussed how there seemed to be a lot of Elephant Hawkmoths that were very much under-size, resembling a size more like a small elephant hawkmoth! I too found a Poplar Hawkmoth which appeared a lot smaller than normal.

Buff Arches

The Buff Arches has a really intricate patterning on the wings, a stunning moth really.

Buff-Tip

This weird-looking moth gets its name from the buff-coloured patch at the end of the wings. It rests up and looks just like a broken birch twig.

Bordered Pug

This Bordered Pug was a welcome new species for the garden.

Common Emerald

Looking more like a butterfly the Common Emerald is a stunningly coloured moth.

 Lychnis

Another new addition for the garden and my first one ever.

 Leopard Moth

This is a very easily recognised moth with its ‘woolly’ head and black spotted markings.

Lesser Swallow Prominent

I have been getting Swallow Prominents in the garden but not the Lesser Swallow Prominent pictured above, a sought-after addition for the garden and very similar to the closely marked Swallow Prominent – but the whiter marked wings and larger white triangular patch on the upper corner of the wing set it apart.

 Large Emerald

Very similar to the Common Emerald, this Large Emerald is just as beautiful and the largest of the emerald moth species.

Bird’s Wing

I love the name of this moth, and my first ever.

Barred Straw

The way to identify this moth is by its unique resting posture with the forewings held extended and covering the hindwings.

So a busy month with the winged insects. I have recorded 163 macro moth species in the garden so far, but August should start to see more birds beginning to move and still more new moths hopefully for the garden.

 

 

June 2019

Fluttering June
June soon came and went with a mixed bag of weather – it was hit and miss throughout the month but definitely a month of quantity and some quality stuff.
On the birding front I saw family groups of Common Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroats, young ones in tow following the movements of the parents as they zig-zagged through the bushes feeding. I was now seeing more Sandwich Terns offshore feeding, their loud calling giving themselves away over the waves. A female Marsh Harrier flew past the garden mid month – they are becoming a more regular sight. And then there were the Swifts. How lovely to see them flying overhead again – but this brings me on to a worrying concern for these birds: on the television I heard numbers were down by 50%…..not good to hear, so to see hundreds of them all heading south/southeast during the month and only just after they’ve arrived in the country is confusing to say the least. Reports of thousands of Swifts moving past the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coasts is good in respect that hopefully numbers getting here are still healthy as opposed to the report of a huge drop! But what are they up to moving like this?  Surely there are too many to be failed breeders – but why head off so early?
Other snippets close by were Bee-eaters seen over Sidestrand and Northrepps and a possible Eagle species near Southrepps?

On Sunday 2nd June I noticed at least six Painted Lady butterflies pass through the garden within an hour, another mass invasion perhaps on the cards?
As the days passed I was still seeing a few Painted Lady butterflies, but with the changing weather they were not showing every day. By mid month, however, they were everywhere; a mass invasion of these beauties had been spreading across Europe and they were definitely here – on a few flowering bushes along the side of the church I counted over 30 butterflies and there were more flying around. They are a long-distance migrant but do not always turn up ‘en masse’.

Last year it was Large and Small Whites, this year it is the turn of the Painted Ladies.

As the month moved on there were more and more Red Admirals around, and a couple of species of dragonfly were seen. This Four-Spotted Chaser (below) was along Church Lane and a Broad-Bodied Chaser made a flight over the garden.

It seemed to be a good year for Common Spotted Orchids – I found the first one of the year behind the Pilgrim Shelter and then days later they started to show along the clifftops; this year there appeared to be many more west of the clifftop wood with over a hundred counted in one stretch alone.

A special orchid to see was this Bee Orchid (below), there were just two plants on the grassy area near the clifftop where the bottle banks are located past Middle Street.

IS IT A BIRD?  IS IT A BEE?  –  NO, IT’S A MOTH!

I love to see the Hummingbird Hawkmoths return to the garden, such energetic little things always on the move feeding.

And as the month moved on and the weather got warmer, the moths started to arrive, and one species I look forward to getting are the Hawkmoths. So far I have spotted four species and hopefully soon will have the Convolvulous returning to feed on the Nicotina plants.

Pine Hawkmoth

Eyed Hawkmoth

This Eyed Hawkmoth was a new addition for the garden list. There’s no mistaking where it gets its name from – look at those eye-markings on the underwings to ward off predators.

Privet Hawkmoth

Poplar Hawkmoth

 

 

May 2019

Muted May ! Or was it ?

It certainly felt like May was muted, with hardly any bird photos taken and concentrating more on insects and flora it seemed that way – until reviewing everything I had listed and photographed to upload here, I realised it was actually quite busy!

The Lesser Whitethroats were active at the start of the month and then went quiet – hopefully about to start nesting and bringing up some little-uns.

Everything was paired off and looking at nesting: House Martins were buzzing around the houses, more Swallows were passing. There were still a few Wheatears being seen in the fields off the lanes, and on the 8th of the month I had my first Swift over the garden, a sight I long to see every year. The next day and even more swifts were passing overhead and then it seemed to just stop – no doubt the changeable weather had held them up further south!

Along the clifftops when Sarah and I were walking the dogs on the 13th, we encountered our first ever Wall butterfly.

A lot more plants were coming into bloom and on one occasion with the sun shining bright I couldn’t help notice a sea of light blue through the gaps in the hedgeline, and rounding a gap further along Sarah and I were amazed at the expanse of colour before us. The mobile phone camera could not match the sight our eyes saw. After asking around and researching I found it to be a crop called Lacy Phacelia (known by other names also, such as scorpion weed). It is used as ground cover for birds, while because it has a high nectar count it’s used for pollination – and also as green manure. They were definitely attracting the bees – I think I will have to get some of this for the garden.

Another new plant addition for us both was the Early Purple Orchids, found in the roadside verges along the lanes. It had eluded us the previous year but now we had finally found some.

On the 14th my first Hobby of the year flew past the back garden, awhile  few more were seen heading in during the month. And on the same day an evening walk to the clifftop bench with the dogs produced at least three Harbour Porpoises close in to the groynes.

We were starting to see a few of these little green gems around Trimingham: the Green Hairstreak is a stunningly coloured butterfly.

This Wolf Spider was in my garden. Its resting position, stretched out as in the second photo, is characteristic of this spider. It is a webless spider (except for when the female spins a web for the nursery of its young) due to the fact that it is such a fast-moving spider, so it can chase down its prey with ease.

It is great to find out about nature that you didn’t know had an interesting background or history. This Fumitory plant is one such subject. I have found it along the lane verges and on the edge of a crop field, and when reading up on it I was amazed at its meaning. The name “fumitory” is derived from a medieval Latin word meaning “smoke of the earth”, because pulling a plant from the ground will cause the roots to give off an acrid/gaseous smell recalling the fumes of nitric acid. This is the origin of the North American name for the plant “fume root”, and if that wasn’t enough background knowledge, if the sap gets into your eyes it will make them water as if affected by smoke! Amazing!

Back to birds now, and mid month I had a cuckoo calling from the scrub near the Pottery and then along Middle Street on a couple of days, apparently awaking people there with its early morning calling!

I saw a group of Mediterranean Gulls pass the back garden and was happy to once again see the swifts passing over. On one morning at the end of the month I saw two Common Cranes out to the western edge of Trimingham circling up on thermals before heading southwest, a welcome addition to the patch list as normally when the Cranes decide to have a day out as it were from the Broads region, they previously seemed to cut off this corner and head further along the northern coastline before turning back to where they came from. Perhaps this month they were blown more this way by the winds – they were a welcome sight. To finish off the bird reporting, the night silence on the 30th was broken by the very welcoming sound of a Tawny Owl. It had been at least a year or more since I regularly heard them nearby, so it was nice once again to have one around.

Chocolate Tip

And last but not least, the mothing was producing different species for the year as the month progressed, so that on a few occasions I took over a lot of room in our fridge with the pots! With a few new species for the garden and indeed some firsts I’ve not had before, hopefully this year will be a productive one for the moths.

Rustic Shoulder Knot

Light Emerald

Waved Umber

Pale Tussock

Lime Speck Pug

Pebble Hook-Tip

Least Black Arches

 

 

April 2019

As April got underway there was a hope of new arrivals on the patch. The weather during the month was a bit changeable but there were some nice sunny days and decent temperatures. It wasn’t long before we encountered our first male Blackcap singing away near Woodlands. The Peregrines were seen on a few occasions over the house – one was seen to make a swoop at a Kestrel that was mobbing a Common Buzzard hunting along the cliffs. During the first three weeks of April, Sarah and I both got a horrendous Flu virus/come chest infection/sinus problems etc etc….I have never been so bad in my life and so everything took a back seat whilst trying to get over it. Thankfully I didn’t really miss much except for a few Hooded Crows that headed past.Once I did manage to get out and about I set about finding what had come into the area during my layoff. There was plenty of Fulmar activity along the cliffs – I had seven pass me one morning, hugging the cliffs as they flew within feet of me.

You can see from this picture of a Goldcrest and the picture from the previous month of the Firecrest how more striking the Firecrest is.
Smaller birds were more numerous, with quite a few Goldcrest about and definitely more Blackcap had arrived around the village, the first female seen mid month. More Swallow passed as the days progressed along with Sand and House Martins, the latter inspecting the eaves of a neighbour’s house already. Common Whitethroat had now moved into the area so I set about getting some images of these, but no sign of any Lesser Whitethroat at this time.

Common Whitethroat

Wheatear

More Wheatear were passing through – I found four together early one morning, and normally the Yellow Wagtails I see are fly-overs along the front so a distant one actually on the ground with two Pied Wagtails was a nice sight. As the month drew on it got busier, Chiffchaffs calling all over the place, and Lesser Whitethroats were now in and a very rewarding time started with a few new additions to the patch list and also the garden list!

Yellow Wagtail

By now I was checking every corvid that flew over or past the garden in the hope of connecting with a Hooded Crow. There had been quite a few moving along so I was hopeful, and sure enough on the 24th I had not one but two Hooded Crows fly over the garden….result, a tick for the Trimingham patch and best of all the garden list!
Two Days later whilst taking a tea break from my artwork, as I stood in the kitchen doorway waiting for the kettle to boil, I saw a couple of crows pass behind the trees towards the cliffs.  I was still checking all the crows for more Hooded in the hope of getting a photo, and I noticed something behind the crows over the sea… I knew from the size it was a raptor, so I ran – yes, ran to the bottom of the garden to grab my bins off my camera tripod. As I focused in on the bird to my excitement I was looking at an Osprey! I couldn’t believe it, so I grabbed a couple of distant record shots as it headed inland off to the southwest. To finish the day I added another Hooded Crow over the garden and a couple of Whimbrel heading east.

Osprey 

Well if that wasn’t good enough, the very next day I got news from Overstrand from fellow birders about the previous day’s Alpine Swift over their houses!! It headed east (my way!) at first but then could have moved towards Cromer as it was lost to sight when it hit the ridge that way. By now I was already in the garden and scouring the skies. It was a god-awful morning with horrid weather – no wonder the Swift was on the move. Then it happened – I couldn’t believe my luck…. All of a sudden I saw the Alpine Swift to the front of the house….shouting out “Alpine!” to Sarah who was also in the garden, and we watched the bird fly up and over the church opposite and head off eastwards. To say I was buzzing after the last two days was an understatement….You could have renamed me ‘Bumblebee Lawrence’!!

Lesser Whitethroat

Compared with the Common Whitethroat the Lesser appears greyer toned. It shares the same habitat but is usually more skulking than the Common which is commonly seen atop a bush calling its scratchy song. I finished the month off with photographing Lesser Whitethroats.  But this was just the birds – I still have the moths to add.

MOTHING
New additions to the Garden Moth List: Powdered Quaker, Mullein, White Point. It was a weird month with regards to numbers caught in the trap. Some nights I would get just a handful and then on another I filled up the fridge with 42 pots! But the year list was increasing and with plenty more good stuff to arrive.

Powdered Quaker

Mullein

White Point

Other moths trapped during the month:

Muslin Moths

Nutmeg

Cabbage Moth

Swallow Prominent

Frosted Green

 

 

March 2019

A real blustery start to March 2019.  March started off a disaster what with the high winds that seemed to go on and on! During the second half things looked up and proved more productive, although I just missed out on the White-tailed Sea-Eagle by a matter of minutes! I had just been talking to the gentleman who indeed saw it fly over just along at Sidestrand, as Sarah and I were walking the dogs through Woodlands! He tried to contact me but was unable to get through on my mobile due to no signal….grrrrr! Never mind – they are a passage bird through this way most years so I will await the next one and hopefully tick it off for the garden list.
After a good ending to February I was all set for a interesting March, so I ventured out on the 1st of the month and once again saw Peregrine. As the month drew on I wondered if they were the pair that had set up residence on Cromer Church and Trimingham became part of their hunting patch? Hares were chasing around, the Kestrels displaying to one another….but then the weather took a turn for the worse and we were bombarded with high winds for a couple of weeks. The relentless winds put a stop to birding and indeed most things, except for maybe watching the gulls surf the waves.

Finally the winds eased and I was able to get back out and about again on the 18th. Birds were moving along the coast – I noted quite a few Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits and an increase in corvids among which I saw a few Rook, which was only the second time I had seen Rook on my patch since moving to Trimingham, and of course the floodgates opened and they soon put their name on the garden list.
On the 19th I received a call from a friend about a pair of Firecrest in the main clifftop wood. Coincidentally, Sarah and I were gearing up to take the dogs for a walk, and this quickly made our decision of where to walk very obvious, and a short while later I was indeed connecting with these little beauties. They compete with the Goldcrest as being the UK’s smallest bird, but are a brighter more strikingly marked bird. They have very distinctive stripes on their heads with the centre of the males’ being a vivid orange. After the walk I decided to head back with the camera and try for some images, and with luck on my side I managed to grab some nice shots.

Firecrest

Later as the light was fading, whilst talking to my neighbour, we both watched the first bat of the year!

On the 22nd I managed to find a lone male Wheatear on the clifftop fields.

Wheatear

On the 24th I got news of a Black Redstart in one of the paddocks along Church Road opposite – I didn’t hesitate in rushing in for my camera and trotting off down the lane as this would be the first Black Redstart on my patch to see. This was a female bird – the males are a darker grey with white in the wing forming a patch, the face and breast being black, the tail on both birds a rusty red colour from where the name Redstart is derived.
Later that day whilst walking back down the lane with Sarah and the dogs I found a White Wagtail feeding with a couple of Pieds before it moved to the same paddock the Black Redstart was frequenting. The Redstart was seen over the next couple of days by others but I was unable to connect with it any more.

Black Redstart

As the month came to an end the birds continued to arrive. Raptors were increasing on the thermals with double figures of Buzzards and four Red Kites. On the 29th I saw my first Swallow and Sand Martin of the year.
Once the winds had eased right down, I was able to put the moth light out on a couple of nights, adding a couple of new species to the garden moth list, namely March Moth and Oak Beauty.

March Moth
Oak Beauty

 

 

 

February 2019

With birding being very quiet I hadn’t been rushing to get out, instead checking when we have been taking the dogs for a walk and checking feeders during the afternoon. The gull numbers had been very quiet whenever the front was checked out, but I decided to get up early on this day and indeed get some coast watching in. There had actually been quite a few rafts of red-throated diver on the sea the previous day but as I started to scan the sea I noticed a distinct lack of divers except a group of four – seems that they are all migrating north?
For once there was a decent number of gulls moving past to keep my interest, and then came into view on its own a lovely Iceland Gull. There had been a distinct lack of winter gulls this time round so I was chuffed to bits to have found one. It headed along the shoreline towards Sidestrand and was seen by another birder on the beach just along from me, before being chased off by Great Black-Backed Gulls.

February ends positively

After finding the Iceland Gull on the 11th Feb, things quietened down a tad but there were definitely more birds around – I had flushed a couple of Woodcock and there was an increase in Meadow Pipits. Out to sea I picked up on a single Curlew and a Fulmar passed every time I birded off the cliffs. Also on the same day as the Curlew I saw a Red Kite heading east out to sea, followed by another one some time later but his one was hugging the coastline and flew overhead.

In the photo below I was watching a Muntjac deer creep through the reeded area below feeding away. It was then that I picked up on a Water Rail squealing, no doubt unhappy about the intruder heading its way. Can you find the deer?

On most days one or two Muntjac could be seen along the cliff slopes or resting up under a bush. I presume this is the same pair that are leaving hoof imprints all over the place!

The male, shown in the photograph below, is identifiable by its fangs, which you can see protruding out, and obviously by its antlers when they have grown. The Muntjac is also known as The Barking Deer, on account of its barking type call which I have heard during the day and night around the village.

During February we had some stunning warm weather, and with that came a lot more bird activity. Chiffchaffs started to call, Stonechats were on the move and scattered around, butterflies took to the wing with Brimstone, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell seen. Out to sea I picked up on two Ringed Plover heading east, and nearing the end of the month a couple of Peregrine Falcons flew in over the sea and headed inland, followed shortly thereafter by a lovely female Marsh Harrier scouring the clifftop scrub before heading inland. On a morning dog walk we saw a pair of Grey Partridge, the first for the year and nice to see they escaped the winter shooting.

Female Marsh Harrier (above), told from the male by its chocolate brown plumage and cream coloured hood.

My garden mothing got off to a start too: I managed to get just 4 moths but 3 different species. To think that February last year brought knee-deep snow around the Trimingham lanes and we had been basking in glorious sun! Let’s hope the change back to normal weather doesn’t risk those species brought out by the heat.

Common Quaker
Hebrew Character
Dotted Border

 

 

January 2019

Chaffinch
Greenfinch

2019 started pretty much as the last year finished, very quiet and not much change. There were glimmers of hope: things were changing but they didn’t last. We had some windy weather on a few days, which gave rise to a movement of Red Throated Divers flying past out to sea and quite a number were on the water feeding in smaller groups too; but as birding has been recently, the very next day would be void of any birds or divers out on the sea! The finch flocks had started to gather in numbers, though, including mainly Chaffinch and Goldfinch but the numbers of Greenfinch were up to around 14 plus – which is nice to see as they can be scarce in areas.  Common Buzzards were more noticeable around the clifftops and over the fields, and Wrens seemed to be in good numbers, flitting around the hedgerows. I watched one looking for food on a frozen flooded area.  It spent a lot of the time skating around on the ice moving from one grassy clump to another. On the clifftop fields between Trimingham and Sidestrand a flock of around 50 Golden Plover hunkered down in the furrows, and lastly, what was very noticeable all around the place when on my walks, the scent of Fox – I presume it is the same one and if so it is definitely putting in a lot of miles around the village!

          Wren

 

December 2018

Mottled Umber Moths

December turned out to be a very quiet month, I was hoping for some winter birding additions with Great Northern Diver, Black Throated Diver and maybe Glaucous and Iceland Gull, but unfortunately most of my walks seemed to be birdless! This was the view of other birders in neighbouring areas too, there were smaller numbers of gulls present on the seafront and the only birds seen inland were groups of the usual tit species, namely Blue, Great and Long-tailed. Despite it being a winter month there are still species of moth that are out and about, I saw Winter Moths and Mottled Umbers on lights around the Woodlands Holiday park. The Mottled Umbers are a lovely looking moth and can vary in the colouration, the moths photographed here are all males as the female of the species are wingless and look more like a hairy beetle!

Winter Moth

And last but not least for the year, on New Years Eve whilst walking the dogs along the lanes, Sarah and I saw a pair of Red Kites fly over the fields towards Woodlands Holiday Park, and a short time later were both seen nearby behind someone’s garden feeding on Turkey remains

November 2018
November was definitely one of two halves with the first half being the most productive. On the 2nd Nov whilst Sarah and I were walking the dogs along the clifftop path, we encountered a Peregrine Falcon sat up on the cliff edge. After photographing the Long Eared Owl at the end of October, and with reports of many Long Eared and Short Eared Owls arriving, it was lovely to find one along the front on the cliff slopes. No doubt the warm southern weather was the reason why Swallows were still present and being seen during the first week of November – I saw one fly west on the 3rd with House Martins still present nearby!

    From my back garden on the 4th I was lucky to see two Waxwings perched in a tree for a brief while before they headed inland. This was the start of quite a few moving into the UK. In the second week I tried to look for a couple of Shorelarks that had been reported the day before in the clifftop fields between Trimingham and Sidestrand but with no joy there. During this time of the month with warmer southern air dictating our weather there was an influx of Pallid Swifts in the UK, with reports of possible birds coming in from all over the place.

Sight of Swifts at this time of year are always worthy of a good look as the chance of a different species is high; indeed trying to identify what type of swift it is as it flies past you at high speed is a challenge, but with good views and knowledge of them you could get lucky, so when one was identified just along the coast at Overstrand/Cromer Golf Course I could not resist going and having a look. Indeed it or another probably flew past Trimingham as one was reported at Mundesley. Being very similar to Common Swift, it was paler on the throat and head with a “dark mask” appearance on the eye, while on the underside it had a pale scaly look to the feathering. As seen in the photo, the underside of the wings appear darker on the outer feathers, paler nearer the body, but you have to have good views to pick it out in differing light conditions. The Pallid Swift was also keeping company with a single House Martin as it fed over the sea and cliffs.
    As for the second half of the month, the weather worsened and became colder and with it the birding became quieter. On the sea there were Divers increasing in numbers, mostly Red Throated, and three Harbour Porpoises on the 23rd were a nice sight. Hopefully December will bring more Diver species and some winter gulls.

Late October 2018

Long-Eared Owl

Late October. “The North Wind Doth Blow And We Shall Have…..Birds,Birds,Birds.”
Well, the wind did turn and blow down from the north and with the cold weather it brought birding to life along the coast here. There were some lovely birds to be seen, out to sea and also on land. There was a huge influx of owls along the coast, both Short Eared and Long Eared. I got a call about this Long Eared Owl and headed along the short distance to see it with my Dad. It had come in off the sea exhausted and duly landed straight on the cliff face to rest up. The Short Eared Owl Sarah and I encountered was along the back lanes whilst walking the dogs.

Velvet Scoters

Out to sea there were hundreds of wildfowl moving by. Frustratingly I missed out on seeing Pomarine Skuas – even though there was an abundance of them they were no doubt too distant when I was watching. I did manage to see some Velvet Scoter which was a welcome addition to the patch.Then I received news of a Richards Pipit along the clifftop path, and immediately I set about grabbing the camera gear and legged it off! Five minutes later and it flew into view along the pathway a short distance away. It proved to be an elusive bird and stayed well hidden in the longer grasses, every now and again giving itself up as it came out onto the track further along than expected, only to then disappear back in the grass. I managed to grab a few record images before it headed off towards Sidestrand. And then to top off the excursion, a Little Auk sat out on the sea, doing its best to avoid the unwanted attention of a Great Black Backed Gull.

Richards Pipit

Late September 2018

Over the last few days there have been a few Mediterranean Gulls off the front catching flies/flying ants, and good numbers being reported further down the coast too. The Mediterranean Gulls are around the size of Black Headed Gulls. At this time of year the adults are in winter plumage and appear all white winged. What I pick up on when viewing them are the “smudged dark eye mask” which is seen on the younger 1st winter birds through to the adults. Yesterday, Sat 29th Sept, I was able to add them to my garden bird list, as a group of them descended over the trees and scrub picking off the insects in flight. They continued to loop round and complete another run before drifting inland or along the coast. This carried on for some time and also paralleled another large movement of birds, namely Common Buzzards which were being reported moving over in large numbers.  I counted 11 overhead in just a short time with many more counted just along the coast. There have been more smaller birds passing over too – there seem to be a lot of Skylark moving around at present and more Meadow Pipits than a couple of weeks ago, as well as more Chiffchaff about.  On a couple of days recently I have sea-watched for a few hours – 3 Arctic Skuas was a nice addition as they chased a Tern, trying to get it to disgorge its food. Wildfowl numbers have been much on the increase, along with groups of Divers, while good numbers of young Gannets moving past make it look like they have had a good breeding season.

Mid-September 2018

Just over half way through September and it has been very quiet around Trimingham, but not without adding a couple of new patch ticks. At the very end of August I managed to connect with a Juv’ Arctic Tern, feeding along the front for some time with a Juv’ Common Tern.

Sea watching was slow going but I was starting to notice Common Scoter and groups of Teal and Wigeon moving West at the start of the month. Sandwich Terns moved through in good numbers, and my first new patch bird was an Arctic Skua – there were plenty of reports of Arctic and Great Skuas along the coastline but none had been seen by myself off Trimingham so it was good to get one of them. In the first week of Sept’ I spotted Red Throated Diver on the sea, a sign of them returning for the not too far off winter! I also watched Harbour Porpoises feeding. There were still numerous House Martins around with numbers passing along the coast with Swallows, but a single Sand Martin had been the first in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately the last Swifts seen were on the 26th Aug’.

During the last week I have seen a few more birds moving through – Blackcaps scattered along the clifftop scrub, a Med Gull on the front, and on the 14th I had the second new patch addition…a pair of Whinchat! I knew there had been Whinchat just along the coast at Cromer but I had not been able to connect with any moving through here, so it was a great addition and a shame I didn’t have the camera with me! The next morning on our dog walk we found a Wheatear sat up in a ploughed field and the only one seen this autumn so far. And over the last few days has come the returning sound and sight of the Pink Footed Geese, over 200 every morning and watched from the bedroom window whilst still in bed!

A great find by my neighbour John was this Convolvulus Hawkmoth which he found when clearing stuff in his garden. I had seen these on quite a few evenings recently but as always when the light goes on as we step out of the house, they fly off, so to see one in the hand was a real bonus. The Convolvulus Hawkmoth is a migrant from Southern Europe. They have a large wingspan of 5 inches and huge eyes to detect their favourite plants to feed on, notably Tobacco Plants.

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

August 2018

Mid-month saw a lot of Swifts and Swallows moving off – 23 were counted on the morning of the 19th as Sarah and I sat on the clifftop bench with the dogs for a spell of around 20 minutes. A few Common Terns were seen heading east, which were my first here since moving to Trimingham! Chiffchaffs were seen in a few locations as were a few Hobbies.  Whimbrel were passing over in numbers, giving themselves away by their call as they approached. On the 21st I found a Pied Flycatcher (possibly 2 birds) along the stretch of trees behind our house, later adding it to the garden list also…Result!
A couple of Golden Plover were seen – won’t be long before they are gathering in the clifftop fields again! I was informed about a Merlin taking a Swift just along the coast off Vale Road, and the next morning whilst on our morning dog walk Sarah and I saw what was probably the same small falcon fly over the playing field and head inland. Whimbrel were almost daily now and I counted a flock of 20 head out to sea.

During the middle part of the month Sarah and I had a tour of June and Patrick’s garden along the coast from us.  The number of Common Blue butterflies, together with the invitation to return when I wanted, was enough for me to grab the camera and pay a visit. I recorded a few species in their garden along with some other insects/bugs:

Common Blues

Small Copper

Gatekeeper

Field Grasshopper

Dock Bay Adult and Late Instar Nymph

Long-Winged Conehead Male

July 2018

Small Whites

The middle of July turned out to be memorable not just for the World Cup or Wimbledon but for a mass invasion of Small and Large White butterflies. There must have been plenty of people across the country noticing, not just in North Norfolk, vast numbers of these white butterflies appearing in gardens. The skies were littered with them – I counted 50 plus in just 2 minutes flying over the back garden; as many as 600 an hour were counted passing Sheringham, with numbers going into their thousands.

Large White

June 2018

Other than young fledged birds following the parents around, the birding was quiet except for the lovely screaming Swifts overhead once again. Nature and Mothing kept me busy through June. The clifftop verges were covered with Common Spotted Orchids.

Common Spotted Orchids

During the month I trapped a lot of new species of moth to the garden and also some new moths I had never seen before – such stunning colours and markings on our moths and wonderful names to match. On one walk along the cliff path I found a day flying moth called a “Mother Shipton”, the markings on whose wings resemble a long-nosed face, which is why it was named after the 16th Century Yorkshire Witch Mother Shipton.

A few images of moths from my garden included here are the golden-coloured Burnished Brass, stunning when the light shines on the wing, the Lobster moth which is very fluffy but gets its name from when it is a caterpillar, resembling a crustacean from the sea!

Lobster Moth
Burnished Brass

The stunning pink colours of the Elephant Hawkmoth – the name, like the Lobster moth’s, refers to when it is a caterpillar which resembles an elephant’s trunk!

Elephant Hawkmoth

And finally something that may have been noticed by people in their gardens or walking the pathways around Trimingham, a mass arrival of the migrant moth, the Silver Y. When in my garden or walking the dogs, Silver Ys were everywhere. They are a day-flying moth which you may have noticed continually fluttering very quickly around the flowers, feeding or taking flight from the grassy verges along the lanes as they are approached.

Silver Y moths

Late May 2018

Some Moth images from earlier this month as promised. Not been able to get the light out much what with the cooler evenings and the northerly breeze blowing in. Hopefully some lovely species soon when it warms up.

Coxcomb Prominent
Flame Shoulder
Pebble Prominent
Yellow-Barred Brindle
Garden Carpet
Lunar Marbled Brown

The birds have definitely eased off moving through. May has become very quiet at the moment. Here are a few images of birds that have passed through or indeed are now settling down to breed.

Marsh Harrier. This was a lovely sight to see flying above the clifftop. This is a female bird with its distinctive chocolate brown plumage and cream coloured head.
Common Whitethroat
Common Whitethroat. There are decent numbers of this bird scattered around the village, from the clifftop scrub to the hedge-lined lanes. Amazing to think these little warblers fly from their wintering grounds in West Africa to breed here before returning again.
Gannets. On one day with fairly rough seas I counted 96 Gannets passing in in under 2 hours.

And finally…

The Frog. I found this Common Frog sitting on the track through a wooded area near the cliff, most likely feeding overnight and off to find somewhere to rest  for the day.

Early May 2018

Here is some more birding news for May. The pictures of the Red Kite are from the end of April but I have seen them on a few occasions in May too. The spring migration brought in some good new additions at the beginning of the month.

Red Kite    A pair of Red Kites circled low over my garden whilst checking the neighbouring paddock which had just been cut, looking for any casualties on which to feed.

Fulmar    I have been seeing Fulmars regularly flying along the cliff fronts which is perfect habitat for these sea birds.

I

Pied Flycatcher (female)    This little bird, a bit under sparrow size, was found feeding on insects near the cliffs right next to its close relative the Spotted Flycatcher! Just seen on migration here April/May as it moves to its breeding grounds further to the West of the UK. It spends the winter in Africa.


Spotted Flycatcher   
Seen with the Pied Flycatcher just mentioned, this bird also migrates from Africa after wintering there. Unfortunately they are becoming a sight less seen with lower numbers of birds breeding in England.

Late April 2018

It’s been a busy time since the last input from me.  The birding got busy once the fog lifted earlier in the month.  Also I managed to get the moth light out and record a few species of early flying moths.

Hawfinch   This finch is the UK’s largest, and an elusive and shy one at that. There has been a major invasion of these lovely birds, arriving in the country in 2017 looking for food after crop failures in Eastern Europe. I spotted three of these finch giants in trees behind the house of  neighbours who were lucky enough to have them visit their garden.

Wheatear   A stunning bird and one to look out for among the first arrivals returning after wintering in Africa, stopping to rest and feed on their journey along the cliff slopes and fields.

Chiffchaff   Even more Chiffchaff have arrived and seem to be singing everywhere.

Lesser Whitethroat    This shy and elusive warbler has turned up in good numbers along the coastline. Feeding in the dense scrub, they sometimes put in an appearance but most often only give themselves away when making their loud chattering type call.

Ring Ouzel   This thrush has been arriving in good numbers along the coast but had been eluding me, until now that is – as a lovely male bird landed in a nearby tree just long enough for a photo. Just like a blackbird really but there is no mistaking that white crescent on the breast.

MOTHS  Top to bottom:  1 Small Quaker;   2 Common Quakers;   3 Early Thorn;   4 Clouded Drabs;   5 Earl Greys;   6 Hebrew Character

The Hare   This is a young Hare, seen feeding along the edge of a field. It slowly moved towards me before deciding to rest up among a couple of ploughed up mounds of earth, doing a good job of blending in from potential predators.

Early April 2018

With the weather improving, Spring is definitely here in Trimingham. Over the last couple of days I have found Chiffchaffs, Swallows and today singing Blackcaps. There are a few butterflies now on the wing, so hopefully photos will follow of them, although at the moment they are too active. Nice to see the arrival of new stuff with hopefully plenty more to come.

Blackcap   This morning I watched two male Blackcaps trying to out-sing one another.  The female bird despite its name has a rich brown-coloured cap so the name was no doubt given after seeing the male!

Chiffchaff    When I start to hear the song of the Chiffchaff I know Spring has arrived.

Iceland Gull    Along with the Glaucous Gulls, this Iceland Gull is still happy to overwinter along our coast.

Glaucous Gull   This is one of the two Glaucous Gulls still hanging around our coastline. Notice the black tip to the bill and compare to the image of the Iceland Gull with its all dark bill.

March 2018

What with all the starfish, crabs, lobsters and fish washed up along the shoreline it was bound to draw in the gulls! Along the shore from the large stretch of woodland beyond the Pilgrim’s Shelter all the way along towards Vale Road, there must have been close to a thousand gulls waiting to feed on what washed up. And luckily for me I picked out with my lens an Iceland Gull, which is generally regarded as rarer than the Glaucous Gull which I had found before in literally the same area! 

 

Iceland Gull

Despite its name the Iceland Gull actually breeds in Greenland! This is a younger bird, known as a white-winged gull similar to the Glaucous Gull but slightly smaller and with what I would describe as a softer look than the Glaucous variety.

Part of the gull congregation waiting to pick off small fish and crabs etc that were washed up due to the weather last week – this occurred all along the Norfolk coast. The Trimingham stretch alone held close to a thousand gulls.

Kittiwake   This small gull is a juvenile bird, marked out by its distinctive wing markings and black collar. I usually see Kittiwakes passing by in groups when the weather is worse so it was nice to see one lingering around if only for a couple of minutes.

February 2018

It’s been a quiet month with very little around: common birds are coming into the garden to feed more as the temperatures have fallen, and with the recent heavy snowfall are relying on garden feeders to keep them going. Here are some images of regular garden visitors taken in February here in Trimingham:

Great Tit
Blue Tit
Chaffinch
Song Thrush
Blackbird
Dunnock

Dunnock – also known as the Hedge Sparrow or Hedge Accentor because of its fondness for life in the hedgerow. Best way to spot the Dunnocks at the moment is to keep an eye on any brown birds flitting around with one following the other closely whilst flapping its wings continuously as if dancing to impress.  They are relentless at this courtship display at the moment (early April).

January 2018

Pink-Footed Goose    A regular visitor to Norfolk over the winter months, arriving here to feed on the sugar beet stubble in their thousands.

Kestrel     A familiar sight hovering in the sky over the cliff edge looking for prey –  amazing how they just hang in the sky even during very windy days.

Bullfinch        Despite being so colourful it can be an elusive and shy bird, often only giving itself away when calling.

Wren     Slightly larger than our smallest bird, the Goldcrest, but with a voice louder than birds twice its size.

December 2017

Strange though it may seem, this is the time of year that grey seals come ashore to have their pups. I visited Horsey twice in December: the first time there were around 950 adults and 550 pups but the second time, a week later, the count was 1750 adults and 1350 pups along the 4 mile stretch of beach. They do a count every Thursday, so the number of pups had almost trebled in a week. You can see them without taking a boat trip. Simply drive 20 miles to Horsey, park in the Pay Car Park behind the dunes and walk about 400 yards to the viewing area and there they are, from new borns just hours old to adult males waiting for a chance to mate.

A recent report tells of a decline in the numbers of insects in our countryside over the past 10 years by as much as 75% with the consequent reduction in wild bird populations across most of Northern Europe. (When did you last hear a cuckoo?) This seems to coincide with the increased use by farmers of Neonicotinoids sprayed on crops in the fields.

I regularly stay in Suffolk on a farm whose owner produces organic beef from his 100 or so cattle. He uses no chemicals for pest control and his animals eat only untreated and unfertilised grass and hay produced on his farm and, guess what, there is an abundance of birds and insects on his land. Richard is now 82 but his sons run the farm on the same principles. The beef by the way is excellent…

As the days are now slowly growing longer, it’s time to start thinking about new plants and seeds for Spring.

Stormy Skies from Trimingham Beach, taken in July 2017. (Colour of the sea looks tropical!)

BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly         A common and colourful butterfly seen in good numbers around here this year.  August 2017.

Comma Butterfly     A lovely bright butterfly. The butterfly gets its name from the white marking on its underside, which resembles a comma. September 2017.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth     A small day flying moth normally seen hovering whilst feeding on nectar, not resting up as in this image. A migrant moth from warmer climates, always a delight to see in your garden. September 2017.

Red Admiral Butterfly   It seems to have been a very good year for this butterfly. September 2017.

BIRDS

Common Buzzard    Seen here hovering like a Kestrel over the clifftops looking for food. September 2017.

Wheatear    At this time of the year they are moving south to winter in Africa. October 2017.

Redwing     A lovely but shy thrush which overwinters here in numbers. During October there was a large fall of these thrushes alongside numerous Blackbirds, brought down by the fog. Regular flocks of these can be seen flying in off the sea and then stopping to feed before moving on. I counted at least 50 birds in one flock in the paddock behind my house!

Yellow browed Warbler   This little Siberian beauty is seen arriving in the UK during September and October, a scarce visitor but regularly seen around Trimingham.

Sunset on Trimingham Beach. Taken in August 2017.

Nature Notes by Mike Lawrence

15th November 2017

Yesterday I found a Glaucous Gull down on the beach amongst the large gulls.

Glaucous Gull:  A large “white winged” gull that breeds in the arctic region but is a scarce but regular visitor to the our shores during winter months.

23rd November 2017

Golden Plover    These birds gather in large flocks on farmland during the winter: the flock on the western edge of Trimingham has grown close to 200 birds recently.

Skylark     Warming itself up in the early morning sun.

Early December 2017

Watercolour!   December started with this colourful sight as rain clouds moved in off the sea.

Brent Geese    These geese would have moved from their breeding grounds in Russia to spend the winter months here in Norfolk.

Harbour Porpoise   After seeing a number off Trimingham during the summer they seemed to have moved away –  so finding a pod of these hunting off the coast about 400-500 metres offshore today was a welcome sight.

Further pictures and notes on Natural History can be found on Mike Lawrence’s blog, “Back in Birdland”, which you can access from this link:  

http://backinbirdland.blogspot.co.uk