Waxwings again

There have been 1-2 Waxwings again in Thetford by the sports centre, I keep getting brief views of them when I pass there.  They are very high up in some ash trees, and you'd never notice them if you just walked by as they're not perched on the very top of the tree, but 6-10ft down from the crown actively working their way through the branches, eating the ash buds which are a rich source of protein.  It must be nice for them to finally get a new food source since almost all the berries are depleted.

Otter and Dipper again...

 and a Muntjac emerges at dusk.

Fieldfares on the move

I headed out to the Lakes again today to see what was happening - mainly the hope of seeing a Wheatear, or maybe hear a Chiffchaff.  I needn't have got my hopes up, it was abitter cold south easterly again, no migrants and lots of wintering species still.  Best of all was a flock of Fieldfare at the edge of Lake D.  They were dropping down to drink and bathe at the lake edge and then fly up to eye level with me to dry and preen.  As always they were wary birds so I was careful to edge slowly forward without flushing them.  How I cursed not having my 'scope - that would make a real difference to drawing them in this situation.  But I'd travelled on my bike, I was in a rush and didn't want to bring the scope with me.  I did a series of pics, the first above was actually done after the two spreads below.

 Also a few otter sketches for good measure, from the next day...

Winter returns with a vengeance, 10th March

 It's been so bitter this week, I have scarcely been birding - I did go out on Sunday afternoon (late) for a quick thrash round the Lakes.  Hard to believe it was 14 degrees C last week and now we're back to snow and sub-zero temperatures.  I just took my bins and the A6 Ryman notebook I've just started - didn't bother with a scope, watercolours or a larger pad as I knew I wouldn't want to sit and paint anything, I just needed some fresh air and some exercise.  Surprisingly, I did see a few birds - three Curlews, the Goldeneye was still on the Lakes (Lake D), a Little Egret was roosting on Lake E, and then  a Woodcock flew low over me between the Bob Clarke Lake and lake E.  Finally I heard the shriek of a Barn Owl before glimpsing it through some alder trees in the half-light.

On separate note, it is worth keeping an eye out for this comet, hopefully soon to appear in our skies:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21701641

Spring arrives at the Lakes, 5th March

An amazing spring day today, 14degC!  The warmest day of the year so far, I even saw a male Brimstone butterfly.  Clear hazy blue skies.  Down on the Nunnery Lakes I found a drake Goldeneye which I assumed I was the last person to see.  The other signs of springs here was the return of at least four Curlew, an Oystercatcher (heard only) and also many Lapwing - a total of 70+ flew over from the east, some of which dropped down and landed on Shadwells fields.  There were at least six separate males that were already present and were defending territories, displaying and driving off rivals and Carrion Crows that ventured into their space.  I saw one glance sideways at the sky, I looked up and sure enough there were two Common Buzzards circling very high overhead.

Goldeneye on Lake A

Lapwing and Buzzard

Curlew.  Again all in biro.

I passed the otters today but this time they were much closer to the town centre and being watched by about thirty people, and again photographers running around after them.  I didn't really feel like hanging around, so I left after a couple of minutes.  I have heard that some photographers have been feeding the otters with salmon from Tesco.  This is really not a good idea.  These animals are tame enough as it is.  An otter is never close enough for a photographer it seems.  Is there no concern for their welfare?  Feeding them is going to bring them into conflict with humans: someone might end up being bitten by an otter perhaps, and then pest control officers from the council will be brought in the despatch them.  Or they may end up getting run over by road traffic.  Or they may get attacked by dogs that are off the lead.  They have more than enough natural food to feed on in the river itself.  They already have a bad press too, having raided a couple of private fish ponds in gardens and killed many carp.  That said, the owners of one of the carp ponds apparently came out to enjoy seeing the otters along the river.  I'd say that the biggest coup from having these local tame otters is that they are quite visible to the wider public: there were lots of ordinary people (non-birders) who were stopped in their tracks, mesmerised by the sight of the otters.  I overheard a couple of local lads, one saying he'd never seen an otter before, that he'd seen pictures of them in books, on TV, and once in a zoo, but never in the wild.  With the general public so disconnected from nature these days, the presence of these amazing animals is such a good thing.  Everything must be done to protect them and they need to be treated with the respect they deserve.

Canon Fodder

That's Canon not cannon.  From 8 am until almost 11.30 I managed to get almost continuous views of a couple of otters on the local river.  Apparently they are a mother and a well-grown cub although I'm not sure what evidence this is based on.  I was just on my own when I found them along a favoured stretch and being on a weekday had hopes I might have them to myself as hundreds of people have already been to see them, I thought the fuss would have died down by now.  I've seen them before in other years (see previous postings), and they are quite habituated to people even dog walkers too.  They soon moved  further upstream, so I waited for them to re-appear.  While I was waiting, some alarm-calling gulls alerted me to a Red Kite passing north overhead!  Perhaps a migrant rather than an introduced bird, although it's hard to say.

With no further sign of the otters, I also moved too and soon found them again in a spot where I could see them easily from the bank.  Still no-one around so I got my paints out in preparation for some work on them.  But it wasn't going to happen.  Soon several photographers turned up, with no field skills, running back and forth to their cars to fetch gear and then run to the river.  Otters being otters, they were soon on the move.  I gave up sitting and followed them.  So over the next few hours the otters were relentlessly followed and photographed.  They were certainly aware of being looked at and occasionally swam in to the near bank out of inquisitiveness.  They spent time time running along the far bank, play fighting on a large grassy lawn, and then running and jumping into the river creating huge splashes as well as catching and eating many small fish.  I spent the entire time trying to convey all this action onto the page.  Incredibly hard it proved too, although things did gradually start fall into place after endless intense observation.  I worked in biro, putting lines down as fast as possible, trying to convey movement and parts of the otter from brief moments.  I'm never a fan of intense situations where people are wanting to get very close to their subject, and although the animals didn't seem unduly bothered they were aware of being observed.  Whilst I ended up dithering in order to draw, the others kept tabs on the otters, so I was able to catch to again.  Eventually they swam into a stretch of the river that was private and inaccessible.

local birding again

Just a few sketches from recent days...
From top to bottom: adult winter Lesser Black-backed Gull
a lone Waxwing in Thetford
Otters on the river
and finally the Black-bellied Dipper again including the bizarre sight of it being in the same field of view as a Little Egret - who'd have thought that was possible 20 years ago?!

22nd Feb: Eagle chasing in Norfolk

I did a quick trip to north-east Norfolk with Nick Moran for a couple of hours this afternoon.  The weather was cold with grey skies, a biting north-easterly wind and a few snowflakes.  I was not expecting to see anything: I have chased White-tailed Eagles in the past before and have often been disappointed.  One usually has to put in 6 or 7 hours waiting before any kind of success.  Indeed it took me seven attempts before I saw my very first one.  After several stops and false alarms, we decided to go back to a stretch of road that looked suitable with an all round view.  I decided to scan a field looking west, the direction no-one else was looking in.  Whilst scanning with bins I picked up an odd 'eagle-shaped' lump perhaps over a mile away, that was conveniently positioned in a gap in a distant hedge from just the tiny mound that I was standing on.  I kept on looking - it did look good, but I could not be sure without a telescope.  There were a couple of birders nearby neither of whom had scopes, so I put them on it and told them to stay looking at it whilst I ran back to the car to get my 'scope.  By the time I'd got back there were lots of smiling and happy people as someone with a scope had quickly turned up and confirmed what I was seeing.  All very fortunate really.  After about ten minutes the bird suddenly took off and did a few circles, flying towards us on occasions.  It then landed further south, out of view.  I did get the watercolours out and put a few washes on in the bitter cold; my hands were pretty numb by the time I'd finished.  Not long before dusk the bird flew over one last time flying over a distant wood and then towards Houghton Park to roost.  Other birds seen included a pair of Grey Partridge, a brief flyover Woodcock, a female Hen Harrier and a Barn Owl.  Not a bad collection for such a brief trip!