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18 June 2014    Pink stink, white delight

A meeting in Lowestoft today provided fortuitous opportunities for wildlife-ing. My route took me straight past a roadside nature reserve near Loddon which holds chlorantha variant Bee Orchids. In a few drizzly minutes, I counted 21 of this white delight as well as half-a-dozen normal Bee Orchids plus a score of Common Broomrape. Given that my first chlorantha were only last week, I was in heaven. In Lowestoft itself, I had just enough time to divert onto a housing estate where a Rose-coloured Starling had taken up residence. I quickly located the 'pink stink' sitting in a cypress tree in a back garden. The owner invited me and a three other birders in, and we had point-blank views of the bird. Which should mean good photos... but didn't. Being 5m up, sleeping and in atrocious light, I achieved only record shots at best. Nevertheless, this is only my third Rosy Pastor in Britain; all have been adults.   

Wildlife

Wildlife

James Lowen