Wildlife

James Lowen 

 Just as well then that the main attraction at Gun Hill, the Isabelline Wheatear that Dave found the previous weekend, was still present - for its 10th day. It showed much better than when we first found it (though still no closer than 15-20 metres), and the light was more amenable too. So a few reasonable images were secured. I really enjoyed photographing this rarity: far more fun & relaxing (if far less exciting) than finding it!

Today, three work deadlines somehow met a full 24 hours ahead of schedule, Dave Andrews and I beat a path to Burnham Overy Dunes for a final October crack at nailing Norfolk's first Siberian Accentor. It is quite bizarre that a bird I dreamed of seeing sometime in Britain a mere four weeks is now frustrates the heck out of me for not having found in Norfolk! We failed to find anything really: just a nice male Snow Bunting, 10 Waxwings total, a Short-eared Owl and a Brambling. The woods contained only a couple of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, and the flocks of thrushes (mainly Fieldfares) contained nothing of interest.

Wildlife

BLOG

31 Oct 2016  Wheatears

I've been laid out with a bad dose of work since coming back from Shetland ten days into October. Clearly I've still found time to find stuff, and to team-find stuff, but it hasn't been wholly satisfactory. Before the year's most exciting month closed, then, I needed to sneak in a couple of coastal forays. Both were twitches. The first, with Dave Andrews and Will Soar, to see a male Desert Wheatear on the beach at Salthouse. The bird was very smart indeed, but unfortunately never came close. The light was also poor, so the images below were as good as I could muster. I wish it had shown as well as the Winterton/Horsey male in December 2014, or the Lowestoft male of November 2014.