GREY AND GOLD AND VERY COLD!

  Wow, what a bitterly cold weekend I didn't fancy walking too far in the conditions so made a trip to Minsmere and sat in the Island mere hide on Saturday. This turned out to be quite uneventful as the only things showing were ducks and coots and a very bad tempered mute swan who spent the day driving off every other swan he could see.

Angry Mute swan chasing off competitors

Small group of Tufted duck at Minsmere

  I stayed for about three hours hoping to see an otter but in the end admitted defeat and returned to the car. On the way out of the reserve towards Westleton I saw three jays flying between the trees with two chasing one. At one point two of the birds locked together in the air and tumbled to the ground with feathers flying and continued to fight on the ground for a bit before they separated and flew into trees.
  Stopping at Wrentham on the way home where a Great grey shrike had been reported I joined a group of other people looking at a conifer plantation in which it had been observed but after half an hour it had not made an appearance so I moved down to the church. In the field just south of the church a Barn owl was hunting on the rough grassland where it dived to the ground and caught a small rodent where upon it was immediately attacked by two Kestrels who managed to rob the owl of its prize and fly off. During all this commotion a Woodcock was put up from the grass and it too flew off. Walking further up the road I came across another small group of people who called to me that they could see the Shrike and by the time I got to them it was mobbing the owl which had flown close to it along the hedge. I felt a bit sorry for the owl as it retreated into the next field as it was obviously hungry to be hunting in the daylight leaving itself open to attack from daytime predators. Getting back to the shrike it could be seen flying high into a tree in the distance where it showed very well but unfortunately too far off for a decent picture, a shame as this was the first time I had seen this breed of bird.
  Sunday morning it was even colder with a bitter wind so I wasn't going out but in the end decided to take a drive and see what was around. Getting to Mutford I could see a mixed flock of Fieldfares and Redwings on a field as I turned into hulver road and further along the road were three Grey partridges although they were a long way off. On the opposite side of the road a couple of hundred yards further on I stopped the car and sat observing 30 or 40 Golden plover that were feeding on a wheat field but again they were some distance off. I watched them pull up worms and then get chased by gulls who were hoping for an easy meal but the plovers were much faster and always seemed to keep their hard earned worms. I definitely want to go back and try to get pictures in better light when their plumage shines in the sun.



  Finally I made my way back over to Wrentham to try and get better views of the Shrike and maybe a picture or two but despite mine, and about 15 other birdwatchers efforts no sign could be seen of the shrike which had apparently been seen that morning. All in all a very cold weekend when I didn't actually do much walking but still managed to see quite a bit