PARROT CROSSBILLS AT WAVENEY FOREST

   Today I popped over to Waveney forest which is a bit of a misnomer now that the trees are being rapidly felled to try and find the Parrot Crossbills. Several birds have been reported recently and with the sun shining brightly I was hopeful of seeing them. Moving south from the car park I quickly found two other people who had seen the birds and were waiting for them to return near a pile of logs that had recently been cut down and I had only been with them for a few minutes when the Crossbills flew in calling to each other constantly. These calls stopped when the birds alighted in the tops of some pines and began to feed out of range of effective photography. Eventually after an hour or so the birds began to move lower down on the pine trees and also onto a larch coming closer and closer to us allowing very good views. After a while they flew off to a nearby pine top and the other people left me to it but even though I hung around for another hour or two the birds never came close again and when a few other bird watchers turned up I decided to call it a day and returned to the car. I have included several photos here some of which are better and clearer than others but they are all of male birds as the females didn't seem to be so keen on approaching closely.

GLOSSY IBIS AT OULTON MARSHES

   Friday afternoon and the sun was shining brightly and following reports the previous two days that a second Glossy Ibis had joined the long staying bird on the marshes at Oulton I drove over to take a look. I fully expected the birds to be at a distance so was pleasantly surprised to find the pair feeding on a marsh only 40 yards or so from where I stood, so using the reeds and bushes as cover I managed to take loads of pictures as they moved along feeling in the mud with their long bills for worms. The plumage really shone in the sun revealing a range of colours that were not noticeable at a distance or under cloudy skies. Also seen was a male Hen Harrier but this was a good distance off and no usable images were taken although its always nice to see these grey 'ghosts' hunting low over the marsh and scrub.

MORE FROM SCULTHORPE MOOR

   Apart from the birds seen in the previous post another highlight was the appearance of a very obliging Water Rail that didn't seem too bothered by the camera clicks even though the bird was only a few feet from the hide at times. This is unusual for this species which is notoriously shy and spends most of its time deep in the cover of the reeds avoiding us humans.

   Moving on again to the hides at the end of the reserve that overlook the reed beds there was very little to be seen but undoubtedly in the spring Marsh Harriers and Hobby's would be in residence so I will try to return in a couple of months. On the walk back along the river bordering the reeds a male Reed Bunting was sitting in a small tree singing away advertising his presence to any available females indicating that spring is not far away. Another sign of the arrival hopefully soon of warmer weather were the abundance of catkins on the trees along the river and in the woodland so along with the Reed Bunting I have included a couple of shots of these to finish with.

SCULTHORPE MOOR BRAMBLINGS AND BULLFINCHES

   Yesterday I finally managed to visit Sculthorpe Moor which is a reserve run by the Hawk and Owl trust just outside Fakenham. The weather was a bit cloudy and I was the first person in the car park so I put my money in the box on the gate and walked into the reserve. The reserve itself is half woodland and half reed fen with good access via a network of boardwalk paths and several hides open to the public. Making my way firstly to the woodland hide several were observed including Nuthatch, Treecreepers, Chaffinches, Greenfinches and a GS Woodpecker but no sign of the birds I had come here to see so I moved on to the Whitley hide where I immediately saw amongst the Chaffinches several Bramblings feeding on the seed provided. Sometimes over the next hour or so there were up to 20 Bramblings flitting amongst the bushes and trees some of which can be seen below.

   Sometimes along with the Bramblings a few Bullfinches would also appear with the stunning males really showing up well in the bare branches of the bushes. Because of the density of the bushes it was difficult to get clear shots of the birds without twigs and branches getting in the way but I persevered as I don't really like taking pictures of birds when they are on the feeders which seemed to be the only times you were guaranteed unobstructed views. The Bullfinch pictures are below which include shots of the females that are still handsome birds even without the dramatic pinkish/red plumage. Winter is definitely the best time to see these birds as they spend a lot of their time deep in the trees and bushes and are hard to see when everything is in leaf.

YORKSHIRE RED SQUIRRELS

   Last week was spent in Cumbria on a break, one day of which I popped over to North Yorkshire to photograph Red Squirrels at a private wood with a company called 'Wild Dales Photography'. I had used these people last year and was looking forward to seeing Simon who owns the company again but unfortunately he had hurt his back and was out of action. Luckily for me his partner Sarah stepped in and took me and two other photographers to the woodland setting where hides are set up allowing close views of these wonderful animals. In this wood there is an estimated population of 20 or so animals all of which seem to be happy to approach as long as sudden movements are avoided meaning that there are many chances to take pictures. The only problem was the weather which was dull and drizzly most of the time and being in a wood meant that the light was very poor which required me to increase the sensitivity on the camera which leaves the images looking a little 'grainy'. In total I spent 5 hours or so in the hide resulting in hundreds of photos that took me some time to sort through and reduce in number to more manageable totals, a few of which are shown here.

   When you spend a little time with these animals you soon realise that they have their own separate personalities and their appearances can differ greatly with different colours and thickness of fur. One or two of the squirrels were very bold and would actually come inside the hide with me looking for treats no doubt but we were told not to feed them as bacteria on our skin can be potentially harmful to squirrels and whenever Simon or Sarah feed them they make sure to use anti-bacterial hand wash first. A brilliant day with amazing animals that I could spend far more time with observing and photographing.