A visit to the beach

We had a lovely walk along the beach at Old Hunstanton the other day. We walked away from the town and pretty soon it was very quiet with only a couple of horse riders and dog walkers around. The tide was right out so the wading birds had lots of pickings and we spotted little egrets, oyster catchers, curlews, terns, shags, sanderlings, redshanks and various gulls.

Little egret

Redshank

Oyster catchers

Oyster catchers

Little egret

Common terns

Common terns

Sanderlings

Oyster catcher

Any ID-ea?

One of the things I have a real problem ID-ing is dragonflies. It doesn't seem to matter how long I spend looking at them in my photos and then online I can't ever seem to get a definitive match! PS -The other one is fungi (and a mis-identified mushroom is not good news so I now don't even bother trying!)

This time of year when the rest of nature is quietening down before the rush of autumn, the bugs, and especially the dragonflies, are the obvious wildlife to photograph. Get the timing right and they will be basking on a fence post or twig, soaking up the rays.

Local fox surprise

We walk in our local meadow and woods a lot and whilst I know there are numerous species living there, apart from the rabbits, birds and insects we have yet to see a badger for instance. Although I have seen a stoat - fleetingly!

A few weeks ago we went for our walk early evening - we are normally morning walkers - and as we entered the woodland my husband saw it first and whispered to me to stand still.  A fox about 25 metres from us. He/she (I think a she) was sitting quite happily watching us. The area has recently had the brambles cut down which helped our view. I stood as still as possible while clicking away with the camera. Eventually the fox stretched, yawned and disappeared into the undergrowth. I was thrilled! I know people who live in towns and see foxes every night but out here in the countryside you often sadly only see them dead at the side of the roads.

We left it a couple of nights then went back. I thought our chances of seeing it again would be slim but I took the bigger camera just in case. We were lucky again. She was sitting low down this time on a pile of cut brambles but she saw us straight away and again didn't seem bothered by our presence.  We've been back at a similar time since but no sign of her, now we know she is definitely there though I shall always go past cautiously just in case!

Wicken Fen

We took a wander at our local NT reserve the other day. Wicken Fen is the National Trust's oldest reserve and it's only a few miles from us. I have no idea why we don't go there more! It was a warm morning but we went early and for the most of it we were on our own. As its name suggests the reserve is mostly undrained fenland and has over 9000 different recorded species, some very rare. The dragonflies were out and about and we came across a few tiny toads making their way across the paths. The reserve also use cattle and wild Konik ponies to graze the land.

I promised you the sky!

As this blog title suggests I hope to share images of other aspects of my natural world, not just the furry and cute! After all who doesn't love a sunset ? Ok not many people love the snakes bit but it's all about the range of stuff we can see, feel and experience!

As it happens I have yet to see a snake this year but sunsets have been plenty and it was a cracker the other evening.

Hedgehog Diary

As posted a while ago we now have a hedgehog house in the garden. I've been feeding what I thought was a hedgehog for a few months in the hope it might find the house too. At the same time my husband bought me a trail cam for my birthday so we could watch whatever comes into the garden at night. It turns out I am feeding at least two hedgehogs - one much bigger than the other - and a cat! Whilst I'm not keen on feeding the neighbouring cats this one did look suspiciously like one that had gone missing from a few streets away so I contacted the owners and they took a look at the footage. It turned out it was theirs and after some calling and treat shaking they found it dozing under a nearby hedge. I've stopped putting cat food out for a while to discourage the cat from coming back as it means it is having to cross a main road. So far I've not seen either hog venture into the house but I've just bought a bag of hay which I'll pop in there as the nights start to cool down and hope it attracts one or other. Meanwhile lots of food for the little one to feast on and pile on the pounds!

Time for the bugs

As the birds disappear from the garden the bugs begin to show. We have had a few red admiral butterflies in the garden this year which is great as I don't remember seeing any at all the last few years. We also have lots of bees. I have numerous lavender bushes at the front and back and they just love it!

My favourite little bird

Long-tailed tits have just the sweetest faces and yet they arrive in the garden like a mob! One will settle on the feeders and suddenly the trees are noisy with their calls. They don't stay still for very long either and when they do stop on one particular branch they will be swinging, often upside down. They are extremely photogenic but not exactly model material!
They don't hang around and within a few minutes they'll be gone and we might not see them back for a few weeks or more.

A new first for the garden

July was quiet in the garden, we were away for a bit and the nesting birds slowly disappeared. I thought we had seen the last of this year's fledglings but just happened to glance out of the window the other morning to see a male green woodpecker and a young one feeding off the ants in the grass. I have to admit I looked twice, I've never seen a green woodpecker around the gardens or in the scrubland at the back. The parents split up when the young leave the nest and share the duties. This youngster was having a go at catching the ants but dad was still feeding. They stopped for a few minutes and I was able to grab some shots (laying on the kitchen floor and shooting through the conservatory door!) before they took flight. I haven't seen them since but fantastic to know they must have been nesting nearby.

The friendly robin

The robins nested again somewhere outside of the garden but still came for food. The hand-feeding became such that I only had to open the door to go outside and I would be aware of a fluttering of wings nearby. This lasted until he disappeared for a week or so to moult. He has been back the last few weeks but was reluctant to come to my hand. We have been tempting him with the suet which he loves and once again as soon as we appear in the garden he turns up, often taking bits from right by us, and today he took from my hand. These photos are from earlier, he was looking a little tired and bedraggled at this point although still better than his mate who was nearly bald.

Field vole

We often get mice and voles in the garden, clearing up the spilt seed from under the bird feeders. This vole spent quite a while hoovering up the left overs but I think I was spotted!