OCTOBER
The theme of last month's notes was a general slowing down of all the natural world activity and inevitably with the clocks going back last weekend the pattern of this early winter season is for quieter days and evenings around a glowing fire. Time of course to think about cleaning out the bird feeders and get in a stock of peanuts and seeds to help the birds through the cold months ahead. On the plus side ... what a year we have experienced for soft fruit. I have a record number of apples in store; 2 kilos of gooseberries in the freezer and we harvested over 50 lemon sized figs from one single tree that I planted when we first came to Sapiston.
There are some exciting sightings of expected winter visitors stopping off en route to warmer countries in Africa but all mainly in coastal areas in Suffolk and Norfolk. I follow a daily blog put out by the Norfolk Ornithological Association based in Holme in north Norfolk and they have recorded many different species of bird passing through heading south ... it has been a good Autumn for the diminutive Yellow-browed and Pallas's Warblers mixed in with the local Blue Tit flocks and numbers of Firecrests seeking out a feast of spiders to build up their fat reserves for the long southerly migration. A joy to watch for keen birders. Also the steady build up of Pink-feet Geese on the Holme Fresh March ... a recent count of almost 10 thousand birds roosting each night after a days browsing in the stubble fields along the north Norfolk coastal strip. An unforgettable sight and sound when the birds whiffle down (a unique word relating to the flight of geese ) to the safety of the marsh each night. Park along Lady Anne Drive in Holkham and marvel at the spectacle ... first birds start to drop in around 1500 hours so be ready !
It is very difficult to get decent shots of the little jobbies mentioned above as they move around so quickly in the trees so I can only show you a Madeiran Firecrest sub-species that performed well in front of the camera. Firecrests are just slightly bigger than our local Goldcrest and have a much more prominent white supercilium around the eye. Not at all likely that these endemic island species would come here but Lackford Lakes did record a Yellow-browed Warbler last week so keep your eyes peeled.
Let us see what November brings.
There are some exciting sightings of expected winter visitors stopping off en route to warmer countries in Africa but all mainly in coastal areas in Suffolk and Norfolk. I follow a daily blog put out by the Norfolk Ornithological Association based in Holme in north Norfolk and they have recorded many different species of bird passing through heading south ... it has been a good Autumn for the diminutive Yellow-browed and Pallas's Warblers mixed in with the local Blue Tit flocks and numbers of Firecrests seeking out a feast of spiders to build up their fat reserves for the long southerly migration. A joy to watch for keen birders. Also the steady build up of Pink-feet Geese on the Holme Fresh March ... a recent count of almost 10 thousand birds roosting each night after a days browsing in the stubble fields along the north Norfolk coastal strip. An unforgettable sight and sound when the birds whiffle down (a unique word relating to the flight of geese ) to the safety of the marsh each night. Park along Lady Anne Drive in Holkham and marvel at the spectacle ... first birds start to drop in around 1500 hours so be ready !
It is very difficult to get decent shots of the little jobbies mentioned above as they move around so quickly in the trees so I can only show you a Madeiran Firecrest sub-species that performed well in front of the camera. Firecrests are just slightly bigger than our local Goldcrest and have a much more prominent white supercilium around the eye. Not at all likely that these endemic island species would come here but Lackford Lakes did record a Yellow-browed Warbler last week so keep your eyes peeled.
Let us see what November brings.
