(Matthew)

(Matthew)

A break in the rain (at last) !

25/6/05 Titchwell RSPB Leaders:Matthew

In a break in the rain we decided to go to Titchwell for a couple of hours. We headed towards the Fen Hide where a Bittern had been lurking earlier that day. Bearded Tits were flitting around near the back of the pond, often landing in the mud at the bottom of the reeds. A male Marsh Harrier showed well on a dead tree stump. A lovely male Bullfinch greeted us as we left the Fen Hide. A Knot Grass moth larva (above) was interesting. Sedge and Reed Warblers were abundant on the main path. In the Island Hide there were two-hundred-plus Avocets, fifty-plus Knot and one-hundred-plus Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits. The Parrinder Hide gave us two superb summer plumage Spotted Redshanks (above) were showing right in front of the hide, late Wigeons were still around. Overall pretty good for two hours at Titchwell, oh and we missed the Bittern by ten minutes.

Trip Reports

This is were we will show you our sightings on trips we have been on throughout the year in the U.K.
18/6/05 Lakenheath Leaders: Simeon and Matthew
The weather was fine, the birds were showing well, the grass was brushing against you, what more could you want. Erm, Golden Orioles perhaps. Though I say that, I did catch a brief glimpse of the female flitting in the upper branches of a Poplar, before flying deep into the woods again. But really, I would have expected the male to be viewable on a day like this. We heard the two calling, but the male stayed in the heart of the Poplars, maybe near the nest.
Other birds we saw were; three Great-Crested Grebes on nests, the odd Grey Heron, a pair of Marsh Harriers displaying and three Kestrels over all.

18/6/05 Weeting Heath Leaders: Simeon and Matthew
After we'd had enough at Lakenheath we moved on to Weeting Heath. Only one Stone Curlew had been seen that day and we just managed to glimpse it flying at the back of the field from the East hide. We also saw the pair of Spotted Flycatchers that were nesting in a box outside the West hide. Three young Stoats were play fighting in the field outside the East hide and a Green Woodpecker landed nearby while another one flew over.

25/6/05 Holme NOA leaders:Connor

A afternoon trip to the very friendly reserve of Holme. While driving up the track two Chiffchaffs and a Whitethroat sang. Shortly after this both Little Egret and Turtle Dove were

seen flying over the marsh and a Kestrel hovered next to the board-walk. The morning had been quite good for seawatching with a distant skua sp. the best so we tried our luck from the dunes. One Gannet, one Kittiwake, ten plus Sandwich Terns, two Common Terns and a Little Tern. We finished by seeing a pair of Montagu's Harriers at a nearby site. A reasonably productive trip.