1st June

After Clare and I had enjoyed an evening out at the Theatre Royal in Norwich watching Jack Whitehall we saw a Little Owl sat on a lamp post a few metres from my home. It seemed quite content sitting there.

2nd June

After a having to have a filling at the dentist I made my way to Thornham as a Montagu’s Harrier had been flying here whilst I was sat in the dentist’s chair this morning. I watched some wonderful male Marsh Harriers quartering the marsh and some Redshanks flying around but there was no sign of the Montagu’s Harrier. I was an hour too late! I left and drove to John’s and together we drove to Rockland Broad. We watched a Reed Bunting singing along the pathway before joining other birders watching the Black Tern and Little Gull out on the broad. Great Crested Grebes were nesting out on the broad as we watched Swifts, Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins all flying low over the water. On the pathway back to the car park we watched a Scarce Chaser and some Azure Damselflies. A Marsh Harrier could be seen flying along the treeline too.

3rd June

Thank you so much for the 800 of you have that have either sent me messages or liked my photo of the female Red-backed Shrike on Facebook or Twitter that I took at Holkham yesterday.

At long last we had some good weather in Norfolk today. John and I set off for Buckenham after learning that there was a summer-plumaged Curlew Sandpiper on one of the scrapes. It was accompanied by 18 Tundra Ringed Plovers, Little Rimged Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshanks and many Avocets. We also saw two Avocet chicks. Two Marsh Harriers were quartering the marsh and a Great White Egret was also stood in the distance. We called into Strumpshaw where I followed the instructions on a little board by a platform over one of the dykes. I was invited to dangle my toes into the water and see what I could see. My toes got dangled and I saw two Hairy Dragonflies as a result!

After watching Scarce Chasers we met up with Patrick and walked to the doctor’s garden where we watched Swallowtail, Brimstone, Peacock and Red Admiral Butterflies.

After a late lunch we went to a local churchyard and watched a pair of Spotted Flycatchers which were flitting around the trees. It was so nice to be out and about in the sun today.

4th June

What more could you want than to share a lovely Sunday roast pub lunch sitting outside in the sun and spend the day watching Bee-eaters with friends not too far from home! Bliss!

5th June

It was a nice steady day at work today with visitors wondering where the sun had gone again. However we had a Black Tern to show them as well as a Little Stint. A Bee Orchid was also on show. At lunchtime I joined several of the staff and together we watched the Black Tern dipping into the water whilst flying all over the Fresh Marsh. I went into Island Hide to try and get a bit closer to the bird but with a bird moving so fast and far away it was a difficult task to keep up with it. The light was very poor today for photography too. Never mind, it was still nice to see a marsh tern at Titchwell with its buoyant flight.

7th June

9th June

Life continues to be a bit of a whirlwind but I had set today aside as a day at home to get some gardening, painting and some chores done. It was a beautiful day for once and the cold wind and cloudy weather seems to have passed. I started early and mowed the lawns before tackling some nettles and brambles that had grown in my hedge. As I did so I heard the familiar call of some Mediterranean Gulls. I ran for my binoculars and sure enough there were two Mediterranean Gulls with a Black-headed Gull flying over. Traffic lights were being set up outside my home and I wondered what was going to happen. I went out to see the workers and I managed to persuade them to repair part of my access with some of the spare tarmac that they were repairing the road and pathway with. Result! As I neared my back door I could hear a Siskin calling and once again fetched my binoculars to see it sitting at the top of a tree.

My afternoon was spent painting one of my picnic tables which needed a refresh. I was serenaded for most of the afternoon by a Blackcap singing. Later whilst taking a break sitting on one of my hammocks, I was entertained by my pair of Jackdaws who are still feeding young in my owl box. The adults are both very busy bringing in a food supply for the chicks.

Thank you to all of you who have sent me messages about my Rose-coloured Starling photograph on Facebook and Twitter. Yes I admit I was rather lucky to be invited into the garden. As they say…..it’s not what you know………..it’s who you know! 😉

10th June

A terrible migraine stymied all plans that I had for today. I was wiped out for most of the day. Later in the afternoon, John and I sat on the hammock in the shade as it was so hot and watched a Painted Lady feeding on my Pyracantha. We also watched Brimstone, Holly Blue and Large White Butterflies. During the day whilst I was laid on the hammock feeling very sorry for myself because of the pain I was in, I heard a humming noise. It got louder and louder and I was surprised to see a huge swarm of bees passing overhead.

As the sun started to set John and I walked down to Dersingham Bog where we watched 3 male Nightjars and one female Nightjar that gave us lovely views as it flew just in front of us as we walked back up the track to my car. Two Woodcocks were also roding.

11th June

As my migraine had still not abated our plans for butterflying in Northamptonshire were quickly abandoned. I actually wanted to stay in bed but it was such a beautiful day and I was in need of a walk to see if I could ease some of my neck muscles causing me some of the pain that I was in. Whitehills Woods is less than a mile away from my house and so John and I went for a walk here instead. We were greeted by a wonderful show of Foxgloves at the entrance…………so good for the bees! Once inside the wood a Blackcap was merrily singing but it took some time for us to see it as a Great Tit wanted to get in on the act. John and I inspected all the raptor nests which were all now abandoned. There are some interesting nests here which I enjoyed watching during lockdown. We walked along the track that does a nice loop and it was good to be in the shade on this very hot day. Goldcrests and Coal Tits were calling above us and a Chiffchaff posed for a while. Siskins sat on a broken snag on one of the tree trunks before flying off. I spotted a Treecreeper climbing up one of the trees but it did not call at all. Our first Banded Demoiselle of the year flew across us as John identified some of the moths present. We saw a Holly Blue and the first Ringlet of the year.

After doing some shopping for food items John and I drove to Massingham for a pub lunch which was glorious in the sun and noted some Mallards on the village ponds. We returned back home for me to be able to bake a cake ready to take with us for our up-coming bucket list trip next week. I hope the weather stays good as John can suffer from sea-sickness, so we need a calm sea!

12th June

It was a quiet day at work today, which given my lack of energy, post migraine I was pleased about. It was extremely hot today but luckily I was in the shade all day. On my way home I stopped at West Newton where I stopped to watch a Grey Wagtail on the platform at the mill. I regularly stop here and very unusually have not seen the Grey Wagtails here for quite some time, so it was nice to see one today.

Once at home I sat on my hammock eating strawberries and cream in the garden and watched the two adult Jackdaws stood on the branches in my tree by the owl box where I could hear the youngsters begging for food. It has been fascinating watching the Jackdaws every day as they raise their young.

13th June

Many people ask me if my only hobby is birdwatching and to be honest it does take up most of my spare time. However I also enjoy other hobbies, one of which is sewing. Whilst in Hawaii watching nesting White Terns in a city street my eye was caught by the shop behind me. It had some fabulous Hawaiian bright red material in it with the Hawaiian Plumeria flower on it. I could not resist it and nipped in and bought a length of it to take back home.  My original intention was to make myself a summer dress with it but my daughter had mentioned that my granddaughter could do with a new summer dress as she had grown out of hers. So once at home I set about making her one with the material that I had bought and luckily had enough left over to make her sister one too. These were duly taken to them in time for Hannah’s birthday and the summer to come. The dresses will always remind me of the wonderful time that we had in Hawaii. However my other granddaughter has grown since last year and so I have been up late at night making her one too, which I have now finally finished. I now have 3 granddaughters looking very pretty in their summer dresses.

14th June

After a protracted journey down to Somerset, John and I arrived at Collard Hill, where it was very hot. We walked along the ridge and through the meadow arriving at the steep-sided hill, where after an hour we found 4 Large Blue Butterflies. However the heat meant that they were impossible to photograph as they flew far too fast and only one settled for a few seconds.

I took a few photographs of Marbled White Butterflies and a Pyramidal Orchid before we set off for Ilfracombe. After settling in to our accommodation at a pub on the harbour and having a  delightful fish evening meal we wandered around the harbour, looked at MS Oldenburg and watched the sunset.  It was a wonderful warm evening.

15th June

After a good cooked breakfast at our accommodation in Ilfracombe harbour, we joined the queue in the harbour and boarded MS Oldenburg. It would be a two hour sailing across to Lundy. The sea was flat-calm but the boat was full to capacity. We managed to get good seats at the back of the boat where we could see all the passing birds. We watched hundreds of Manx Shearwaters, a one Storm Petrel, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Puffins, Razorbills, Guillemots and a variety of gulls as we crossed the Bristol Channel. Three Common Dolphins appeared and I alerted other passengers to them.  It was very hot as we arrived on Lundy.

After docking, we climbed up the steep path and dived into the tavern at the top of the hill for a well-deserved half of cider and a beer for John. Feeling refreshed we went back out into the sun and walked the west coast of the island. We stopped at Jenny’s cove to admire all the Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills coming and going to the seabird colony whilst we ate our lunch. What a glorious view it was. It was so lovely to be out and about in wonderful sunny, still weather sat in out in out T-shirts and shorts on this amazing island.

Replete we carried on around the island admiring all the flowers and watched several Wheatears as well as Wren, Skylark, Linnet and Meadow Pipit. By one of the pools many gulls were bathing……….we felt like joining them in the heat which was now sapping our energy levels. On the return journey back to the tavern we admired the Highland Cows before once again visiting the tavern for a well deserved drink, which we sat outside with after speaking to the wardens about the Little Shearwater present on the island.

We enjoyed our sailing back to Ilfracombe and saw hundreds of Manx Shearwaters again. We spent the evening enjoying another fish meal and watching the lifeboat return from their evening  practice.

18th June

It was another hot and sweltering day as the NarVOS WeBS counters set off along the track in the middle of the fishing lakes at Nar Valley Fisheries. There was little to be seen on the lakes except a few Great Crested Grebes, Coot, Tufted Duck and Mallards. I drew the short straw and counted all the Black-headed Gulls but many had chicks. Fortunately Avian Flu does not seem to have had any impact here. We continued on our way along Narside where we watched some Mute Swans and some saw a Cuckoo. I was busy taking photographs of some of the16 Long-tailed Tits present in the willows.

The River Nar was bustling with Damsel and Dragonflies so I stopped to take a photo of a Scarce Chaser. We stopped to have a drink at the cars before driving up to count the other lakes. I discovered a Common Tern sitting on the Black-headed Gull breeding island and a lot more Black-headed Gull chicks. I had to do a re-count! On Geneva North Lake I heard a Kingfisher calling. A few moments later it flew across the lake and luckily we all saw it. There were only a few Tufted Ducks, Coots and a pair of Great Crested Grebes here. Later, on the new workings ,we had many hundreds of Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese which we enjoy counting so much!!! Creeping down to the edge on Priory Lake I spotted a Grey Wagtail which I managed a quick few shots of before it flew away.

19th June

20th June

It was training day at work today for some of us learning some new I.T. skills. However our trainers had never been on the reserve before and needed someone to guide them and identify some birds. A special request had been put in to see some Bearded Tits. Having been given a longer lunch break than normal I took our I.T. trainers down the West Bank path and listened along with Ryan and Louisa. We soon heard some Bearded Tits calling and sure enough some Bearded Tits flew around. Luckily  Phil and Nick saw them too. We walked a it further and saw some more.  We watched the birds on the Freshmarsh as I pointed out Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits, Black-headed Gulls, Canada Geese and a Common Tern that was nesting. We watched a Marsh Harrier quartering over the reed bed. Kat then joined us and she too wanted to see Bearded Tits so we re-traced our steps and we watched a couple of juvenile birds at the bottom of the reeds before returning to the Visitor Centre as well as a Reed Bunting swaying on a reed head.

21st June

After a morning of more I.T. training on the new Microsoft Office 365, I had to spend some time sorting out some of my old files at work today. It was quite an intense morning with lots of new information to absorb and Carrie and I decided we needed some fresh air. We walked down the West Bank path at Titchwell and found it was very hot in the sun. We had to stop to answer a few visitors’ questions but made it to the island hide where several Avocets were preening. I took a few photos and only having a short lunch break today we did not stop for long. On the way back we stopped to watch a young Coot struggling to cope with a huge beak full of water weed.

22nd June

John and I spent most of the day in Norwich. It was another trip to Trailfinders, booking flights for an African trip to be taken late in the year on yet another quest to see African Pitta and a few other bird and mammal targets. That pitta better be there! Most of the afternoon was spent trailing around the shops trying to find me some replacement birding and summer clothes that have either worn out or very sadly shrunk in my wardrobe (ahem!!!) A Sushi lunch was enjoyed by us both but it was so hot we just had to stop for a swift half in one of the local pubs, which went down very well!

The evening was spent watching my local swifts zooming around the sky and later two small bats joined them.

23rd June

I am trying to get ahead and fetched my large suitcase down from the loft and started packing for our next big adventure coming soon. It’s going to be a mixture of hot and cold. A cruise is also involved. Yipee! However back to reality and I have some weeding to do in the hot weather and had better get on with it before my garden goes wild! It will however be rewarded by all my Raspberries and Strawberries that are now ripe and ready to pick. Yummy!

24th June

After gardening all day, Jim drove Rob and I to Billingford where we met up with John, Mike and and Ginny and joined 15 other keen top Norfolk listers and stood on a track at dusk listening for a European Scops Owl that Kevin du Rose had heard whilst all-night fishing two nights ago. The pit-fall for a reported calling Scops Owl is that of a Midwife Toad which has been introduced into Norfolk as it makes a similar sound and has fooled many a birder before. Our vigil was not helped by a group of people who had set up a camp and having a revelry for a birthday celebration right under the trees where the bird was supposed to be calling, who all got more and more inebriated as the night wore on. Needless to say we saw or heard nothing resembling a Scops Owl! Still it was a nice social occasion on a lovely warm evening and it was good to talk to Mike who has recently done the cruise that John and I are just about to embark on!

25th June

26th June

With my birthday fast approaching, John has organised a little birthday treat for me. So today we started out driving to Heathrow where once we had arrived we made straight for the business -class lounge where a glass or two of wine were enjoyed along with a very civilised meal.

After a nice meal John and I flew to Oslo where we were booked into an airport hotel where we spent the night.

27th June

After lunch our taxi arrived at the hotel and we were driven down to where MV Planicus was moored. We were one of the first arrivals as we walked up the gang plank to our superior cabin on Deck 5 next to the lounge, where we were surprised at how big our cabin was!

John was delighted to find two bottles of wine awaiting for us ready to celebrate my birthday tomorrow.

After all the passengers had embarked we were all gathered together to attend talks on safety, introduced to the staff, how to wear lifejackets and taken to the lifeboat stations out on deck. We left harbour and started our journey out along the coastline and out into the open sea. A few minutes later we had our buffet meal in the restaurant before being called to collect our boots.

I met Jess in the lounge who used to volunteer at Titchwell, she is now a member of staff on board. It was lovely to see her again. John and I retired to our cabin and with 24 hour light and with two big windows to look out of, we set up our tripods and started sea watching. We were soon watching Brunnich’s Guillemots, Puffins and Fulmars. The ship headed north and our sea adventure began!

30th June