Snettisham Waders

Saturday's trip to watch the Wader flocks produced some great views of Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwits landing in the gravel pits as high tide approached. The beach murmurations were relatively small and the light direction resulted in a lot of haze so these are all taken from the hides around the pits. Mediterranean Gull joined the Black-headed Gulls (with youngster) and several Egyptian Geese and Avocets tried to claim a position.

Hunstanton Beach

This pair of Common Seal pups were left on the boulders at Hunstanton as the tide receded on Saturday afternoon. Although not distressed, I was worried about their safety with a lot of dogs and people on the beach so contacted the Seal Rescue unit and someone arrived to assess the situation. Being a very low tide, contact of the mother with the pups was particularly difficult. I don't know whether the pups were guarded in situ or transported off the beach to the recovery centre but hopefully all was well with them. Very dramatic lighting all afternoon and the heavy rain eventually arrived in the night.

Paxton Pits Dragonfly Day

The Dragonfly Society designated Paxton Pits a Dragonfly Hotspot in 2020 and today was the annual invitation to visit the site and have conducted tours to view the Dragonflies etc. Here are a few of the insect species that I managed to photograph while helping to guide the walks (Green-eyed Hawker, Scarce Chaser, Brown Hawker, Variable, Blue-tailed and Common Blue Damselflies, Banded Demoiselle, Female and Male Ruddy Darter, Golden Bloomed Longhorn Beetle, Green-Veined White, Labyrinth Spider with Buff-tailed Bumble Bee (it got away) and an impressively large Leopard Moth. We also had a distant but extended view of a Kingfisher on the river bank. 

Butterflies Fermyn Woods

The RPS Nature Group visited Fermyn Woods yesterday hoping to photograph Purple Emperors. I saw one but, unfortuately for it and me, being carried away by an Emperor Dragonfly too fast to get in the lens. We did see lots of other butterflies, including Silver Washed Fritillaries, White Admiral and Purple Hairstreaks and enjoyed a great day with them in the sunshine.