Leo stayer

Having only had flight views yesterday I didn't really expect the Long-eared Owl to stick around, but fortunately this lunchtime John Marchant relocated it perched in full view along the edge of one of the lakes. A quick dash down there showed it to be duly obliging and it made its way onto a few lakes lists in the process...

Crest fallen

Although not a migration hotspot by any means, the Nunnery Lakes Reserve is still a nice place to spend a few hours wandering around on a sunny spring morning, and you never know when something out of the ordinary may appear, and today was one of those days.
Whilst trying to photograph a Nightingale which was found last week and was singing well, both Dave Leech (who probably had his head in a bush looking for a nest) and I heard the distinctive song of a male Firecrest, which despite there being a healthy population in Thetford Forest are very scarce visitors to the reserve.  After a short search, we located it high in a pine tree where we had good views. The troops were rallied and once Nick arrived, we relocated the bird where it showed superbly, much lower down, and despite its constant movement, did allow me to get a good series of photos.

Once we had all had our fill of the Firecrest and went our separate ways, I resumed my quest for the Nightingale, and was amazed when a Long-eared Owl flushed from virtually under my feet!  I phoned Nick who was leaving the site, but quickly made a u-turn and after a search, the bird again flew up from the ground and showed well flying across the lake before dropping again, where we left it in peace.  In flight it seemed to dangle its right leg, which may explain why the bird favoured the ground rather than perching up in a tree.
I couldn't find yesterday's Whinchat which had been seen earlier, but with 4 Crossbill flying over, singing Garden, Reed, Sedge and Willow Warblers and lots of hirundines around, it was a memorable morning nevertheless.

Top billing

Even though the cold north wind that has been blowing lately has changed, spring still hasn't got going.  This lunchtime around the Nunnery Lakes had a distinct winter feel to it, not necessarily due to the temperature for once, but the birds, most notably the Fieldfare and Brambling that were singing.  Even more unusual than these Scandinavian songsters was a group of 6 Crossbills which showed well around the edge of D Lake, often dropping down to drink on the edge of the lake.  The group consisted of 4 males and 2 females, with one of the males staying in the top of an oak tree singing whilst the others came much lower and thankfully for once I had my camera with me to get some shots.

There was a touch of summer too with a solitary Chiffchaff singing and showing well, but surely more migrants will be on the way soon, it is April after all!

Get in the ring

Every spring I spend hours driving round the various lanes around the Brecks trying to photograph boxing hares, almost always without success, either the hares haven't cooperated or there hasn't been somewhere safe to stop the car.  So far this year, with the winter lingering through March, the hares when I have seen them haven't been very active and with the brisk, and not to mention, extremely cold wind that has been blowing lately, the hares have usually been sat low down with their ears back. They are still generally wary of a car pulling up near them, but occasionally they will only run a short distance before stopping again, so with persistence photography is possible.
This morning the sun was shining and the wind have dropped so Toni and I were out early having located a likely spot and the hares for once didn't disappoint and 2 hares even divulged in a spot of boxing, though they were just over the brow of a hill (well, a hill in Norfolk terms anyway) so this shot is fairly heavily cropped...

With luck now we've found a good spot where we can park safely and there are plenty of hares we may have more success here over the coming weeks, assuming spring continues to be pleasant that is!!

Sp-Ring surprise

The icy northeasterly wind and remnants of snow in some places over the last few days have certainly given the end of the month a more wintry feel than the beginning of spring, and despite this I have seen my first Chiffchaffs and Stone Curlews this week so the migrants are coming back slowly.  It was still a huge surprise then when I was driving up the Watton road through the village of Breckles this morning when there sat a few feet from the road in a paddock was a stunning male Ring Ouzel.  Quickly spinning the car round, it then showed superbly well, often coming to within 10 metres of the car and often busy road, I can't remember ever having such good views of one.

Spring has sprung...

Given the amount of snow elsewhere in the country maybe I'm being a bit premature, but lunchtime in Thetford certainly did have a feel of spring about it.  I had a walk along the River Thet, and although neither the Dipper nor Otters were showing (though I have to admit to choosing to go along the river in the opposite direction to the otter photographers!) it was a pleasant walk in the sunshine with Nuthatches, Treecreeper, Kingfisher and this rather fetching Marsh Tit showing well.  Although not as colourful as their better known cousins, I think Marsh Tits are much more attractive and are a bird I have been wanting to get some good shots of for a while, despite seeing them most days around the Nunnery Lakes, so this bird was a welcome sight.

Otterly ridiculous

For the last couple of years I have been photographing Otters on the rivers around Thetford, and I have always been surprised at how comfortable they have become around people, but the current situation is getting out of hand and some photographers are not helping.  Over the last few weeks, the news has certainly got out through various forums, and wildlife enthusiasts and photographers from around the country are now descending on Thetford to see an animal which is usually so difficult to see.  That is certainly not the case with the two which show regularly often down to a couple of feet away in the middle of the day.

Every day there is an army of camouflaged photographers toting large lenses, and generally the majority have been responsible and well behaved, but sadly there are always some that give the rest of us a bad name.  In this case, there have been cases of photographers feeding the Otters with supermarket salmon and apparently even hand feeding them sardines.  Those involved would argue that it is no different from feeding birds or baiting badgers, when in fact the reality is that the actions of these few could ultimately cost the Otters dear.  The Otter's antics being veracious predators have already attracted bad press locally with people appearing in the local paper with their stories about their fish pond being emptied of their prized Koi carp and a few local free range chickens have met an untimely end.  What feeding these animals now means is that they will become to associate people with food and although they may not be as big as a bear, as Terry Nutkins (of Animal Magic fame from my childhood) would testify if he was still with us having lost a finger to one, they have sharp teeth and I dread to see the stories and the fallout should a child (or adult for that matter) get bitten by one.
Over the past few years they have been fairly tame but nothing like this, often they would swim across the river toward you before quickly turning round and swimming off along the opposite side, but today whilst photographing one of the Otters at lunchtime, whilst sat quietly by the river, the Otter even walked along the bank towards me and sniffed my shoe before jumping back into the water!  Still, for now I will continue to enjoy watching and photographing them and hope they ultimately move to pastures new in search of new territories before anything untoward happens.