Cley

28-06-09

Me & Cath went to Cley, partly to enable her to see her first Spoonbill, and partly to try and catch some good returning waders (Lesser Yellowlegs was there the same time last year, plus Wood Sands starting to spread across the county). As it was we didn't see too much, but a couple of Bearded Tits, a Ruff, 4 Spoonbills and a Little Ringed Plover were a decent return for the morning. After lunch we spent a bit of time seawatching (pretty much just Sandwich Terns) and had just settled into North Hide when thick mist started billowing across the marshes, halving visibility. After 20 mins or so we gave up, completed our loop and got the bus back. A number of butterflies and moths about, including these...

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Leucistic Blackbird

20th June 2009

I know, everyone liked the Swallowtail picture, but it's just not a bird is it? I don't really talk about beer that much either (I have AA meetings for that). Luckily on my way to a music fair in the city I bumped into this partially-leucistic blackbird. I had been told by another local birder that there was one in Chapelfield Park, but I hadn't seen it on my daily walks through. The bird was initially feeding near Vauxhall Road until pedestrians flushed it, and further investigation showed it was feeding a fairly well-grown juvenile near Pedros restaurant. The juvenile bird showed normal plumage as I would expect (presumable leucism is a recessive trait), but that got me thinking whether juvenile plumages show albinism/leucism or not? Opinions welcome.

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Carey's Meadow

12th June 2009

An after work jaunt down to Carey's Meadow to look for orchids.

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