BEER: Norwich Beer Festival 2013

29th October 2013

It is of course Norwich Beer Festival week. Karl & I went on Tuesday, and very nice it was too. My favourite beer was Blackberry Porter from Mauldons, whilst two "Beer-with-bird-names" ticks were had with 'Golden Pheasant' and 'Knot Just Another IPA'

Details and the full beer list can be found here: http://www.norwichcamra.org.uk/festival/logo2013.htm

Drink responsibly!

NORWICH: Earlham Cemetery fungi

28th October 2013

I went along to Earlham Cemetery for a fungus foray, organised by the Friends of Earlham Cemetery and led by Jon Tyler. We saw a large number of species, including a couple of Waxcaps, White and Grey Coral fungi, Fly Agaric, Death Cap and Lilac Fibrecap. We also saw Jelly Ear growing on Weeping Beech as opposed to the more usual host tree (Elder).  A selection of the more photogenic specimens are below:

White Coral

Golden Waxcap

Shaggy Scalycap

Fly Agaric

Death Caps

Grey Coral

Scaly Earthball

EAST NORFOLK: Looking for Crossbills

27th October 2013

This afternoon Cathy & I went for a walk in Witton (aka Bacton) Woods. Having grown up in North Walsham, it was here that I saw my first Common Crossbills in the early nineties, so it seemed a fitting location to attempt to see Parrot Crossbill. I had been given directions to an area of trees where they had been seen earlier in the week, but other than Coal Tit and Goldcrest there weren't many birds about. The strong wind hindered any attempts to listen for distant calls or falling pine cones. Hopefully they will continue to be seen, and I can have another go later in the year.

On our way round we did see quite a bit of fungi - Cathy found an unopened Parasol and a number of Mycena sp, whilst there were also Fly Agaric, Amethyst  Deceiver and Beech Sickener. We also saw some Hard Fern, a species that I have presumably seen here before but not recorded. On the way back to North Walsham a Stoat ran across the road.

Hard Fern

Parasol

WHITLINGHAM: More fungi

20th October 2013

Still not a lot of birds of note at Whitlingham - around 20 extra Gadwall, 30 extra Greylags and 37 Cormorants went to roost. Only flyovers were Redwing.

Loads of fungi about though, including my first Norwich-area Dog Stinkhorns, growing on bark chippings at Whitlingham Marsh.

Dog Stinkhorns

Honey Fungus

Common Earthball

Death Cap

Porcelain Fungus

Russula sp. or Mycena pura

Shaggy Ink Cap

Yellow Field Cap

WHITLINGHAM: October count & Migrant Hawker

12th October 2013

With heavy rain forecast for much of the weekend, I decided to get the wildfowl count at Whitlingham done on Saturday in case Sunday was a washout.With my inland patcher's hat on I was at least hopeful that there may be a sea-bird of some description around (several sites in other counties managed Great Skuas and Leach's Petrels). As it was the weather was actually rather pleasant, and there was nothing out of the ordinary at all on the broad. Some small flocks of Redwings were flying over as they have been for the past few days, and a Redpoll sp. also flew over calling. Across the river at Thorpe at least six Snipe were on the spit, probably a fraction of the actual number there.

In terms of other wildlife there were some Shaggy Ink Caps and Sulphur Tuft, and I managed to photograph a Migrant Hawker resting in the vegetation at the edge of the broad.

Migrant Hawker

Young Shaggy Ink Caps

NORTH NORFOLK: Titchwell trip

6th October 2013

It had been a while since we had been to the coast, so we went to Titchwell for the afternoon. In the trees near the car park a Yellow-browed Warbler called, but I couldn't see it. We walked slowly around the Meadow Trail in case it was showing there (it wasn't). There were lots of dragonflies, including mating Migrant Hawkers and ovipositing Common Darters.

Mating Migrant Hawkers

Back on the main path I looked back towards the coast road and saw a white goose in a field apparently with a small flock of Pink-footed Geese, although there were also some Greylags a bit further over. As I started setting up my telescope the Pink-feet and white goose flew off. Cathy got binoculars on them and noted that the white goose had black wing-tips, but felt that the black appeared to carry on along the trailing edge of the wing. We did check the field again on our way back, but there was no sign of the geese there or between Choseley and Docking, so it remains a mystery.

Further along a female Red-crested Pochard was on the reedbed pool. Lots of waders on the freshmarsh, the best of which were two Little Stints and two Curlew Sandpipers. Past the Parrinder hide turning we saw a nice Grey Plover still almost in summer plumage, and a Greenshank was stood close to the path. The tide was out when we got to the beach, a single Eider, a Great-crested Grebe and lots of Gannets were the only things I could make out. On the way back the Greenshank had moved into the channel and was feeding by lowering its bill into the water and running forwards, which was interesting to watch.

Greenshank

NORWICH: A little bit of gold

6th October 2013

It doesn't look like I'll be able to moth trap at my new(ish) house, and there isn't any oaks nearby either, so Merveille de Jour remains on the wishlist for the time being. There are still a few moths around though - Margaret found this Large Ranunculus in her garden. From a distance it looks mostly grey, but click to enlarge the photo and you'll see gold spangling over it.

WHITLINGHAM: Still butterflies about

28th September 2013

Still quiet at Whitlingham - one Teal had joined the small numbers of Tufted Ducks and Gadwall already present on the Great Broad. A Kingfisher flew off the river and onto Thorpe Broad, and several butterflies were still flying.

Speckled Wood

Comma

WHITLINGHAM: September wildfowl count

22nd September 2013

An overcast day for September's WeBS count, which on the bright side meant the C.P. was less busy than of late. Not a single hirundine was left, no doubt all on the south coast where 34,000 Swallows were seen in the morning alone in Dorset. There were a few signs of increasing waterbird numbers, notably 15 Great-crested Grebes and 20+ Cormorants. Duck-wise 9 Gadwall (5LB, 4 GB) included one with a particularly pale lower half of the head. Four Tufted Ducks and a drake Pochard were also on the Great Broad. Insects were in short supply, a few Migrant Hawkers and an unidentifed White butterfly were the only large insects flying, whilst Long-winged Coneheads called from the vegetation. Some fungi at the side of the path looks like Stropharia coronilla, although I'm not 100%. Hopefully Octobers count will be more exciting!

Gadwall with a two-tone head. I think it's just normal variation rather than any hybrid jiggery-pokery.

Putative Stropharia coronilla

Conehead

WHITLINGHAM: Green Man and some more fungi

15th September 2013

Another local visit, this time to Whitlingham. It was raining on and off but I wasn't too bothered, as rain showers can drop unusual birds onto lakes during the autumn. Of course they didn't on this occasion, and I made do by watching a mixed flock of Swallows and House Martins skimming low over the Great Broad, feeding up before they migrate.

There didn't seem much point doing a full circuit of the broad, so instead I headed up into Whitlingham Woods. I had heard that some Dog Stinkhorns had been seen recently, so I went in search of them. Considering the relatively dry weather (up until the last week!) there was quite a bit of fungi around. I didn't find any Dog Stinkhorns, but I did find a Common Stinkhorn and some Stag's Horn, neither of which I have recorded here (despite them being common). There was also a lot of Giant Polypore and Dryad's Saddle (both bracket fungi). My find of the day was the Green Man carving that I have been looking for here for ages. The reason that I hadn't found it became obvious - it was in that most pagan of places, the adventure playground.

The Green Man - one of several wood carvings at Whitlingham

Stag's Horn (Calocera viscosa)

Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus)

Giant Polypore (Meripilus giganteus)

NORWICH AREA: UEA wildlife bonanza

8th September 2013

Having moved house the previous week, I took a couple of hours out to go to UEA to look for Norwich's most recent damselfly addition, Willow Emerald. Willow Emeralds are a recent colonist to Norfolk and had been largely restricted to Strumpshaw Fen for the past few years, however earlier this summer they had been seen on a stretch of the Yare near Cringleford and near UEA, and more recently the stretch in between. On my way I cut through the woods at the bottom of Eaton Park, seeing this Common Cow-wheat (pictured below). Although commoner than Crested Cow-wheat, which I went and saw earlier in the year, this is still a scarce plant in Norfolk.

I spent some time near the little pond just along the boardwalk from UEA Broad looking for easily photographable Willow Emeralds, but couldn't see any there. I set off along the path, and eventually found four, including a mating pair. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any photos to improve on last years digi-binned effort, but I was at least able to enjoy good views of them along the far bank of the river. As well as an egg-laying Southern Hawker and four Migrant Hawkers, I also saw quite a bit of other wildlife. I'm still trying to identify this velvety white bracket fungus, but there were several more identifiable species present too.

Polyporus durus or badius, I need to double-check

I also spotted this interesting bug, which I think is Corizus hyoscyami. Bird-wise I saw a couple of Kingfishers and heard Cetti's Warbler and Chiffchaff.

On my way back I spotted this caterpillar on a fruit tree. It is particularly interesting because it is a Grey Dagger caterpillar. When the moth emerges it is identical to the Dark Dagger unless you kill it and dissect its bits, so the caterpillars represent a non-lethal way of securing a positive ID.

YARE VALLEY: Strumpshaw Wryneck

29th August 2013

A quick afternoon visit to Strumpshaw with Cathy, and the Wryneck was still showing well along the riverside path. A good inland record following a large number at the coast last weekend.

NORTH NORFOLK: Italian/Hybrid Sparrow

28th August 2013

I managed to to get to Northrepps for a quick look at the possible Italian Sparrow that was noticed a couple of weeks ago and is still present in the same garden. There has already been quite a bit of discussion about this bird with no real consensus - opinions are split between aberrant House Sparrow, Spanish Sparrow x House Sparrow or Italian Sparrow. For my part, I think that the largish bill, positioned high so that the forehead runs into it (rather than the visible forehead of House Sparrow) suggests at Spanish Sparrow involvement. Given the lack of streaking on the breast, I had wondered if it could be an F2 hybrid, but I suspect that this would show more grey on the crown, so my guess (and it is nothing more than that!) is that this bird is a Spanish x House Sparrow hybrid. This isn't perhaps as unlikely as it sounds - in 2009 at least ten Spanish Sparrows turned up in the Netherlands for example. Whatever the identity, I enjoyed watching the bird on a quiet and sunny day in the countryside, and as the keenest birders had already been, I had it to myself. As I walked back down Hungry Hill four Buzzards flew over and there were numerous Swallows and House Martins overhead.

Many thanks to Carl and Andy for flagging up this bird and allowing people to come and visit.

You can find visiting instructions and more photos of the sparrow here, and Dave Appleton has evaluated the possible identity of the bird here.

NORWICH: Lakenham mothing

24th/25th August 2013

Whilst staying at the in-laws we put the moth trap out (until a torrential shower!). We caught large numbers of Willow Beauty and Scalloped Oak, but the best moth by a distance was my first Lesser-spotted Pinion.

Willow Beauty

Scalloped Oak

Lesser-spotted Pinion

WHITLINGHAM: August counts

24th August 2013

As the East Coast Truckers were assembling along the ring road on Sunday, I went down to Whitlingham on Saturday morning to get the WeBS count done. In drizzly conditions I counted 101 Mute Swans, 31 Egyptian Geese, 140 Mallards, 7 Great-crested Grebes and 6 Grey Herons, along with smaller numbers of the other common wildfowl. Across the river at Thorpe 28 Lapwing and one Common Sandpiper were on the shingle spit.

I took a quick detour into Whitlingham Woods to look at a bracket fungus that I had been told about, and on the way back saw these Suillus sp. ('Slippery Jacks').