Having got back from Scotland on the 3rd, my first trip of any distance was to Snettisham on the 8th. A reasonably high tide was forecast, although only a few hundred Black-tailed Godwits were pushed back on to the lagoons. As the tide started to recede there were some spectacular murmurations of gulls, terns and (predominantly) waders, with several species involved. On the newly exposed mud, hundreds or possibly thousands of small waders flew and ran about, feeding. I spent a lot of time looking for White-rumped Sandpipers (four had been reported earlier). Eventually one was found and a kind bird watcher put me on to it. It revealed its white rump as it briefly flew. I also saw a Little Stint (see if you can find it in the image below), in amongst the Dunlin, Sanderlings and Ringed Plovers. Walking back to the car park, a bonus came in the form of a Wall butterfly, the first that I have seen this year.
Waders at RSPB Snettisham, 8 August
Waders, Terns etc. taking off, spooked by a Peregrine, RSPB Snettisham
Record Shot of a Wall Butterfly, Snettisham, 8 August
On the way home I stopped off at Dersingham Bog to look for invertebrates in this distinctive sandy, marshy nature reserve. Sand wasps were seen along with a multitude of dragonflies. Black Darter dragonflies breed here, or so I had been led to believe, but on several previous late summer visits I had yet to see one. Imagine my surprise when I saw not one, but several Black Darters, along with a single Keeled Skimmer. They do exist here, after all! Unfortunately, I could find no sign of Grayling butterflies, which I have seen here in the past but not in the last 3-4 years. Perhaps they no longer occur on this site.
Male Black Darter, Dersingham Bog, 8 August
In recent years I have been looking to go on pelagic boat trips off the UK coast, in order to try to connect with some of the rarer seabirds (Cory's and Great Shearwaters, for example), which I would have very little chance of seeing onshore. The boats go out a few miles from land and drop horrible smelling fishy mixtures ('chum'), which attracts the seabirds. A 'Naturetrek' trip, leaving from Falmouth harbour in Cornwall last September, was cancelled due to inclement weather conditions. Foolishly, I put my name down for another 'Naturetrek' trip, this time departing from Weymouth, on the 15th of August and booked a B&B in Weymouth for the night of the 14/15th. Again the trip was cancelled the day before, this time because the wind was in the wrong direction (!). I was committed to travelling to Weymouth, so made the best of a bad job by spending four hours (mainly) sea watching at Portland Bill on the morning of the 15th, followed by a visit to Arne RSPB on the way home. Sea watching provided sightings of both Manx and Balearic Shearwaters, alongside many Fulmars, Kittiwakes and Gannets as well as a few auks and an Arctic Skua. It was difficult at distance to separate the two shearwater species, which are similar in size and rarely revealed their underparts (Balearics are significantly darker below) and even more difficult to photograph them! Their behaviour was somewhat different - the Manx Shearwaters did more 'shearing' in flight and moved through quickly, whilst the Balearics tended to fly on flatter wings, hung around for longer and sometimes landed on the sea, diving to feed. The composite image below shows 'record shots' of both species, although you will have to take my word for it!
Composite image of Manx (left hand and right hand birds) and Balearic (central birds) Shearwaters in Flight, Portland Bill, 15 August. The Manx Shearwaters are darker above and paler below and have sharper wings than the Balearic Shearwaters. Sorry about the poor quality of the individual images!
Land birds seen at Portland Bill included Ravens, one of which landed close by to inspect the contents of a plastic bag, many migratory Wheatears and several Rock Pipits. One consolation from this brief visit was that I was able to enjoy an excellent breakfast at my B&B, which I wouldn't have had time for if I had been on the boat trip. This was something to digest on the five hour, stop start journey home from Arne. I think that I'll avoid booking Naturetrek pelagics in future!
Raven, Portland Bill, 15 August
Wheatear, Portland Bill, 15 August
On the 16th I spent an afternoon at Paxton Pits (near St Neots), photographing darter dragonflies. One particular group of bushes close to a path usualy holds many (usually) Common Darters and I wasn't disappointed on this occasion. However, getting an uncluttered background for my shots (I always aim to produce images suitable for competitions and exhibitions, however unlikely it is that I'll achieve my target) wasn't easy. One example is shown below.
Common Darter, Paxton Pits, 16 August
My only other trip of any note was to RSPB Frampton Marsh on the 27th. A Baird's Sandpiper (an American wader, which occasionally finds its way to the UK) had been seen the day before but was absent on the day of my visit. However, many other wader species were showing there, including Curlew Sandpipers. Yellow Wagtails were abundant here, with around 20 seen in one small area where cattle were feeding (image).
Three Curlew Sandpipers, RSPB Frampton Marsh, 27 August
Two (of many) Yellow Wagtails hanging around cattle, waiting for flies to eat, RSPB Frampton Marsh, 27 August
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