20150131 Smew & Goldeneye Felbrigg Pond

Smew. 1st winter male.
Darker face mask showed well.

Smew.
Bird cautiously walked on ice several times showing extensive white belly.

Smew.
Braod white trailing edge to secondaries.

Goldeneye pair and Smew flew off high South late morning.
Note white secondaries on Goldeneye and smaller size of Smew recalling Teal.

Common Gulls.



Mallards on ice.
This shot is upside down.

Smew.
Black mantle feathers indicate 1st winter male.

Goldeney.
1st year male and female.

Smew.
Wing stretch showing white axillaries.

Smew.

Smew.

20150128 Grey Heron and the digger. NWT Cley

Catchwater Drain being dredged out.
Trail of sludge attracted several Herons after exposed aquatic life.

Grey Heron in high wind.

Grey Heron.

20150121 Bearded Babbler Lark female variant & Snow Bunting. NWT Cley.

Bearded Reedling.
 Female variant showing crown stripes and black central mantle streak. 

Bearded Reedling.
Female plumage variant as above, with lateral crown stripes.

Bearded Reedling. Male.

Bearded Reedling.
Today a group of 6 birds spent long periods feeding on the ground by the East Bank. 

Snow Bunting.
Part of a flock of 44 birds about the shingle ridge.
The flock split with 30 birds flying towards Salthouse beach.

Snow Bunting.

20150102 Horned Lark & Grey Seals, Blakeney point

Horned Lark. One of the few new names that's worth it.

Horned Lark.

Brown Hare.

Horned Lark.

GBBacked Gull.
Dead Grey seal pups throughout the dunes, easy scavenging for the large Gulls.
Gulls spooked away from carcasses too readily for the ultimate shot....

Grey Seal pup.
Young seals along beach all the way out and many in the dunes around the Point with a few females.
4 hours latter on return, at least 3 pups a long way back from the beach had pasted away.

Grey Seal pair.
Profile comparison. Roman nose of male, flatter and less pronounced in female.
Now the largest rookery in the UK.
 Estimate of 1,800 pups this season up from 25 in 2001/2002!

Grey Seal pup.
Less than 2 weeks old and looking very happy.

Horned Lark.