19 Oct 20

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadow, Wakeham Railway Cuttings, Mermaid Track, Bumpers Lane, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Broadcroft Quarry Butterfly Reserve, Higher Horse Paddock and Lower Horse Paddock

It's amazing how time flies. 30 years ago today I flew from RAF Coltishall, Norfolk to join the Allied Forces in Bahrain, in a bid to oust Saddam Hussein and the Iraqis after they infiltrated Kuwait.

We know the ending, so I wont dwell on it, but away from the actual conflict, I can only say that the birdwatching in Bahrain was incredible.

And whilst I was serving out there for 4 months, I met two very distinguished birders, Erik Hirschfeld and Dr. W.RP. (Bill) Bourne.

Erik is still is a very accomplished ornithologist and was one of the authors of the excellent book "The World's Rarest Birds" found Here.

Bill was one of the editors of the Royal Naval Bird Watching Society's Annual Report known as Sea-Swallow and in fact during the Gulf War he wrote an excellent article called "The Seabirds of Arabia" It can be found Here (Page 4) and also pays tribute to Erik who took him around Bahrain.

Reminiscing over, so what did I see today after yesterdays Red Letter day. A bit of a reality check, with just a handful of Chiffchaffs and a fly-by Swallow. Well you can't have it all the time.

Here are a few images from today:

One of the few Chiffchaffs about today. This one and 4 others were along Broadcroft Quarry Lane.

Still quite breezy, but not a problem for a Kestrel.

Here are a few shots of it as it searched out meal over Bumpers Lane.

Its amazing how it keeps itself so still.

Here is proof of that. The images above I used 1/500th second to freeze the wings beating. This one was 1/250th second and you can see there is movement in the wingtips.

The same bit of scrap metal I found a few days ago along Bumpers Lane, but this time I was prepared for the two juvenile Common Lizards. Funnily enough there was also a Slow-worm again but a much much smaller one.

And an Ivy Bee. I guess it won't be long before they disappear for this year.

And he's off. So much energy. Goodness knows what he's found, but there's no stopping him.

Mammals Recorded: Grey Squirrel

Birds Recorded: Buzzard, Kestrel, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, 1 Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, 4 Goldcrest, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet, Siskin, Goldfinch and Greenfinch

Reptiles Recorded: 2 Common Lizards and a Slow-worm

Butterflies Recorded: 1 Large White, 1 Speckled Wood and Red Admiral

Bees Recorded: Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) and White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)

Hoverflies Recorded: Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

Ships Today

This is the Passenger Ship "Jewel of the Seas" flying the flag of the Bahamas. It is on its way from Southampton to an unknown destination. More on this vessel Here.

This is the Container Ship "One Olympus", flying the flag of Singapore. It is on its way from Le Havre to the Suez Canal. More on this vessel Here.

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On this day
2019
Today's Sightings Here

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

2017
Today' Sightings Here.