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Summer just wouldn't be summer at the Limosa office without the sound of Quail calling...

2010

Sat 5 Jun:  Another cracking start to the day, and our Quail is calling again. Quite close this morning, in the wheat field, but impossible to see of course! Blackcap, Whitethroat (2 singing), Skylark (upwards of 5 singing), Red-legged Partidge, Collared Dove and Chaffinch among other species in song, with Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits active in the garden, along with our resident pair of Bullfinches. Cuckoo calling, then seen flying NW over garden (08.15)

Thu 3 Jun:  What a fabulous sunrise, the quality of light first thing having a distinctly 'Spanish' feel. A solitary Great Spottted Woodpecker bounded over from the railway, and plenty of 'chuffing' from the resident Red-legged Partridges but not a peep from the Quail/s. Yellowhammer, Skylark, Blackcap and Whitethroat singing, and a distant Egyptian Goose heard braying from the rectory

Wed 2 Jun:  Chiffchaff and Blackcap are presumably 'between broods' and have started singing again. A Cuckoo calling from the direction of the old rectory this afternoon, and Little Owl seen again, flying up from the road.

Tue 1 Jun:  A grey, dank and misty start. The Chiffchaffs nesting in the garden have fledged young out of the nest this morning. But our baby Blue Tits (2 pairs) are still in their boxes! Fine views of the local Little Owl on our way out of the village at 08.00am. Red Fox by the pond this afternoon, 3.00pm. After a relatively quiet spell, the Yellowhammers seem to be tuning up again. 'Our' visiting Reed Warbler still about, singing softly outside the office at dusk.

Sat 29 May:  Overcast and decidedly cool start to the day (0530-0600am), with total cover of high grey could. Rain forecast for later this morning. No doubt about it, our Quail IS back, with at least one bird calling periodically first thing this morning. Difficult to pinpoint against the constant throb of farm machinery and chorus of Skylarks, but probably in barley adjacent the old airstrip. I think this is the earliest record here (by about 1-2 weeks) since we first became aware of Quail in the village in the early 1990s. A Barn Owl on patrol, too and others on my early morning walk included Swallow, Whitethroat, Bullfinch and Goldfinch. Two pairs of Blue Tits still with young in their nest box, must be about ready to fledge now. One pair seem to make twice as many visits with food as the other pair.

Fri 28 May:  Warm and sunny all day. Return of the Reed Warbler - presumably the same bird as present here on Monday, singing from dense blackthorn and bramble just outside the office around midday. Almost certain I heard a brief bout of calling from a Quail this afternoon?...

Mon 24 May:  Another superb day here in north Norfolk, hot and sunny right from the word go. Still a few migrants on the move, with fine views of a singing Reed Warbler in hawthorns beside the garden this morning (0830).

Sun 23 May:  Priase be! a Cuckoo calling (albeit for just a few seconds), this afternoon, someway across the fields towards Northrepps Hall. The first this year, sadly a sign of the times. Wonderful views of a Barn Owl hunting the lane first thing this morning, and two pairs of Linnets feasting on the flush of Dandelion heads on the 'old airstrip'. 

Sat 15 May:  A beautiful morning (07.00am), with 3 male Chaffinches singing against one another, and a Lesser Whitethroat singing beside the footpath. In the field by the railway, a Brown Hare was resting quietly, with a single Carrion Crow feeding quietly 50m or so away from the hare. I looked away to watch two male Yellowhammers sparring, a Common Whitethroat and a female Northern  Wheatear flycatching along the hedgeline.

When I looked back at the field, a female Marsh Harrier (with a tell-tale single white feather in the left wing) had appeared 'from nowhere', drawn towards the feeding crow. The crow promptly took flight to see the harrier off - and to my astonishment the hare sprang into action, suddenly running full tilt after the harrier and the crow, periodically raising and flashing its black and white tipped ears to their full extent as if to scare the birds. As the hare focused its attention on the flying crow, the harrier turned smartly and plucked the crow's meal (remains of a dead rabbit?) from the field. It had just started to fly off with its prize, when a second crow appeared nearby, this one in hot pursuit of a strikingly pale-throated Common Buzzard!

By now, the hare was going absolutely crazy, running this way and that, ears raised and lowered periodically in alarm, first chasing the crow, then the buzzard, then the harrier. The harrier wheeled round and set off across the field, hotly pursued by the fleet footed hare. Eventually, the harrier landed a little way ahead of the hare, and settled to feed. Unfortunately for it, a single crow arrived on the scene and set about the harrier once again - but it was promptly chased off by the hare!

Incredibly, a second Buzzard then appeared over the field, flying low and directly at the harrier and plonking down heavily beside it, forcing the harrier to fly off,  dropping its meal. Before the Buzzard could sieze the prize, however, the first Buzzard reappeared on the scene along with two crows, the latter promptly harrying both buzzards and driving them away across the field and over the railway track.

Perceiving the excitement to be over, the hare loped back to its original spot in the centre of the field and settled down for a wash and brush up. Meantime, the harrier coasted back over the area it had dropped the food item and proceeded to patrol back and forth, presumably trying to re-locate the dropped prey item amongst the growing wheat. When I left some 20 minutes later, the hare was still sitting quietly in the middle of the field, with the harrier resting at a 'safe distance', a couple of hundred yards away towards the top left corner of the field. Phew!

Wed 5 May: Garden Warbler fresh in this morning, singing strongly beside the footpath - and giving great views just short of the top of a big hawthorn. Its babbling brook song a real delight. Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats also very vocal, but our Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs are quiet today. Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming in the copse to the north of the office, and a male Bullfinch in the weedy border.

Tue 4 May: Barn Owl makes another splendid fly past first thing this morning (05.00am), right by the kitchen window! Common and Lesser Whitethroats very vocal and, having given up on their first attempt, the Moorhens have started a fresh nest. Migrant Whimbrel calling high overhead (09.00am), the first here this spring. A solitary male Wheatear in the adjacent field.

Thu 29 April: A Barn Owl over the pond at 08.00am. Snatches of warbler song here this morning included Whitethroat (late, but the first at the office this spring) and Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler (presumably passing through?), Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

Tue 27 April: what a glorious day, though all quiet on the migrant front. Lesser Whitethroat, Chiffchaff (a pair at either end of the lane), and Blackcap all singing around the garden, and a pair of Swallows over the railway track. Two Brown Hares in the field, and several pairs of Skylarks - but Sunday's Wheatears have all moved on.

Sun 25 April: After some rain this morning, a definite 'migrant feel' this afternoon - producing a new record total of 18 Northern Wheatears in the field to the west of the office (where there were none on Fri/Sat). The Moorhens on the office pond have 2 eggs, whilst the pair at the end of the lane have at least a single tiny chick. Swallows are back at Crossdale Street, but not made it to the house yet.

Thu 22 April:  A beautiful day, sunny with light easterly. Migrants are on the move today, with a single Willow Warbler in the garden, and a 'fall' of 10 Northern Wheatears in the field to the west of the office. A female Green Woodpecker hoovering up ants on the sunny lawn this morning, the first we've seen here for some months. Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming loudly (again) from the copse across the fields. Our 'office' Moorhens appear to be starting a fresh nest on the pond this week; a Chiffchaff singing and a female Blackcap feeding in the apple tree this morning.

Tue 20 April: Some 'flights' are clearly unaffected by the volcanic cloud - Greylag Geese calling overhead first thing this morning, and a fine male Common Redstart touched down right outside the office window this afternoon. What a tail-quivering little beauty!

Sun 18 April: A working weekend due to the ongoing flight disruption. Can hear Blackcap and Chiffchaff outside, and a brief snatch of Willow Warbler song. A single Lesser Whitethroat appeared outside the window at 12.50pm, like the WW, the first record here this spring.

Sat 17 April: Bright, sunny but chilly here today, Chiffchaff and Blackcap giving intermittent song. A Common Buzzard overhead late PM.

Fri 16 April: Guide Gary Elton calls in at the office and spots a Common Snipe preening beside the pond outside the window. 

Thu 15 April: At last, a Chiffchaff is singing in the garden. And a Blackcap, too. Our resident Moorhens are building a nest.

Wed 14 April: A cracking male Ring Ouzel beside the pond this evening. A real stunner! Meantime, "Great Garbo" now has a brace of female Pheasants in tow.

Sun 11 April: Where have all the migrants gone? A solitary Chiffchaff feeding in the birches, our first sighting here this spring - two weeks later than normal and not a hint of any song yet. Tap, tap, tap on the window... our resident cock Pheasant ("bxxxxy Greta Garbo") makes yet another visit to admire his reflection in the back door window. His appearances are becoming regular and quite comical.

Sat 10 April: A singing male Blackcap provides a welcome sign of spring in the office garden.

Fri 9 April: Female Ring Ouzel beside the pond this morning, our first this spring - and almost the first summer migrant too, preceded only by a single singing male Blackcap last week.

Thu 1 April: Singing male Blackcap brightens up a chilly spring morning and gets the month off to a good start.