Saturday 4 January 2014

All I Have to Do Is Dream - THe Evely Brothers

There were only ever TWO options as far as The Everly Brothers were concerned
you either LOVED them, or you LOVED them!
Rest Peacefully PHIL - a GREAT Legacy
Because every day has something 'fantastic' about it today will go down as FANTASTICALLY FRUSTRATING and UNDERWHELMING! The frustration came once again from the weather and I have to admit to a moment of poor navigation. The heavy rain was continuous all night long (at least each time I woke it was still hammering down) along with a gale force wind that seemed to have an advantage as the dawn broke. Having viewed the weather chart, by the time breakfast was over the decision had been made simply to knock the 'birding' on the head - a bold statement for me as I rarely quit. By 09:30 the wind seemed to have carried the black clouds to the north east and the precipitation was easing - on with the leggings! First stop was becoming ever more familiar as for the 10th and FINAL time I 'dipped' the Parrot Crossbills and made a spurious entry in the Sat Nav! Birmingham 5 miles? Well not quite but I was a bit off course with a minor adjustment getting me to
HORSEY MILL
 where it can be seen the weather was closing in once again.
A few stops in a series of field gateways soon had the target species in
the telescope, but again at great distance, c3
COMMON CRANE
in flight only.
The Haddiscoe Marshes, some miles south and east of the county town Norwich, and about 45 minutes from Horsey was the next stop which were found without delay, but where the hell is the
not even the locals seemed to know having visited 2 pubs to find out.
Eventually, a 'birder' in a lay-by with 'fingertip info' and just a mile away.
Further reassurance was gained when having parked and walked a
mile and a half
this lot appeared out of the moderate rain and gloom!
 ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD
at 'point blank' range, so this Wiki image shows, the one we saw
was firkin' miles away but went into the log nevertheless.
Sat Nav readjusted again and set correctly (another Year Tick) and
it was off to
a traditional site for a number of species of Geese. The rain started the 
very second I stepped from the car, but a five minute walk over the
Rail Crossing there was a decent lee behind a dense Hawthorn Bush.
The first Goose to be sighted was an addition to the Year List
 CANADA GOOSE
 and next the target of my desire c9 (Wiki photo)
(Taiga) BEAN GEESE
There was then a lull as a good number of Pink-footed Geese were
seen along with a single White-fronted Goose, before the next addition
BARNACLE GOOSE
More than that, all that is on offer are a few more images, from the archive, of species that have been seen during this trip.
 YELLOWHAMMER
 COLLARED DOVE
 WREN
 COMMON GULL
 RINGED PLOVER
 MEADOW PIPIT
 PIED WAGTAIL
 CURLEW
 LONG-TAILED TIT
 OYSTERCATCHER
 DUNNOCK
 RUFF
 LITTLE EGRET
 FIELDFARE
MOORHEN
I start wending my way South and West tomorrow with no purposeful destination other than more birds, if they come, and just one other stop off. I'm hoping to publish a Post tomorrow but if not at least you know I'm in transit!
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