February comes to a close....

A quick round up of last weeks sightings while at work were:   82x Waxwings (on monday afternoon at Hellesdon), 2x Greater Spotted Woodpeckers & 1x Green Woodpecker, ,2x Nuthatches & 9x Coal Tits,  11x Long Tailed Tits (up at Drayton on Wednesday),  and finally 26x Waxwings (Feeding on Berries at Wensum Park on Friday) .

  I decided to pop out to Marlingford for the Great White Egret on Sunday. I decided not go Saturday as the weather was shocking and visibility poor so was pleased to see i was rewarded ,when Sunday afternoon arrived & it was blue sky and calm! Before i got to Marlingford  i pulled over in Bawburgh (village before) to enjoy 2x Kestrels  hovering either side of the road. I love studying these small compact Falcons as the head stays still,focused on its prey and the tail and wings doing all it can to keep it over its prey. Super bird and was nice to have male & female. Back in the van i headed through Bawburgh to Marlingford and spotted 2x Common Buzzards  soaring high over the Woods near the River. I parked up to double check em. As i watched ,one of them started to make its way down and eventually landed & perched upon a tall open tree. Cracking view and couldn't resist trying to take a picture too!

 After a few minutes i moved on in search of the Egret. I followed the River down, catching 2x Egyptian Geese feeding on the fields and then a Little Egret , followed by a low flying Grey Heron and then ..... a Great White Egret! A first for me and with the sun glaring down on it,  and the Little Egret not far beside it i was able to compare the size too. A tall and elegant white Heron is the best description.

 I watched it make its way through the boggy, flooded field , along the Rivers edge and watched as it suddenly took off .It started to get up quite high and then quickly dropped down towards the back just out of sight. As i turned to pack up i was joined by a couple more birders who had seen me set up and pulled in too . As i pointed out the direction it flew in ,it flew back towards our direction & landed in the field in front of us- giving me even better views then before!

I spent in all around an hour in the area but got some good birds & best of all it was only 12 minutes from my doorstep-  Plus i managed to get back in time to witness the Mighty Hammers spank Liverpool 3v1.... it really was a good day all round!! !