Saturday
Last weekend, a walk around the Mill, down the river to Mayton Bridge and then back along the roadside turned up some of my best patch birds ever!
Firstly, Horstead Mill sadly turned up no birds of note although I'm sure if I had the time to sit down, I would have seen something of note (lots of exam revision to do later in the day meant time was limited). Ambling down the riverside provided much more of interest with a pair of Egyptian Geese with 2 young, one red damselfly species (probably Large Red) and loads of Banded Demoiselle, a Scorpion Fly, two mean looking Pellucid Hoverflies, a Harlequin Ladybird larva, 3 species of butterfly, a Moorhen 10+ Reed Warbler (!) and a Sedge Warbler.
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| Egyptian Geese + Goslings |
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| Scorpion Fly |
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| Banded Demoiselle |
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| Pellucid Hoverfly |
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| Meadow Brown |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Red Admiral |
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| Reed Warbler |
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| Harlequin Ladybird larva |
But that was not all, as I got quite near to Mayton Bridge, I noticed a baby bird on the Horstead side of the river. After watching it for a short while, it's parents appeared, a pair of Garden Warbler. This was not only the first proof of Garden Warbler breeding in Horstead, but also it was a Horstead and a patch lifer for me! Whilst watching these (although unsuccessful trying to photograph the adult birds), my main target of the day (after I was shown a video which accidentally recorded a Cetti's in Horstead in the background) burst into song - a Cetti's Warbler and it was on the Horstead side of the river! My second Horstead lifer of the day. This was then swiftly followed by a large Dragonfly sp. zooming past, a Reed Bunting, a family party of Whitethroat, a beautiful unidentified moth with two large patches of bright pink (sadly no photos though) and an unidentified moth sp. (photo attached). Could the latter moth be a Brown Silver-line?
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| Baby Garden Warbler |
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| Moth sp. (Brown Silver-line?) |
All that in a day on the patch, what more could I want! Being greedy though, I continued to hopefully find my next target species. Driving from Horstead to Aylsham recently, I had always noticed a large number of Martin sp. over quarry adjacent to the road which is just about in Horstead. Given the location, I had high hopes these could be Sand Martins breeding within the quarry. As it turns out, I was right, although it is not possible to look into the quarry from public rights of way. My third Horstead and my second patch lifer of the day! I may try and gain access in the future to at least locate and count the pairs of Sand Martins breeding (it must be 30+ pairs judging by the numbers overhead) but given the fact it's a working quarry (as far as I know), my chances are probably quite slim. On the final stretch of road back home, I heard an Oystercatcher and saw a pair of Red-legged Partridge and a Sparrowhawk. Not bad at all for a 3 or 4 hour walk around Horstead! I think the phrase some would use is "if Carlsberg did patch birding".
Whilst sitting out in the garden in the evening, I saw a family of Grey Wagtail inc. 1 juvenile, a Small Purple & Gold (a moth), a Painted Lady and a few common garden birds (mostly pointed out by our 'expert' visitor).
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