Tidal Surge, North Norfolk Coast, 6 December

This was to have been my first trip to Snettisham to see the behaviour of waders when there was a high tide at dawn.   However, because of the anticipated tidal surge, Snettisham was going to be closed until 09.00 on the Saturday.   Instead Ann and I went along the North Norfolk coast to those villages and towns which retained access to the sea.

The first was to Morston Quay where a number of folk had come down to the coast to see if their boat was in the same place - many weren't!

We then went to Sheringham and Cromer and the surge had clearly caused considerable damage to some properties.

Paxton Pits

A visit yesterday revealed just how little there could be to photograph!   Hardly anything was about, but there was a sighting from the Kingfisher Hide of a Grass Snake swimming - at a distance.   I was amazed at how long it was.   The middle photograph isn't all snake I'm sure, but it shows just how strong the snake wake can be.

The only other thing captured was what I think is a Large White butterfly.

Fledging Swift(s)

I had the welcomed invitation to try and photograph a/couple of fledgling Swifts.   There certainly had been two chicks but I only ever saw one fledgling.   Initially some primary feathers appeared, and they looked well developed and strong enough to support flight, suggesting to me that the fledgling was soon to leave.  What an attractive head the fledgling has!   What a potentially lucky escape the wasp had - unless it isn't an insect a Swift would relish.

The demands made on a parent Great Tit

Yesterday I felt very sorry for this dishevelled looking parent bird responding to the demands of a dapper looking youngster.    Exhaustion was the word which came to mind!   The parent bird continued to find morsels for the young bird without eating food itself while I was watching.  It was a relentless performance!

This morning a beautiful female Pied Flycatcher visited the garden, but by the time I'd assembled a camera, she had gone.

Banded Demoiselle at Grantchester

It was very hot and sunny at Grantchester this morning, but the weather brought out the demoiselles in plenty.    Damselflies and dragonflies are never easy to photograph, especially in flight, but it did prove easier to capture the Banded Demoiselle than the Brown Darter which eluded me!   Would a different lens from the 100-400mm have made life easier?!

Spotting the male Banded Demoiselle against the dark green water was easier than the female so it was a pleasant surprise when some of the photographs included the female too.

Sedge Warblers at Wicken Fen

Despite the wind, it was good to photograph some Sedge Warblers in the reeds.    Busy backgrounds to the images, but then that is their habitat.   The last image reminded me of a Pole Vaulter coming down the runway carrying its pole before take off!

Birds at Impington Lake

These images of an adult Great Crested Grebe feeding its young show what a challenging task it is catch and despatch a Signal Crayfish!   I don't know what happened to the crayfish, but during its demise, there were bits of flesh coming off it which were devoured by the fledged grebes.

It was fun to watch a Green Finch feeding off the blossom of either Hawthorn or May.

A couple of days I had seen a large flock of Long Tailed Tits.   Adults were feeding young, but when I was there with a camera there were few to be seen.   A moral there!

Wrens at Wicken Fen

Having recently bought a telephoto lens, I'm having great fun trying it out and I hope to become friends with it before too long.   I don't know how many images I took on two visits to Wicken Fen to get something presentable!    I'm not sure either which of these images best captures a Wren.

Clayhithe

Having not used the beginning of the year as an incentive to submit to this blog on a regular basis, nor my clocking up another year, I'll endeavour to use the start of the new Camera Club year as the prompt to get going yet again!

Why would four cruisers of the same colour and with the same coloured fenders moor one behind the other?!

The Great Crested Grebes didn't appear to have a nest or young but did look as though they might start a courtship dance.   They certainly seemed interested in one another.   The Chaffinch didn't seem to have found a comfortable perch, and the Sedge Warbler persisted in singing from behind a twig.   I shall include images shortly which deploy my new lens.

Wicken Fen at Dawn

I had hoped to have seen both a sunrise and that Kingfisher, but it wasn't to be.   Instead there were several Muntjac and squirrels.   Only a Moorhen made use of the perfect perch for a Kingfisher.

It wasn't a red squirrel!

What a perfect perch for a Kingfisher this would have made!