Late spring madness

Phew! What a week - 1 British and 2 Norfolk tick in 5 days.
It started on 29 May with a post-work dash up to West Runton for a female Black-headed Bunting. I'd not checked my pager on the Wednesday evening and failed to notice that the bird had been found, so an anxious wait revealed that the bird was still there the next day, so I packed my bins and headed up for the bird after work. It showed quite well after short wait, in the hedgerow north of the old pig farm.

Female Black-headed Bunting, West Runton, Norfolk

Next, my British tick - Short-toed Eagle. What a mega! Found on the Saturday it roosted in a tree at Morden Bog NNR, Dorset, so I met up with Mark Golley, Steve Beal and Ian Prentice  at Barton Mills at 1am and sunrise (5 a.m.) found us watching the eagle in the same tree it had roosted in the night before. We watched the bird for a good five hours until it finally decided it was hungry and got up in the air and treated all the twitchers present to a good 5 minutes of flight views.

2-cy Short-toed Eagle, Morden Bog NNR, Dorset

2-cy Short-toed Eagle, Morden Bog NNR, Dorset

2-cy Short-toed Eagle, Morden Bog NNR, Dorset

2-cy Short-toed Eagle, Morden Bog NNR, Dorset

 

There were a few other birds in the area, including this lovely Dartford Warbler.

Dartford Warbler, Morden Bog NNR, Dorset

2-cy Short-toed Eagle, Morden Bog NNR, Dorset

Green-hairstreak, Morden Bog NNR, Dorset

On the way back home we stopped at Martin Down, a area of lovely chalk downland and scrub habitats. Steve wanted to look for Burnt-tip Orchid and a few other things and I managed to see about five new butterflies.

Grizzled Skipper, Martin Down, Dorset

Grizzled Skipper, Martin Down, Dorset

Burnt-tip Orchid, Martin Down, Dorset

Brimstone Butterfly on Common Spotted Orchid, Martin Down, Dorset

Marsh Fritilary, Martin Down, Dorset

Adonis Blue, Martin Down, Dorset

Brown Argus, Martin Down, Dorset

Brown Argus, Martin Down, Dorset

Common Blue, Martin Down, Dorset

Finally, my other Norfolk tick - Spectacled Warbler! This bird turned up on 2 Jun and was only the second record and first twitchable for Norfolk. Again, a post-work twitch. The bird was in the scrub near Gun Hill in Burnham Overy Dunes. It was a singing male which spent quite a lot of time hidden in the scrub, but it occasionally sang (usually hidden) and then showed quite well in brief spurts.

Spectacled Warbler, Gun Hill, Burnham Overy Dunes, Norfolk