This sanderling was present on Titchwell RSPB beach on 15th May 2009 and, remarkably, just 4 days later was seen again in Iceland.
The very same sanderling has been seen again in the last few days at Titchwell. The bird will probably spend a few days on our Norfolk beaches resting and feeding up prior to continuing it’s journey south to Africa.
Image and information courtesy of Chris kelly
I don't know about anyone else but I remember early this year the Met office said we were going to have a BBQ summer, then it rained lots in June and July and they retracted the statement. Well I think they should have held out a bit longer because the weather at Titchwell for the Coastal Change project has been incredible. We just couldn't have been luckier. Since the contractors arrived on site we have had the occasional short downpour but not a proper days rain since they started. Phew! Remembering last autumn when it rained every day fills me with horror as if we had been working then we would have been way behind schedule as it all has to stop during the rain as the ground conditions deteriorate so much. This weekends tides were a good reminder of why we are undertaking the project. Really big spring tides where all the surrounding saltmashes were underwater and the reserve became a penisular for a few hours. I'll stick some pictures up. Keep your fingers crossed the good weather carries for us for a little bit longer!
Well the bacon rolls are legendary but didn't expect them to attract a rare moth. This morning Paul Eele the warden came into work and noticed a large moth on the window to our servery. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a Clifden nonpareil. Nonpareil roughly translated means exceptional, no parallel and it certainly was exceptional.
The moth is usually seen in September and most records in the UK are presumed to be migrants. Yes this little moth flew all the way from continental europe. Well it's not that small it has a wing span of about 10cm and looked like a small bird as it flew off.
This is only the sixteenth record for Norfolk and has probably been blown over with the north easterly winds from Scandinavia.
If you are interested in this and would like to learn more about moths why not visit our homes for wildlife pages where you can get advice on how to make your garden patch more inviting for creatures like this.
A few hardy souls have spent much of the day being blasted by sand and have been rewarded by a decent passage of seabirds. As well as the regular gulls and gannets, highlights from today have included over 50 Manx shearwaters, 4 Balearic shearwaters, 3 Sabines gulls, 5 great skuas and a single sooty shearwater.
Paul
Unfortunately it is true!!
The first of the winter migrants have been reported over the reserve today. 12 wigeon arrived on the fresh marsh during the morning and the first party of pink footed geese were seen flying east this afternoon.
Snipe numbers are starting to build up with two feeding in the open from the Fen Hide this morning. A kingfisher has been seen around the reserve in recent days too. Kingfishers normally move towards the coast in winter as the waterbodies they rely on don't tend to freeze over. The best places to check are the Fen Hide pool and the edges of the saltmarsh creeks.
A juvenile hen harrier has been seen in hunting the saltmarsh so hopefully we may get a few roosting this winter.
With the winds now from the East, get out this weekend to look for some eastern oddities - the bushes on the Meadow Trail are a good place to start!