You don’t have to take my word for it – look at the birds.
The Black-headed Gulls are regaining their black heads.
Black-headed Gull, Stoke on Trent
Black-headed Gull, Stoke on Trent
Black-headed Gull, Stoke on Trent
The idiots are also out in force. This prime example spotted the perfect spot to stand and ruin my shot. Then he moved a few feet away before coming back for another go.
Idiotus Domesticus
Robins were singing in the dogwood hedges (Cynical note to self – Robins are always good for attracting likes).
Robin and dogwood
And the ducks are looking in fine fettle for breeding.
Finely fettled ducks
And finally – it’s clear what is on this pigeon’s mind, even if the object of his desire isn’t interested.
We went to see the Bee-eaters at East Leake Quarry today. I had been planning a visit to Bempton to see the Puffins but Julia persuaded me that we really should visit the rarities. My experience with rare birds is that they have normally gone by the time I get there, or if they are still there I wouldn’t recognise it if it pecked me on the bottom.
The viewing area with Bee-eater tree in background
An unusual sign
Bee-eaters at East Leake
Take Richard’s Pipit as an example. They turn up regularly and excite twitchers. To me they’re just a brown bird, as are most of the other pipits.
The postcode is LE12 6RG if you want to pop along. Parking is £5, split between farmer and RSPB. The car park is 385 yards from the viewing area, according to the volunteers at the car park. These things are important when you have a bad knee.
The meadows on the way to the viewing area were full of butterflies, including Ringlet (hundreds of them!), Meadow Brown, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and Large Skipper. There were some Whites too – but at a distance they all look the same to me. I need to get my eye in again. I didn’t manage many photos as they kept fluttering about instead of settling.
Two Large Skippers at East Leake
Comma at East Leake
Large Skipper at East Leake
Eventually we arrived at the viewing point. The birds proved to be very obliging, using a selection of dead branches to perch on when eating bees. Julia managed to watch one eating a dragonfly., which I missed because I was watching one posing in the sunlight.
They are bright and exotic birds, but in truth just a little bit garish, like a bird designed for a Primary School project. Still good to see though.
We only saw three against the maximum of seven that have been seen, but with any luck the others are off nesting. There are records of successful breeding in the UK, as detailed in the links at the beginning of the post, so there is no reason why they shouldn’t be breeding. They like to burrow into sandbanks and this is a sand quarry with an active population of Sand Martins, who also burrow into the banks.
Meadow flowers at East Leake
Poppies at East Leake
Sorry the photos aren’t very good, but the birds were a long way off. It wasn’t just me having problems – the people with the big expensive lenses were having problems too. When the day heats up, things start to get hazy, and this spoils the photo quality. I don’t feel as bad about my photos now…
