Penny's Hot Birding and Life!

Penny Clarke

TONS OF MIGRANTS AT HOLME AND MY CROWD SHOTS AT THE FLYCATCHER TWITCH ON BLAKENEY POINT, IN THE MIRROR AND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH!!!

Yellow browed Warbler at Holme Bird Observatory (NOA) at 9.15am.

On route to Holme I decided to drive via Ringstead and just before the Ringstead Mill I almost stopped the car in disbelief at the skies - thousands upon thousands of wood pigeons filled the whole sky - everywhere I looked - never seen anything like this before!!!!!!!!!!

Arrived at Holme just before 8am and driving down the Firs Road to the reserves, birds were flitting about all over the place!

Parked the car and excitedly grabbed bins and camera - soooo frustrating to know that I had to leave at 10.15am to be at work for 11.30am. Walked round the back of the Firs and spent ages amongst the pines were the Arctic Warbler was - the place was alive with birds, song thrushes, robins, bramblings, goldcrests and tons of overhead passerines. Two Spotted Flycatchers in one tree!!!!!! Extremely annoyingly I stumbled, walking down a slope on a wet tree root - hurt my hand which didn't care about at all, when I could see my camera wedged lens down into the bl**dy sand!!! Fortunately the sand had not sneaked quite up to the filter lens on the inside of the hood so managed to brush most off with a tissue until proper clean up later. Walked round to the observatory where I watched and photographed a Yellow Browed Warbler, Firecrest, Blackcap and Garden Warbler being rung!!! Also Sophie caught a reed warbler which later appeared in the sycamore tree opposite the obs. and caused a massive panic when I first saw it sitting on a branch - I quite simply had no idea what it was - it just sat there in the tree almost motionless and I just didn't see as a reed warbler at all - I shouted to Jed 'Come back quick' as he was going off down to check the nets and no one around me could ID it. Sophie came back from a net round by which time it had flitted out of view and she looked at my pictures on camera and said 'Reed Warbler'!!!!!!! I suppose it was because of it sitting in that tree - not where you normally see a reed warbler sitting! Saw an interested small raptor from the obs. in the mid distance being mobbed by swallows but it disappeared not to be seen again.

Yellow browed Warbler at Holme Bird Observatory (NOA) at 9.15am.

Firecrest at Holme Bird Observatory (NOA) at 9.15am.

Female Blackcap, Holme Bird Observatory (NOA).

Garden Warbler, Holme Bird Observatory (NOA).

Moorhen in The Dell Hide, Holme Bird Observatory (NOA).

Reed Warbler sitting in the Sycamore opposite the Observatory (NOA).

The Reed Warbler incident now mean't I was cutting it fine to get back to King's Lynn. It was pure torture having to leave with all these birds about and in some ways I wish I had never left my house! Driving back along the Firs Road resulted in even more bird movement than earlier - it was desperately frustrating that I had to leave. My dodgy car played up massively on the way back and took forever to get to King's Lynn which resulted in me being late for work, but I made the time up later and finished at 8pm tonight. My local garage came and picked the car up from work and then I had to walk all the way home. So no car tomorrow either, so please no one torture me with finding a mega that I can't go and twitch tomorrow after work! (please note, John F. or James M or MG et al!!!)

On route back to Lynn Jo Riley from the media company (who supply the tabloids with photos), who phoned me yesterday about using my 'crowd/twitcher' shots of the Flycatcher in some of the national newspapers, phoned me back to tell me my pictures were in The Daily Telegraph and The Mirror and I would be paid in approx 6 weeks time!!!!!! This has put me on such a high - pity the bird shots were not mine - I am pretty sure they are Julian Balereo's pictures. What makes me really laugh is - I have all this expensive camera gear and lens's and my first ever published picture is of birders taken on my bl**dy Apple iphone!!!!!!!! Can't believe it - and its not even a good photo really - if I had known that record shot which I didn't really think too much about when I snapped it quickly, was going in National Newspapers 2 days later I would have taken a bit more care in taking the picture! Another newspaper has also asked for my pictures today - I'm on a roll now - please Santa can I have a big fat lens for christmas - oh and a man to carry it round for me! Several of you are in my published pictures by the way, I can see David Norgate, Andy Wilkinson, Justin Lansdell etc etc.

Anyway back to reality - got to work for 12pm and I just didn't want to be there - I was on Cloud Nine with all this picture in paper stuff and was just desperate to be back out in the field!

LINKS BELOW TO MY PICTURES IN THE MIRROR AND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH AND also on: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/09/rare-american-bird-gets-lost-winds-up-in-england.php