February 26
WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Bob and I have visited West Rise Marsh a few times this month to look for Jack Snipe, but sadly without much success. We did see one, we think, on one visit, but it flew off before we set eyes on it. It's much the same with the Common Snipe, which as their name suggests, we see more of, but they're super skittish and fly off well before we're even close to where they're hiding, around the boggy wet marshes.
With so many wet, windy and dull days, plus the fact I still have to go to work, I was starting to wonder if my February Highlights would be virtually non existent, so I was content with photographing and observing a Heron, standing in the water. They can stand motionless for ages, and move very slowly, stealth-like through the water to new areas. Unfortunately, I was just moving into a new position, when it actually caught a fish. I missed capturing that moment when its head quickly and unexpectedly darted downwards and snatched its prey from the water. But, you can see the Heron in mid-gulp (first photo).
With the weather improving later in the day, we decided upon another visit to Eastbourne Pier just before sundown. I was blown away by the sheer volume of Starlings murmurating either side of the pier. It was just a shame they were staying fairly low in the sky and not bunching up close together, turning and changing direction rapidly, like we've sometimes seen.
As a result, I tried a different approach, and slowed down the shutter speed on my camera to try and create an image that really gives you a sense of the speed of their movement, as well as their volume. Numbers are usually much higher by February and March, so it's still a good time to watch this amazing spectacle.
There were limited opportunities to get out for a walk this month, and my camera had a bit of a rest. On the days we did manage to get out, I ended up taking my camera for a long walk, as it was even switched on. My Wildlife Highlights might have ended here, but thankfully, we had some wonderful garden visitors towards the end of the month - Long Tailed Tits. I love these birds. Bob, having bought some new bird feeders, put out some fat balls in one of the cages and it was only a matter of about 3 days before the Long Tailed Tits found them and have become fairly frequent visitors, much to our joy. I took some photos from indoors as it was raining - hence the poor light - but they were fun to watch for a little while. In the second photo, one of them stretched out their leg behind and then raised it over to its head and had a scratch.
One of the main problems for them, is that we seem to have a very feisty little Blue Tit, who is defending the bird feeders and chasing off the Long Tailed Tits. However, the Blue Tit went to roost before them, so they came in for a feed during the last of the daylight and made the most of it. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them. I've heard about how you can have a row of Long Tailed Tits all nestled in tight together on one branch. I think this is when the fledglings have left the nest but not off on their own yet. I would love to see that someday!
Right at the end of the month, Bob and I went away to Norfolk for a week's break to celebrate my birthday. We love visiting RSPB Minsmere whenever we have the opportunity, so we stopped there on our journey north and had a fabulous day. We saw plenty of little Muntjac Deer roaming the woodland, and this one was fairly close to the path, busy munching away at the ground. I'll post more about our day at Minsmere in another blog soon (with a link here).
On the last day of the month, I really enjoyed a trip to Horsey Beach in Norfolk. There were lots of Grey Seals hauled out on the beach as it's the moulting season. Each Seal has its own unique pattern on its fur, and even after it's moulted the same pattern remains on the next layer.
There will be plenty more to follow in a separate blog about this trip. This is just a little taster - a seal scratching its face.
