Wednesday walk 18th June

Two Spoonbill were the highlight of our walk yesterday evening, which put on a good show with one bird feeding down in the creeks and then two birds flying at the end of our walk towards Brancaster.
Other highlights included Little Egret, scope filling views of singing Reed Warbler and female Reed Bunting.
As ever Redshank were calling continuously, as were Oystercatcher.
Good views of Skylark singing were also had and a distant Common Buzzard was also seen.
Other birds such as Shelduck, Gadwall, Curlew and large flocks of Starling were also present.

Still singing

The male Spectacled Warbler is still singing and nest building at Burnham Overy Dunes - photographed this morning 11 June 2014).

A Spectacle to behold

The North Norfolk coast has been graced with an influx of migrant birds over the last 10 days or so, including some national rarities.
Starting off with a Slender-Billed Gull at Titchwell at the end of May the coast then turned up 2 Black-Headed Buntings, at West Runton and Cromer. However the start of June threw up a bird which has only occurred in Norfolk once before, and only only 7 times previously across the whole of the British isles.

That bird is a Spectacled Warbler, a member of the Sylvia group of warblers. Just 13cm in length this tiny bird usually spends its summer in southern Iberia, southern France, Italy and across into Cyprus and Israel. However on this occasion this adult male Spectacled Warbler over shot its usual breeding grounds and ended up on the Norfolk coast at Burnham Overy dunes, near Gun Hill.

The British isles do have members of the Sylvia family which may be more familiar. Blackcap, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler and Dartford Warbler are all members of the same family as Spectacled Warbler and can be found in many places in the UK.

So disorientated is this bird that it spends most of its time building two nests and singing whenever it gets the chance, including display flights which are quite something to marvel at. A great number of people have had the pleasure of seeing this bird now and in general the bird has been respected and given room to carry out its natural behavior.

With no sign of the bird leaving it will no doubt be enjoyed by many more birders in the next few weeks, some travelling from a long distance outside of Norfolk to see it.

A couple of photos below of the bird and other wildlife of the area (Photo credits Richard Campey & Oliver Reville)

Digiscoping in the age of the smartphone

Smartphones...They are the must have item of the world, from kids to pensioners. Now it seems that bird watchers are tapping into the smartphone market as well. With the development of phone cameras this has opened up a huge range of possibilities to birdwatchers who want to capture their finds with photos.

But a bird 60 metres away isn't going to be easy to get on a smartphone with little or no zoom. This is where the art of digiscoping comes into play and there is a new way that maximises smartphone photography.

The answer is below (Other smart phones are available!), the Viking Smart Phone Adapter. 

So what is it? First of all it comes in two parts, the phone holder and the eyepiece mount. 
The phone holder is of plastic construction and by using clips that are fully adjustable depending on the phone you are using allows the user to hold their phone in place so it is aligned with the hole in the eyepiece mount. 
Literally any smart phone can be fitted to the holder including:

• HTC One
• Samsung Galaxy series
• All Apple Iphones
• Sony Xperia range

and many more! 

The eyepiece mount again is plastic and with a simple "screw click" mechanism attaches to the phone holder. There are various different sizes available depending on the scope being used and this means that if you change your scope you don't have to buy the full kit again, just the eyepiece mount. 

The list of compatible scopes is as follows: 

1 - 39mm - Viking AG
2 - 48mm - Viking ED Pro Zoom, Viking AW Zoom
3 - 55mm - Swarovski ATS/STS Zoom & Kowa TSN 770/880 Series (Zooms and 30x)
4 - 56mm - Leica APO Televid 65/82 Zoom & RSPB HD Zoom
5 - 59mm - Swarovski ATX

It really is a fantastic addition to a birders kit, especially ones interested in digiscoping as it is such a simple system to use. 

For more information please visit:
http://www.onestopnature.co.uk/epages/es143788.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es143788/Products/z100viking


One Stop Nature. 

Weekend sunshine

Everyone's waking up
With the sunshine continuing today we are seeing real signs of Spring - Chiffchaffs are in full song and these local Adders are warming up and getting ready for their next slough.

Spring arrives, and what better time to get outdoors!

So Spring has well and truly sprung across the UK as we finally (fingers crossed) seem to have left behind what was a terrible Winter for many. From Norfolk to Cornwall storms battered our coastlines and caused flooding.
While the flooding remains a serious issue in many areas the arrival of Spring, and the sun, may at last give a rest bite to the wind and rain of December-February.
So with the temperatures increasing, wind dropping and sun shining now is the best time to get outside and discover wildlife both in your garden and in the countryside.
Spring migrant birds are arriving, flowers are beginning to bloom and Sunday 9th March saw the highest temperatures of the year, up to 20oC in some places.
North Norfolk is a wonderful place to be in Spring and if you are in the area pop into The One Stop Nature Shop where you will find an expansive range of equipment from Binoculars to magnifiers to wildlife cameras which will enable you to observe more wildlife this Spring.
We also have our local bird sightings which are updated daily with birds found on the Norfolk coast.

Whatever aspect of wildlife you are into, Spring is a fantastic time of year to get outdoors and it finally seems like the weather is playing ball as well.

One Stop Nature.

Weekend High

Light and Easy
We are promised temperatures reaching 18 degrees this weekend so a great time to be out on the coast enjoying the wildlife. The One Stop Nature Shop has some huge savings on compact Nikon binoculars, easy to carry around in pocket,bag or just round your neck, and prices starting from £35

Recent sighting include up to 5 Great Northern Divers and 2 Black-throated Divers  at Blakeney Harbour and Iceland Gull at Thornham Harbour and still some Snow Buntings at Holme.