Blickling

Blickling

Blickling

Blickling

Blickling

Blickling

Blickling

Blickling

BLICKLING

Saturday 24 April, 2010

Following a successful field trip at Blickling last year, members asked for a repeat outing with David North to identify bird
song. 8 members met at 6.30 in the car park at Blickling where the dawn chorus was already in full voice: blackbird, wren,
robin and chaffinch, the gentle caw of jackdaw and the distant fluting call of a mistle thrush. As we passed by gardens,
blue tit and great tit, chiffchaff and blackcap with its rapid, sweet song faster than the blackbird's, were also picked out.
The drumming of a great spotted woodpecker resonated clearly from nearby trees and David explained this was its contact call,
a regular beat denoting its presence and not the erratic beat when searching for food.
Then past the open fields where bird life was scant towards more woods where coal tit and the thin descending cadence of willow
warbler were added to the list. Beside the lake, we heard both reed warbler, its slower measured chatter contrasting clearly
with the faster, erratic bubble of notes from a hidden sedge warbler. Our walk ended on a high: first the unmistakeable
two note call of the cuckoo followed by excellent views as it soared ahead and then a barn owl perched on a stump before slowly
flying away and disappearing from view. A great reward for all the early birds that morning - and the weather was perfect, too!

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