Young kestrels and Ships at Landguard Point

The loan of Rosie` 150-600mm lens, gave me an opportunity to have a stroll to the church where Kestrels are nesting. They have nested here for a number of years and usually successfully raised young. This year being no exception. They have raised at least two, and possible three young this year and are at the stage where the youngsters are out of the nest and sitting on the roof, awaiting food from the parents, and giving their wings a bit of a testing.

Sitting waiting for some food

A short hop onto the top of the roof to test my wings.

Later this morning we visited Landguard point for a walk. Covering approximately 33 hectares (81 acres) this shingle spit on the southern tip of Suffolk's stunning coastline offers a variety of flora and fauna. Unusual and rare plants, migrating birds, military history and huge ships arriving and departing at Britain's busiest container port.

This was the container ship that I wanted to photograph - the MSC CLARA. She is a container ship currently sailing under the flag of Panama. MSC CLARA is 396m long overall and has a beam of 59m. Her gross tonnage is 193000 tons. I spotted her being loaded with containers so was able to obtain a good view.

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Can we photograph a kingfisher?

Today was a reasonably early start (8:30am) as we wanted to be at Lackford Lake while the kingfishers were possible feeding, as opposed to late morning when they might have been hiding away for a while. That was the idea anyway! - and it worked! We arrived well before the Center was open and made our way to the hides. The double decker one providing us with some real chances of Kingfisher images.

The lens I was using has a maximum extension of 200mm, so is limited as far as wildlife goes, but the images I came home with were pretty good I thought.

The first two are of a mother? heron seemingly `talking` to her young one, who made a noise but otherwise remained rooted to the spot. "I don't want to swim mummy".

The prize of the trip, some images of a kingfisher moving from perch to perch while shutters were firing around us like machine guns! My offerings are above and below, and although not as close up as many people with huge lens, I was more than pleased.

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Barn Owl hunting

Opposite our bungalow is an owl box, erected a couple of years ago by Suffolk Wildlife Trust, but which, to our knowledge, has not been occupied by owls. Until this year, that is. Now it has Barn Owls with young, as we have seen parents,or parent, leaving and returning on several occasions. However, because it faces away from us, we have not been able to get any photos - until today! Rosey spotted a parent returning to, and leaving from the box, this morning.

So we headed for a good observation point in the Conservation area and were rewarded with a good view of the adult owl hunting and returning to the box. Maybe not as sharp as I would have liked but never the less -  Magic!

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Stag beetle

Stag Beetles are the largest beetles found in the U.K. and they're now quite rare. The decline of our Stag Beetles is mainly as a result of habitat loss. Some are killed by cars on roads, and since they spend such a long time in the larval stage they are also vulnerable to predation.

The most noticeable features of the male Stag Beetles are the large antler-like jaws, which give the beetle its name. They are used during the mating season to fight with other males over territory. Each male tries to grab his opponent between his jaws, and then throw him.

The fully grown male stag beetles can normally be seen flying at dusk between May and August. They look quite unstable in flight, and their wings make a loud buzzing sound. The warmer temperatures of late spring encourage them to look for a mate. They will drink tree sap, but do not eat, and will not grow at all. After mating the male Stag Beetles die.

The females can be recognised by the much smaller jaws. Although both the male and female Stag Beetles can give you a pinch, they are quite harmless. Females lay their eggs in, or near, rotten wood, and then die.

The larvae (grubs) which hatch from the eggs, have cream coloured bodies with an orange head and orange legs. They live and feed in the rotting wood for up to six years.

When fully grown, the larvae leave the wood to pupate in the soil. This occurs in the summer, while the weather is still warm, and lasts a few weeks. The fully grown beetle remains in this state until the following summer when it emerges as an adult beetle.

Stag Beetle - Lucanus cervus

Although we saw this specimen who was very much alive, we did find two others, very squashed nearby. A shame, but it seems the fate of many from this spot, having found them around here on previous years.

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The RSPB: Strumpshaw Fen

We chose a beautiful day to visit, after promising ourselves for a long time. Although I only had my Sony RX100 with 100mm zoom, the few images I managed, are below. Strumpshaw Fen is a nature reserve managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It is situated at Strumpshaw on the River Yare in Norfolk, around 6 miles east of Norwich.

Norfolk Hawker (Aeshna isosceles) is a rare species, with clear wings, green eyes and the characteristic yellow triangle shape on the dragonfly’s body which make this endangered dragonfly very distinctive. The Norfolk hawker, which has its stronghold in Norfolk, is a nationally rare dragonfly it is classified as endangered and is fully protected by law, so we were pleased to find this one hanging on the underside of a leaf in someone's garden.

Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva) is also known as the 'Bloodsucker' for its striking red appearance, but it is harmless to humans. It has a narrow, rectangular body with longish antennae. There are about 40 species of soldier beetle in the UK, displaying various colour combinations of black, red and orange.

Eyed Hawk-moth (Smerinthus ocellata) We were very pleased to find this moth after a tip off from a fellow visitor to the Fen. Fairly well distributed throughout England and Wales apparently, this species has a sombre, camouflaged appearance at rest, but if provoked, flashes the hindwings, which are decorated with intense blue and black 'eyes' on a pinkish background. Unfortunately we only saw it at rest, but were pleased just to see it.

The adults fly from May to July, inhabiting woodland and suburban localities, and must make quite a sight with their large wingspan of 70-80 mm.

Swallowtail - (Papilio machaon) is our largest native butterfly, and also one of our rarest. This spectacular insect is our only resident butterfly of the Papilionidae family, which is one of the largest butterfly families in the world. The British race is the subspecies britannicus which is confined to the fens of the Norfolk Broads. This is partly due to the distribution of the sole larval food plant, Milk-parsley. Seeing the adult butterflies flying powerfully over the Norfolk Broads is a sight to behold, and one near the top of the list of most British butterfly-watchers. For me to get an image on my compact - magic!

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My 70th Birthday

I suppose everybody feels apprehensive about passing birthdays, but Rosey and the family made my 70th a real treat, and one to remember. Having your family around you at any time is what life is all about, but today was special! So some images of them on this special day.

I suspect you have to help Grandad blow out candles because,at his age, he cannot quite do it! 

Helping Andrew with the barbecue. 

And then the smiley faces of the family, (well mostly!) 

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A `Church Micro` cache at Aldham church

Aldham is a short distance from Hadleigh, being just on the opposite side of the bypass.

There are a series of Geocaches called Church Micros, as they are (reasonable obviously) placed near to Churches. They are never actually on Church property, but, as in this case, they often depend on you gleaning information from the Church and its grounds, to enable you to work out the final position of the cache. This allows you to explore some wonderful historic building in the process, and learn some interesting things as well. Three clues had to be obtained in this case, and duly pointed me to a spot a short distance from the church, where the cache was soon to hand!

One of the clues which helped find the final cache, was information on this sundial in the churchyard. So, some picture of this lovely country church of St Mary with it`s round tower.

The church itself is a flint church with stone dressings built circa 1340. A circular west tower has a 11c-12c base, which appears to be the oldest part. The chancel has a 14c kingpost roof and there are some 15c carved benches and lectern.

This church was derelict by the mid 19th century, and underwent a fairly late restoration, in 1883. The tower was rebuilt, as was the south wall of the nave. The roofs were replaced, giving an overwhelmingly Victorian appearance. There was another restoration of the inside in the early 20th century.

The setting of the church is beautiful and tranquil, and worth a visit just for the views.

The Three Tuns was situated at 106 High Street. This pub closed in 1911 and is now in residential use. It used to brew its own beer; the well used for this still remains and is under a covenant on the house that it cannot be altered. I took this photo in the morning having walked past this building many times but not noticed the sign. However, I love the sign, shame I missed the top of the image!

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