Aconites and garden stuff…

..the Winter Aconites are now in full bloom in Normanby Park but just as exciting was the sighting this morning of 4 Common Newts in our new pond - I have been anxiously awaiting their spring arrival and last night seems to have been the night - on the way back from Louth late last night Wayne says the road was littered with Frogs/Toads on the move.  Also in the garden this morning was a Goldcrest and I’m on particular guard for Mallards - if anyone has any legal ways of stopping them wrecking our pond please advise as they too will soon be descending on us for their spring exploits!

Snow Buntings at Cleethorpes

Well after seeing the Parakeets at Grimsby we headed off up the road to Cleethorpes to see 110 Snow Buntings and that by the way is the answer to the Quiz two posts earlier - or to be precise Snow Bunting foot prints.







How to count a flock of Snow Buntings - take a picture and then colour dot them in photoshop and count as you go.

Ring-neck Parakeet

Amazingly these birds are on the British List so with Wayne and Neal’s Lincolnshire list beckoning we headed east to Grimsby! yes Grimsby - it has been suggested that the paler female with half a tail has suffered from her long migratory return from the tropics!

A little quiz..

….any ideas what made these prints - answer on later post!

Snowdrops at Normanby Park

Yes it’s that time of year again and the Snowdrops are looking particularly good this year but I think I say that every year!   Also in the park singing and calling this morning were 2 pairs Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 3 Mistle Thrush, 2 Nuthatch, 1 Redpoll, several Goldcrest and Treecreepers and a pair of Kestrel and Common Buzzard causing havoc over the wood.

Snowdrops with Normanby Hall in the background.

The return to Normanby and a Roller

Well as you can see our broadband is back on and we are back at Normanby.  Still not been into the Park though as I am still unpacking and organising the house plus its been blowing a gale since we returned, hopefully if the weather improves and we get a still day I will try and get the imerging Snowdrops but in the mean time whilst sorting through boxes Wayne found a memory card from Sri Lanka with these not bad shots  of a Roller sitting on a road sign as we were leaving Yala NP …………

Fieldfare Influx

Still lots of snow lying around Scunthorpe which has meant a few more birds in the gardens.  Had a report of Fieldfares in my Uncle’s garden on Peveril Avenue and then returned to my parents house in Woodland View to find this Fieldfare eating apples put out for the Blackbirds.  Also had a Redwing on Monday in the garden and good news on the Greenfinch front with a permanent flock of 20 on the feeders.

Woodland View bird

Peveril Avenue bird - Photos by Stuart Green

It's a bit quiet at Normanby Nature .....

...I can hear some of you say, well the truth is since the end of last October we haven't been living in Normanby!  Due to a lovely burst water pipe we had to move out while the whole house was gutted and so ever since my time has been spent not watching the birds but dealing with the great world of Insurance Co's, plumbers,joiners, decorators etc etc and now to cap it all some wonderful anonymous person bashed the car whilst parked out side my mother's in Saturday's snow storm.  However we are moving back to Normanby at the weekend but in this great modern world of technology it will take The Post Office two weeks to reconnect our broadband so I'm not expecting to blog again 'til March.  So hope all is well in your world and remember the moral of the story is check your water meter once in a while while taps are off and see if it is moving!