Common Crane
Old Womans Lane, Cley
March 11 2026
A little bit of patch gold on a breezy early, early spring afternoon.
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Last one...
...a beautiful Cley afternoon sky on the walk home today.
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No, although there is a colony in Norfolk, one that we must check out. Hope you’re having fun!

Common Cranes are a regular (annual) sight over Cley in spring, when the warmer days coincide with a bit of a breeze and entice Broadland (and Fenland) birds to go for a fly along the coast. Occasionally there's the odd bird seen in autumn too. Cranes on the ground are much less frequent here & they'll often hang out on the marsh when they do ground themselves. All of that made today's bird, feeding on the expansive fields along Barn Drift a bit more of a surprise. It headed to the reserve to roost on Pat's Pool late in the afternoon.

On the walk home over the Hangs, a pair of Ravens gave us a fly-by (what a change in status for them in Norfolk over the last decade). Then, better still, some patch gold when Lynnette quietly grabbed my arm along Barn Drift, Common Crane!
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Cheating a bit, as here's an archive photo of mine, from April 2021, of one of the "original" Orange Underwings that Lynnette and I found on Salthouse Heath. We've found them every since, in various spots on the north and south side of the heath but often only in ones and twos. Today we found at least 10 ~ good going with the breeze blowing around the birches.

Despite the breezy conditions there was enough in the warmth of the sun to see us head for a walk up to Salthouse Heath today in search of Orange Underwings. We were very happy to find them in two new spots + our original spot of five years ago.
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Here's a second Adder that Lynnette found just a few yards from the one above. After a short while, it slithered off into the gorse. So, so smart.
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@norfolknats.bsky.social
2/2

As well as the Orange Underwings on a better day than expected, we found 3 Woodlarks & even better, 3 Adders. The wonder of the new phone zoom, the 10x bins & a steady hand meant I could get some great grabs without the Adder getting fazed.
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@norfolknats.bsky.social
1/2

Good luck, Ruth 🍀🍀🍀

A surprise last night was Scrobipalpa costella (Bittersweet Moth or Winter Grounding) ~ we've not had many here before & we've definitely not had one anywhere close to March before. Recorded year round in Norfolk, late summer the peak.
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An atmospheric clip of the Black-winged Kite, late afternoon at Ludham Bridge. We'd been along the footpath, no joy, but saw it distantly from the noisy road bridge. Curiously reminiscent of a gliding Leach's Storm-petrel at times.
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Another lovely moth from last night was this colour coordinated Shoulder Stripe. Lynnette had one a few days ago & this one came to the front window ~ they love the light in the Guillemot's window! Another super-fresh looking moth.
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I remember that OMG moment,
a lovely moth. Great record, Steve!

A productive CMO night last night. Five NFYs (49/17) including Water Carpet, Red Chestnut, Engrailed & Early Thorn. Engrailed & Red Chestnut our earliest by 2 weeks, Red Water Carpet earliest by 11 days & Early Thorn earliest by 5 days.
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Absolutely love this Red Kite on the lakeside snags at Holkham as the watery sun started setting in the misty & murky sky this evening.
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That’s a great comparison shot.
Thank you

The 3rd Oak Beauty of the last week or so was the smartest we've had ~ absolutely pristine, like it's just been unwrapped from the moth box. Can't get enough of them ~ a proper 10/10 this one...
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Oak Beauty @ CMO this morning. Exquisite...
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Very few records recently around us…. last in 2019…but you never know 🤞

A much wanted moth here, Clive.
A great record !

Oh yes, Ruth. The Pug Bible!

www.bettonyb.co.uk/pugs.html

Ruth and Dave and anyone else interested, this may help…a little.
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My favourite moth, Dave.

Quaker-mass...
Twin-spotted Quaker, Common Quaker & Small Quaker from a tidy tally of 57/11 for us this morning ~ 18 Common, 13 Small & two Twin-spots.
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A gorgeous Oak Beauty from the morning catch in the actinic at CMO. A little brighter than Lynnette's from the other morning ~ but any Oak Beauty is a good Oak Beauty 🙂
Top moff!
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Today's Oak Beauty in full-on revving up mode. Love the way the left-hand antennae pops up into place just before a shuffle into position ahead of take-off.
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Fab moths, Dave.

We've hit our annual quota of Pine Beauty already! Two in two days for a species that we generally only have a couple of every year (the exception being five in 2022). Such a smart macro 🤌
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Pine Beauty from this morning at Cley Moth Obs.
March 7 2026
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One of the elite macros of early spring has to be Pine Beauty. A proper bobby-dazzler of a moth, cloaked in intricate patterned shades of orange, rust, red & white. Still scarce here (maybe two a year), this is the 2nd earliest at CMO.
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