A quiet day at Minsmere, but.....

I arrived at Minsmere at about 8.30 am and virtually had the place to myself to start with. On the path to the Sluice I spotted a lot small bird activity in some bushes, that turned out to be a family of Sedge Warblers, all showing well and for quite a few minutes and all just for me.

A couple of adults.

And a Young Sedge Warbler.

In with them a Reed Warbler.

Down in the dunes, a Stonechat with breakfast for his youngsters, he disappeared into the bush below his perch and came out without the Grasshopper.

Nearby possibly one of his youngsters from a previous nest.

At East Hide the only thing within range of the camera, a Sandwich Tern.

From the beach the Common Terns were heading out to sea fishing.

Unfortunately missed this time.

On the way back to the Visitor Centre, the Sedge Warblers again.

Down along Digger Alley, a Green-eyed Flower Bee.

Then another first, a Ruby-tailed Wasp or Jewel Wasp, it's only about 7mm or so long.

Al along Digger Alley there were Beewolves, often with their unfortunate cargo of a bee.

If anybody is following the Moving to Mirrorless thread, you may have read about Rolling Shutter Effect while using Electronic Shutter, some of following pictures show the effect with distorted wings, but not all.

Not sure what the little Fly is or what it was up to.

Off for another Bee.

A Grayling at the pond near the Visitor Centre.

After the obligatory Cheese Scone, back to Digger Alley.

Ruby-tailed Wasp again.

More Beewolf action.

A fairly hot and quite day, with long periods of not seeing much, punctuated with bursts of action, although if I had stayed on Digger Alley I could have taken pictures of Beewolves all day.

Best Wishes,

Trevor

  • Stunning set once again Trevor and wonderful array of species; those colourful wasps are spectacular as are the Beewolves ! Gorgeous Sedgie close ups and other birds, thanks for this lovely thread.
  • Fabulous photos Trevor, the Sedge Warblers especially good to see. The Beewolves and wasps are so interesting and colourful to watch, did you manage to meet WJ, Whistling Joe, a Forum member that has put up various threads involving the action of the Beewolves and also the Adders that are a Minsmere attraction. I would give you the link but don't know how to.
  • A fabulous set of photos, and it's often good when you can get  reserve to yourself, until you need to ID a species, and there's not an e xpert around to help.....

    I've seen Digger Alley mentioned here before, and some brilliant photos of wasp activity from someone else, though I can't recall who.

    The random fly watching the wasp  in Digger Alley could be hoping to get the wasp's cast off with the carcass it had.

  • Whistling Joe does some extraordinary photo and video work at Digger Alley, Mike
  • Absolutely stunning stuff Trevor, your unknown fly is, I think, Noseyus Nayberus Joy

    Astonishing array of colours on the Jewel Wasps, and the Beewolves are always fascinating to watch

    Thanks for sharing :o)

  • Great to see Digger Alley was busy - and a good example of the rolling shutter as well, the wasp's fast wingbeats are the perfect way to show it. Mrs WJ & I will be there ourselves today so hopefully they're all as active.
    The fly is a Satellite Fly (we call them Burrow-watchers) and they're doing the classic parasite thing - hoping to nip in after the incoming wasp or bee and lay an egg in the food being brought back. This particular one is Senotainia conica and this year is the first time we've seen them after the Beewolves (normally the Beewolves are good at keeping away the flies). The Pantaloon Bees are also plagued with them (and another slightly larger fly, Miltogramma germari which is nationally scarce).
    I keep meaning to put up a Digger Alley thread with some of this year's pics & vids, must try to get around to it!
  • PimperneBloke said:

    Absolutely stunning stuff Trevor, your unknown fly is, I think, Noseyus Nayberus 

    I might start using that myself Stuck out tongue winking eye
  • I wonder if you ever do bad pics Trevor or that's just a thread for me lol
    Sedge warblers are just stunning.
    Cracking crisp clear pics as always ...thanks for sharing ;-)
  • Many thanks Linda,
    I do get many failures on a day out, but with wildlife that's on the move I may take many hundreds of shots, all taken on fast burst mode, to get a handful of pictures I'm happy with. Sadly it can take many hours sifting through all of them to find the standout successes, but it's my main hobby and I enjoy it and I'm happy to share the results. Also I'm glad that other people enjoy seeing what I post, it's much appreciated.
    Trevor
  • PimperneBloke said:
    Whistling Joe does some extraordinary photo and video work at Digger Alley, Mike

    I suddenly realised after I signed off. WJ puts a lot of his videos on Flickr, link below if you're interested

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/whistling_joe/