Red-veined Darters, Kelling Water Meadows

At last! A weekend out of the office, and a sunny one what’s more! A last-minute change of plan took Suzanne and me up to see my parents in Norfolk, where I thoroughly enjoyed plenty of time bimbling about in the sunshine (and catching up on some much-needed sleep!).

Bird highlights were a pair of Turtle Doves (alarmingly rare these days), a moulting adult Curlew Sand, and a grand total of 15 Spoonbills – the latter asleep, of course.

But trumping all of those were some cracking views of several Red-veined Darters along the track at the north end of Kelling Water Meadows. We found our first one immediately on arrival, and then had no problem getting repeat views regularly - probably ended up having seen four or five individuals, including a pair in cop. The macro lens made its first appearance of the year (!) and I managed my best shots yet of this increasingly regular vagrant.