Thursday 30 April 2015

April 30th The UEA

The UEA lake and ziggurat buildings
After a short swim at the pool at the UEA (University of East Anglia), Mum and I went for a walk around the grounds and it's lake. Unfortunately, we got lost in the woods trying to find the lake. We found bluebells and other woodland plants and plenty of jays and eventually the lake itself. At that point though, we were a bit tired and the clouds were threatening to rain, so we only walked a little bit of the lake.

Garlic Mustard
Ground Ivy
We saw a chiffchaff, greenfinches, long-tailed tits, a heron (which reminds me, that heron turned up on the roof across the street from me again last night), a speckled wood butterfly and lots of blackcaps. The blackcaps especially were very vocal. We also had a bird that sounds very similar to a blackcap. Garden warblers are plain looking brown birds, a typical LBJ (Little Brown Job), and looks nothing alike to a blackcap. The songs, though, can be quite difficult to tell apart. To me, if you hear a blackcap that isn't quite as loud, chances are you may have a garden warbler. They are secretive birds and prefer singing in dense, low vegetation than in tall trees. I was pleased to see one reveal itself to us despite it being obscured by branches of a small shrub by the lake. Not the most interesting bird to look at, but to get a glimpse of such an elusive creature makes it worth waiting for. By the way, that name is misleading as they rarely visit gardens.

Greenfinch

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