Cavenham Autumn Stonies roost ............................................Mike Taylor

This year the first Flycatchers returned on the 9th May and I am pleased to report that in June we found eight nests in the village over a distance of 2.5km. Simon, with help from Lee Gregory, came and ringed twenty-nine young from seven nests, however one householder declined to have a further four young ringed. In general most people showed great interest in the ringing. We also identified a further two sites where adults were feeding recently fledged young, but were unable to find the nests. This made an estimated total of forty fledglings in the village. Given the early breeding this year and the successful fledging we were surprised that no second broods were confirmed in the village. Of the eight nests found only two were in the boxes I had put up, the other nests were in the following locations: one in a drain hopper head, one on top of an outside tap, one on a ledge in a porch, one in an old blackbird nest in an open cart shed, one in the eaves of a barn and one in a more traditional position on a rose trellis. A common factor of all eight nests was that they were situated near ponds or moats. This year our “own” pair came and investigated the box on the front of the house and promptly decided to use a new box I had put up in a neighbour's garden opposite! We consider ourselves fortunate to have this delightful charismatic little bird returning each year.

Steve Fryett Audacious Gull

The last day of August was a warm day and many people made for the coast, in particular Aldeburgh. Known for its excellent fish and chips it was not surprising that Crag Path alongside the beach was crowded with people enjoying a seaside takeaway.

The long line of people sitting on the seawall was well watched by a large number of Herring Gulls strutting around the beach looking for a dropped chip or an opportunity to venture a little further in order to get a meal. One audacious adult Herring Gull made an aerial swoop on a young lady from over her right shoulder to steal a sausage, from her hand as she was about to take a bite. She shrieked as the Herring Gull made off with the whole sausage, closely followed by a bevy of squawking gulls hoping the steal would be dropped.