Sunday 30 January 2011

A lovely new tick!!!

Went for a walk yesterday, very cold, bitterly cold infact, on the instructions of a friend went in search of a lovely bird at Ormesby Broad, we stopped the car where the ice cream van normally is and walked up to the road, and there sure enough, it was, swimming about near the reeds , and could be viewed perfectly from the road, a lovely Goosander, a female!!

Another strange thing to see, where people normally feed the Ducks, three handsome Cockerels have taken up residence!!

We carried on our little surveillance walk at Rollesby Poors land a lovely piece of land edgeing onto Lilly Broad(Lady Broad whatever),the horses and goats are gone now, giving the plants we ,surveyed maybe bit more of a chance to colonise, but we will see.  (Gorse clearing carries on) .We walked through the narrow trail amongst the Gorse bushes and heard a Water Rail screeching from the Reed bed, we found a little bit of higher ground and looked out over Lilly Broad, there were quite a few birds sheltering from the bitter wind , Coot, Tufted Duck, Teal, Pochard, Great Crested Grebe, a Cormorant, etc..We walked over to the right side of the site, a small area of woodland,  there were a couple of Goldcrests.in amongst the Bramble, on a couple of occasions Otter spraint has been found at the base of trees there, near the inlet, so we checked about to see if there was any, but no luck, also large half eaten fish have been found, so maybe one day I will see an Otter there!!.

Today, Sunday, took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch ,as usual the hour I picked was a bit rubbish, but I did get a Blackcap and a Songthrush and the other usual suspects. After reading the East Norfolk Ringers Blog may take a walk down to Caister beach to see if any Snow Buntings about.

Monday 24 January 2011

Weavers Way walk .





This Sunday we decided to go for a walk in the countryside and take a picnic. We parked at East Ruston and walked along the Weavers Way, I have walked lots of little sections along the Weavers Way but this was one part that I hadn't. It was a bit of a murky day and cold but we were in a sheltered place. We decided to make our way to Dilham Lock  I have picniced there many times,  it is a lovely place and you can sit by a small weir and watch the water rushing through.We followed the canal all the way almost to Dilham church,the path was very muddy but we were wearing wellies so it was ok Not that many birds seen but we did see Canada Geese,some Pink Footed geese, and Mallard.near the canal along the way.

There was an opened up area just after the iron bridge ,and from this path you could see the wonderful old brick bridge,I took a couple of photos, unfortunately the camera froze, but I think one of the photos is ok, so I will download it.

On the way home just past Ludham, in a field was about 30 or 40 BewickSwans and Whooper Swans.

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Tango!!!!!

Otros Aires CD


 Listen to Otros Aires here: http://www.myspace.com/otrosaires
Well bit different for a change, lovely night out at Norwich Arts Centre!Went to see a band called Otros Aires,wonderful Tango music but with a difference, mixed with electro pop,COOL!!! Lots of people were dancing, the atmosphere was friendly and intimate, the singer had the most warm sultry Spanish accent,the accordion player was amazing and the keyboard player blew you away, they played a mix of classic Tango and as I said before electro Tango, not sure of the exact description, there was a screen behind playing old fashioned black and white film, cartoons and modern light shows,the effect was captivating. Was so good I bought the CD and have been boppin around the front room all morning, well for about 10 minutes!!!

Today was a bit of a murky day so decided to do some gardening ,made my new leaf bin out of scavanged chicken wire,  put leaves in it, did pruning of some of the shrubs, being followed closely all the time by a Robin.


No news as yet re the bird boxes!!

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Bird boxes

A cheeky Robin at Minsmere




Today I decided to buy a new bird box, my old  bird box in the holly tree was unsuccessful last year, so I moved the old one to my Willow tree,and no sooner had I done that when a male Great Tit came to inspect it, closely followed by a female, I was so excited ,they came and went and fluttered about, then whilst they had gone, stupid me not thinking put out some lambs wool nesting material near the box, but needless to say they came back and did not like the look of the lambs wool, and haven't come back, stupid me, I suppose they must be very sensitive to changes when looking for a nest site.We'll see if they return!!

Last year I also bought a cheap little woven nest thing and a Wren took a liking to that ,it was lovely to watch the male come and go with nesting materials, and then sit aloftt and sing to females about his hard work!!a little lady took a liking to him, and they were successfull in raising a family, although I was scared for them when a cat kept hanging around the nest area  I was on constant watch for that darn cat, and kept chasing it off, the baby Wrens fledged I was so relieved!!

I will keep you posted if there are any further developments, a Wren has been nosing around the box, but I was told that they dont usually go for that type of nesting box.

I have put my new box in amongst some ivy and opened the front piece so there is no hole, just an open bit which leads down into the box.

Meant to say yesterday, a Merganser, and a Black necked Grebe seen at Ormesby Broad on Sunday, also Bittern seen flying over Filby Boardwalk on Sunday.Male and female Smew seen att Barton Broad on Sunday.

Monday 17 January 2011

Tree huggers unite

 Arty trees by me



I have come to the conclusion that I must be a bit daft,well actually ive known that for a long time really!!,did a task with the volunteers out around The Broads today, got absolutely soaked to the skin,cutting lanky old Gorse bushes down,coppicing them, so they grow nice and strong,so had added discomfort of prickly bits all in your clothes,just what I needed after being cold and wet!!

Us Nature people do like to cut things down Im afraid,we do get complained about, but we are doing conservation stuff, honestly, trust me Im an eco warrior,or tree hugger, whatever you want to call me!!there is actually a picture somewhere of me hugging a tree, will find it and put it on here at some point in time!!, bet you cant wait for that!!It was taken at one of my most favourite secret places, a beautiful old Bluebell Wood out in the wilds of Norfolk.

Tree huggers unite!!!!

My secret Bluebell Wood by me.

Sunday 16 January 2011

Intro post

Sunset over Mautby by me

Well, this is my first post on my new blog!!So, let me first of all wish everybody a happy new year,I know its halfway through January but there you go,better late than never!!

Some photos will probably arrive on this blog at some point in time but don't hold your breath, although being based in the Norfolk Broads area there is no lack of beautiful places, or wonderful wildlife to photograph.

As I wrote in my profile piece I was born in Norfolk, I know, lucky me, and recently became interested in birding.I'm learning slowly but surely ,only been doing it for about 2 years, and the birders i meet up with have been doing it for 20 or 30 years, so I  feel a little intimidated now and then but they are mostly helpful and friendly.

Today I helped with the Webs wetland bird survey which is done every month, I have been helping with that for a couple of years now,and that is a big learning curve, it is helping no end with my wetland bird id skills.It was a glorious clear day ,although a bit windy.the usual suspects were about,hundreds of Coot,lots of Tufted Duck, beautiful Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe (I cant wait to see them displaying again)and we saw a Kingfisher dart past the hide, a beautiful sight.I was hoping to maybe see an Otter as a couple of people have seen it in the area, so far I have been unlucky, all the time I spend on the Broads I haven't yet had a good view of an Otter.so with that in mind we took a trip to Barton Broad ( a good place to spot them, I've been told),but on the car park, what a strange sight, 4 Robins in a hedge, 3 of which were striking an amazing pose,they sat there stock still with their heads flung back at the strangest angle, the 4th Robin just sat there watching this strange display, if anybody has any ideas what this could be all about, i would be grateful of their ideas!!Needless to say I didn't see an Otter, better luck next time!!But I did see a male and female Smew!!