The first cuckoo

Not strictly Norfolk, but close enough, set out for Carlton marshes, just through Oulton Broad, Suffolk, it is a Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve, never been before, the turning is off the A146 to Beccles, opposite The Warren School, the turning is Burnt Hill Lane, it is 153 acres, it is part of The Broads, and there are many paths that link Oulton Broad, the river Waveney, there are marshes, Fens and dykes and large reedbeds, there is also an education centre.
Sunday was lovely and sunny but the wind was still very cold, so it was good to find a lovely little path out of the wind that took you into a very marshy area wich on the pamflet map was called Sprats Water nature trail, walking to the end of this path, it becomes a little confusing so it would be probably best to take a landranger map with you.
We heard Cettis Warbler and a Cuckoo, the first of Spring, Woodpeckers, after taking part in a Tree ID course, trying my non existent skills out, we found a tree which we believed to be a Black Poplar.

A quote from the Dalai Lama.

All living beings have experience of pleasure and pain, and we are among them.What makes human beings different is that we have a powerful intelligence and a much greater ability to achieve happiness and avoid suffering.Real happiness and friendship come not from money or even knowledge, but from warm-heartedness.Once we recognise this we will be more inclined to cultivate it.

Searching Horsey Dunes.

Last Sunday was a bit of a disappointing day, even though the weather was fine, I couldnt get out into my lovely countryside, but it did get better later in the day, it was a lovely golden sunny evening, bit breezy and a bit of a chill in the air, popped up to Horsey, searching for a lovely little bird i had never seen let alone heard of!!It didnt look too promising there was nobody to be seen and for something like this I suspect there would be a few people about.We hunted about and checked directions and that we were in the right place, but it was nowhere to be seen, but we were not downhearted, wandering about we found a promising looking little scrubby copse in a deep dip in the dunes, and lo and behold there it was, robin sized lovely black eyes, great views of the Red Flanked Blue Tail, what a lovely little bird, I was so pleased, probably the rarest thing I had seen, personally.

Where has our Caister beach gone??

Went for walk today between the showers, along Caister Beach, i d heard that the Manor House Hotel which had fallen into the sea in the 1930 s, had been uncovered by the rough weather of late, the erosion of the sea had left a 6 foot or more drop the beach looked unrecogniseable, metal groins or sea defences were now uncovered, and you couldn t actually walk along the beach very far North because you would have to clamber over the metal posts.

So where did all our beach go, opinions are divided and there has been much said about various works which have been  going on recently and over the past 25 years, causing the erosion, who knows, or is this just a normal cycle of Easterlies taking it away and Westerlys bringing it back?

Springing into action

Been getting down to some serious gardening now that the weather has turned, poor garden, the sharp frost we had a little while back has scorched the leaves on all my poor plants honeysuckle, verbena, the fennel started to put out shoots and they have died down too, all my seedlings are ready and waiting on the bathroom windowsill, unsure whether to venture out into the big wild world, maybe under glass, we ll see, we are poised like a coiled spring!!!!

 The two pictures show the dyke I cleared at the bottom of my garden and how it changes from summer to winter,

NWT Free courses and days out.

Got some lovely news today I am all booked up on NWT free course and free day out to lovely reserve Upton marshes.Also havent booked up but coming up there is a talk all about Orchids at Gt Yarmouth Library with Simon Harrap, but no need to book on that one just turn up, Tuesday 16th April 2.00 pm.
Also hot bird news Goshawk seen on Winterton Dunes.

Littlemissladybirder a Caister on Sea birder

My former blog was called Littlemissladybirder, but as Im not a very good birder and compared to all the other birding blogs should anybody stumble accross the ladybirder site I felt they would be a bit disappointed I decided to change the name of my blog maybe Caister on sea Birding would have been a bit better, I dont know,I may change it again who knows!!

Raptors on the move and Corton paths

Crikey past couple of days have been a right hot bed of Raptor action, probably due to the weather breaking and the wind dropping, lots of news from the Winterton birders of Red Kites, Buzzards and a White Tailed Eagle passing over their their patch,needless to say I didnt see any of this, but, I did see the Long Eared Owl at Bure Park, lovely views of it hunkered  down in a copse on the island in the middle of the lake fast asleep.also the Garganey were still there.
Today was a weird day, hunting paths on an old map that was probably years out of date, and the so called paths had long gone due to erosion, we were left after quite a pleasant walk along a hedgerow bordered path with having to negotiate Hopton holiday village, then finding Beach road and walking down there even though the signs said no pedestrian access, bit stupid of us, but not as stupid as the people who parked their car on the side of this road to walk to the beach where a huge truck with wheels taller than me was driving up and down carrying enormous boulders.
Back to the out of date map and a bit of a favourite of mine old disused railways, and we found Corton old railway path, very nice and secluded a good birding spot, apparently , and nearby Corton Sewage Works another good birding spot, so not all bad then!Paths around the works were bordered by shrubs and small trees of all sorts and there were Knapweed plants everywhere so in the summer it must be a Bee and Butterfly haven, there is also a nice little wood bordered by a small stream with tiny fish in.We also saw a family out for a walk but their birdy companion was a Harris Hawk,a handsome boy.they tried to get him to show off a bit for us but he was a bit tired and waddled along the floor skipping and hopping with his bells jangling.

The Otter jinx strikes again!¬!

All set for a nice Easter Monday day out, the destination was to be a surprise for me. The day started out very cold and murky, but we were promised sunshine at some point during the day, but alas this wasnt to be until the afternoon, bit of a shame considering where we went.We went to Thetford, we parked by the river close to the centre of Thetford, we walked along the spring walk, and the bridges walk by the sluice at the coffee Mill.We were supposedly looking for the Black Bellied Dipper.We didnt see one, but all this was a sham, because, having worked and volunteered on the Broads for about 6 years now, I have never seen an Otter, and every time somebody says to me , oh yes i ve seen loads they are at Barton, Filby Board walk, Acle Bridge, blah blah blah I just want to tell them to go away!!!in no uncertain terms!!Getting very cold and bored I was eventually told of the real reason we were wandering up and down the river, there were loads of people there with their zoom lenses and binoculars, was there any Otters, not flippin likely, so the Otter jinx has struck again, me!!!So I had to make do with a quick look just now at the famous Thetford Otters on You Tube!

After a quick lunch we set off again, this time the sun was out, blue sky a lovely day, we went to Lynford Arboretum, never been there before, it was very lovely, being a Tree Hugger, I was in my element,!!very peaceful, Hawfinches are apparently seen here a lot.There is a lovely nature walk and beautiful lakes.
A post script to this little rant, Sunday got some hot bird news, a pair of Garganey at Bure Park Caister Road, thought I hadnt a hope in seeing them as have tried before and no luck, but this time yey, great views, very lovely!!