Two go to Cantley

Part two of the Glossy Ibis search, and picture the day, dreary dull with a constant drizzle,all of a sudden a little tone on my mobile phone and also the home phone rang, message from a birder friend, the Glossy Ibis four of them have been seen at Cantley down a concrete track in marshy fields behind farm buildings, so off we go park just opposite the sugar beet factory gates and wander along the road and take a left turn down the track, and there a way along the track was a small group of birders and their scopes, we walked slowly and carefully along the track so as not to disturb the birds, and there feeding in pools in the sodden field are 4 Glossy Ibis, really good views, amazing looking birds with long beaks and a reddish rusty sheen to their black feathers.didnt care if it was such a miserable dreary daywe had seen the Glossy Ibis, i wonder if maybe they will end up like the Little Egret and decide they quite like it over here, all the nice wet marsdhy fiekdy type places and more may come lets hope.

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!!