Large as life

A couple of days ago, had walked into Gt Yarmouth, on my way back home , walking along Yarmouth Rd where there is a paddock with Donkeys in, on a small fence post I saw a large bird of prey, I stopped and took a careful look, to my delight saw it was a Buzzard, sat on a tiny fence post large as life, I stood there gawping at it, the car drivers whizzing past mustve wondered what on earth I was doing, needless to say I didnt have my binoculars with me as usual on such occasions, it saw me and then flew off towards the tiny church yard nearby, so I wondered if it could be roosting in there.
Weather has been so mild just lately up in the 16 and 17 degrees, seems so unreal walking about in warm sunshine in December, my little miniature Irises are starting to flower I think they are usually flowering in February,
Havent been for my usual walk along the beach just recently, for some reason recently not liking walking alone along there where as before I used to quite like being lost in my own thoughts.
Went on an interesting walk and talk the other week, it was at Potter Heigham, where they are making new reedbeds, it was a circular walk wont be open to the public though,lots of nature about, 2 Barn Owls flew from a tin hut, we saw 5 Cranes, 3 landed and 2 flew over, there were Curlew, its going to be a lovely place when the reedbeds take, it is now, will probably try the walk alongside by the back of the little waterfront houses and see if there are any decent views from there is a public path with a bank maybe able to see a bit.We carried on the long circular walk went into Hickling Reserve and sat in the Weavers way hide, saw 3 Marsh Harriers, then carried on by the road towards Potter Heigham church.We had out picnic at the old eel catchers hut in the reserve or by the weavers way, were told it is the last one in England, and all the old skills will now be lost unless someone takes care of it, it will be such a shame and a loss of our history of Norfolk.Why wont the English Heritage or Lottery fund do anything.When its gone its gone.

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.