Anne's Journal

  Saturday September 17 On Wednesday, we arrived at Snettisham at the height of high tide - too late for the flight spectacle. To-day, after a lunchtime hairdresser appointment, we went sea watching at Bacton. Yesterday was good. Some years ago, Mick F told me that the day after a storm could be as good as, if not better than, the day itself. This was a test. Again, rather late in the day, and we only stayed an hour.  Bacton car park only had one other car, the beach was empty. Pam parked sideways on, my open window away from the chilly north westerly wind  I scoped, Pam used her binoculars beside me.  Some birders advocate keeping one's scope steady in one place, and wait for the birds to pass. I'm too impatient for that - I have tried it several times. I prefer to slowly scan backwards and forwards, unless all the movement is from one direction. To-day, what little movement there was came from both. Two Common Terns beat against the wind, a small flock of Wigeon fl...

Wednesday September 14  During the last few days, we have tried various routes around North Walsham, as our usual through road was closed off for utilities work. Other closures keep popping up to surprise us. We'd planned a last possible trip to Snettisham, before our two weeks in Scotland a week today. Leaving home as early as we could (not early), to get there for a high tide of over 7 metres. The highest tide was two days ago, when the car parks at Blakeney and other coastal villages were under water, with the usual EDP photos of stranded cars.. The road we normally use to get to Snettisham via Dersingham, was closed. What now. Unfamiliar with the area's byways, we had to use the satnav to retrace our journey a few miles, arriving at the chalet park later than planned.  The gate was propped open, hurrah - but no blackberry picking -  the sea wall thronged by birders and parked heavy vehicles. More works.  The Wash was.......awash, empty of birds, apart from a shor...

 Sunday September 11 Plenty of birds around at the coast during the last week or so. Whinchats, Pied Flycatchers, Wrynecks, etc. All needed walking.  We satisfied ourselves with jobs at home. Together, we managed to prune the Greengage and Victoria plum trees. This involved sawing off a few hefty branches, using a pruning saw. Pam can't lift her arms very high and I have difficulty in standing......between us, we managed. Fortunately, Adrian came to clear up the debris, and to anoint the trees' wounds, between heavy showers on Friday. The bane of my gardening life is a tiny purple,clover-leafed, weed named Oxalis. Its roots are tiny, very deep, easily broken - and it spreads like mad. However well I weed my alpine plant sinks and troughs, even digging out plants in order to remove the weed from between their roots, it comes back with a vengeance. I've had another go this week, now that it's cooler and we've had some rain to soften the ground.  Pam has been busy usin...

 Saturday September 3 Which weekend day would be the better? We chose Saturday as it is the traditional go home day for holiday traffic in North Norfolk, it should be going in the same direction as us. Dodgy logic, but it turned out to be accurate. Indeed, there was very little traffic compared with the last few months.  Even fewer birds seen en route, we'd only scraped into double figures when we arrived at the chalet park. The coast has a sprinkling of migrants, unavailable for us, where have our resident birds gone.  Opening the entry gate has a reward at this time of year. Blackberries. I managed to snatch a few, very sweet after all the sun. Pam picked me a handful on the way out - plenty left for the birds. We arrived at Snettisham reserve pits an hour and a quarter before a 5.9 metre high tide. At this height, it does not cover the whole of the wash. leaving enough room for the thousands of birds to remain on the distant, low vegetated, shore and mud banks. As alwa...