Lift not Working

Tuesday February 21

The plan was to visit Welney Wildlife and Wetland Trust reserve before all the swans have departed. There have already been reports of an obvious departure from East Anglia. Fortunately, I checked the website for details of flooded approach roads etc and how to book a buggy. A large notice said that the lift was out of order. That put the kybosh on our plans. No lift, no buggy. 

North Norfolk it was. Pam is so good about giving me pole position to photograph the birds at Selbrigg. I suggested that we start there, reversing the car so that she had a better view for a change. Most of the expected birds turned up, but in fewer numbers than usual. There are still four cygnets on the lake without any signs of being chased off by their parents, who remain in a close family group.

I wanted to give Sculthorpe Moor Hawk and Owl trust reserve a go, after more than a year. There have been many changes on the reserve and I wasn't sure about access any more. We were previously allowed to drive down to the workshop huts where the first bird feeders were very close. Pam did a recce. Entry is now via the Centre only, with a walk through the woods previously inacessible. She came back to the car saying that there was a new hide signposted as being 50 metres away and she'd seen a year tick there. Off we went. I would argue about the 50 metres, but it was not far at all, no distance for the able bodied. 

The Dragonfly hide is large, with windows opening out onto a pond, a marshy clearing/rough pasture  leading to woods beyond. Each end of the hide overlooks a feeding station, woodland birds able to use handy trees as staging posts for the feeders. There we spent a happy hour or so enjoying the regular visits of a good selection of birds, particularly both male and female Bullfinches. Breath-takingly beautiful birds we seldom see at home. 

 




I took the opportunity to add a few more species to my year folder, trying hard to get them in the trees rather than on the feeders. The downside to this was the lack of good light on the eyes.

 





The air blowing straight in at me through the open window had a real Arctic edge to it, despite the warmish day. Fortified by the best hot chocolate in north Norfolk ( my opinion), we drove to the coast via the Holkham estate road. Just the one Great Egret, two Marsh Harriers and a Buzzard viewable from the gateway.

 We couldn't pass Morston. The approach road has horendous and hardly visible, traffic calming humps. Very unusually, Pam missed the first one. That I didn't take flight is a tribute to the seat belt. We were travelling quite slowly too.

Yes. There was a Greenshank present. At the far end of the boat boarding area, alongside a Little Egret, a Redshank and a few Teal.

 


A preening Redshank caught my eye, busy in the ruddy late afternoon light, reflecting off the muddy banks.


 


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