Rainbows

Saturday March 2

Late morning, the sun was shininig, we went birding. Not much of a plan, apart from trying to catch up with missed birds. We had excellent instructions from Pauline, soon finding the preferred spot for a Little Owl or two. As we left Bodham, it started to rain, not conditions suitable for Owls to sit out. We sat, looked, and waited. No luck. 

The rain had been quite benign until we got to Morston, where it bucketed down. The usual gathering of Redshanks, a Curlew and a Greenshank fed along the low water channel.

 

After checking Blakeney duck pond and marsh, we drove on to Beach Road, Cley. The showers became increasingly heavier until they were veritable cloudbursts, huge puddles appearing on the roads.Just as suddenly, the navy blue sky would split for some sunshine. Rainbows. The one at Cley was wonderful, at its best, a wide bow of bright, clearly delineated, colours with a faded second echo on its outside. Too big for my long lens to fit in. We'd stopped along Beach Road to photograph and a large flock of Brent Geese landed nearby, immediately marching fast left for some unknown and unseen reason. Awesome.The power and beauty of natural wonders. No wonder our ancestors attached all sorts of tales of mystery, magic and beliefs to them.The camera rarely does them justice.

Driving home in these conditions was not comfortable.  The rain eased as we approached North Walsham, leaving the town behind us, the roads were completely dry. It hadn't rained at all at home.