Anne's Journal

 Monday April 28 We start our travelling to Scotland on Thursday, this was our last chance for a day's birding beforehand. Pam needs to be present when our gardeners come, the car needs a new tyre fitted and some packing has to be done. We're taking the portable actinic trap this year, there's nowhere in the vicinity of our cottage near Forres suitable for the MV with its need to be plugged in to the mains supply. It was my turn to choosed our stopping places today. A latish start brought about by waiting for Green Thumb to arrive to assess our front lawn (the contract price quoted was exorbitant, no thank you). As promised the day was hot and sunny, the car thermometer went up to 20C. Not bad for April.The last lot of warm weather has brought spring galloping in. Suddenly, everywhere is green. Chestnut trees have their candles and hedgerows are thick. The roadsides are tall and heavy with Alexanders, they do well in Norfolk. This does mean that birds are more difficult to ...

 Saturday April 19 They've been arriving in numbers during the last few days.  Most of them in areas inaccessible to us. We thought that we had a chance for the birds on Salthouse Heath. It was a sunny afternoon with a cool edge to the wind. Pam and Adrian planted the tomato plants in the lean-to greenhoue yesterday, hoping to get them well established before our trip to Scotland. Once in the ground, they are less susceptible to the 'not as good as our care' given by a helpful neighbour.  Google maps took us to the correct field, only one car and a young man present. He helpfully told us where they had been and where they had flown to. 'That tree over there' ! Pam got out, located the birds, then moved the car so that I could see a female Ring Ouzel t hrough the roadside branches. Driving a little further, there was a pull-in in front of a gate from which I could easily see a male. Always distant, that big white chest crescent really stands out. I tried a photograph...

 Monday April 12 We had a couple of free hours in the afternoon, where should we go.  The Ring Ouzel at West Rudham was a little distant, with no guarantee of sighting from the car. We'd been to Barton Broad on Saturday, parking in the disabled car park. I didn't get very far before my back seized up and we returned to the car. Very disappointing. We had a Blackcap in the car park, Jay, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Robin and Wren. The tumbling leaf became a Peacock Butterfly. A lovely male Brimstone flitting about, never stopping. We opted to try Hickling. It's a lovely reserve ,but not very accessible. Driving around the car parks produced another Blackcap and more of the ubiquitous Chiffchaffs. The drive down to Whiteslea Lodge was very quiet. Half an hour in the car parking area produced a close singing Sedge Warbler , a very loud but invisible Willow Warbler , and a Whitethroat . All common migrants but a joyful first tick of the year.We once had a Whitethroat in the...

Wednesday April 9 No sun today, to allay the effects of a cold northerly wind. Not the best of conditions for migrants, many of which are held up on the continent, waiting for a more helpful wind. We couldn't resist trying Selbrigg again - mainly to avoid following a large pantechnicon for even more miles. We turn off the A149 before Holt itself, where we struck it lucky today. Well Pam did. She saw a Grey Partridge in the hedgerow before it disappeared. We had an unsuccessful good look round.  Selbrigg was almost bird free. A few sleeping Mallard on the pond edge and a Robin in the gateway. Pam spread some food and we waited ten minutes. There was some noise around. I thought I'd heard a Goldcrest so put Merlin to work. Merlin listed Firecrest . Greg had told us that it was a good place for Firecrest but we've only seen Goldcrest here before. I definitely heard a 'crest but am unable to differentiate their song. Frustrating. Sculthorpe Mill car park was fullish, we lik...

 Friday April 4 Another lovely day in which to enjoy the Norfolk countryside and its flora and fauna. The warm sunshine days continue - and the cold north westerly had gone missing today too. The warmth has also accelerated the growth on trees and shrubs. The hedge-rows have a distinctive green haze, as do some of the trees. Deciduous trees don't have much of a rest. We thought that frogs had deserted our pond, we haven't had frog spawn for several years, just toad. This year we had a small clump but it didn't stay long attached to the surface weed growth. Disappointing. Chiffchaffs are widespread now, including our patch of gardens. Despite the lengthy wait at the Fakenham roadworks traffic lights, we made it to Snettisham soon after high tide. Not a high tide today, what birds there were present were clustered on the shoreline, too far for accurate identification. The Knot were nearer, far fewer in number, Curlew, Redshank, Grey Plover, Avocets and Shelduck scattered abou...