Hickling NWT: dragons and cranes!

Having just made our fortnightly run to Potter Heigham for bird food, Linda and I thought we might as well carry on to Hickling NWT Reserve: we were wearing totally non-birdy clothes and shoes, but Hickling has terrific raised paths.

First interesting bird was a well-marked Buzzard: I know they're as common as dirt now, but I still love 'em! The walk around to Bittern Hide produced a dinky little Stonechat, but little else: the hide itself was not much better, but, carrying on around the reserve, we had great views of a Common Crane, as well as the first Hairy Hawkers, Four-spotted Chasers and Variable Damselflies of the season. Lots of Garden Warblers, Cetti's etc, as well as distant views of a Kingfisher near Cadbury Hide. A Hooded (or hybrid) Crow was interesting...

The joys of summer gardening

Back in the fifties, sociologists and psychologists began to question the impact of much of the mass housing that was being thrown up in new town and urban renewal developments. It was strongly suggested that, even in the suburbs, people needed some green space around them. This seems to have been conveniently forgotten by the current crop of cash-hungry property developers, who cram four and five-bedroom houses together with absolutely no gardens to separate them....


Linda and I bought our tiny bungalow twenty-odd years ago, chiefly because it has a compact but un-overlooked garden: we've spent thousands of hours remodelling and planting and it's at this time of year we're glad we did! On a sunny afternoon like yesterday, there's nothing nicer than sharing a glass of wine with friends and enjoying the colours and sounds of a garden.

Dotterels and Wood Sandpipers: a run up to the North Coast

The presence of a long-staying trip of Dotterels at Choseley caused Brian, Norman and me to bring forward our usual day out: with hindsight (and had we known about the RTA on the Fakenham Road) we should perhaps have left earlier. In the event we were looking at four Dotterel by around 8.30: the heat haze, however, was already ferocious. Lots of Corn Buntings were jangling about as we drove on to Titchwell.

No sign (nor sound) of the Turtle Doves: in truth, high water levels meant there wasn't much to look at all, just a few Sandwich and Common Terns and the increasingly-abundant Mediterranean Gulls. A couple of juvenile Long-tailed Tits posed beautifully!

A move to Wells Scrape was instantly more rewarding, with close views of two Wood Sandpipers. We enjoyed the drama of Avocets and Lapwings driving off a predatory Heron, before continuing eastward to Cley. Pat's Pool held a good selection of goodies, all of which were unfortunately rather far away: two Temminck's Stints and a Little Ringed Plover were the best of the bunch. The walk to the sea along the East Bank added Little Tern to the year list, but that was about it!

The birds and bees!

Linda and I took advantage of the fine weather to spend a day in the garden: lawns mowed, pond pumps and filters cleaned, edges strimmed and borders weeded. We even sat outside to eat lunch and enjoy a glass of Prosecco!

Overhead, several pairs of Buzzards displayed, occasionally taking a curious peep at the newly-arrived Swifts, while a female Great Spotted Woodpecker made frequent visits to the suet feeders!

Linda's bees have been a bit 'tetchy' of late: they swarmed a couple of times during the cold weather last week. Touch wood they seem to have settled down a bit today and were enjoying the 'all you can eat' buffet in the flower beds!

Beautiful Moon....

As I may have mentioned before, when the terminator (the line dividing the illuminated and unilluminated parts of the Moon) passes down the centre of the Moon's disc, some of the most impressive crater fields are revealed.