April 11th Strumpshaw Fen

Fog!

Visibility was poor at Strumpshaw as a thick, grey, murky curtain of fog has covered the reserve this morning. I could only just make out the ghostly shapes of the birds lurking amongst it. In the woods, the chorus of chiffchaffs, blackcaps and other birds could be heard from the canopy, but due to the foggy conditions, the higher they were, the harder they were to spot. Thankfully, there was at least one male blackcap was kind enough to perch close to me to get a good clear view of it. His warbling voice belted from deep within his syrinx (a bird's voice box) to my ears like the song of a blackbird on fast forward. Thin wisps of fog surrounds it delicately, adding a sense of magic to the wondrous performance of his song. The chiffchaffs, on the other hand, were more fidgety as they bounced around the branches, barely sitting still for longer than two seconds. Their song seemed to reflect this with their simple, repetitive notes bouncing around in the thicker sections of fog, leaving me lost to where they went and made me constantly search for them moments after finding them again.

Blackcap

Blue Tit

Blackbird

Daffodil

Catkins

Cherry blossom

Murky view at Reception Hide this morning

The view from Reception Hide was even worse. There were wildfowl and marsh harriers out there somewhere over at the other end of the broad, I promise! I could make out the reedy islands, but beyond them was just grey. Tufted ducks and pochards preferred to remain in this murky blanket, while the Canada goose and the coots nesting nearby did come out of it, swimming towards the hide where the fog was clearer. But even with or without the fog, the snipe that hunkered down within the growing stems of reed right in front of us only came to light thanks to a coot flushing it out to a much easier spot to see it. If it wasn't for that coot, I wouldn't have known it was there! This bird doesn't need the fog to hide in, it's camouflage is good enough on its own.

Tufted Ducks

Pochard

Shoveler

Coot

Canada Goose

Greylag

Stock Dove

Snipe

It is the second week of the Easter break and with all the schools closed, many parents have brought their children to Strumpshaw today for a special pond dipping event. The kids just can't get enough of pond dipping here and for today, a small group of volunteers have teamed up to help out. Here's just a couple of things they have caught....

Water Louse

Phantom Midge

A man taking his rats for a walk in the city!

Once my shift was over, I took a train back into Norwich. However, making my way down Prince of Wales Road, I noticed something unusual that I just had to share. So, how many of you take your dog to the city with you? How about your pet rat? Well, this guy did! He walked passed me with two of them on his shoulder. It was quite a sight to see and I have to say that I've never seen anyone casually walk around the city with rats before. They certainly were causing a bit of a stir amongst women that were passing by. I wonder what happens when he has to enter a store?