April 2nd Foxley Wood, Swanton Novers, Sparham Pools & Broadland Country Park
My quest for this month was to search for a display of wood anemones. I have always wanted to experience walking through a carpet of these star-like white flowers. The sad thing is, displays of this plant is in decline. There aren't many places in Norfolk to experience it either. If there was any place in the county that is bound to have them, then surely Foxley Wood, the largest remaining ancient woodland in Norfolk, should have an amazing display. Joining me on my search was my former Reception Hide partner, Tricia.
It was very muddy on some sections and it took quite a bit of searching until we finally were seeing wood anemones. Unfortunately, it appeared we were a little early as most of them weren't in bloom yet to form any kind of display I was hoping for. It was getting there, but there were too many large gaps between the flowers to call them a display. The search will have to continue another day. At least it was a nice walk (other than the mud), with treecreepers, blackcaps, chiffchaffs and other woodland birds singing their hearts out. We even saw a brimstone and a few bluebells emerging.
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| Roe Deer (April 2nd), Gadwall (April 3rd), Wood Anemones & Greater Stitchwort (April 16th), Crane & Mallard Ducklings (April 17th) |
Our next destination was Sparham Pools. We walked around one of the pools, seeing cormorants, great crested grebes, teal, gadwall, shoveler, greylags, mute swans, tufted ducks and heard little grebes, siskins and my first willow warbler of the year.
Finally, we investigated the Broadland Country Park. It was a new place for both of us, full of pine trees and heathland. Perfect for nightjars in the summer. The highlight was seeing 3 roe deer (2 does and a buck) run through the woods and into the open field beyond the border of the park.
April 3rd Strumpshaw Fen
It was a beautiful sunny day with plenty of sunshine. It was still fairly muddy heading to Tower Hide, but at least it was drying up. From the hide, there several greylags, tufted ducks, a pochard, gadwall, 2 little grebes, marsh harriers and shelducks. The reserve was alive with the sounds of willow warblers, blackcaps, chiffchaffs and even a booming bittern.
It was a very busy day at Reception Hide due to it being the Easter holidays and lots of families arriving with noisy active children running around looking for dinosaur eggs (not real ones, obviously). While they were occupied in the woodland trail, I was busy watching sky dancing marsh harriers and a pair of pied wagtails.
April 10th Strumpshaw Fen
The bright and glorious sunshine over the Easter weekend was instantly forgotten upon arriving at Strumpshaw this Easter Monday as it was a bit of a washout. It rained all morning. I sheltered inside Fen Hide before my latest shift and it was surprisingly eventful. A lapwing was displaying in front of the hide, flying in many loops, calling and doing aerial acrobatics as it did so. Swarms of swallows and house martins didn't seem to care about the rain as they swooped across the sky for a meal. I also spotted 2 redshanks, a snipe, a Chinese water deer, greylags, a shoveler, a distant marsh harrier, 2 meadow pipits, flying shelducks and some gadwall.
The rain continued at Reception Hide, but there were a few decent sightings such as a red kite, an otter (which I missed), more swallows, 2 pied wagtails, shelducks, gadwall, a pochard, a little grebe, reed buntings and the sounds of sedge and willow warblers, blackcaps and chiffchaffs. The first ducklings and coots chicks were also exploring the reserve for the first time. However, the shift dragged towards the end as the sightings dwindled with only the rain left to watch.
After my shift, the sun came out and I was on my way to Carrow Road to watch Norwich play out a dull 0-0 draw with Rotherham. Along the way to the stadium, Dad and I discovered a display of few-flowered garlic by the roadside near Cary's Meadow. An unexpected sight which was a mini carpet of small white flowers that smelled of onions. It was better than watching the match itself.
April 16th Ashwellthorpe Wood
I wasn't done with the wood anemones just yet. In fact, I had just learned about a new location to look for them. Ashwellthorpe Wood near Wymondham is a much smaller woodland compared to Foxley and is also very good to see all kinds of woodland plants, including anemones. I've never been here before, so my parents and I went to investigate.
Wild garlic grew everywhere, though weren't in flower yet. The smell was something else. The scent of onion was also accompanied by the odd minty smell of wild mint. It was a spectacle for the nostrils! It didn't take long until we spotted our first anemone. However, it took us until we found a coppiced clearing where we discovered many flowers by a wired fence. Though they weren't covering the woodland floor in hundreds and thousands like the snowdrops at Walsingham, it was going to be the best we were going to get. Unfortunately, the fence did get in the way for us to truly appreciate them, but I could still patches of white stars peaking through as far as I could see.
This wood was a delight too with other plants such as stitchwort, lady's smock (or cuckooflower), lesser celandines, ground ivy and cowslips. But it was the wild garlic that really make me want to revisit again just to see them in flower. We also found orange-tips, bee-flies and heard green and great spotted woodpeckers (including one drumming), treecreepers and blackcaps.
April 17th Strumpshaw Fen
A beautiful day. I made my way to Tower Hide and the mud had all but dried up. On the way to the hide, I heard the unmistakable trumpeting honks of a crane! It was just a couple of honks, but it was enough to get me excited. It sounded pretty close too.
When I arrived at the hide, I actually found it standing at the back of the broad in a clearing. It stood tall above the surrounding reeds. This is a great sign as at least 2 had been reported landing on the reserve in recent days. Could we have nesting cranes at Strumpshaw? It would be a huge success story and the first in possibly a hundred or so years if they did.
It was another busy day at the Reception Hide due to it being a teacher training day and the schools were closed. Many families were visiting to do the Easter trail that was still running for an extra day. For me, I ended the day with an impressive list which included; marsh harriers, tufted ducks, shelducks, gadwall, mute swans, Cetti's warblers, lords and ladies arum, a muntjac, greylags, Canada geese, many ducklings, goslings and coot chicks, orange-tip, brimstone and peacock butterflies and red mason bees. I also heard bearded tits, sedge warblers, willow warblers, chiffchaffs, blackcaps and green woodpeckers.
April 22nd Ranworth Broad
News of an osprey at Ranworth got my mum interested in taking me to see it. We ended up going on a fine Saturday morning along with my dad before heading to Carrow Road once again to watch what was a 3-0 defeat against Swansea.
When we arrived to the floating visitor centre, a pair of men with scopes directed us to the osprey on the far side of the broad. Though very distant, we were instantly successful. It spent most of its time perched on a tree in the horizon near where a nest platform was built specifically for an osprey to take an interest in. It seemed to have worked, though despite being alone, the osprey was seen carrying sticks to build with.
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| Osprey & Great Crested Grebes (April 22nd), New bench at the Pumphouse & Lords and Ladies (April 24th), Whitethroat & Kingfisher (April 29th) |
We had a the best views of it when we returned to the reserve with our lunch for a picnic overlooking the broad. As we were eating, the osprey suddenly took to the air and was calling as it flew around the broad with its large wings. It then flew right above us, carrying a stick. It seemed to be in the mood to breed. A shame there wasn't a partner in sight. We would have had the first ever breeding pair in Norfolk otherwise.
Also seen on the broad were many great crested grebes performing their beautiful courtship displays, many common terns that have recently returned, herons, a marsh harrier, a cormorant, a pair of oystercatchers, tufted ducks, a pair of gadwall, singing sedge warblers and heard a drumming great spotted woodpecker.
April 24th Strumpshaw Fen
It was a day of 4 seasons at once. Cold and wet one minute, warm and sunny the next. I still managed to get to the Tower Hide, then to the pumphouse (to check out the newly installed bench sculpted by chainsaw) and into the woods without too much problem. It was muddy, but not as bad as it was before.
There was plenty about in the rain. From Tower Hide; a pochard, 2 tufted ducks, greylags, shelducks, marsh harriers and swarms of swallows and house martins. Along the river; a green sandpiper, shovelers, herons, great crested grebes, and heard a garden warbler, a whitethroat, sedge, reed and willow warblers and possibly a rather faint grasshopper warbler. I also spooked some muntjacs and Chinese water deer.
At the Reception Hide, there were many ducklings and goslings everywhere and swarms of swallows, house and sand martins, several marsh harriers, buzzards and the usual mute swans, coots, etc. I also heard my first cuckoo of the year, though it was a single and muffled outburst.
April 29th Norwich
I did an early morning walk along the river Wensum into the city. I started from the Marriot's Way, finding a whitethroat. Then at the water mill, I discovered a pair of kingfishers nesting in a hole in the wall of the mill. Three grey wagtails were flitting around the bridge further up, catching flies together and calling away all the while. And at the cathedral, I could hear a peregrine, but only briefly saw it flying to the nest box.
April 30th Hainford, Cley & West Runton
With the wood anemone display ticked off my challenge list, it was time to find the ultimate springtime woodland display; bluebells. Foxley Wood was top of my locations list for this part of my challenge as it is possibly the best place in Norfolk to see them. However, after watching the local news earlier this week which featured somewhere nearer and just as good, we decided to go there instead. The place in question was a small woodland in Hainford that was opening its gates for just this weekend and was accepting donations for charity. It seemed like a good cause, so my parents and I went to see it instead.
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| Bluebells, Bar-tailed Godwit, Little Ringed Plover, Long-billed Dowitcher & Wheatear (April 30th) |
It wasn't the biggest display in the world and was a bit patchy here and there, but it was just enough to satisfy me enough to tick it off my challenge sheet. It was still a fantastic carpet of bright blue and the smell was an amazing! They were all English bluebells as the bells were only on one side of the stem and droops, unlike the invasive Spanish bluebell that has the bells on all sides of the stem, doesn't droop and comes in blue, pink or white. I only found one or two white individuals, which is much rarer in English bluebells. It was a short but pleasant visit, which ended with cake.
We were done with the bluebells, but we weren't done with our outing just yet. Next up was a trip to the coast as we visited Cley. It was such a nice day and though there wasn't as many birds as when I went with Barbara last month (no spoonbills for example), there was still plenty on offer. From the hides, we saw; avocets, black-tailed and bar-tailed godwits, little ringed plover, great and lesser black-backed, herring and black-headed gulls, swallows, house martins, Egyptian and greylag goslings, dunlin, redshanks, ruff and marsh harriers. While at East Bank, the long-billed dowitcher was still around and we saw meadow pipits, shelducks and pintails.
After a tea break at Kelling tea rooms, we stopped at West Runton where a hoopoe had been reported. Sadly, despite looking for it, I could not find it. However, I did find several wheatears in a paddock with livestock in it and a distant whinchat in a ploughed field. Not quite as scarce as a hoopoe, but still good all the same.
