Has Spring Really Sprung?

 April 8th Strumpshaw Fen

After a week off due to Easter and football, I returned to Strumpshaw. However, there was a train strike going on and I had to get a lift to the reserve and back.

I walked through the woods and it was greener than last time I was here with leaves covering the trees and new plants such as garlic mustard, lords and ladies and common chickweed. Along the river, I heard a bittern and my first grasshopper warbler of the year. I also saw my first willow, sedge and reed warbler, too.

At Reception Hide, I saw my first swallow, a heron, a great crested grebe, coots on nests, a kestrel, gadwall, marsh harriers and lots of ducklings. There were plenty of butterflies also, including brimstones, peacocks, commas and green-veined whites.

Willow Warbler, Coot &
Mallard Family (April 8th),
Redshank & Mandarin Duck (April 14th)

With time to kill before my lift, I wanted to walk to Tower Hide. But news suddenly reached me that the river had burst its banks and the paths were underwater. I got to the now closed gate blocking the path and a man was wading through the water. He had walked to the hide when it was fine and when he left, he discovered it had flooded with the water up to the lower half of his legs!

I ended up doing the same route as my morning walk but reversed. Lizards were basking along the Sandy Wall and I sat and listened to the bitterns booming from the sculpted bench by pumphouse. I added Herb Robert and the first bluebell to my list (not many though). At a usual spot near Reception, I found the leaves of common twayblades. They usually get eaten, so I hope they get protected this time.

April 14th Cley & Kelling Water Meadows

A lovely day out at Cley with my parents. Though, we only visited the 4 hides and not to the beach this time. There were mostly avocets and black-tailed godwits, a few dunlin, the odd ruff, common and little ringed plover and a pair of marsh harriers building a nest. Amongst the godwits, though, was the long staying long-billed dowitcher sleeping beside them. This American wader has been in North Norfolk since October 2022!

We tried to get a better look of it at Bishop's Hide. But it had disappeared by the time we got there. The best we could find was a snipe and a little ringed plover.

After lunch, Dad and I decided to go to Kelling Water Meadows for a quick walk. A male mandarin duck was probably the highlight, but I also saw plenty of butterflies including speckled woods, holly blues and green veined whites as well as marsh marigolds.

April 15th Strumpshaw Fen

Mum told me she'd drop me off to the reserve this morning as powerful winds and heavy rain was forecasted. It didn't seem that way as I got to Tower Hide with no issue, seeing many sand martins and swallows flying around, some tufted ducks, a pair of great crested grebes, a few little egrets and heard a bittern booming. Then I went to the pumphouse and still nothing. But then, as I was leaving the woods, it started to rain.

By the start of my shift in Reception, it really hammered it down and a 40mph winds shook the building. Sunshine did peek through between the outbursts, but it was not to last. The highlight was seeing a crane fly in, landing behind the treeline. Maybe it was visiting it's partner on the nest? Also about were shelducks, another pair of grebes, greylags, Canada geese, gadwall, mallards, swans and a bank vole that was scurrying beneath the benches.

April 22nd Strumpshaw Fen

I decided , no, was determined, to walk down the Lackford Run this morning. After months closed due to floods and mud, it was open and I really wanted to find plants. It started well as I found bog myrtle and marsh fern by the boardwalk. But then it was just a slog through undried patches of mud. Eventually, I reached the Tower Hide (hearing a bittern, bearded tits and a grasshopper along the way), where a pair of great crested grebes were on a nest and saw greylags, gadwall and not much else.

Blackcap, Lizard &
Grey Wagtail (April 22nd), Great Crested Grebe,
Pink-footed Goose with Greylags & Garganey (April 29th)

Moving towards pumphouse, I heard a pair of cranes bugling over the sound of a tractor ploughing a nearby field with a squeaky wheel that sounded very similar to them. There was a lot of air traffic this morning and it made me not enjoy my walk very much. There wasn't a lot to see anyway, not even a plant for me to add. Bluebells were in short supply also.

At Reception, I saw the odd swallow, a grey wagtail, coot with chicks, another pair of grebes busy mating and rebuilding a nest, a shelduck, greylags, Canada geese, marsh harriers, gadwall, a shoveler and a mallard family being harassed by a territorial coot.

April 29th Strumpshaw Fen & Hickling Broad

A nice day after a weekend of rain. The path to Tower Hide was boggy in places. Wish I had my other boots on now! The grebes were on a nest with 4 eggs in it and a crane flew out of the reedbeds. There weren't many other highlights besides greylags, gadwall, marsh harriers and many warblers singing.

After an uneventful walk along the river to pumphouse and into the woods, I was a little late to start my latest shift. There were plenty about at Reception Hide today. A crane was circling really high in the clouds, a hobby was catching insects in the air before perching in a couple of trees. But my bird of the day was a pink-footed goose out on the broad. It was an injured bird, but the fact it was here was a surprise to me as I've never seen one on ground level at Strumpshaw before. They usually fly over during the winter.

Once my shift was over, I waited for former Wednesday Reception Hide partner Tricia to arrive. I was going on an outing to Hickling Broad. It was a bit windy, but at least it was nice enough to check the place out. We started at the pools where most of the birds were, including a garganey. I managed to spot one male before he vanished within some green reed shoot patches. We also had teal, tufted ducks, shoveler, marsh harriers, greylags with goslings and 2 cranes flying by in the distance. Other highlights included my first common tern, hairy dragonflies and cuckoo calling somewhere.