April 6th Strumpshaw Fen

Jay

Rain, rain go away, come back another day! The April showers are here and they have made me a bit wet as I walked around the reserve this morning. They were on and off all day in short bursts with the sun trying to sneak some bright sunshine between the showers. Some were heavy downpours, while others were light drizzles. It made hare watching a waste of time yet again. I feel like the hares do not want me to find them at Strumpshaw at all and they are even using the weather against me! My chance of seeing the penduline tit was also dashed by these wet conditions. Its a shame, because it has been posing well for hours for some people during the past few days while I wasn't around!

Coots

I took some time to shelter from the rain inside Fen Hide. Marsh harriers were active as usual, but while some were still courtship displaying through aerial dances and calling, I noticed one male carry nesting material down to one spot in a reedbed closeby to the hide. Three coots had a three way duel, fanning their wings upwards and then sitting upright on the surface to scrap with each other with their strange-shaped feet. The sound of the rain on the roof of the hide was outcompeted for a moment as the sound of a male bittern booming reverberated through my body. This was a deep, loud, low-pitched sound that sounded like it was very closeby within one of the reedbeds several metres from the hide. "Boom booom! Boom booom! boom booom!" As I was heading back to start my shift, I heard it again, though this time it sounded slightly faint from my previous position.

Marsh Harrier

Snail

Chiffchaff

Many of the spring migrants have returned to the reserve this week. The songs of willow warbler and blackcaps can be heard in harmony with the chiffchaffs that were here a couple of weeks ago. Swallows, sand and house martins swarm high in the air, feeding on what insect life that have risked the rain. When the sun breaks through between the showers, these birds returned to the air in force while the sunshine lasted, occasionally flying low at great speed over the broad.

Little Grebe (19)

Besides marsh harriers, a sparrowhawk and a handful of waterfowl and coots, there wasn't much to see from Reception Hide today. I did, however, managed to tick off one of my Strumpshaw 40 challenge targets. Little grebes (also known as dabchicks) are common, but for some reason they are being quite elusive at Strumpshaw. At this time of year, they are looking smart with their reddish plumage and white spot at the base of the bill. The males are more red than the females, but in the winter the red becomes faded and they both look similar. They are small grebes but full of character. Listen out for their loud rapid trills that they use during courtship. They love areas of open water that are bordered with reedbeds and your best bet in seeing one is from the hides, especially Tower Hide.

Moorhen

Artists at work!

I was in the company of artists from Norwich University of the Arts (or the Norwich School of Art as it used to be known) during my lunch. They were taking a lunch break from learning about the reedbed habitat and how it is managed as well as from the weather. I guess the reserve has given them some inspiration as most of them were busy creating works of art in their sketchbooks from what they could see outside the hide. It is a nice to see other people drawing for a change and takes my mind off the rain.

April 5th Norwich

Peregrine watching at Norwich Cathedral

It is that time again at Norwich Cathedral. The peregrines are back and have already laid four eggs. The Hawk and Owl Trust have their tent set up and their scopes pointing at the spire as they have been doing for the last few years, helping the peregrine adoring public to see them while also telling them the latest news. Today, I thought it was about time I'd pay them a visit and to get some photos of these local avian celebrities.

The male Peregrine on the Cathedral's spire

As soon as I arrived to the cathedral grounds, I instantly spot one of the peregrines sitting near the very top of the spire. This was apparently the male. He sat there for a short while, preening himself and having a good look around the city. He's probably got the best view from up there as it is the highest spot in Norwich.

The female sitting on the eggs via the Hawk and Owl Trust's webcam

The female was sitting on the eggs in the nest box half way up the spire. The Hawk and Owl Trust have live pictures from the nest on a tablet (which I took this photo from) in their tent. If you want to watch them yourself, click on this link for the live webcam (http://upp.hawkandowl.org/norwich-peregrines/norwich-cathedral-peregrine-live-web-cam-2016/). As I said earlier, she is sitting on four eggs. The first was laid on March 18th, the second on March 21st, the third on March 23rd and the fourth on March 26th. Amazingly, these are the same dates as 2014! I will keep you updated when the chicks begin to hatch.

The male feeding from its cache

After a taking the time to admire the view, the male swooped down from his perch to the base of one of the 4 mini spirettes (sorry, I don't know my architecture jargon) that are beside the main spire. Peregrines don't always eat fresh from the kill, they also store some of their kills in caches around the cathedral to eat later. Its the falcon equivalent to a cupboard or larder. I watched him pluck away at something hidden behind a ledge. Feathers were being plucked by the falcon's bill and was then released and blown away by the wind. It was clearly eating something, but I don't know what. I expect it was a pigeon, the main prey of the peregrine. He then took off and flew out of sight, possibly out on another hunt for another unexpecting pigeon somewhere in the city, stooping down on it at speed from a great height.

Autism and Me

A sculpture of myself in 'autistic energy' made with coloured wires

It is funny to call myself the Autistic Naturalist and only talk about nature and wildlife, but not talk too much about the other subject in my title. So today, I have decided to open up and tell you what its like being autistic. First of all, autism is not a disease, it is a behavioural problem where I find it hard to socialize with other people. Though, if you met me in person, you may think there is nothing wrong with me. To you, I am like a normal person. But actually, I am a complex person. I see the world in a completely different way. The art work you see here were created by me during my college years and back then, I used my autism as inspiration to create them. I often refer my art as 'autistic energy', full of tangled masses of lines that appear as scribbles or a tangle of wires or string or as a congealed mass of paint where the colours merge and layer over each other. This reflects my mind, a confusing tangled mess inside my brain trying to escape via my actions. Sometimes the stuff inside my autistic mind is amazing, but it can also be frustrating and hard to understand.

I was diagnosed with autism when I was about 9 years old. I went through all sorts of tests and went to a couple of schools which taught children with special needs. But it wasn't until high school when my autism really got out of hand. The thing with autism is that any tiny change can cause a lot of stress. High school was a noisy, stressful place for me. The other students were often talking noisily to each other during class and I couldn't cope with these levels of noise. I would often breakdown, shaking violently, banging my head on the desk and throwing things. I still wanted to learn and was interested in subjects such as science and art, just being with so many other people made it hard for me.

Self portrait/relief (2008) The face and cap was sculpted using layers and layers of paint and glue!

When I left school in 2003, I went to a special needs college in Grimsby for three years. I found it hard to cope at times, but eventually I got used to the change and made friends with other students with special needs. The college taught me independent life skills, as well as some social skills. I am grateful for them for this. Today, I am a lot more confident in talking to some people. I still find it hard to communicate with people, including my parents, but it is a lot easier than before. I still prefer to listen to my music rather than to chit-chat about boring subjects. I do from time to time get irratated and a bit snappy if someone keeps talking to me for too long or I will talk continuously if it is about wildlife or a subject I really care about.

After my three years in Grimsby were up in 2006, I went to another college in Norwich to study and create art. At this point, I was able to make friends easily, though I still felt isolated at times. It was my relationship with paint and other materials that I began to struggle with the most. For the first two years, I was happy to create art work, but then I hit the wall mentally. I was running out of ideas of what to do with the art equiptment and then one day I started to write poetry instead during class. I was falling out of love with one art form and gaining interest with another. I went on an extra year-long art course, but by this time I was writing more poetry than actural paintings or sculptures. During the year of this course, I created a poetry book online called 'My Autistic World', which I believe you can still buy online if you look it up. Here is one poem from it called 'My Mind Monster'...

My mind is a monster,

My Mind Monster

As big as a planet trapped inside a small box,
Wanting to be free from its cramped space,
The beast smashes its impenitrating walls,
Like an earthquake created by two rubbing plates,
It plans to erupt like Vesuvius with flame and flare.

The beast occasionally breaks free of its prison cell,
Creating chaos and nightmares,
All this doesn't last long,
As beast is dragged back by chain and cell relocked.

When I'm gone,
My imprisoned immortal demon will drag down with my soul,
It is my burden,
My secret friend,
And most of all,
My Monster!!!!

Today, my autism is still an issue. I live alone and I find it hard to find love. My autism makes it a bit awkward to form a relationship and I pretty much shy myself away from doing anything about it. But while my love life is non-existant, my love with wildlife is growing from strength to strength. Since I was a child, I had always had a fascination with wildlife, birds especially, and I always try to incorporate it with everything I do. This is why I volunteer at Strumpshaw or create this blog. This is what I am all about and I get frustrated when I miss out on seeing something new. Being with nature calms my autism for at least a short while. It is an escape from the real world and I feel like I can't live without it.