Seasonal Splash: the Norfolk Broad at UEA

I seem to have been in Norwich quite a bit this last week! I spent my teeneage years here, so it has a special place in my heart. On Tuesday night I went on a twilight tour of the Cathedral Cloisters ...

.... and then on Wednesday I had the chance to wander around the lovely grounds at UEA, where there is a Broad. It was a rather bleak November afternoon, but I managed to spot drifts of autumn colouring.

The photo above shows another view of the UEA Broad, an artificial lake that had been marsh in a previous pre-university existence. I wonder how many British universities have their own wildlife trail. Norfolk is full of Broads! 

I approached the Broad from the iconic Sainsbury Centre, pictured below. 

These are the ziggurats, designed by Sir Denys Lasdun ... You can read about the original ziggurats here. 

The larch above was brown, perhaps due to the time of year. The seed heads below were looking pretty bare.

I believe it is National Tree Week. I looked closely at these Ash buds, hoping that they would escape the die-back disease ...

It was a shame that there were so few birds about, though having said that, I noticed a Magpie, a Jay, several Long-tailed tits, a Robin and this Black-headed Gull ...

I must go back in the Spring, and see how different the landscape looks.

These bright leaves were a glorious sight on a drab afternoon! 

I felt we needed Mr and Mrs Andrews (without the gun!) to complete the scene below ...

Nature Reserves: Dunwich Heath at Twilight

By the time we reached Dunwich Heath at the weekend, the light was fading fast ...

Swans were heading ...

... for home overhead.

There were a few Red Deer about ...

... but in the fading light, you had to keep your eyes skimmed!

The crescent moon was magnificent ...

... and the shades of sunset merged as the sun disappeared.

Seasonal Splash: Robin and Spider's Web

After appearing on a live local radio show yesterday to introduce my poetry chapbook,
I went on to Woodbridge and saw this lovely Robin in a garden centre.

There were some wonderful spiders' webs in the garden once I got home ...

... this is a close-up, against a plastic garden chair.

Nothing particularly wild about these, but I hope they will add a splash (or clash!) of colour to our bare garden!

Nature Reserves: Minsmere at Twilight

The sun was still out - and so was this late Red Admiral Butterfly - so we headed off to Minsmere ...

... where we saw Red Deer and one little Muntjac (who was too fast for my camera).

The berries must be providing a feast for the small birds ...

The larger ones (geese - ?Greylag) prefer to fly overhead ...

in their characteristic V.

There was a small murmuration of Starlings between the mere and Dunwich Heath.

I always enjoy this view of the tall poplars.

This is the panorama (not quite taking in the domed edifice of Sizewell Power Station!) ...

... and this is the close-up (taken a minute or so after the photo two above).

This is probably my favourite shot: the reedbeds are so evocative.

High tides have claimed a lot of sand since our last visit. You can see these raised gatherings of pebbles all along this stretch.

We made our way back to the car as the last of the light gave way to darkness.

• My thanks to Crafty Green Poet for spotting my absent-minded moment! I called the butterfly a Peacock, but it is f course a Red Admiral ... 
• Off-topic postscript, but a worthwhile feature here on Ash die-back in Cumbria - and the RSPB on Ash die-back here.

Home Patch: Remnants, Fragments ... and New Shoots

There was very little of colour or novelty value in the garden yesterday ... but then my eyes alighted on our small cherry tree. How lovely to see buds in November! I hope they will survive our frosts.

I am enjoying the welcome splash of colour provided by our lingering Nasturtiums; those, that is, that survived the hungry Large White caterpillars some weeks ago. Judging by this morning's frost, these will not be around much longer.

A single hoverfly was sunning itself on a leaf. 

And for those of you who like wild ruins (as well as 'wild wildlife'), you can read about my poetry chapbook launch here in Ipswich tonight on the University Campus Suffolk Heritage Blog ...

Seasonal SplAsh: Snape Maltings

We were at Snape Maltings for the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival today, where this menacing scene ...

. . . can be found almost alongside this tranquil view of Iken church tower (and the boat) emerging from the reedbeds. 

There were some beautiful autumn colours. The things that look like giant marrows on the cart are reed bundles ...

The bright red of the Poetry Festival banners ...

. . . and the rainbow of autumn leaves added a splash of colour to the scene. 

It was very poignant to see this beautiful ash tree, in the light of the current bout of ash disease ...

. . . and I thought the bark was beautifully mottled.

There were few birds about, but I'm sure they will love these!