Catching Up: Pre-Easter Break in North Norfolk

We spent a wonderful few days in North Norfolk just before Easter. The two Wordles above show some of the wildlife we saw. I wish I could improve my wader ID skills! The weather was mixed: it was fairly dry apart from the Sunday, but pretty chilly.

We spent some time inland, visiting the Broads, and quite a bit of time on the coast. The photo above shows us approaching St Benet's Abbey on a boat from South Walsham Inner Broad.

Men were hard at work harvesting reeds. 

Yes, it was pretty chilly on the water!

We visited Ranworth Broad where you can see Swallowtails a bit later on in the year. The one above was part of a kneeler in St Helen's Church - and the one below was part of a misericord. 

I particularly liked the misericord of St Benet's...

There is a lovely boardwalk through a stretch of Alder carr...

... and reedbeds ...

... to this floating Visitor Centre run by Norfolk Wildlife Trust. The family ahead of us saw an Otter as they approached the building: we looked but weren't so lucky. However it was wonderful to watch the Great Crested Grebes performing their courtship dances ...

 

I will add a few photos of our coastal adventures in another post, but since it wasn't Swallowtail season, here is a Peacock butterfly we saw in Ranworth ...

Alton Water - a multi-functional reservoir

My small Lumix camera has not coped well with the low light, but it was good to see several pairs of Great Crested Grebes on the reservoir at Alton Water Park on the Shotley peninsula in Suffolk. We also spotted Moorhen, Coot, Mallard and a single Tufted Duck.

The ducks below have thrown me: I had initially assumed that they were two of the Goldeneye that will be leaving soon for their breeding ground, but I am just wondering whether they are in fact female Tufted Ducks, the far one being a white-vented variant. Do tell me what you think: I have a hunch that I may have overlooked the obvious!  

There were loud twitterings from the bushes, but most of the small birds kept to the thicket, the one below being an exception. A pair of Bullfinches could be seen flitting to and fro through a dense mass of twigs. 

The light, such as it was, began to fade, and we headed back to the start of the trail. This was the scene at our turning point:

The tower is part of the Royal Hospital School in Holbrook.

Alton Water is a reservoir. It is used for recreation by wildlife enthusiasts, cyclists, dog walkers and sailors. You can read more about the spring wildlife here.

Nature Reserves: Needham Market, Suffolk

We took a chilly walk around the lake at Needham Market. It forms part of a Local Nature Reserve, and proved a good place for ducks and gulls.

The lake used to be a gravel pit, and the River Gipping flows through the site. Apparently grass snakes are seen in the warmer months, but this one above was the only serpentine creature to put in an appearance on this bitter January day. 

There were, however, welcome signs of spring, like these catkins. Hazel, Alder and Birch all produce catkins at this time of year. Alder trees produce not only male catkins but also female strobili which are like miniature pine cones in appearance.

For a moment we thought we had chanced upon an Easter Island council, but on reflection, it was possibly more like a woodland gathering of Ents!

There were a number of chilly-looking Moorhens about ...

... and moles were evidently not far away.

We were particularly pleased to see this Great Crested Grebe, as I do not recall seeing one in non-breeding winter plumage before.

The photo above shows the sunlight on the lake ...

... but I was puzzled by these small white ducks. I feel sure that they were not large enough to be Aylesbury ducks. I gather Mallard drakes are not too particular when it comes to pairing. There is a white duck called a Pekin (or domestic/farm) duck, bred originally from the Mallard in China. Perhaps these are Pekinese ducks, but they may be Call ducks. They are not albino as they have yellow bills. There are, of course, forms of leucism that can effect wildfowl.

Sadly this grebe above is a bit out of focus, but these are such graceful birds!

This trio of Black-headed Gulls (with deep pink legs) looked out on ...

... a lone gull with pale orange legs. I suspect it was also a Black-headed Gull, probably a 'first winter' bird. Do let me know if you think otherwise!