I was half asleep to be honest. The warm sunshine was a change from the ‘cut your legs off’ Northerly that had been driving off the North Sea. As I opened up the gates at Wild Ken Hill this morning for the days tour I was surrounded by a cacophony of birdsong. Breeding in full swing.
Amid the harmonious warblers was a screeching; a panic of gulls from above. I looked up. A large bird of prey was the issue. A White tailed Eagle floated gently by. I’m getting quite used to seeing these birds in Norfolk now.
Some say it’s never good to revisit part of your past. They could be right. The rose colouring of time often makes experiences seem better than they were. However, every Spring I lament not looking out on the pond at Falcon Cottage. I created a migrant bird haven. A place where birds could shelter for a while; take rest and recover before moving on. The list of species that visited the garden on the ridge just east of Northrepps was nothing short of astounding but it was the regular and reliable spring occurrences of Ring Ousel that I looked forward to most of all. Sadly, since moving on, the garden is now not what it was.
We had good but brief views of Ring Ousel in Scotland two weeks ago. The vanguards of breeding birds had arrived and we found a female on Cairngorm sheltering from a ferocious wind. Here at West Runton earlier this week there was a splattering of birds moving through. A nice male posed in the cattle paddocks briefly; but you could tell it was anxious to move on. It never settled for long, even when viewed from a distance. The need and the rush to breed is strong.
However … birds never show as well as they did at Falcon Cottage.
The weather tempted us into the hides last week. Scotland was trying its best to let in spring but winter demanded a curtain call. After the snow came the rain and with the rain came the wind.
The distant sound of a grebe calling came across the water. First one Slavonian, then two, then another two. Five in total came to see us; displaying and mating, spreading head plumes and parting water with a wake of urgency. For me spring began right there … right then.
Some challenging weather on our tour to Scotland this April didn’t deter us having some excellent sightings. We saw many other species in addition to the those photographed here including Ring Ousel, White Billed Diver, Black Grouse, Golden and White tailed Eagle. Look out for next years tour being advertised within the next few weeks.
Letter From Norfolk 