Quiet and Peaceful

You would think that Norwich, the county town of Norfolk, being only 100 miles from the centre of London would mean the whole of the county would be overrun with visitors. However, it’s a county where it is still possible to find remote areas. Remote and quiet.

I had been out on the marsh for around 2 hours. I had seen nobody. Nothing but a pair of Marsh Harriers quartering the reedbed for company. I was walking slowly on a floating mass of vegetation. Stepping forward the whole ground around me moved for a radius of several metres. It was like walking on thick pale green custard. If I stood for a while I slowly sank until the cold reminder of my boots filling with water prompted me to move. The thought suddenly occurred to me that if this meniscus of vegetation broke I should slip without a trace beneath the bog only for my remains to be discovered in the next millennium clutching camera and rechristened ‘Canon man’

All dark thoughts disappeared under a cloak of excitement, and relief, when I looked down to see the smallest twist of flowers struggling for attention amid a thatch of rushes. The most iconic of Norfolk’s orchids was reaching skyward, fingers outstretched, at my feet. Along with Bittern, Swallowtail, Norfolk Hawker and Crane; the Fen Orchid has to be listed within the county’s ‘big five’. As rare as it is beautiful this small delicate gem is only now found in dune slacks around Kenfig in South Wales as well as Norfolk.

Thank you to David for his more than perfect directions.

Still Plenty to See

Don’t get me wrong I love the UK’s wildlife, I thrive upon watching it; but it’s not often my breath is taken away here at home by the sight of the natural world any more. I guess one way of getting that rush is to go abroad; seeking out what wildlife wonders the rest of the world has to offer. I shall be after ‘that rush’ in a few days time as we travel The St Lawrence in Quebec seeking among other things Beluga’s; more on that to follow later.

So, as far as I was concerned, UK wildlife is spent; seen it, done it, been there and seen the sequel … or so I thought. That’s perhaps how I felt until I climbed a small grassy hill in North Norfolk last weekend and saw a hatch of Chalkhill Blue Butterflies. We guessed around 2000 to 2500 of these tiny flying jewels were occupying a small area. At times it was as if the ground itself was moving. These small butterflies are quite beautiful but to see so many together was truly breathtaking.

How aloof of me. How wrong could I have been? This wonderful countryside of ours obviously still has so many secrets I have yet to see. I was truly taken aback. The video below I took to try and give an impression of the moment but I guess you just had to be there.