Woke up feeling rough still. It was raining a bit when we went to breakfast and when we loaded up the car, so we decided not to bother going back to Hickling Broad and instead drove up to Cley where we just stopped for a cup of tea and a look at the nearest bodies…
My sense that I might be getting a cold, yesterday, seems to have resolved into a bad hay fever caused by willow pollen so I struggled a bit through the day. We went to Hickling Broad where we joined the NWT. We walked the track down to Stubb Mill, stopping at each of the two…
We paid a short visit to the Minsmere reserve on the 16th May with our friend who has just moved to the area and was unfamiliar with the reserve, we didn’t really drag her around the site that much, just giving her an idea of what it was like. We were leaving her on the…
We left the cottage and parked at the Sheperd’s Baa and walked down the arboretum track as far as the bridge. It started to rain heavily so we dropped into the cafe again to dry off and use the loos before getting into the car. We decided to try the picnic site at Santon Downham.
We had some friends visiting us at the cottage and we hoped for a nice walk but it started to rain so heavily we abandoned that idea and we drove straight out to Ye Old Windmill at Gressingham, an inspired pick on Anne’s part as it was a most wonderful pub, full of character, quiet…
I was up early for our first morning at the Woodcutter’s Lodge in Lynford Arboretum, so sat outside on the patio drinking tea and listening to the assorted bird song – Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Cuckoo, Goldfinch, Robin, Song Thrush, Swallow, Wood Pigeon and Wren.
We drove from The Old Pheasant at 9.15am in direction of Peterborough, Chatteris, Ely and Prickwillow., stopping at RSPB Lakenheath Fen where we just did the little loop around the bend in the river. It was freezing cold and windy and not very conducive to birding. We got very good views of our first Whitethroat…
We set off from Manchester at 9am and took our planned route avoiding motorways which turned out to be a good decision because it was a lovely day, the route was straightforward and the traffic wasn’t too bad. We drove straight through to Wyndhampton Windmill near Rutland Water for about 12 which was perfect. We…
Our, nearly two-week, holiday around Sussex and Norfolk in May 2026 involved us mixing a bit of birding with visiting friends. Over the period we stayed at “The Old Pheasant” at Oakham, near Rutland Water, The Woodcutters Lodge in Lynford Arboretum in Norfolk followed by a night with friends at Bury St Edmunds and two…
We had a nice morning out at Macclesfield Forest and managed to get five year ticks including a great pair of Pied Flycatchers.
