Maureen Simmons
This week we visited the beautiful area of
Holme Dunes on the north Norfolk coastline.
For the first time since we started our NWT nature reserve visits, we met
plenty of other walkers enjoying the winter sunshine.
We started off with a cup of coffee and
home-made shortbread, made by Joyce (pictured) whilst we watched a lone
redshank running in and out of a little rivulet, foraging for shrimps and
worms. Here we heard our first sky lark of the year.
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Joyce Woods who knows the names of all the wildflowers we
find;
taught to her during long walks as a child with her dad, an ex-coal
miner
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As we walked along the pathway on top of
the dunes we saw a flock of curlews and another of ringed plovers coming in to
settle by the shallow pools' edges. Some
of these pools in the sand dunes are man-made to provide the perfect habitat
for the rare natterjack toads. Sitting
in the hide overlooking one of the larger pools we saw many curlews,
pink-footed geese, coots, shellducks and black and white tufted ducks.
The buds on the sea buckthorn were swelling
ready to burst. The orange berries that will form in the autumn on these spiky
shrubs will provide an important winter feed for the many over-wintering birds.
Photos cannot do justice to this naturally
wild and wonderful area. You just have
to be there!
The Ovington Ramblers are a small group of friends who have decided in their 20th year of walking together that we will try
to visit all the Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserves in their 90th Anniversary year.
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