30 Days Wild: My journey

Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Head of People and Wildlife, David North signed up to the challenge of 30 Days Wild and got in touch with his inner wild child this June.  Close encounters with nature and priceless memories ensued.

Star gazing, moon watching, fire making, sea swimming, bee following, poppy field wandering, opening my eyes and ears for lots of looking and listening: 30 Days Wild has been an adventure.  Too many highlights to list, but I would like to share just some of my 30 Days Wild moments with you and just a few images that hopefully capture some of my special wild June moments.

Baby muntjac with 'Mum' and Swans with cygnets by David North

Waking on June 2 to look out of the window and spot a baby muntjac, still wobbly-legged and spotty-coated, and no bigger than a puppy, accompanied by its mum was a definite ‘isn’t nature amazing moment’ and the swans on Felbrigg lake later that day with nine cygnets scored high on the ‘cute factor’.

Yellow flag, bee orchids and dandelion clock by David North

I had resolved during 30 Days Wild to pay more attention to plants. After all June is peak-flower, both in my garden, and along the lanes and byways where I walk my dog, Rohan. 

Rohan enjoying the poppies

My June started yellow; with buttercups, dandelions and yellow flag iris. The middle of the month brought those stars of the plant world, orchids, into full flower, with both common spotted and bee orchids gracing my local walks. It ended in a blaze of scarlet, with a visit, accompanied by Rohan of course, to a Norfolk speciality, poppy fields in all their mind-altering crimson glory. Like stepping, Alice in wonderland like, into a different and brighter reality.I think Rohan liked it too.

Taking advice from my 30DaysWild pack I decided on several occasions during the month to try following bees. My preferred version of this was lying on my lawn in the sunshine watching countless bumblebees visiting white clover flowers and idling an hour trying to capture that perfect image. Well, no perfection, but one or two just about in focus images resulted!

I resolved with my wife to spend more time out outdoors, so gathering sticks and several outdoor cooking attempts in the garden left me, and the food, well-smoked.  I love the smell of wood-smoke but not sure how my colleagues at work took to my new smoky perfume aroma.

A curious Roe Deer by David North

During June a roe deer adopted us, spending much of its time either in the barley field we look out on, or the grass field next to our entrance. A field of waving Yorkshire Fog I’m proud to say – you see I’ve been learning my common grasses this month helped by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s County Wildlife Action project!  I got a lot of not very good photos of this particular roe deer, which had the early morning habit of eating the roses in our garden, but how could you not forgive such a soft-eyed, elegant, beautiful and gentle creature?  This image of her on the edge of the barley field is one of the better ones. 

Swallowtail detail by David North

 30 Days Wild, and there’s still a few days left as I’m writing this, has seen me adventure out to NWT Hickling Broad where in the hot sunny weather swallowtails were dancing over reeds and fen.But dancing fast enough to blur all my photos. This image I rather liked in an arty kind of way! I hope you do too.

Gossamer threads by David North

Hot days also brought vast numbers of tiny ‘money’ spiders to our garden, tickling hair and face as we ate our evening meals outside. This made me walk at sunrise the next morning to see if a could spot ‘gossamer’ in  the local fields – one of nature’s many miracles, when the usually hidden abundance of spiders is revealed by thin silk strands shining silver across whole fields. Spiderlings release these strands of silk to catch the wind and fly, but its only when   the sun is low in the sky at early morning, or near sunset, that these gossamer strands catch the light and are revealed.

Hoverflies enjoying the nectar on thistle head

What have I liked about 30 Days Wild? 
Well just about everything!  Like most people I need a reason to look and listen just a bit more carefully and to spend a little more time each day enjoying the extraordinary diversity and beauty of nature.  

What has impressed me most?  Probably my ignorance, for as I write this inside virtually every flower in my garden is a unique small  ecosystem teeming with life that seems extraordinary but about which I know almost nothing. Pollen beetles beyond count; small, black and perfect in every way; hoverflies in shades of marmalade- orange and black, with huge eyes that take up most of their heads. They queue in perfect hovers await their turn at my garden flowers.  Hoverflies in a holding pattern waiting for the larger bumblebees to leave some landing space. 

Barley turning gold by David North

As I write this the barley in the field next door is turning gold, and tonight, most likely, I will hear the hoots of tawny owls from a nearby wood and perhaps the barking of deer already thinking of the rutting season to come.  Yesterday my 30DaysWild action was to tempt the rabbits, which live in the brambles at the end of my garden, to come out into the open. I bribed them with a carrot. Small payment for permission to photograph them and to spend a happy half hour watching and smiling at their antics.  

One thing 30 Days Wild has taught me is that if you sit quietly and watch then wildlife may soon lose its fear of coming close.  Definitely true for these young rabbits!

Young rabbits by David North

Norfolk is extraordinary. Nature is extraordinary.  And my resolution, come the end of June, is to make ‘Wildfulness’ practice - simply spending time in, and with, nature, part of my every day and to share nature moments with friends and family. After all, whether we notice or not, we are part of nature and nature is part of us.

‘We are all, bird and human, part of the earth, of its time and its matter, impelled by the mechanisms within, the ones that order our responses to days, months, years, to light and darkness, the rhythms, circadian, circannual, that regulate what we are and what we do.' From: Esther Woolfson, Corvus. A life with birds.

30 Touches of Nature

The month of June is fast approaching and it's a great time to get outdoors and enjoy nature - it's good for your health and wellbeing.  Why not take up the 30DaysWild challenge?  Here Norfolk Widlife Trust's Head of People and Wildlife, David North explains how going wild in June can make you feel good.

'One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.'  (William Shakespeare)
 

 There is much talk today of the benefits of ‘mindfulness’ as a way of coping with the seemingly ever-increasing stresses and strains of modern life. But ‘wildfulness’, simply spending time in nature, can also bring great rewards.

Bar-tailed godwits by David North

I was lucky enough over the recent Bank Holiday weekend to spend time walking on the Norfolk coast beneath the wild, eroding cliffs of Mundesley. It was a windy day, windy enough to blow your troubles away, and as the waves crashed against seaweed-encrusted, wooden groins masses of bubbly sea foam was flying into the air then bouncing along the beach in foaming masses. In my book, time spent walking along our wonderful Norfolk coast, with its diverse wild landscapes of sand, sea, shingle, mud and marsh, is never wasted.  A walk along the shore is a great place to gain a sense of perspective, to see things both literally and metaphorically in a new light.  And as with any walk in wild places there are always surprises: on this walk winging their way through the flying foam came a small flock of bar-tailed godwits.  They rested briefly on the beach, just long enough to see some were in full ‘red’ breeding plumage and others, perhaps non-breeders or younger birds, still winter grey. With them flew one, extremely smart, black and white spangled, grey plover. What a delight. Today Mundesley beach, next stop, perhaps the Arctic circle! 
 
Spending quiet time in nature, sitting or walking, listening and looking, without rushing or getting distracted by thoughts of jobs I need to do, not only helps me see details in the landscape and natural world that I would otherwise miss, it also helps me make sense of my life.  How often do we simply give ourselves time to ‘tune-in’ to the sounds, smells and textures of nature around us? But at least for me this time is vital: vital to health, happiness and sanity.

Perhaps you need an excuse to simply spend a few moments outside allowing yourself to connect to nature around you?  Well the good news is the Wildlife Trusts are offering the perfect excuse.  It’s free, like the wild world around us, and it’s called 30 Days Wild.
 
The aim is to get as many people as possible to do one small thing – one Random Act of Wildness – which could be as simple as going outside on a clear night and spending a couple of minutes star gazing, find a wild space in a lunchtime and sitting quietly for five minutes tuning in to the living things around us that we share this world with, or getting up early and listening to bird song, really listening so that all your attention is attuned to what you are hearing. It’s happening in June but if you visit the website now, we will send you a pack (by email or post) full of ideas for Random Acts of Wildness to try out in June.  These small actions – walking for a minute barefoot though grass on a dewy morning, taking time to touch the rough bark of a tree, following a bee or butterfly for a minute and observing its life – may sound trivial, but give it 30 days and I suspect you will be surprised at the power that spending time connecting to nature has to change the way you feel.  It should of course come with a health and happiness warning. After 30 days you may well have formed a lifetime habit!

Explore the boundaries between land, sea, sky, earth and nature. In doing so you may begin to discover your own connection to the timeless cycles of nature which in reality, without or without our conscious awareness, we are all participants in.  Is that wildness inside us or outside? Are we part of nature or separate from it?

If ‘one touch of nature makes the whole world kin’ just think what 30 touches can do for you!   To join in visit www.wildlifetrusts.org/30dayswild  You are never too old or too young to enjoy the nature around you and if you are a family and would like to interest your children in wildlife then taking part in 30DaysWild is a great way to start. 

Do you want some help in reconnecting with nature?
The Wildlife Trusts have a saying, ‘All our lives are better when they are a little bit wild’ and have developed hundreds of ‘Random Acts of Wildness’ which are easy and free to do and can help you engage with nature wherever you are. For details visit 30 Days Wild.
 
The Wildlife Trusts believe that people are part of nature; everything we value ultimately comes from it and everything we do has an impact on it. We believe that each year, there should be more wildlife and more wild places, and people should become closer to nature.

NWT Breckland Local Group: A butterfly ramble at East Wretham Heath Reserve

As winter draws in with cold frosty mornings - Carole Herries, Secretary of the NWT Breckland Local Group reflects back on a lovely day out earlier in the year in Breckland where she and the group encountered a host of butterflies and a beautiful moth.
  

'On a fine autumn morning on 14 September 2016, 21 members of the NWT Breckland Local Group set out on a walk at East Wretham Heath Reserve. The walk started at the information board on the reserve, and was led by the Matt Blissett, the Breckland Reserves Manager.

Peacock moth with 'footprints'

On the walk, the group viewed the many Breckland pine trees that are a key feature in the landscape.   Another welcome sight was a beautiful peacock moth with its characteristic footprint-like markings on its wings quite evident. 

Small copper butterfly

 
Later on a small copper provided a colourful display for us.  During our visit we walked through the wooded area of the reserve, the route taking us on a 3 mile walk which took approximately 2 hours. 

 

Speckled wood butterfly

Amongst some of the ferns, we observed a speckled wood butterfly which posed very nicely for the camera. Matt's talk was very informative and enjoyable talk whilst walking around the reserve - refreshments and a chat afterwards completed a really good morning.

 

 

The Breckland Local Group have recently reformed and are hoping to organise several more walks next year.'
www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/support-us/local-groups/breckland-local-group
 
All photographs by Carole Herries 

The Ovington Ramblers: Hickling Broad

For NWT's 90th Anniversary, the Ovington Ramblers set themselves a challenge to visit our reserves.  With immaculate timing, they have just visited NWT Hickling Broad, the wildlife gem at the heart of the Broads where we have just launched a £1million land purchase appeal.

The Ovington Ramblers, by boat not foot!

What a wonderful morning on Hickling Broad!  The sun was shining in a clear blue sky and – quite unusual for this time of year – there was not a breath of wind.  The whole scene was one of peace and tranquility with just the sound of the rippling water along the side of the boat.

The Broads were hand-dug by local people in the Middle Ages as they excavated peat for use as fuel. 


Also, and not so well known, local potters in Heigham extracted clay to use as their material for making earthenware – hence Potter Heigham.

Richard was steering the boat at the same time giving lots of interesting information, whilst Dave with his binoculars pointed out the wildlife we could otherwise have missed.  One of the first points of interest was the tiny island where Emma Turner lived on her houseboat during the early 1900s.  This pioneering wildlife photographer could spend the whole day lying camouflaged on the ground in order to get a perfect photo, often with the birds walking all over her in her stillness.  She took the first ever photo of a bittern which was thought to be extinct in the UK.

Another important pioneer at that time was Jim Vincent, the son of a local gamekeeper.  From the age of 16 he was employed to manage the shoot for a group of influential MPs and ornithologists.  He was also tasked with attracting and protecting other birds and wildlife in the area, particular the marsh harrier which were also nationally extinct as breeding pairs.

The love and dedication of these two people in protecting the rare birds helped to pave the way for the enormous variety of birds and wildlife we see here today.

Young swans at Hickling Broad

During the trip we passed a large group of young swans who stay together until around 5/6 years old, when they reach maturity and leave to find a mate. This year there were about 50-60 youngsters in the group. We saw lots of marsh harriers flying low over the reed beds, plus great crested grebes, cormorants, reed buntings, tits, and herons.

A glimpse of a chinese water deer

 

We stopped off at various hides and watched large flocks of teal with a few shellducks and shovelers.  We also saw a chinese water deer grazing at the water's edge.

We moored, crossed an unusual ligger bridge and walked to the 60' Tree Tower.  The magnificent view from the top took in nearly all the 600 hectares of Hickling Broad and you could see the sand dunes of the coast along the horizon.   A pair of cranes were spotted in the distance.  Apparently, on one summer's day per year all the purple hairstreak butterflies emerge and cover the oak treetops all around the tower, providing an awe inspiring sight. 

All too soon, we were on our way back but were still lucky enough to see six bearded tits flitting through the reeds. This was an excellent way to see Hickling Broad but there are also good walks taking in all the hides and observation points.

Thoroughly recommended!

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Help us protect Hickling Broad – the heart of the Norfolk Broads

Please donate today:

•  Call: 01603 625540

• Text LAND26 TO 70070 with the amount of your donation

• Visit our website: www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk

• Or, Just Giving: www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/norfolkwildlifetrust/hickling   (Please  note that you may incur a standard network message charge based on your service provider rates).  

 

NWT Upton Broad & Marshes: Birdlife October to December

Nigel Robson, Volunteer Bird Recorder for NWT and Mark Crossfield, NWT assistant warden for Bure and Ant

In October, major conservation work to all the grazing marshes was resumed and completed at NWT Upton Broad and Marshes by the end of 2013. The network of foot drains - long narrow lines of shallow water snaking across the grassland delivering fresh water from the existing system. With increased water levels the landscape transformed into a wetland attracting wintering wildfowl. The combination of flashes of open water, inundated grassland, shallow foot drains and dykes with gently-sloped edges is the culmination of long-term management objectives. The number of birds feeding on the grazing marshes continues to increase.

In recent winters, pink-footed geese have rarely settled on the marshes, despite large numbers roaming between arable fields in the area. November saw small groups for the first time visit consistently, and by the second half of December, over 1,000 could be seen grazing the very wet Boat Dyke marshes. The relatively close proximity of groups of walkers, many with dogs, using the river bank path did not disturb the feeding geese. This area also attracted good numbers of lapwings, frequently around 500. Over the marshes as a whole, plus the lands immediately across the river, over 2,500 had accumulated by the year end. Other groups of waders on the wet marshes were black-tailed godwits (max. 22 on 20 Dec), ruffs (max. 20 on 27 Dec) and golden plovers (max. 90 on 29 Dec).
 

During daylight hours very few duck had been present on either the marshes or the river lagoons since mid-November (up to 18 shovelers were at the lagoons prior to that). Usually there were no more than a few teals and mallards and a pair of gadwalls despite some 350 wigeons on neighbouring marshes.  Through monitoring g we have discovered that during darkness, the situation is quite different. The wet marshes were invaded by a variety of species, best identified by their frequent calling. During December nights, these included wigeon, teal, mallard, greylag, Canada, Egyptian and pink-footed geese, lapwing, golden plover, snipe and woodcock. Through night-vision optics, birds were seen distributed over the entire marshes.

The corvid roost in the wet woodland at the Doles continued to comprise several thousand Rooks and Jackdaws. Although  an extensive area of this woodland had been removed during the last two winters to reclaim fen, the roosting birds merely re-located to adjacent stands. Another evening and early morning spectacle was the flight of the Cormorants en route between the coast and their roosting trees beside NWT Ranworth Broad. 704 were counted at first light in mid December.

Increasingly cranes have featured in winter. Throughout October and November, a group active in the Bure Valley concentrated at the reserve and St Benet’s Level (there utilising ploughed land). Their number varied, usually 12 to 25, with a maximum 34 on 16 October. Rather fewer were seen in December.

The marsh hedgerows provided an abundance of berries, which drew variable numbers of winter thrushes. A peak of 550 fieldfares arrived around 23 December and foraged in the hedgerows and on the wet grassland. A small number of bullfinches were, as usual at this time, located in these hedgerows.

Also wintering in and around the reserve were two redshanks, a peregrine (two in mid December), barn owls, marsh harriers, a hen harrier and a buzzard. A snow bunting was beside the river on 10 November, the same day that 12 whooper swans flew across the reserve and landed briefly on St Benet’s Level. Three dunlin were on the marshes on 14 November and a curlew on the 16th. A small number of bearded tits stayed concealed in riverside reedswamp, occasionally venturing into reed-fringed dykes. A drake goosander on the river lagoons on 14 December was an unusual visitor.
 

Over the last few years, several habitats in the reserve have been subjected to extensive modifications. The river bank was raised and in places re-positioned, the river lagoons were created, the grazing marshes and dykes configured to allow control over higher water levels and permanent water bodies, the reed bed adjusted with more open areas and deeper water to suit bitterns, scrub and carr woodland reduced to increase the extent of herbaceous fen, and Little Broad mud-pumped to improve its aquatic diversity. Permissive paths have been extended and widened to afford visitors greater opportunities to access all sections of the reserve. Over the next few seasons gradual changes in the vegetation are expected where these major interventions have occurred, and it should be an exciting time for the naturalist to observe how the flora and fauna responds.

Cley Catch-up: 24 April 2013

Barry Madden, Volunteer Bird Guide at NWT Cley Marshes

 A group of people staring intently into an old, lichen encrusted elder bush on the edge of a reed bed at NWT Cley Marshes is likely to mean only one thing – there’s an unusual bird in there somewhere.  

Today’s gem was a grasshopper warbler ‘reeling’ away for all it was worth, whilst the assembled knot of birders tried to catch a glimpse of it amidst the tangle of branches, or even more frustratingly capture a clear photograph. This elusive and seldom seen species performed well today though, eventually affording most people a good view as it twisted its head from side to side whilst pouring forth its high-pitched rattle. Yet despite the bird being so close it was sometimes difficult to pin down its position with any certainty; such is the ventriloquist nature of the ‘song’. Another male could be heard from deeper in the reeds towards the East Bank footpath. Hopefully they will both attract mates and settle down to breed.

The ‘groppers’ were not the only migrants on show today, and after a poor start, April is now producing the goods. Sedge warblers were performing their parachute display flights from every corner of the reed bed, wheatears were busy darting after flies on Cley Eye, and everywhere was busy, busy, busy with birds and insects staking out territory, attracting mates or nest building.
 

Marsh Harrier, photo by Barry Madden

My morning vigil from Bishop’s Hide always produces good conversation with visitors to the reserve, and inevitably close encounters with the resident marsh harriers. Today three of us watched a pair of these impressive raptors building their nest very close to the hide. Both male and female brought in bunches of reed stems, and we also saw the male pick up a clump of debris from the edge of the scrape and deposit it at the nest site. These birds learn to avoid flying over the scrapes themselves during the breeding season, thus largely escaping the mobbing by avocets and lapwings, but this particular nesting attempt is close enough to create conflict; we witnessed the pair getting severely scolded more than once.
 

Lapwing, photo by Barry Madden

When the marsh harriers were absent, we were entertained by a displaying lapwing that passed so close we could easily hear its wing beats as it zigzagged around Pat’s Pool. Is there any more evocative sound of spring than the bubbling courtship calls of a lapwing? The female bird was feeding close to, seemingly unimpressed by the mad helter-skeltering of its mate above. Sometimes the bird world seems remarkably akin to our own! I always think lapwings are beautiful creatures, and with the reflected light dancing across its back, this imperturbable lady revealed vivid flashes of purple, green and bronze. Stunning.

The afternoon stroll around the perimeter of the reserve coincided with acceleration in the passage of swallows and house martins, not a flood exactly, but a steady trickle that proved spring has truly arrived. Some birds had clearly reached the end of their northerly journey and were busy inspecting the remains of the war-time pill-box near the car park. It was lovely to watch them swooping around twittering to each other as they began to settle in for the summer. Other birds making their way westwards included small parties of whimbrel and good numbers of sandwich terns; all flying purposefully into the stiffening breeze. But not all the winter visitors had gone, and I was surprised to see groups of Brent geese flying in off the sea. These birds joined several hundreds of others assembled on the marsh. Presumably this is just a rallying point prior to the push north in a few days time.
 
What a lovely day to be out patrolling the nature reserve; blue skies, warm sunshine and a pleasant westerly breeze.  Peacock butterflies awakened from hibernation were fluttering around and everywhere a feeling of vibrancy. Even the flat tyre on my car couldn’t dampen my spirits engendered by another day spent on these wonderful coastal wetlands.

Spring in the Fens

Nick Carter, Conservation Officer (Fens)

Despite the run of relatively dry weather we have had recently it is still too wet to finish off the wetland construction work at Hilgay. There is positive news in that some fencing work has been done which will allow us to graze parts of the site to get the vegetation under control, ready for reed planting later this year. Although reeds are colonising the site rapidly planting of reed plugs will speed up the establishment of the reedbed.

Little ringed plover, photo by Nick Appleton

Although construction work has not been finished birds are already using the site.  At least three little ringed plovers, which bred successfully last year, have returned and are displaying. Several pairs of lapwing are already established and oystercatchers and redshank are also present. Last week sand martins were hawking for insects over the storage lagoon and it is hoped they will breed again in the sandy ditches that they used last year.  A second brood of Egyptian geese with seven young goslings were spotted in the lagoon (the first brood present in March were only seen once) and there was a pair each of tufted duck and gadwall, along with numerous mallard and shelduck.

Herons from the small, adjacent heronry were using the lagoon for fishing but there was no sign of the usual little egrets. A new species for the site, red kite was being mobbed by a crow before it drifted off south. One had been noted in the area by two observers and it follows on the heels of a first sighting of a male hen harrier hunting over the Hilgay site a few weeks before. Nightingale have already been heard in the area but last year’s bird on the Methwold site has not yet returned.

Red kite, photo by Lawrie Webb

The bulk of the summer migrants have still to return but it is hoped with the warmer weather that these will arrive over the next few weeks.

Five minutes of your time to help the Cley and Salthouse Living Coast project

You will hopefully be aware of the very exciting plans to expand Cley Marshes nature reserve through the purchase of 140 acres of coastal marshes to the west. This will join Cley Marshes to our reserve at Salthouse Marshes, create a much larger area for wildlife, allow us to improve water level management for wildlife over the whole area, and make what is already an outstanding, internationally important wildlife area even better.

Cley Marshes at sunset, photo by Richard Osbourne

 

Linked to this project we also want to improve both education and interpretation facilities for our visitors. This will be achieved through a new building, the Simon Aspinall Wildlife Education Centre, to be built behind the existing visitor centre. In this position the building will be almost invisible from the nature reserve and will provide a valuable new facility for the many groups, local residents and general visitors who come to Cley. The new centre will assist us greatly in engaging visitors with the importance of the wildlife and habitats of this coastline.

We have applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for support of the land purchase, its restoration and the new education centre which is where you can help. If you can spend five minutes completing our simple online questionnaire, the information you provide will be invaluable to support our application to HLF. This is a major project for NWT and Norfolk’s wildlife and the feedback we receive from our members and the wider public will help our bid for approximately £1.5million to support our vision.

Thanks for your help.

We would also love to hear why Cley is special to you. Did you first visit Cley as a child and see your first avocet or harrier there?  Have you brought your own children here to explore?  Share your special memories of Cley by emailing mycley@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk or write to us. We are on Twitter using #mycley. Demonstrating how important Cley Marshes is, and how it has inspired people, will help us secure the HLF bid enabling us to make sure Cley continues to inspire future generations.