Ye Gods it was cold

I met up with Trish today and we headed to Norfolk, it looked promising when we arrived at Salthouse and the sun was shining. No Snow Buntings but we had a few standins.

Turnstone





Redshank





The sun soon went in and the wind blew AND IT WAS FREEZING!!! So we decided that we would head inland!! We saw a nice flock of Brent Geese and I spied a Marsh Harrier.

As we headed to Sculthorpe Moor there were loads of pheasants but then a bird few along by the side of the car and I was well chuffed to see it was a Grey Partridge!!

At Sculthorpe we saw a couple of Buzzards and a nice selection of woodland birds.

The pics aren't good just for the record.

Long Tailed Tits




Male and Female Bullfinch



Brambling



There was a Water Rail that crept along for ages and when it came out into the open it ran like billyo into cover on the other side!!

Other nice spots were Marsh and Coal Tit.

A couple of Buzzards on the way back.

Good day pity about the weather!!

Snowdrops at Anglesey Abbey

Well I'm off today, it wasn't the day I planned but I'm not complaining as something very odd happened the Sun came out!!

I dragged myself out of bed and headed for Anglesey Abbey. Well it's Snowdrop season! Reports a few days ago were that only 3% were out so I was a bit nervous but we'll see...



































Oh the Parsnip Soup was very nice and I had a lump of chocky cake!

English Forests

As I'm sure we all know times they are a tough and the government are proposing many measures to deal with the budget deficit.

One suggestion the government has is to sell off Forests.

During world war II large swathes of confiers were planted for timber. The Forestry Commission is now in the process of chopping this down and restoring much of the broadleaf woodland such as oak, beech ash and lime.

Bodies such as the Woodland Trust are concerned that if sales go ahead without any protection for ancient woodland in place, these areas will return to commercial timber or felled to make way for development.

The government are already committed to sell off 15 per cent of the estate and is expected to increase this number.

Personally I think this is short sighted, the forests are a national asset and frankly shouldn't be sold for a short term gain depriving future generations the access and pleasure of them.

Also we need to be clear that much of our wildlife is evolved to use broad leaf woodlands.

The Woodland Trust has a petition against this here.

Shoes and Ducks

It was dull and grey this morning so I was undecided what to do, but just as I was headed out the rain started.

So dull grey and wet and a bit chilly? Ah the perfect time to get those new shoes I need for work! I was passing Dads and thought he might fancy a change of scenery... he had gone out! I decided to detour very slightly to see if he was at the bus stop. There he was! Apparently he was 15feet from the bus when it pulled away!!

Well I found a pair of shoes. They will be baptised Monday!

This afternoon I decided I ought to get out, So headed for Rye Meads. It was all very quiet. Highlight were Shelduck to add to the year list.

Birds were not camera friendly today so this chappy will have to suffice!