A Walk In The Mist

30th December 2010: Another foggy day. We took the train from Norwich to Cantley and walked back to Brundall via footpaths, lanes, Buckenham Marshes and Strumpshaw Fen RSPB Reserve. It was very atmospheric, with trees looming out of the mist and fog, clicks and whistles of starlings and, at Buckenham Marshes, a flock of Bean Geese calling as they flew overhead.
At Strumpshaw Fen we saw three Water Rails from the Fen Hide, mostly on the edges of the reeds but also venturing out onto the ice. At the Visitor Centre we had great views of a Stoat just outside the hide (with a black tip to its tail, so stoatally different from a Weasel). Also a couple of Barn Owls and two Hares during the course of the walk, and Wigeon, Shovelers, Teal, Lapwing and Rooks at Buckenham Marshes.

Lane near Cantley

Highland cows

Near Cantley

Lane near Cantley

Cantley to Hassingham

Lane between Hassingham and Buckenham

Buckenham

Buckenham Church

River Yare by Buckenham Marshes

Strumpshaw Fen - view from Visitor Centre

Good To Get Outdoors Again

Well, the snow has gone at last and although it's foggy, the temperature has reached a high of 6°Celsius, which feels almost tropical!
It has been good to get outdoors again, to the allotment today to prune autumn raspberries and yesterday to Grapes Hill Community Garden to clear bindweed roots from the topsoil.

Clearing bindweed roots

See http://www.grapeshillcommunitygarden.org/bindweed_removal.htm.

Merry Christmas from Design Different

Merry Christmas!
As an antidote to all the snow and cold weather, here is a photo of where reindeer go in summer:

Reindeer, Porthcressa Beach, Isles of Scilly (June 2010)

Website of the Month - Steve Bell Cartoons

It's time to nominate the website of the month and initially I thought of nominating WikiLeaks, but in the tradition of Mastercard and other big companies I've decided not to offer my principled support to free speech and whistleblowers.
Sometimes we just need to be cheered up, so I've chosen Steve Bell's Cartoons website as site of the month.

Grapes Hill Community Garden - Bulb Planting

In a comparatively balmy 2 degrees Celsius(!) we planted daffodil bulbs this morning at the Grapes Hill Community Garden. We planted mini daffodils and also the appropriately named "Ice Follies", which has a yellow centre and white petals. Visit the Grapes Hill Community Garden website to find out more.

Planting daffodil bulbs

First Medlars

I've eaten my first Medlars, courtesy of a fellow allotment holder.You leave them to "blet" (go soft) and then eat them. Mine were raw and tasted of cooked apple with hints of apricot and date - delicious! I'm thinking of buying my own tree.

 

Medlar

Winter Arrives

Winter has arrived in the last week, with snow, ice and, on a more cheerful note, Waxwings. (87 Waxwings yesterday afternoon in sycamore trees by The Avenues / Colman Road junction in Norwich).

Waxwings

The allotments are under a blanket of snow.

Website of the Month - BBC Gardening Plant Finder

We're currently choosing plants for Grapes Hill Community Garden and one of the most useful sources of information (other than various gardening books) has been the BBC Gardening Plant Finder.

This is why it's November's Website of the Month.

Allium

Yellow rose

Government services to be online only?

I've just read that, under plans to be unveiled this week, people will be forced to apply online for government services such as student loans, driving licences, passports and benefits. It's all part of the government's cost cutting.

As I web designer I am happy to use online services and they can help to reduce costs and save paper.

But around 27% of UK households still don't have internet connections at home, including many elderly and disadvantaged people. And how will people with no knowledge of how to use a computer "fill in forms digitally at their local post offices"? There is a danger that people will be excluded from society and from claiming benefits or even travelling abroad.

This appears to be another badly thought through idea, which is likely to affect the most disadvantaged in this country.

Read more on The Guardian website.

Autumn Mists

This morning I went for a short cycle ride south of Norwich. The sun started to come out but by the time I'd reached Caistor St. Edmund the mists were starting to close in. I saw three Waxwings in Shotesham and admired the "Slow Ducks Crossing" signs in Brooke. I stopped for lunch at Hellington Church and then headed back into Norwich.

The ducks in Brooke are slow, but brightly coloured!

Hellington Church in the mist.

Walking to Glandford and Bird Art at 50

Yesterday we took the train to Sheringham and Coasthopper bus to Cley and then walked south to Glandford, home of the BIRDscapes Gallery. The gallery is holding an exhibition entitled "BIRD ART at 50" which features work from fifty of today's top bird artists, to mark fifty years since the artist Robert Gillmor held an exhibition that led to the formation of The Society of Wildlife Artists. The exhibition continues until 14th November 2010.

Birdscapes Gallery

We enjoyed the exhibition and also the walk from Cley to Glandford and back, along quiet lanes with hedgerows full of autumn colour.

Field Maple

 We ate lunch at Glandford ford and made friends with some ducks.

Hungry Mallards

Feeding time is over...

On the way back we saw a Barn Owl hunting by the river near Wiveton Church. We also admired the colours of the berries along the way.

Wiveton Church

Cley village green

Sloe berries

Black Bryony berries

Shaggy Inkcap

Back in Norwich, the last rays of the afternoon sunshine caught the tower of St. Giles'Church as we walked past. 

St. Giles' Church, Norwich

Waxwings

I was working on the allotment this morning when a flock of about twenty birds flew overhead. Their flight and flocking reminded me of Starlings but their tinkling call immediately made me realise they were Waxwings. They settled for a while in an apple tree and I was able to tell three other plotholders about them, and we all went for a closer look.

I was feeling very pleased with myself when I arrived home to tell Vanna. However, she had managed to see at least thirty Waxwings in Norwich city centre at about the same time, feeding on rowan berries by the former Bethel Hospital.

Read more about Waxwings.

Orfordness

Yesterday we went to Orfordness, a strange shingle spit on the Suffolk coast formerly used by the Ministry of Defence - for airfields, radar research and bomb testing, including triggers for atomic bombs - but now owned by the National Trust. We couldn't have wished for better late October weather - the light was intense and ideal for photography.