Après le deluge, les wellies

 Yesterday evening saw quite a deluge; sufficient in fact to knock out the power to Lower Southrepps, although for once the lights stayed on in the upper half of the village. After a couple of months without any significant rainfall, we had perhaps become a bit blasé about the need for waterproof footwear, but the more cautious among us reverted to our trusted Wellington boots, and were glad to have done so. Even so, although the vegetation was still quite wet, and in some areas pretty much flattened, where we were on the Warren Road side of the Beck was soft, but not squelchy. As mentioned often before, our fen is very absorbent, and acts as a good sponge protecting that part of the village.

Today’s turnout was 15 volunteers – a touch above the average number, and just about the right amount for the work we had to do. This was to clear the remaining cut vegetation from Area B, which had been cut the previous Tuesday. The weather was warm and quite humid, and once the sun emerged we were all quite hot enough thank you. Loose talk about “woodland saunas” prompted the inevitable musing on how much garment removing such a practice might involve.

Arriving as I tend to do bleary eyed but on time, and not half an hour early, it was pleasing to see the pitchforks artfully arranged. It seemed a shame to remove any and break the symmetry!

Disturbed they were however, and in short order heaps began to grow on the drag sheets. At this stage, the task was to remove extra cut material from Area A across the boardwalk and into the trees.

In those trees were Noel and Brian, keeping a sharp lookout for approaching laden sheets. Naturally, your usual correspondent’s shrill whistle alerted them to the need to look to their winch.

The consequence of this of course is the creation of piles of discarded material. It appears that Team Leader Kevin took the opportunity to practice his diving skills on one of them.

Here we see three well spread-out gentlemen, as if from an earlier era, waiting for the winch to spring into action and haul away their impressive load.

Over at the winch and dump site, banter was inevitable, although sadly little singing, apart from a brief snatch of We're on the Road to Nowhere. TL Kevin conveyed to us vividly the joy he got from buying at a very reasonable price a pair of extendible loppers from Lidl – complete with a lock, which we speculated might be an anti-theft enhancement. As Noel said, “You’re really rock and roll when you get excited by the Lidl middle aisle”!

The said Noel was today sporting a T-shirt bearing the image of Jimi Hendrix, the wearer’s favourite musician (in a close-run contest with Rachmaninov). I thought a Dolly tribute would have been more topical, but to our general surprise, he doesn’t possess such a garment. Here he is at half-time taking his ease in the still un-upholstered barrow, looking the picture of a man at peace with himself.

Tipping out the sheets is a physical task, and TL Kevin upbraided your correspondent for not achieving more, reasoning that I was young and strong: my response was that everything is relative. (As the great Douglas Adams apparently added to that, “Lunchtime doubly so”.)

We have already trailed the half-time break: here are most of the assembled company, scrambling for their share of Nina’s famous apple cake.

Immediately prior to that welcome intermission, over at the edge of Area X near where we were dumping, an outcrop of Himalayan Balsam was spotted, and thus needed removal.

That picture is courtesy of TL Julie. She also took this, although what we were doing is completely beyond me, but it looks suspicious.

We’re always looking for new operators of the machinery, and today Tim stepped forward to try his hand on the winch. (Tip: keep hands well away from the winch!)

You might be tempted to think that the winch chaperones have it easy, but often the sheets need steering. Usually working against the direction the winch wants to pull the sheet, it is possible to steer by tugging the sheet sideways, or sometimes by pulling the winch rope sideways. This little video illustrates the point.

At this stage the winch and its associated dump site had been moved closer to Area X, affording a nice photo opportunity.

Moving the winch often means doing a spot of gardening to create an accessible dump site close to it. Here Noel is urgently wielding so non-Lidl loppers whilst the sheet is on its way.

And oh, I almost forgot to mention it, but hysteria having set in some of the assembled ladies decided to show the male contingent how dragging a sheet manually is really quite easy. The comment from their ring-leader was that it was “an amble in the park”. Hmm, gentle reader, it’s for you to decide.

A source of particular pride for those ladies, as expressed at tea-time, was, and this is a direct quote, “their round, neat piles”. Make of that what you will, but there are no photos.

When the winch is involved, those sheets are attached to a steel bar, using what we call carabiners, although that might not be the proper name for that piece of kit. Anyway, they are vital, and when we lost one last time out we had to use our only spare. Unbounded therefore was the joy when Linda spotted the missing item gleaming in the sunshine this morning. Not from Lidl presumably, and therefore less exciting that Kevin’s Lidl loppers, but a number of spares have also now been added to the stocks.

Here is how Area B now looks, with that chunk of our work completed.

Here is Team Leader Julie’s message of thanks:

Hi all

This is a huge thank you to the 15 volunteers who turned out today to clear the reed on the Warren Road end of the site today.  It was incredibly warm and humid so the early start was the right choice!  

We have done what is required in this area for this season, so in two weeks’ time we will be moving our attention to the central area.  Please do go and walk around the central area if you can - it is packed with wildflowers (Devil's-bit scabious, Eyebright and Grass of Parnassus) and in the very centre very little reed - which is great news and shows that all our hard work each season is worth it.

So thanks to you all.   Go and enjoy the results of all your hard work!

Regards, Julie for the TLs

 

On the way back to the tool store at the end of the session, TLs Margaret and Julie made a foray into Area G, where much surveying and Lousewort spreading has been done. As Julie says above, it is currently a mass of Devils-bit Scabious and Eyebright, and well worth viewing. Here are some of Julie’s excellent photos.

The little white flowers are Eyebright.

Also very much on show at the moment are many of one of my favourite flowers here; Grass of Parnassus.

And finally, a request for help from Noel. His car has broken down, he believes terminally, and he would be very grateful for lifts into Cromer or North Walsham on occasion, if anyone happens to be going. He would he happy to share the cost of the petrol.

 

NWT Volunteering Award

 From Team Leader Margaret, dated 20^th August 2026

You might be aware that it is NWT’s 100th birthday this year. To celebrate they had a volunteers’ get-together and for the first time included an awards ceremony. One category was a group or volunteer to be nominated by volunteers. Now everyone of you could have been entered as without you our little group would not exist. We thank you as always for your contributions to keeping the Commons looking so good. There has never seen so much Devils Bit Scabious as this year, do go and have a look. Sorry! Back to the matter in hand!

We decided that there was one person who stood out so we nominated Duncan, we hope you all approve. This is what we wrote;

“The team at Southrepps would very much like to nominate Duncan Westlake for the volunteer nominated award.

He is one of those special people that makes us all feel good. Never at the front but always beavering away to make things better. He has volunteered on Southrepps Common for 20 years quietly creating data, firstly on the volunteers with comprehensive and beautifully compiled figures: we know he loves nothing more than a spreadsheet! He has kept meticulous records on all the flora and fauna for the last twenty years which has helped inform the way the Commons are cared for. He sends monthly data to NWT as well as three-monthly fixed point photography, which he had started long before NWT took us over.

To help support our group he started a blog and after every working party he writes about the group and the Commons. This he has expanded to showcase the flora and fauna with sightings lists and photographs. All of this without being asked and expecting no plaudits. Do check out his blog  https://southreppscommonsvolunteers.blogspot.com/

We all wait in expectation each Sunday night to see what he has managed to find to write about.

He works extremely hard on the working parties, or so he tells us, but best of all he makes us all laugh and are glad we came. He has an enduring love for Southrepps Commons. He just makes volunteering better.”

We are delighted to tell you that Duncan won the award yesterday (19^th August). We look forward to a swollen head and much bragging at the next working party. I am sure you all agree that it was richly deserved.

Well done Duncan.

Thanks again to all of you.

Margaret (for the Team Leaders)

 

Back to your usual correspondent.

Well, that was a thing wasn’t it? The awards bit of the event took place in the capacious Blakeney Village Hall, which was full of NWT volunteers from all over the county. It began with a round-up of the successes for NWT in the past year, and over the last 100 years. We were shown a short film about it: go to https://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/Centenary to see it for yourself – it’s excellent. Then the CEO, Eliot Lyne gave another speech, before handing out the awards – one of which came my way.

Flattering though it is to have had my contribution recognised in this way, as Margaret has written above, it could just as equally have been another one of our excellent group. Much was made of the fact that I have been involved for around 20 years, but even then, there are others with longer track records. (As I said at the presentation, the last time anything like this happened to me was when, at the age of 12, I received a school prize for “Perseverance”. I view this one in the same light!)

There’s nothing remarkable in the part I play in our group, except of course I have had a whistle since before even the NWT era, and as everyone who comes to the working parties knows, I blow it whenever I can. Now I have my own trumpet too, which I must try not to blow too often.

As it says on the Southrepps History Hub website (https://southreppshistory.org.uk/places/southrepps-commons/) Norfolk County Council, with the agreement of the Gunton Estate, had been carrying out conservation work on the Commons in the late 1980s. Subsequent to that, on the death in 1988 of Dame Cecilia Harbord, the last direct connection with the Gunton Estate, ownership of the Commons was transferred to Southrepps Parish Council, and a committee was formed to manage them under the guidance of Norfolk County Council and Natural England. Further down the line, in 2005 Southrepps Commons Trust was formed to manage them on behalf of the council, and in 2019 management and ownership was taken over by Norfolk Wildlife Trust - with very many of the previous SCT volunteers continuing to work on behalf of NWT. So our commons have been looked after for the benefit of nature and the local community, by the local community, for around 40 years. That’s a lot longer than many similar groups manage, and I reckon that’s because we have always had a wonderful lot of people who all enjoy the work and, crucially, the sociability of our working parties. And most importantly, we have always been very well led, which is as true now as it ever was.

Why have I stayed involved for two decades? Simply because I am passionate about nature and the desperate need to protect it and help it recover, so any little bit I can do in that way is I hope of some value, and it certainly is to me. But on top of worthy stuff like that, I keep doing it because I greatly enjoy the company I keep and all the fun we have – especially the singing, led by the irrepressible Noel! As my dear wife Sarah said, now she knows where I have been for the last 20 years!

Here is a photo of the wooden trophy I was awarded: as has been pointed out to me, it looks like I have done 100 years!

I want to say that I am immensely flattered to have been nominated, and even more surprised to have been chosen for the award. Many thanks indeed to those responsible!

Area B done already?

 Despite it still being the holiday season, keeping at least four of our regulars (including two team leaders) away, 18 of the finest Southrepps Commons Volunteers arrived at the almost pre-dawn hour of 09.00 this morning to tackle Area B. This is half of the species-rich grassy part of the Common between Warren Road and Fox’s Beck.

A fortnight ago a significant start had been made on this patch, and excellent further work had been done by the North East Norfolk Conservation Volunteers earlier in the week, so clearing the rest of the cut material was well within our grasp. (There had already been a two-hour pre-cut, so it really was just a case of picking the stuff up and dumping it at the periphery of the site.)

Hardened readers of this blog will recognise the bucolic scene that unfolded. Indeed, it was suggested to your usual correspondent that we could use any photo from the past couple of decades. Tempting though this was, I did feel that the participants would look suspiciously younger and even fitter than today’s happy crew.

This little video clip illustrates again the use of the winch to make light work of shifting a loaded drag sheet. It also shows an ironic point: the seemingly never-ending drought has created very dry and therefore very light material, which of course makes it easy to shift. However, as Bob is so ably demonstrating, the wretched stuff was so light it was difficult to get it to stay on the pitchfork. Rakes were found to be better suited to the task on this occasion.

Given the richly varied nature of the plant community here, it’s not surprising that we were dealing with more than just grass/hay. The many thistles added variety, and prickles capable of piercing at least my gloves uncomfortably often. Another perennial hazard with this part of the Common is the uneven nature of the ground, due to holes created by the removal of invasive alder saplings. On the positive side this time, at least falling over was not going to get you wet and muddy!

“Superman” Andrew, still fresh despite his recent long walk is seen here working with Louise. The said Andrew has boundless energy and great strength; that’s why I am rarely seen next to him – the temptation to keep up is exhausting!

Half-time (or “hydration break” as it is now known) came along at, well, half-time. Ken looks happy doesn’t he? That’s because he’d been trying to photo-bomb my pictures throughout.

Nina’s famous apple cake made a most welcome return at this point. Only once it was all gone did we feel justified in addressing the remainder of the task, but it’s fair to say that we set-to with a will, suitably re-invigorated.

As so often before, the murky area where the winch crew operates was the source of sauciness and musical references – sometimes the two are linked.

Team Leader Michelle was present in order to provide us with the necessary leadership, but was incapacitated and therefore unable to join in with the general rough and tumble. She did hang around that murky area however, apparently expecting to be in on the mucky jokes she had heard about. She was told only one.

As to music, Andrew B (not the superman Andrew) was moved to refer us to the song “Trapped" by American musician Colonel Abrams. This left the rest of us somewhat flummoxed, but I see from no less an authority than Wikipedia that it was “released in 1985 as the first single from his first album, Colonel Abrams. The song topped the US Billboard Dance/Disco Club Play and 12-inch Singles Sales charts and peaked at number 20 on the Hot Black Singles chart.” So now we know: if only we had paid more attention to disco tunes we would have been able to nod wisely when Andrew referenced it. He did so, because he WAS trapped, up against a young holly tree (the only reference to young available to us, sadly) while the rest of the merry crew was tipping a laden sheet out in the aforementioned murky area. For anyone concerned about his welfare, he escaped.

The other musical reference inevitably features Noel, who today was wearing a Clash tee-shirt. He revealed that he wore this very shirt in an Aberdeen bar, full of Scottish punks. The bar’s juke box apparently played only Clash songs, and so pleased were the assembled Aberdonians with him that on the strength of his shirt alone they bought him a pint. What a life he’s led!

In a remarkable case of perfect timing, the last load was dumped, the sheets folded up and the trolleys laden shortly before our scheduled end-time of 11.00. Here’s how the area looked as we left it. 

Here is Team :Leader Michelle's message of thanks:

Dear all

Thank you to the 18 that turned up bright and early today to clear the cut reeds on Area B, it was lovely to see you all. Being currently out of commission and so watching from the sidelines, it was so nice to see what a great hardworking team we have and  (with some help from our friends at NENCV who helped by clearing the top of Area B during the week),some great progress has been made.

Despite the slightly cooler weather it was still a warm one so your efforts are really appreciated and I hope that with the earlier start and finish means that you have all been able to get home and can actually enjoy the rest of the day rather than trying to avoid the heat!  

Finally, thanks to our cutters Kevin and David for getting the area ready for today. and to Nina for her baking - always well received.

Hopefully see you in 30th

Michelle (obo the Team leaders)

ps apologies  if you got this email twice

This being a quiet time of year for wildlife sightings here, there isn’t much to report, but some of today’s work party did catch a glimpse of what they thought was a grass snake. Great news if it was, as we never have reports of them, despite the heaps of cut vegetation we leave to rot being potential incubation places for their eggs.

The only other notable sighting took place, as so often before, in the famous “garden adjacent Common” inhabited by Team Leader Margaret and husband John. He it was, on a hot afternoon, sheltering beneath a parasol – no doubt with a soothing libation – who noticed a small creature in the nearby foliage. He was able to take this charming footage of the wee beastie.

There was much debate as to its identity, with harvest mouse or field mouse being the main contenders. We think on balance that it was a field mouse.

Making hay while the sun shines, or stakeout on Area G

 Visitors to the Common might be intrigued by the emergence of stakes and canes on the central area, known to the poetically inclined as Area G. See the explanation for them in Team Leader Margaret’s message of thanks further down.

No less poetically named, Area B on the Warren Road side of Fox’s Beck was the scene of the first working party of the new cutting season. To my great dismay your usual correspondent was unable to attend, as was also the case for a number of the other usual suspects. Nothing daunted, 12 volunteers did take part, ably led by Margaret. Grillo operators John, Kevin and Ewan had gamely braved the heat to perform a pre-cut a few days earlier: on my walk across there after that event the area looked like this:

We’re grateful to Team Leader Margaret for her insights into how the session unfolded:

“As I set out to the container this morning my brain was a tad rusty as to what would be needed. As fellow team leaders Julie, Kevin and Michelle had all sent their apologies it was up to me to get it right! Fortunately, Sue was able to help me load the trolley and wheelbarrows and with John's help we got them on site. 

At 08.55 there was me, John and Andrew B! I thought we will do our best ... Then out of the morning haze the cavalry arrived and took our number to 12. I have never been so pleased to see them all! Fortunately, the cut material was beautifully light and smelt wonderfully of newly mown hay and mint. The ground was firm, no ploughing through clinging mud.  For the first time ever I didn't wear wellies. It all made for excellent working conditions, apart from the heat.

This is where the other team leaders were sorely missed as Noel asked forlornly where are the straps for attaching the winch to the tree? Andrew M asked, “and where are the rakes?”

After that everything worked like clockwork as if we had never been away. I did discover Noel's motivation for coming; as the sheet is pulled towards the winch Noel lets out a wonderful cry of Woah! which he assures me is what he's always wanted to do.

Andrew B received expert tuition on using the winch whilst Dave was sitting down on the job.”

The half-time refreshment break would have come as a relief.

Pitchforkers in action:

Here also is Margaret’s message of thanks:

Hello all.

Thank you. We got off to a grand start this morning. With so many team leaders absent it was great to have 11 other volunteers turn up. Despite the usual first cut of the season teething trouble, like me forgetting the straps for the winch, we all worked well in the increasingly warm morning. So glad we braved the earlier start. It was lovely to see you all and the chat as always was the best bit.

Several people have asked what the bamboo canes with the blues tips on area G are for. We have permission to conduct a scientific experiment using Lousewort as a means of controlling reed and sedge growth. The Lousewort (the red plant that you can see plenty of in the middle) parasitises on the roots of the reed and sedge weakening the plants.

Janet, Bob and Sue have been surveying two plots within the marked areas. Then next week we will cut the larger plots and remove the vegetation. We will then collect Lousewort seeds from the plants on the common and spread these on the prepared sites. These will then be cut in the usual rotation. We will probably leave the taller Bamboo canes in place. The survey plots are all marked with thick wooden stakes.  Janet, Bob and Sue will survey the plots every year to see if it has any effect on the vegetation. We aim to cut the plots next Friday so if you are interested and want to help please give me a shout.

Thanks again.

Margaret for all the team leaders.

 

This being a quiet time of year for birds (they’re all mostly moping and moulting), one’s attention inevitably turns to invertebrates, and this summer seems to have been especially good for them, compared at least to recent years. Butterflies are gratifyingly numerous, although I wonder if their diversity is down, with to my eyes anyway several expected species missing. Nonetheless, Painted Ladies and Gatekeepers are particularly numerous. As explained on the Radio 4 Today programme a couple of weeks ago by Springwatch’s Lucy Lapwing, Painted Ladies are one of those migratory species, some of which travel all the way from Africa to this country and back in a series of generational hops, and every so often we get an “eruption” of them. In contrast, I have hardly seen any Tortoiseshells and very few Peacocks, but my favourite Red Admirals have been fairly common. Best of all, Hummingbird Hawk Moths are cropping up frequently too; at least three in my garden alone. One got trapped in our conservatory and took some catching in order for it to be released. Also there, barging about like a rogue AI-piloted drone was this fabulous Hornet-mimic hoverfly. 

Wandering across the floor of my greenhouse was this cracking Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar, which I guess was looking for somewhere safe to pupate. Hopefully, I pointed it in the right direction.

I had a very pleasant walk at NWT Cley Marshes a couple of days ago. Rather than going on the main reserve I took the David Attenborough walk from the East Bank (where I parked my car). Apart from some publicity-shy butterflies the only notable sighting was a Marsh harrier dropping down onto what I speculated might have been its nest – and a fenced-off herd of black cows industriously munching the grass. Despite the lack of ticks on my list, it was a glorious place to be. Turning back towards the sea at the path called the Iron Road I was puzzled by the persistent calling of a couple of birds, one of which helpfully sat at the top of a bush. Unable to bear the thought of lugging my telescope around I had instead taken my camera, and thus was able to get this shot of what I think is a Stonechat in moult (possibly a youngster?) 

A recent posting mentioned our visits to and from the Felbeck Trust, and now they have returned the favour in their own excellent blog, at https://www.felbecktrust.org.uk/single-post/southrepps-common-visit - well worth a look, and do explore the rest of their website while you’re there.

Beyond the Bird Table

The BTO has announced the launch of its new podcast, Beyond the Bird Table. “The pilot episode is now live and is titled 'A is for Auk'. Join us as we delve deep into the world of seabirds with ornithologist, writer and broadcaster, Professor Tim Birkhead, and Senior Research Ecologist with BTO Scotland, Dr Nina O’Hanlon. From the grim story of the Great Auk’s demise to the condition of the UK's current seabird colonies, we discuss the many challenges these amazing birds face in our changing world.”

It’s great, so do give it a listen, on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Balsam bashed for the year

 Your usual correspondent having come up with another thin excuse, todays’ Balsam bashing account comes to us courtesy of Team leader Margaret; so many thanks for that.

“We had seven volunteers today for the last session of the year, which has been a very successful one. In Area A very few plants were found at all showing how well we had cleared the area in previous years. Area B also had fewer plants which were pulled very early. There are a few left now which we will ask George to pull as we have run out of time. On area H the plot of land across the stream was significantly down on plant numbers. On the main section the plant count was lower but those that were there had spread to a new area, which was disappointing. However, of all the plants we pulled over 90% were not in flower, and of those most had not set seed. Of the tiny proportion that had seed pods, those were not ripe so none of them could reproduce, which is fantastic news. This of course means that next year fewer plants will be harder to find but that has to be good news, and it's all thanks to the efforts of all the wonderful volunteers.

We look forward to returning for the start of the cutting season in two weeks’ time on area B over the Beck.

Here is the obligatory photo of a tall Balsam and the pile at the end. How Duncan is able to write something fresh each session amazes us all.” It’s all done using LI – Limited Intelligence. Ed)

A few weeks ago we reported on the visit a few of us made to see the work of the Felbeck trust. A couple of days ago, they returned the favour, with six of their volunteers coming to us, in, it has to be said, far pleasanter weather than the extreme heat of our visit there. We spent a couple of hours exploring School Common, the main common, and finally the Crassula-infested Pit Common. The feedback was they they thoroughly enjoyed it, and we’re intending to do it all again next Spring. Here are a couple of group photos, in which almost nobody is looking towards the photographer: I wonder why?

 

On the pull

Spurred on by the freshening North Sea breeze taking the sting out of the latest heatwave, eight Balsam Bashers returned to the Common today. We needed another sweep of the reedbed area near the Lower Street car park, as inevitably more plants had popped up since our efforts two weeks before.

The advice was to wear wellies, as despite the recent lack of rain the ground is a peaty sponge, there is still plenty of wet stuff to be found, and the chalk stream Fox’s Beck never runs dry. We know Noel got the memo, but still he chose to wear ordinary boots. Within 90 seconds he regretted it, as he slipped into the Beck. Ever anxious for my own safety I enquired as to the depth of the stream. Learning that it was only up to his ankles I felt justified in cautiously dipping my waterproofed feet in.

Here’s the well-disguised water in question:

Team Leader Julie found herself confronted by a mass of reeds; she was thinking, “I can see HB but how do I get it!?

Nonetheless, she was able to snap your correspondent and the said Noel as we bravely made our way into the jungle.

That Team Leader was the author of the welly advice, yet despite taking it herself she found this deep puddle that went to top of her boot. She reports, “I stepped in and ended up with one knee down 😳 but no one saw it!!!” [Pity -ed]

Meanwhile, moving ever deeper into the unknown, I was presented with plenty of challenging vegetation.

One of the privileges of volunteering on the Common is that you get to parts of it that you otherwise should not venture into: on this occasion I blundered into a patch greatly favoured by many pale moths (no idea of the species I’m afraid). My meandering route took me to the Beck where it flows beneath overhanging branches. With the sunshine filtering through the undergrowth, it was lovely.

Pulling up Himalayan Balsam is fairly easy, if you pull the right plant. There’s one that has very similar leaves, although they are a slightly deeper green, and its stalk is a similar thickness to a small Balsam plant, but much stronger. The trick is to give it a steady gentle pull: if it’s a Balsam it will more often than not come out of the soft ground easily. It’s also important to avoid bending over in such a way as to give yourself a faceful of nettles! HB as we affectionately know it greatly enjoys the company of nettles, thistles, brambles and bindweed.

Another of the joys of bashing the Balsam is that when you get a stalk of the right thickness, as you snap it it gives a satisfying “thwock”; a pleasure for me that never tires.

This plant is capable of growing prodigiously. We often display trophy plants of great height, but I personally have never seen one with such a thick stem, as found by Bob.

At the end of the allotted hour we convened at the Information Point in order to tip out our booty, amongst much good-natured banter about the weight of each other’s sacks. It added considerably to the existing pile.

No refreshment break photo this time of course, but here are some of the doughty volunteers. No Noel you will notice: he apologised for being back late, as he was “on the pull”!

Here is Team Leader Margaret’s message of thanks:

Morning all,

Yet again and enormous thank you to the 8 volunteers who turned out at 9.00. I hope they, like me, are very pleased to have got the job done before the heat of the day, even if it did mean such an early start. Thanks to you we continue to make progress with the Himalayan Balsam. The fact that some of it was in flower and is now six feet tall did make it easier to find but fortunately none had yet gone to seed. Honestly we will win eventually, but only thanks to your dedication.

You will be delighted to know that there will be a repeat performance next Sunday.

Enjoy your day and thanks as always for your support.

Margaret for the Team Leaders.

 

Botanical surveying

The botanists were out on the central area (G) a couple of weeks ago doing a plant survey …

… but they were also joined by this common lizard. 

Fish hawks and falcons

I have been enjoying watching online the raising of our local celebrity raptors. The three Cromer Peregrines have now fledged and are no longer visible on the webcam, although I believe they are still hanging around the church and there’s a chance of seeing them there before they disperse. The fabulous Ospreys at NWT Ranworth Broad are still visible either by a personal visit, or on the excellent webcam at https://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/RanworthCamera . Here’s a screenshot I grabbed the other day, showing an adult with its now very well-grown chick.

It may be the small boy inside me, but I find myself excited whenever I see a predator. I’m sure that grown-ups have got this under control, but most middle-aged (or is it elderly?) men have not yet reached that state of enlightenment. Accordingly, the other day whilst walking on Tap Road swallow alarm cries drew my attention to an aerial skirmish, with a hobby (the fabulously named Falco subbuteo) hot on the tail of one swallow, whilst being harassed by several other twittering hirundines. At a guess the falcon was pursuing a young bird, which the adults were trying to protect. It was only a brief but exciting glimpse before they all flew out of sight behind some trees, so I don’t know the result, although apparently most bird of prey hunts end in failure, so perhaps the target lived to fly another day and the pursuer had to try again – possibly snacking on dragonflies.

A while back I mentioned that I had borrowed from the library A Year with Gilbert White: The First Great Nature Writer by Jenny Uglow. I am very happy that I now own a copy, by way of my dear wife congratulating me for delving even deeper into my dotage. Good old Gilbert took great interest in many aspects of the natural world, one of them being swifts and the mystery of where they went to in winter. Turning to the entry for this date in 1781 I see that he was concerned to find only one swift, although by the evening many more were circling and no doubt screaming overhead. Rather like now, the weather that day was strange: strong sunshine, accompanied by a stiff wind, and an overcast evening. One of the great legacies of his observations is that he recorded the weather conditions every day, along with whatever natural phenomena caught his interest. Truly a great pioneer citizen scientist!