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NORTH NORFOLK: Wildlife Road Trip and Polecat sighting

16th June 2017

On Friday night Cathy, Margaret & I went to Gresham's school in Holt for the opening night of the Norfolk Festival of Nature. The opening event was a talk called the Wildlife Road Trip by Martin Hughes-Games and Iolo Williams, who many readers will know through Springwatch. Martin had shown particular dedication to get there, having been broadcasting from the Isles of Scilly on Thursday, and after flying back into Exeter on Friday morning had driven across the country to get to Holt.

Both Martin and Iolo were engaging speakers and were able to describe their different wildlife experiences and career paths. We also had a chat with Iolo at the interval and we came across as a thoroughly nice guy. A bit late now, but I would recommend going to see them if they do visit your town.

The wildlife highlight of the day however occurred on the way home, when somewhere on the Holt Road between the Saxthorpe roundabout and the bridge a Polecat (or a convincing hybrid!) bounded across the road. It had the distinct Polecat face mask and dark nose, no pale bib and dark flanks. We may be at the stage where DNA evidence is required to validate records and eliminate the chance of ferret hybrids, but pragmatically I think this was a good shout for a 'proper' one.

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