YARE VALLEY: Cantley marsh plants

The grazing marshes at Cantley are usually off-limits to the public, but last week I took advantage of a Freshwater Habitats Trust training course to have a short walk along some of the dykes. The main purpose of the course was to show interested individuals how to identify Greater Water Parsnip and Tubular Water Dropwort, both rare plants but realtively common in certain parts of the broads. We found both without any problem here.

 Greater Water Parsnip

 Tubuler Water Dropwort

In addition to the target species we saw a range of other wetland plants, several of which were new for me. I thought I had seen Flowering Rush before, but apparently not, whilst I have probably been overlooking Sweet Flag, and wouldn't have been able to identify Shining Pondweed or Rigid Hornwort.

 Flowering Rush

 Sweet Flag

 Shining Pondweed

 Rigid Hornwort

In addition to the plants I managed to catch a Notch-horned Cleg before it bit me, and found a mating pair of Donacia marginata reed beetles. The latter was doubly pleasing in that I managed to key it out correctly and Martin Collier has told me that although it is quite widespread in the county, he doesn't have any previous records from Cantley. Thanks to Jeremy Halls and Pete Case for allowing me to attend the session.

NORFOLK: East Norfolk

3rd January 2010

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Gary & I decided to have a day out in the east of the county. After picking me up we made a quick stop off on Clarence Road to have a look at a flock of Waxwings busy eating some rather manky-looking yellow apples. After having a good look, we carried on to Cantley to have a look at the geese. Gary's damaged foot ligaments meant that long walks were inadvisable, so we looked over from School Lane rather than walking towards the river path. A large number of White-fronted and a small number of Taiga Bean Geese were on the marshes, but there was no sign of the LWFG. We also managed to get some good views of Fieldfares hopping about in fron of us.

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The next bird required a trip into Suffolk, but we decided an Iceland Gull was worth it. Arriving at Hamilton Dock in Lowestoft a birder was already looking at the Iceland Gull, and after flying around the harbour it eventually flew close to us and landed on the fence. Easily my best views of this species, and having not seen Ross' or Ivory, it has to be my favourite gull. High praise indeed. Back across the county border (or not if you are a political boundary denialist we stopped at Breydon Water south shore. We found out that the Brent Geese and a flock of Lapland Buntings were quite a way along, so we contented ourselves to scan the estuary. A huge swathe of Wigeon covered the mud, and every wader species was a year tick, including a flock of c30 Avocets.

Heading towards the broads we pulled in to admire the sight of a field of wild swans. There looked a healthy number of 1st winter birds with them, although they were being annoyed by what was either a one-man or large toy helicopter being flown nearby. We carried on to the Eels Foot Inn for our first visit. The garden has a brilliant panoramic view over Ormesby Little Broad, which was unfortunately frozen. We got ourselves a drink and then crossed our fingers for a Bittern. No such luck, but we did clock up 24 species, including three pub ticks - Jay, Red-crested Pochard and Marsh Tit.

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Next up was Barton Broad, where I hoped to see drake Smew. A quick scan around the open water and there they were, two drake Smew amongst the Goldeneye. Whilst I feasted my eyes on the Smew, Gary had found a Peregrine sat on a post and being eyed warily by the Teal. Our final stop on the way back to Norwich was at Wroxham Broad. We scanned through the Aythya flock, interrupted for a while by the arrival of a mixed Redpoll flock in alders near the boat club. I was ready to give up, but another flock of ducks flew in, and amongst them was the 1st-winter male Scaup that had been seen that morning. Who needs colour when you have Iceland Gull and Smew?

Cantley to Strumpshaw

22nd December 2010

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Adam had the day off work so we agreed to get the train to Cantley and have a look at the Lesser White-front. I may on occasion moan about the trains, so it is only fair to say that this one was running on time and was not affected by the temperature or snow. Taking the path down from Burnt House Lane we located the Bean Geese, but due to the lay of the land we couldn't see them all. Moving further round we got a better view, and eventually found the Lesser White-fronted Goose with a group of 90+ Bean Geese. There was also one White-fronted Goose with a smaller group of Bean, providing a pitfall for the unwary.

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As well as admiring the snowy landscape, we continued scanning as we walked along the riverbank to Buckenham. We saw a ringtail Hen Harrier, two Peregrines and a Buzzard at the Cantley end, whilst a Barn Owl ghosted across the path nearer Buckenham. Large numbers of Wigeon were on the river, as was a Black Swan. At least four Chinese Water Deer were wandering in the snow. We checked out the new hide at Buckenham (it looks nice, but is there really a need for one here?), and saw two Dunlin flying over. In the woods at Strumpshaw we saw a couple of flocks of Redpoll fly over and had a chat with Ben, before walking on to Brundall where we got the train back to Norwich.