I've been lucky enough to visit three RSPB nature reserves over the last few days.
On Friday it was work, visiting Frampton Marsh with a VIP visitor. Brrrr - it was cold, but the volunteers at the small visitor centre gave as a warm welcome as did a variety of raptors - there were hen harrier, marsh harrier, sparrowhawk and merlin seen in the first few minutes of our visit. But no rough-legged buzzard - another example of the 'You should have been here yesterday!' phenomenon. But the reserve is progressing nicely since I was last there about a year ago.
Then on Sunday it was Titchwell this morning and the Ouse Washes this afternoon.
Titchwell produced lots of birds, as usual. There were lots of waders - avocets, lapwing, golden plover, ruff, dunlin, sanderling, bar-tailed godwits, ringed plover, oystercatcher, grey plover and redshank. And a flock of twite was mixed in with skylarks feeding on the mud. A red-necked grebe was offshore. A gloomy looking barn owl sat on a post - the first of four that the day provided. Skeins of pink-footed geese flew from their roosts to feed on the harvested sugar beet tops and brent geese were on the saltmarsh.
The new hide is rather smart and gives good views of the birds. Once it has weathered in a bit I think it'll be great. Fancy windows - I hope they never go wrong. And I had a quick look at the refurbished other hide overlooking the fresh marsh. A visitor at Frampton had taken the opportunity to complain to me about the sloping arm rests which mean you can't easily put your stuff on the shelf in front of you. He has a point.
On the beach at Salthouse there was a confiding flock of snow buntings feeding around the car after my unsuccessful search for shore larks - the snow buntings made up for it.
And then the Ouse Washes - full of ducks and a great wetland sight. Pintails, mallard, gadwall, teal and shoveler dabbling, and pochard, goldeneye, tufted ducks diving.
Two grey February days lit up by nature.
I have to say that in between feeding and watering the beasts (four-legged) this morning I heard the name of the current RSPB Conservation Director referred to on the Radio 4 Today programme – followed by yer actual CD speaking eloquently about ‘peat bogs’ – he is real after all!
It reminded me of the French poet Apollinaire’s quote:-
De Chine sont venus les pihis longs et souple
Qui n’ont qu’une seule aile et qui volont par couples
- in which the ‘pihis’ appear as a series of quasi-hallucinatory birds that are one winged yet fly together with their mirror image.
Mange tout Rodney! Monge tout!
Mark, If that is what the job of Director of Conservation entails, where can we all get the application form.
Brilliant, the RSPB can be proud of all that.