SPRING AROUND THE CORNER?

  It's approaching my favourite time of the year, the months of march, april and may hold more excitement to me than any other time in the calender. This year after all the recent cold weather it seemed as though spring offered a sneak preview on saturday when I was on Outney common at Bungay. The warmer temperatures and lack of a breeze really was welcome and the wildlife appeared to appreciate it too with many birds starting to sing and display. Blue tits and great tits were flitting about in the trees maybe on the lookout for nesting sites and Chaffinches were everywhere singing and calling; a pair of Mistle Thrushes were seen near pine trees on the golf course where they nested last year and many Rooks were turning over patches of moss amongst the grass on the fairways on the hunt for a meal.
  Towards the Earsham side of the common the flooded pastures looked spectacular with hundreds of birds in residence mainly gulls, swans, ducks and geese whose reflections in the glass like still water were a sight to behold. Groups of geese and swans regularly flew over my head and although most of the geese were either Greylag or Canada and swans Mute I did spy a flight of 8 Bewicks flying high above the river and a couple of common Buzzards also put in an appearance.
  Driving to Sheringham on sunday the thick fog didn't promise much in the way of spring like weather but surprisingly the coast was clear and sunny and temperatures quite reasonable. The coastline to the north of the town must surely be the most picturesque in the region and the cliffs are worthy of any photographers attention (shame I didn't have mine with me!) The sea was nearly flat calm and patches of gorse were coming into yellow flower on the cliff tops which seemed to glow in the sunlight. Skylarks were springing from the grass, launching into the air with bursts of song which propelled my thoughts towards the glorious days of spring ahead; gulls wheeled along the cliffs and people were out with there kids and dogs. All in all a fantastic day made even better by beating my brother at golf!