Twelve members enjoyed a guided visit to Pensthorpe Conservation Area on Saturday July 21^st led by Andrew Reeve who is the Manager of the site. Andrew was able to explain the changes that had taken place at Pensthorpe over recent years and emphasized the valuable conservation efforts the Trust was involved in along with other groups like the RSPB and the Wildlife and Wetland Trust. He explained that Pensthorpe has to attract visitors so that this work can be sustained and that they had increased the visitor numbers over recent years but more were needed to reach a break even point.

Tags: norfolk birdwatching, birding norfolk, birding

A summer evening at Swanton Morley Gravel Pit - Thursday 5^th July

The forecast hadn’t seemed too bad but as 7.30 approached the sky darkened and the rain began falling.  Nevertheless eight stoical members joined Charles and Fran Neale for a summer evening’s stroll around Swanton Morley Gravel Pits.

Understandably birdwatching was a challenge as the smaller birds skulked silently in the undergrowth but happily the water birds continued with their activities despite the weather.  A great Crested Grebe was observed squatting on its nest possibly hoping the water levels would not rise any further.

Thursday 21^st June Pub Grub and Nightjars at Marsham

Around 18 members met up at the Marsham Arms for a meal and were later joined by more members for the Nightjar walk. After a rainy afternoon the evening was dry and warm which made it ideal for standing on the heath awaiting dusk.

Patience was rewarded with several woodcock doing a flypast followed by the wing clamping and churring of the nightjars flying from the trees

Tags: birding norfolk, birding, wvbs

1) Find a suitable stretch of water. Hickling Broad on a day when WVBS are visiting is a good choice.2) Spot a blob with your binoculars which could be a bird on top of a post in the middle of the Broad

3) Find a helpful companion with a telescope and train it on the bird

4) Agree that it has a blackish-brownish body with a light head, and is about the size of, but doesn’t look like, a female marsh harrier, which is flying around nearby.

Swanton Morley Gravel Pits

1^st Oct 06

An eager group of birders met on Sunday morning at the pits. We had all expected the forecast ‘intermittent showers’ and so were well prepared in wet weather gear which was duly peeled of in layers as the walk progressed in late summery sunshine.

Joint WVBS / Narvos Field Trip to Sparham Pools Saturday 7^th Feb 2004

Leader: Alwyn Jackson

18 members from WVBS and Narvos met in the car park at Sparham Pools on a bright but very windy morning. Alwyn gave a brief history of the reserve before setting off around the southern edge, along the river and back by the northern edge. Normally we are restricted to the periphery of the lake but the owner, Charles Sayer ( a keen birder) had given us permission to go over his adjoining land.

Hi everybody,

I have written these few notes about our field meeting on Sunday 4th April which I thought might be of interest to you.

“Twenty members of the Nar Valley Ornithological Society (NARVOS) and the Wensum Valley Birdwatching Society met at Horsey Mill on Sunday 4 th April to enjoy a day’s birdwatching together under the leadership of Ray Gribble. The weather was fine and dry but a cool easterly wind meant that woolly hats were required.