2007 Diary
January 2007
It was dark, the storm was at its height, the wind roared through the leafless trees sending branches crashing on to our windscreen, the road was strewn with debris, a piece of broken fence bounced off the bonnet. We wondered if we would make it - but make it we did, to the first indoor WVBS meeting of the year at Weston Longville. Despite the weather (or maybe because of it) over 50 members turned up for David Pelling’s presentation on the birds of Florida. As to be expected some excellent pictures of exotic species including the striking plumage of the anhinga, the brilliant red cardinal and the close ups of fearsome looking alligators having an afternoon nap.
Our field trip was to Welney and the Ouse washes, a strange and remote flat land of waterways, rich black soil and Turner skies. Welney’s new eco-friendly visitor centre was well worth a visit to watch the daily feeding of thousands of swans, ducks and other water birds observed from the centrally heated observatory. To start the day we stopped at Denver sluices for a quick look round and a Bittern was spotted in a patch of reeds by the sluice. Normally difficult to see this one decided to break cover, take to the air and flew past within feet of us. The first time I have heard birdwatchers break into round of applause.
February 2007
It was extra chairs again for our second meeting at Weston Longville Village Hall. Over 60 people turned up to hear John Clifton’s presentation on the wildlife of Shetland. Having lived there for several years John was able to bring the island to life with a series of slides showing the island in all its moods. Now accessible by air from Stanstead, his description of the abundant wildlife, rugged landscape and coastline and 19 hours of midsummer daylight had many of us planning our first trip.
We had a good turn out for our field trip to Hickling Broad. We walked from Potter Heigham Church to the South side of the broad. Finishing up with a visit to the watch tower which gave spectacular views over the reserve. After lunch we went to the Raptor Roost watchpoint at Stubbs Mill where we had fine views of Marsh Harriers and Common cranes coming in to spend the night in the safety of the reed beds. In all a fairly good day with about 45-50 species seen.
March 2007
When we were youngsters, some 50 years ago, we collected stamps and birds eggs. I still have my stamps but I am happy to report that my egg collection has long gone. Which is just as well after hearing Nicholas Crampton, a lawyer from the Crown Prosecution Service, who gave a talk on Fighting Wildlife Crime. Nicholas, who has ten years experience of prosecuting wildlife crime, outlined the various acts which have been introduced for the protection of wildlife starting as far back as 1822. He listed a range of threatened species which come under the act such as Badgers, Bats, Raptors and also plants, such as Bluebells and Snowdrops. Penalties for wildlife crime have become more severe and a recent case of a local man, who received a 6½ year jail sentence for trafficking in endangered birds of prey, was given as an example. Nicholas also spoke about protection laws in the Mediterranean particularly Malta and Cyprus where he felt that steady progress was being made. An interesting and reassuring talk.
The Wensum Valley Project, established in 1988 to conserve wildlife, were very supportive of us when we formed our society. They have now decided to become a charitable trust to take over the work of the Wensum Valley project and would welcome anyone with an interest in the Wensum Valley to help launch this exciting new start for the trust. More information can be found on http://www.wensumvalleyproject.org.uk/ .
April 2007
It was AGM time again and president Alwyn Jackson gave a short address reviewing the events of the past year. He mentioned the continual growth of the Society which has expanded to over one hundred members, the move to Weston Longville, with its easy access and parking resulting in more people turning up to indoor meetings and the successful launch of the Tern Raft project. The committee was thanked for their efforts over the past year and, before they had a chance to get to the exit, were promptly voted back in for another term.
The Cuckoo: In mid to late April the cuckoo arrives and is traditionally reported in the letters pages of the Times newspaper. We also announce the first sound of the cuckoo but we do it on our Yahoo e-group site. This year the first one was heard on 23rd April, at Lenwade followed by a report of nightingales singing on the 28th, also at Lenwade.
Ray Kimber, currently an RSPB volunteer at Titchwell, gave an illustrated talk on ‘Pilanesberg National Park’. Ray’s excellent slides of the flora and fauna of the area prompted me to look up their website, ww.pilanesberggamereserve.com. The reserve is described as an artificially created wildlife park in the crater of a long extinct volcano in the northern part of South Africa and covers an area of 55,000 hectares. Under operation Genesis in 1979, the reserve was fenced and many long-vanished species were re-introduced. The park has in excess of 7000 animals, 200 kilometers of excellent quality roads for either self-drives or guided drives, numerous hides and picnic sites and professional guides operate within the park. What are we waiting for?
May 2007
I am one of the 540 million people who do not admit to watching the Eurovision Song Competition, and anyway we wuz robbed. It would have been far better on the nerves to attend our annual sojourn into the early morning mist to hear the delights of the Dawn Chorus. No strobe lights, no fireworks, just a peaceful walk in the tranquil setting of Sparham Pools with several experts on hand to separate the myriad of sounds (with some polite disagreement) and at the end of it all an agreeably priced high cholesterol bacon buttie - a sort of award for early rising and completing the course. Put a date in your diary for next May. Douze points.
Thanks to Steven Cale, the bird artist, who gave us a talk on the wildlife of Ethiopia at our indoor meeting. An excellent talk made more interesting coming from the perspective of an artist.
Wild About the Wensum we took part in this special event which was hosted by the Conservation trust at Pensthorpe. Chairman of the trust, Professor David Bellamy OBE officially opened the event which sought to highlight the importance of the Wensum Valley and those organisations who work to preserve it. Congratulations to the organisers and participating groups for a very well organised and stimulating day and, judging by the attendance, of more interest than the FA Cup final which was on at the same time.