North of the Thames...and wet Norfolk

I headed up to RSPB Rye Meads on Friday. It was GLORIOUS. The sun was shining and it was wonderfully warm... oooooh!

I sat in various hides, but from the Kingfisher hide, a pair of Kingfishers were ducking and diving. Just a pity they weren't nearer but nonetheless it was lovely just to sit there and watch them!

Further around, and this Cormorant seemed to be "taking the air"


So that was great. Then had a very tasty meal provided for me in the evening... very yummy! (Especially the pud! ;) )

Now Saturday - a different day altogether.

We headed north (with an obligatory stop for Bacon, Egg and Sausage rolls with a welcome cuppa ....) with the intention of going to Titchwell etc. for a spot of birding. The forecast by the BBC (favoured by me) was for cloud; the forecast by Metcheck (favoured by Pete) was for rain. Unfortunately, the Metcheck forecast was more accurate. (Pete, 1, Tricia 0)

We stopped first, looking for the Little Owl, at Flitcham Abbey Farm. No sign of the Little Owl, but Red-legged Partridges seemed to be everywhere.

We stopped at the road side at Chosely Barns. These are massive grain barns and obviously some grain gets left on the areas outside the barns. Whic was great at we were greeted with the sight of about 24 Yellowhammers and three Corn Buntings (lifers for me). We watched them for sometime using the car as a shelter from the strong winds. The males were spectacular in their breeding plumage.

We drove on and debated whether to stop at Titchwell. (Pete asked if I wanted to visit; think he was quite glad when I said I didn't think it was worth it!) Given that we couldn't use cameras and would have difficulty in the pouring rain seeing anything with binoculars or scopes, we decided to give it a miss.

We then decided to head south again (into much much drier weather and very dry roads, hey ho!) and visit somewhere in the dry. So we went off to Peckover House - somewhere I'd never visited before.

The house was really lovely and of a size where you can imagine living. The gardens were pretty if a bit formally laid out, but this didn't detract. There were many rose bushes and climbers and June would be great for a return visit when they are all in flower.

So... a few views..

This very friendly feline seemed to follow us around the gardens; it certainly wanted some attention and was quite glad to be made a fuss of.

There was a small greenhouse which was aglow with colour of Spring flowering plants.

And, I may add, the soup at lunch time and the carrot and harvest cake at teatime were scrummy! Well done the catering team... on a winner there :D
So, a great day out (despite the weather) and home to be waited on again.

Thanks Pete :)