Marsh Harriers and Ice Cream

I was off of work today - the second day of my four days rest cycle. The weather was glorious so my wife and I decided to drive out to Hunstanton in Norfolk. My youngest son Ryan came along too as he has been staying for a couple of weeks. There were a few little traffic jams along the way, but once there we went to the little town centre in Hunstanton for coffee and pastries. Along the grass cliff top, we looked out to sea. I took the odd photo here and there.

After the coffee, we went back to the car and decided upon Wells Next the Sea. Another seaside town we wanted Ryan to see. I could not resist a minor diversion to the bird hides of Holkham Hall. I always like to see if I can get a few snaps of the Marsh Harriers.

Inside the bird hide were three men bird watching. They were very sociable and were talking of buzzards far off by a church spire where Holkham Hall Estate is - beyond a line of trees. It was quite far and on the other side of the approach road, we had travelled by car, beyond the marshland.   

I asked if anyone had seen Marsh Harriers and they replied they had not up to the present. I sat down and looked out with my camera as a Marsh Harrier suddenly flew low over the marsh. I called their attention to this and we all four eagerly looked through our various scopes.

I was clicking away with the 70 - 300mm Nikon lens. One of the bird watchers commented that the lens must be good. I had to reply that I never usually got good shots, but was able to enhance on my computer to get one or two shots of reasonable worth. and put them on my blog called Retro Brit. One man wrote it down. So I hope he gets a look at this.

I got about 60 - 70 shots of the Marsh Harrier and then bade the three bird watchers farewell. From here my wife, Carole, my son Ryan and I went to Well Next the Sea for an ice cream. There is a shop there that does a variety of flavours. We walked around the small quayside and then went back to the car and made our way home. All in all, a nice beautiful day out.

The shots were, of course, at some distance. However, there are a few images that are clear.

Marsh Harriers and Wild Rhododendrons of Norfolk.

Until I moved to the Fenland, I never paid much attention to raptors. It was only when I surveyed my new area that I began to notice all sorts of birds of prey. First it was Common Buzzards that seem to be in abundance around the Fens. I’m told they vanished to West and North Britain in the 1990s. Then they reappeared in Anglia and their population seems to rise each year.

I have seen Red Kites, Sparrow Hawks and, of course, Marsh Harriers. I saw a Red Kite hunting as it circled a field while I drove back to my work place along the A47 from Wisbech to March. It was a grand sight. And then the next day at almost the same location, I saw a Marsh Harrier fly across the road in front of my truck and out over the Fen.

It made me ponder at just how many Marsh Harriers there are too. I had never seen one until I moved to the Fens. Then upon visiting the bird hides between Manea and the town of Ely, I saw Marsh Harriers often. I thought it was something rear, but again, I was wrong. There are great numbers of them.

Today, I drove out with my wife to Wells Next to the Sea. We parked up at the Holkham Beach area, where there is a bridal path covered by trees. The woods create a barrier from the North Sea and the Marshes where these particular birds of prey love to hunt. I managed to get some shots as the raptors flew over the shrubs and grasslands hunting.

Carole's Wild Rhododendrons Woods

We also visited Sandringham where Carole loves to see the wild rhododendrons growing around the trees and woodlands. All in all, it was a very fine day.

The Buzzard and the Crow in Air Battle

Turning off to the beach at Brancaster in Norfolk I was met with a fantastic sight. I was on the way to Holkham Hall Estate for a day out, but I always bring my camera for the birds of prey. I don't know why but they fascinate me. As the car went along the rough road, Carole called my attention to a bird of prey. It was either a buzzard or a marsh harrier.

I stopped the car and quickly got out my camera. The two birds were at some distance but this was no courting of birds of prey. It was an Ariel battle between a crow and, I think, a buzzard. 

I'm no lover of crows because they are everywhere. As a dustman, I see them in large numbers at the landfill site when we empty the Fenland's rubbish. The tips are full of all sorts of carrion birds. Crows, ravens, rooks and various types of seagull too. To me they are dirty. Yet they are also necessary for our ecosystem. They clean things up and it is perhaps, us that are dirty with our refuse.

I think a buzzard or marsh harrier could hold it own against a crow. They are hunters with sharp talons. However, in the air, the crow seems more manoeuvrable and intelligent. It always seems to fly behind the bird of prey to harass and worry the raptor. It's as though the crow knows to keep its distance but to swoop nearby and from the rear to annoy the larger hunting bird.

The buzzard will glide and try to manoeuvre alongside the carrion crow but there always seems to be a way of twisting and turning to fall back behind the buzzard. Eventually, the buzzard gets driven off.