Frank and the Guide freshly back from the very edge of  another world (Derbyshire) couldn't wait to get back out onto the Broads. All that wandering about on the hills, & hardly a Robin to guide your way, made Frank think how lucky they were to have the Broads on the doorstep. First stop a trip down to Strumpshaw fen and a pretty good look at a Merlin beetling through, alighting on a branch, mobbed by a Harrier and off. Quick wander around the river bank until dusk, with soft mist rising off the fen & a few Chinese water deer grazing, the was scene completed by a solitary barn owl, quartering near the old pump house.

Next trip, down to Cantley marsh, round the yare to Buckenham. Old Frank hung around the dyke edges , emulated by his  namesake. Water Soldier was dying off for the winter, and no Dragonflies now, but still the same semi-isolation you don't get very often now. The electricity cables across the marsh had been removed, set underground,  so Frank had to scour gate posts and fences for any Peregrine that might have flown in, nothing of course. Plenty of Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler and Lapwing though, with the odd Redshank, Ruff and Snipe thrown in. The sheer number of birds on the marsh as Frank scanned about (waiting for the stove, bloody sodding never quite right , always buggering me about stove ,to boil) was stunning.

Surely the canoe Sir !
Positively weeks since  they'd been out , the cold setting in, and wind getting up; simply must be a solid weekend of paddling in store. First off Hickling. Frank saw Harry wandering up the road  away from the staithe & waved, no launch fee this time  ha ha, Frank knowingly looked in rear view mirror to observe  Harry's turn, ever diligent, to collect the cash. Good old dependable Harry  does exactly what it says on the tin, the world really would be a lesser place without him.

Paddling around in the stiff westerly seemed like pure heaven to Frank & the Guide, stop for a brew (flask this time, bugger the bloody stove) and the honk of a couple of Cranes, then off again. Down to Catfield where the guide (who else) spotted a female Hen Harrier, which Frank had looked at but failed (too lazy to properly look) to correctly identify. First one for a couple of years now.

Next trip, a little chillier , off to Ranworth (no fee) for the most magical day out this year. Glowing sky all day, little wind, and hardly any boats , the Bure & Ant had never seemed so enchanting, just that same old (no Otter) trip  up to Barton seemed to equate to at least a weeks holiday abroad.  Why that is we'll never really understand. Something about paddling into the chilly wind with the low sun in your eyes, can't really be explained. Couple of Kingfishers  and over 5 Dabchicks helped the mood, & as they drifted back into Ranworth in near darkenss, the beautiful silence was broken by one of the guide's old broads friends  shouting from the cabin of the  Forget-me-not, in her best Sheffield accent  'do you want the kettle puttin' on !

See you next time.

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Wilds of Norfolk was set up because of our unquenchable enthusiasm for the Norfolk Broads,  our small part of the natural world. We thought we'd like to try and give something back by helping other people enjoy the countryside and it's wildlife as well as do our own little bit to promote an interest in the natural world and it's conservation , not only for the wildlife but for the sheer exuberance of the precious life we're lucky enough to get the chance to live.

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