Shopping Outing

Little Cressingham & Hilborough, Norfolk – Thursday 27^th November 2014 

Another grotty day today, mild but wet. On the way to do some shopping in Swaffham we came across a flock (the collective noun for Fieldfares) of about 30 Fieldfares near Peddars Way, Little Cressingham. They were quite flighty and everytime we inched closer to them they were up and away.

As we travelled along Peddars Way towards South Pickenham we could see lots of small birds moving along the hedgerows but we never got close enough to them to identify them properly. We saw lots of Pheasants around the Game Feeders and passing over the River Wissey we could see that the river was very swollen and had burst its banks in several places.

On our way home from our shopping trip we made a short stop along the cut through road between the Swaffham - Mundford Road and the Watton Road. It was rapidly getting dark but we could just see that the nearby River Wissey had flooded the fields along its banks. We could hear plenty of Ducks, Geese and Wildfowl calling as they settled down for the night. In front of us we heard machine gun fire and saw some flares falling on to the Battleground, obviously an exercise was going on there. 

Then Jan noticed a Little Owl on top of the telegraph pole about 30 metres in front of us. It didn’t stay long and flew off towards some trees on the other side of the field. Unfortunately the light wasn’t good enough to get a picture.

Jan also heard a Barn and a Tawny Owl off to our left but I have to take her word for it as I could hardly hear anything because of the tinnitus I suffer from. I get really frustrated about this at times because it feels as if I am imprisoned by it.

Only a short entry but well worth it. Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.