A Taste Of Spring

Thompson Water & Locality – Tuesday 3^rd March 2015

We left home at 1.10pm. It was 7˚C, bright and breezy but the wind had lost its bitter edge. We made our way to Thompson Water passing through Merton and Thompson.

Our first stop was just inside Merton where there is a large dung heap on one of the fields, we’ve had some good sightings here before. We saw a Pied Wagtail and three Meadow Pipits. There seemed to be plenty of birds coming and going but mainly to the back of the heap. In the opposite field there were plenty of Blue Tits moving between the ivy-clad trees and the field margins and there was a solitary Magpie in the field.

Moving along to The Green we were able to scan quite a wide panorama but apart from Wood Pigeons and the odd Corvid there was nothing but a beautiful vista laid out before us.

Views From The Green Merton

Going along Crow’s Lane there some Corvids near the Maize patch but nowhere near as many as we have seen recently around the Bodney and Little Cressingham areas. As we turned into the Watton Road heading towards Thompson, we could see plenty of Snowdrops, Celendine and sprouting Daffodils in the woodlands there.

Near St. Peter’s Church we had an eyeball to eyeball sighting of a Muntjac Buck who was busily feeding on the edge of a field. Although he kept a keen eye on us we had enough time to get a few shots of him.

Muntjac Stag Watton Road Merton

We made a brief detour along Sparrows Hill where we saw plenty of Blackbirds, a Wren, 2 Egyptian Geese and a Charm of 25 Goldfinches that roosted in a roadside tree for a few minutes before bobbing off again.

Sparrows Hill

Part Of A Charm Of 25 Goldfinches

Turning off into Tottington Road we saw about 6 House Sparrows busy in the hedgerow and carrying on along Peddars Way we saw a pair of Egyptian Geese and Shelduck in a field and a Muntjac in the woods before arriving at Thompson Water. This was only my second time there and this time we wanted to find the hide. I’m always a little anxious if I’m going somewhere I haven’t been to before. My mobility problems always worry me that if I go somewhere, can I get back again. Fortunately the hide wasn’t too far from where we parked the car.

The Hide At Thompson Water

Although the hide is small it is comfortable and gives you enough shelter from the wind, it is comfortable for two but maybe at a pinch you could get four in and it is not completely closed to the elements but on a day like today it was ideal. There are feeders around the hide and seed to replenish them but we had brought a little of our own. We sprinkled a few handfuls along the walkway to the hide and within seconds Blue and Great Tits descended upon the free helpings and the few hours we spent there the small birds entertained us and some came within inches of us to take seed on the handrails of the walkway. They didn’t take seed from my hand but when I put the seed on the handrail, they came to where my hand was. We also had Chaffinches, Robins, Reed Buntings, Dunnocks, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Willow Tits. 

Reed Bunting

Willow & Blue Tit

Great Tit

A few Rats and a Squirrel, also put in an appearance. It was interesting to watch the Rats diving and picking up spilt seed at the bottom of the margins. We know very well that Rats are good swimmers and climbers. When we lived in Bressingham we had a Koi Pond and whenever we had a Rat problem, feeding time was a competition between the Rats and the Koi as to who got the floating pellets first. I know many people don’t like Rats and a lot of demonising and urban myths have built up around Rats but they are after all part of the natural world and are really Nature’s rubbish collectors!

Sleeping Swan

View To The Front Of Hide

View From The Back Of The Hide

On the water there was a family of four Mute Swans although they were well spread out around the water (there may have been more) but one of them was sleeping a couple of metres in front of the hide, I wondered if it may have been a nest but I’m not sure if it was or not. We also saw Coots, Moorhens, Teal, Gadwall (a couple of pairs) and a Great Crested Grebe. Also there were some Long Tailed Tits that kept bobbing along in front of the hide among the reeds.

Thompson Water

All of this went on to the accompaniment of machine gun and small arms fire from one  of the ranges on STANTA, the local battleground area just behind us. The natural sounds just seemed to neutralise the sound of the war practice going on.

Woods At Thompson Water

We left Thompson Water just after 5pm and on our way home we saw four Egyptian Geese, two Roe Deer, another Muntjac Deer and 7 or 8 Red Deer Hinds in a field which we failed miserably at getting any pictures of.

At The Going Down Of The Sun...

And The Rising Of The Moon At Thompson Water.

Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.