The Brecks to the Broads

Hockham Fen, Norfolk, 16/1/14

January birthdays are not a hugely popular time of year for outdoor revelry but it never dampens my enthusiasm for this time of year. With mine falling square in the month, I had a couple of days off last week and headed up to Norfolk with a plan hastily traced from a range of Ordnance Survey maps. All that un-folding and folding, it was an origami massacre.

But it was lovely to discover new areas of a county I always enjoy visiting. We ate well and slept well and strangely, pleasingly, my phone barely ever had any reception. A simple glitch that only reinforced our sense of place, even if it was only just passed Thetford! I suppose it was a fitting modern solitude for a clear day spent following the Peddars Way, a Roman (or pre-Roman) track that cuts through the western side of Norfolk from Holme down to Suffolk. Although underfoot it may have changed, with gravel and traffic-less lanes in  places, its landscape and story remains. Our circular route from Thompson took us on a narrow path that weaved through slender carr woodlands of the gloriously named Cranberry Rough before opening up to reveal the wild expanse of Hockham Fen. Places like this make me feel like a time traveller, and that is a wonderful thing.

Along this way it was nice to see a number of Marsh tits, a relative scarcity where I live. We also encountered a couple of Brambling drinking from a puddle in a woodland clearing with chaffinches and enjoyed a buzzing flock of siskins by a stream. At one point we came to a lane, the lane in your dreams - narrow, rutted and flanked with hedgerows. I thought it looked like the kind of place you should see Yellowhammers. We saw Yellowhammers.

Having joined the Peddars Way, we then veered off to explore some 'Pingos', or rare local geological features that formed at the end of the last ice age. Here, large underground pockets of ice expanded upwards and thawed, leaving odd, delicately formed pools. Apparently many were lost to ploughing and drainage during the last century but those that have remained form valuable ecological microhabitats for many species, particularly aquatic invertebrates.

The final stop on the Norfolk mini-tour was Hickling broad and coast, by way of the lush Yare Valley and the large numbers of Bean and White-fronted geese at Cantley marshes. In Hickling, the famed Stubb's Mill raptor roost kept one of us warm at least, as the sun dropped and the Marsh harriers swept in from all directions. I'm not sure how many appeared in total but forty birds wouldn't be unreasonable, with 15+ visible at one time. As these majestic shapes hung choosily over the extensive reedbeds that fill vast pockets of this rich and varied landscape, a couple of Hen Harriers appeared, fast and low in that way of theirs; a silvery male was the pick of the day.

Saturday started fair and grey as we went to see the Grey seals at Horsey Gap. Climbing up to a viewpoint on the dunes, I got a nice surprise as two Snow buntings flew out from under my feet and proceeded to pick at the grass heads strewn on the path. On the beach the seals and their pups lolled about while a few frisky ones jumped around in the surf. From the top of the dunes we had good views of the surrounding marshes and farmland and it was only a moment before I spotted several Cranes grazing in muddy, waterlogged field near Horsey Wind Pump. It's fantastic that this is no longer greeted with surprise. Some way along the dunes, peering through a fenced off part of the beach, I spotted a number of large gulls gathered. As I moved closer they revealed a fresh seal carcass on the sand - perhaps a victim of the recent storms? Interestingly the skitterish gulls were immediately replaced around it by some Turnstones and a Sanderling, the two small and surprisingly opportunist waders tucking into the flesh. While watching this, I noticed a crow land on the beach nearby. I nearly paid it no attention but was glad of a double take as it revealed it was a Hooded Crow, the furthest south I've seen one in Britain.

For the rest of the day we drifted on our own path, avoiding civilisation for as long we could, until we blinked and were somehow home again. A great birthday trip.

The Peddar's Way near Thompson

Thompson Water NWT

Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus) at Horsey dunes

Lunch at Horsey Gap

Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) on the beach