Skip to main content

Alderford Common and Claxton Marshes

Inspired by recent visits to New Buckenham Common, I have been researching other significant areas of common land in Norfolk. Many seem to be SSSIs, which made my task that much easier. Now, the patch comes first, but with some spare time at the weekend Debs and I headed out to Alderford Common near Lenwade to explore the site. Hawfinch have been reported from here according to a PDF I came across published by Natural England. We didn't manage any of these, but Bullfinch were easy to come by and always make a nice consolation. 4 Buzzard were mewing overhead and a Siskin passed through. We found at least 2 Badger setts and the site looks excellent for these mammals. An enjoyable hour here, we then headed to Whitwell Common which we couldn't find! If anyone has been and knows anything about access, do let me know. They have a Facebook page and I have received some help, but I guess not knowing the area at all puts me at a disadvantage.
Next commons to try- Swannington Upgate and Fritton.

This evening I popped into Claxton Marshes on the way home from work. Some real quality on offer, and I soon got onto my target bird if only briefly. A Short-eared Owl, missing from the list last year, but very much present this year thanks to the tip-off from Ben. Marsh Harrier, Kestrel and a Peregrine troubling the Lapwing over the river completed a Raptor fest. A male Stonechat was singing, furthering my belief that this species is indeed here year-round. All this in half an hour, and if this continues I won't be getting out to any Common Land any time soon!

Comments

  1. Chris19 March 2015 at 02:22

    Hi Jim, I used to live in Reepham so know Whitwell Common well. It's marked on the ordnance survey map about 3km SSW of Reepham. Park in the small layby bu the phone box and just walk in! The phone box is also shown on the OS map. I'm down in south Norfolk these days and now close to Fritton Common (near Hempnall). Happy birding! Chris

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jim19 March 2015 at 12:11

    Great, thanks for that Chris. I'll find it next time!
    Jim.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everything is about edge

Hardley, where it is often confusing to define where the garden ends and the marsh begins. Tumble-down houses and rickety shacks, away from any bus route and Team Sky sorts wrapped in lycra, this is a village that by choice is cut off. The secret is out, and pre-storm Ciara as many as 10 large lenses littered the river bank firing at will. Their target- Winter ghosts. First, the classic Scooby-Doo type, as a Barn Owl responds to an ill-advised squeak in the grass and heads towards the onlookers. Another quickly joins the hunt, their formation a picture of double-edged stealth. But these year-round residents are not the key objective today, that honour is given to the Short-eared Owl. 3/4 of these can be seen from the staithe at the minute, floating like giant moths over the tussocks and edges.  In a recent article in The New Yorker, Jake Fiennes states "Everything is about edge". Hedges, ditches, scrub, forgotten tracts of land that link nothing and no-one. Fiennes, now ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grey Phalarope- a new patch bird

The 7th of April was another bitterly cold Spring day, hats and gloves in prime position on pegs and in bags ready to be deployed. A few brave Garganey have been reported north of the river, but it was a bird from the north itself that had me rushing for the thermals and the telescope late in the day.  I was thankful for the local Whatsapp group who were quick to report that a Grey Phalarope had been seen on Rockland Broad. This tiny Wader would have come in on the northerlies over the last few days, although to grace one of the broads is a real surprise, since most stick pretty close to the coast before moving on. Indeed, my experience of the birds has usually been on a sea watch in the Autumn, waves crashing and foam flying, my eyes straining to pick them out as they fly low just above the surf. They are fantastic birds, and now one was here on the patch. I had a brief panic when I realised my scope was in my car at the garage (thankfully I do have a much older spare) but once th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Claxton-on-sea!

 Although it was not quite the Christmas we wanted here in the valley, the rain has bought its own gift. A grim vision of the future, perhaps. But right now, the patch is peaking and is alive with birds, and for that I am thankful. On Christmas eve, it was a job to navigate away from the village due to standing water that had left abandoned cars and undelivered presents in its wake. The rain had been persistent and unforgiving, the ground, saturated. Over on the marsh, where there had once been a muddy puddle amongst the pasture, a city had sprung from the leak, with a plethora of new occupants noisily laying claim to a patch of sodden marsh. Wigeon and Black-headed Gulls in their thousands now wheeled and whistled over and amongst the newly formed pools, accompanied by smaller numbers of Teal and Shoveler. A flock of two hundred-strong Lapwing enjoyed feeding on the less damp spots where green grass was still exposed, and thrown in for good measure have been a couple of Ruff, the ...
4 comments
Read more