The house sits on a slight rise, surrounded on two sides by fields of long grass backed by tall Breckland pines. On its other side is a cool, dark woodland with trees that creak in the wind and which merge into the shrubs and flowering trees of a garden. Behind the house is an enclosed … More The Owl Family
Despite the blanket of grey white cloud overhead, soft green light filtered through the forest canopy. Among the dark crinkly leaves and branches of the forest floor the occasional green fronds of new bracken growth had begun to unfurl. It had only been a few weeks but we were back in Thetford Forest checking our … More Forest Rounds
It had been a glorious May Bank Holiday with bright blue, cloudless skies and soaring temperatures. An extended weekend of hours in the paddling pool, ice creams and for us yes a little bit of ringing, with the welcome return of many warblers to our reed bed site. Topping it all off was the return … More Adorable peewits
The Forest was bursting into life, shaking off the muted and quiet shades of winter and blooming in celebration of Spring. Across all the trees and bushes leaves were unfolding in a multitude of shades of green, adding lighter shades to the deeper evergreens of the pines. Set against this green is the skeleton of … More Spring in the Forest
The morning started off grey, over cast, with an ever so slight nip in the air. The bushes and trees of the farm remain relatively subdued. This time last year spring had most definitely sprung and it felt like we were almost into summer already. The Magnolia next to the stables was in full bloom. … More Changing of the seasons
To say that it has been a wet Easter weekend is probably an understatement. Blocks of persistent heavy rain have swept across the county on each day, with the sky never varying from a sombre grey. Dodging between these periods of rain we did however manage to squeeze in some bird ringing sessions over the … More Easter Ringing
Last week our little corner of the world, along with almost all of Britain and Ireland, froze as the ‘Beast from the East’ swept in. Temperatures plummeted to well below freezing and then snow fell. And then fell again, building up to a few inches, covering the landscape in its soft white blanket that delighted … More The Beast, Emma and Thaw
The forecast was wrong, the weather had changed; as dawn broke, it was not overcast skies that greeted us but streaks of white whisps across a clear and cold, expanse of deep blue. Ice covered puddles, their muddy edges solid with none of the usual squelchy give. The grass at the edge of the fields … More Smart as you like
It was like any other ringing session at the farm. The sky over head began clear and blue, welcoming a cold crisp morning with a rising sun that burnished the tops of the trees, gradually revealing more from the dark blue shadows. The trees and bushes stirred in the breeze and were bustling with birds, … More A treat in the garden
The weather was as it has been for the first few weeks of the year, dull and grey. A monotone sky that seemed to sap colour from the surrounding trees. It was cool but not terribly cold, just grey and dank. Here in Santon Downham the river winds its way through blocks of forest before … More Parrots in the tree tops
Wild Barley 