An osprey stopped off at Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Ranworth Broad nature reserve recently – a rare visitor from Africa with a 1.5m wingspan, enjoying using the fish-rich waters of the reserve as a good place to stock up before continuing its migration north, probably towards a final destination of Scotland or Scandinavia. It was still there a few days ago and seems to like its temporary home! It’s not the only rare visitor to Norfolk as crossbills and a glossy ibis have been seen at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen and a great snipe at NWT Cley Marshes.
English Wine Week is taking place between 28th May and 5th June and we are delighted to have taken delivery of the new vintage of our delicious Bacchus from Chapel Down vineyards in Tenterden, Kent. The wine has been so popular on our list that we ran out of stocks of the previous vintage and were unable to get more until the 2010 vintage was released. Described as ‘Quintessentially English’ by the Sunday Times, it is a lovely crisp and refreshing wine bursting with aromas of elderflower, gooseberry and rhubarb. It tastes fantastic!
This last week has been a week of chicks in the garden – we have lots of young blackbirds, indeed one found its way into our conservatory, twice! Well we’re not actually sure it was the same bird but we evicted two in fairly quick succession, completely unharmed I’m pleased to say.
Where's the feeder gone?
We’ve also had fledgling blue tits at our feeder – a parent was seen feeding a youngster just close by and several have been seen tucking into one of the ‘fatty’ treats we put out for them. There are lots of nests in the garden and close by too, as we’ve seen many birds flying off with mouthfuls of food to feed their nestlings.
Our garden ‘allotment’ is a little behind schedule this year, we have been hesitant to sow any seeds because the ground is so dry. We may well have a glut of tomatoes however, we have so many plants in the greenhouse we have had to move some to the Conservatory, and we have managed to get the runner beans and dwarf beans planted out, as well as a few banana squash plants. Our courgettes are not doing overly well, probably due to the lack of rain, but we are still hopeful for a good, if small crop.
Until next time…..
