News archive

Wednesday, 29 December 2010

Group Visit: Corvid Roost at Dusk

December's meeting meant a break from our usual Saturday morning meetings. A select group braved the cold and met on a Wednesday afternoon just after Christmas at Buckenham Marshes in the hope of a short walk by the marshes before seeing the Corvid roost at dusk. It is thought to be the largest rook roost in Europe with as many as 100,000 rooks coming in to roost so we were all looking forward to the spectacle! Unfortunately the weather wasn't kind. It turned out to be a very foggy day. We could hear a few wigeon in the distance and just make out a few geese on the marsh near the station but couldn't be sure which species we were looking at. We could see the rooks coming in, in small groups overhead and gathering on the marshes or on the telegraph wires. But as dusk fell the fog was too thick to see the roost but we knew it was happening because the sound was amazing! It was perfectly described by Carolyn as the sound of water rushing over a pebbly riverbed. None of us expected it to be so loud! So while we couldn't see the spectacle this year (we'll have to try again) we did manage to hear it and it proved one thing - when you are out watching nature, what you hear can be just as important and magical as what you see!

Melanie Beck, WEX Assistant leader.