BLOGGER: Sean Locke, Volunteer
Spring has sprung it seems and this year I have been looking for as many signs of this season as possible. I started my search in February. To begin with, it seemed like winter was going to stay with us a little longer. I remember walking around a winter wonderland, a Strumpshaw covered in snow. It was a day where only the river was ice free. Elsewhere on the site ducks were forced to huddle together on the icy edges of some small ice free sections, but here on the river as I took my walk along the snowy riverbank, I came across a lone otter hunting. It was like the perfect winter scene; snow, an ice free river, an otter and me and only me to enjoy it.
The next week, the snow had melted and was replaced with snow of a different kind. Snowdrops had erupted in the woods and turned parts of it white once more. It wasn’t the ‘snowstorm’scene I wanted to see (a woodland completely carpeted in these droopy headed flowers), but it was enough to prove that spring is on its way. By the end of February, other flowers were emerging like red dead-nettles, lesser celandines, blossom and catkins on the trees and of course William Wordworth’s favourite flower, the daffodil which came to its best in March. I visited Felbrigg Hall on March 30th where I truly felt like I was 'wandering as lonely as a cloud'.
In March, I witnessed the great crested grebe dance at Salhouse Broad. There were several couples copying each other’s movements such as preening and head waving while swimming close to its partner. The best part of course is the ‘weed dance’where both birds stand up on the water, beak to beak wagging their heads with a bit of weed in their beaks. I didn’t see this, but I was close. If only they had a bit of weed in their beaks, then I would have said that I saw it. At Strumpshaw, two grebes were building a nest in front of the Reception Hide. The female kept prompting the male to mate by bowing with the tip of her beak touching the nest and then she would lay flat on the nest as a hint to him. I saw him mate twice (that was when he was paying attention to her hint) by standing on her back and when he was done, he sort of ran over her head (both times!).
It was my birthday in March and if the whole month was my present, then I would say the best part was on the 28th. After my shift in the Reception Hide, I took a short walk. While I was returning back through the woods, I came across a man scrambling through the brambles with his camera. I could have told him off and told him to get back on the path, but I was curious. "What can you see?" I asked. "Grass snakes!" was the reply. I ended up being in the brambles with him, creeping towards the ball of snakes in the undergrowth as slowly and as silent as we can. Though there were about seven snakes in the ball, which were males all wrapped around one female in an attempt to mate with her, there were snakes everywhere. We were surrounded by them. I was still and was busy watching the ball when the photographer informed me that one had slithered over my feet. This was becoming one of the greatest encounters in my life (and there are many let me tell you). I was happy, but the photographer wanted a better shot of the action, so he moved further round the ball. He ended up spooking them and they slithered away with pace right by my feet. It may have cost him his shot, but for me it was amazing, an experience I won’t forget for sure. [Editor's note - As tempting as it is to get as close as possible to wildlife, we encourage people to keep a respectful distance at all times, especially during breeding season. Interrupting a 'special moment' is not only upsetting for other visitors who would like to see it too, but wastes the animal's precious energy stores and interferes with their breeding behaviour. So please remember, enjoy but don't disturb!]
My search for signs of spring also included lambs and chicks at Wroxham Barns, the first swallow at Cley, hares boxing, chiff chaffs, brimstone butterflies and mating frogs. Spring is here for another two months of course, so I will keep searching for more spring signs. The search continues...