11th June 2025 - early afternoon, Norfolk

Midday wanders today on Mulbarton Common.

I headed into one of the woodland enclosures with a large pond to take shelter from the strong wind as I ate my sandwiches. Watched a family of Mallards and Moorhens, complete with a baby Moorhen. I wondered how birds are able to see this pond from above, sheltered on all sides as it is by the tall trees. Have they been there before?

Yellow Iris were adding pops of colour to the long reeds and it was the kind of overcast day that made me feel particularly alone.

A man walked through the field of crows and directly through the area on the Common I call 'Bunny Alley' (named for the two pits in the earth, full of vegetation, where bunnies roam). Brave, I thought, wondering if he knew the significance of the place I had named.

I have come to understand that if there is an exquisite bird call that I do not recognise and that is repetitive (similar in song pattern to a Marsh Warbler I find), then it is almost certainly a Song Thrush.

Yellow Iris RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk