2nd June 2025 - late morning, Norfolk

What a difference two months makes. It's sometimes hard to notice significant changes in the landscape when you see them day to day. I photographed Mulbarton Common in Norfolk on the 1st of April and again this morning. The landscape around the large pond, beautiful brittle golden reeds have been replaced by lush vegetation. The reeds intertwine and lean into each other in the wind as pond skaters dance about on the surface.

April 1st 2025, Mulbarton Common, Norfolk

June 2nd 2025, Mulbarton Common, Norfolk

The Common is nearly always deserted (one of my favourite things about visiting it). A murder of crows was vocalising on the large open area between what I call Rabbit Alley (a narrow strip of grass between two hollows in the ground) and the southernmost woodland. Two crows in particular were doing a strange sort of dance. There were fiercely trying to walk wing to wing, beak to beak, keeping as close together as possible as they moved. It was quite amusing to watch and not behaviour I've sen before. I would assume some sort of mating ritual?

I sat and slowly digested an early lunch with my back against the woodland. There must be something in my primeval genetic code telling me I ought not to have my back against such a place as I felt the tiniest sliver of unease a couple of times. My ancestors would certainly not have eaten with their back to the trees. I was sampling a new homemade blackcurrent jam recipe though which I amused myself by thinking they would have been impressed by.

Only a year ago, the loud rustlings to both sides of me would've been mistakenly put down to that of a deer or rabbit but today's me knew better. That loud scrunch and throwing of leaves could only be made by a blackbird!

The soundscape was a plethora of Blue Tits and a Song Thrush. A banditry of Blue Tits is the correct term for them which feels very apt for their call is not the most soothing is it? Quite a raspy and rushed sound - especially when paired with the lush notes of the Song Thrush. Sorry, Blue Tits - you are stunning though. It occured to me as I was eating that I'm going to have so many new bird species to learn come Autumn and Winter. Something to look forward to. I am very much looking forward to looking back at this blog after a full calendar year and comparing my observations.

As I finished my walk, I reached the rabbit holes (approximately 20cm deep) that I pass each time I visit. Historically, as strange as this sounds, within these holes (or just next to them) I have found delightful rocks. The rocks are most often small chunks of flint in unusual shapes but there have also been sandstones and granites.

I have an old Pagan friend who would say these were deposited by fairies as a thank you for my visit. My fanciful brain likes to imagine that a bird of pray has passed overhead and dropped them. It is something I look forward to when I visit though, what delights will be present.

Today, the delights were a little less delightful, but interesting nonetheless. The wing of a fledgling (species unknown) was a macabre yet perfectly formed cup of delicate feathers that would've fit in the palm of my hand (I did not of course take it with me). In rabbit hole number one was some kind of dried fruit? It initially looked like some kind of fig but that isn't possible. For rabbit hole number two, I did a double take as it looked like a small femur bone. This isn't the best photograph to show you what I mean but both ends had wonderful nobbles on like hip sockets. That one was scooped up for my personal collection.