Lunch at Castle Rising, Birding at Wells, Warham, Titchwell & Holme!

Castle Rising Tea Rooms
I had lunch with my sisters Lucy and Vivien at the Castle Rising Tea Rooms and very nice it was too! Had a veggie roast, followed by bread & butter pudding with ice-cream, washed down with organic ginger beer!

Re-parked our cars just past the church and walked to 'Onion Corner' as it is known locally – Wild Garlic grows here on mass and we could smell it long before we reached the corner! Lots of Bluebells in the wood, a beautiful little spot. This area is used by lots of dog walkers, some of whom do not clear up, so you have to watch where you step. A mature oak tree looked especially beautiful with its new bright green leaves set against the blue sky and this tree held a nice little selection of birds – a Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit with green caterpillar, Chiffchaff and Blackcap were flitting around in the sunshine. Red-legged Partridges, Pheasants, Blackbirds and Jackdaws were in the surrounding fields and 2 Common Buzzards were seen, along with a Robin and Hedgesparrow. We were not here long as Lucy will only walk so far, which at times can be extremely frustrating, but Vivien and I are used to it after all these years. Vivien took Lucy back to King's Lynn and I headed to Wells.

North Point, Wells
Wood Sandpiper, Greenshank, Garganey x 2, Spoonbills x 2, Snipe, 5 Swallows west, Little Egrets, Mute Swans, Lapwings with cute fluffy chicks, Mallards with young, Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon, Shelducks, Avocets, Greylag Geese, Brent Geese, Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Black-headed Gulls. Cetti's Warbler singing and Pied Wagtails were seen. Met two ladies who read my blog and thanked me for highlighting this new and exciting area – nice to meet you both.

Garden Drove, Warham
Walked along the hedge-lined drove to the copse and back – nice amble, but very little seen. The track was quite overgrown – only birds seen were a Robin, Blue Tit and Goldfinches. In the fields with the squealing pigs were Pied Wagtails, Grey Partridges and Wood Pigeons.

Titchwell RSPB
Very lazy birding! From the car, I saw a Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit and a Hedgesparrow in the coach parking area. From the last car park I heard the Turtle Dove purring again (as last night) at 7.45pm – two lots of loud purring and then nothing. Other birds heard here were Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Cuckoo, Cetti's Warbler, Blackbird. The usual Robins and Wood Pigeons were in the car parks.

Holme
Watered all the plants in pots, had a sweep round the front of the house and changed and cleaned all the bird baths out. Cuckoo calling across the meadow adjacent to the garden and a Blackbird was singing on the top of the telegraph pole. Took the ice-plant (sedum) back to my house. I will be bringing all the potted plants back to my house eventually, but want to leave most of them for viewings – adds a bit of colour to the front garden when prospective buyers are looking round. It was 9pm by the time I had finished my little jobs around the garden. I think I will need to buy a strimmer to maintain the garden until the house is sold – I don't fancy using shears again as I did last year!