What a beautiful day last Sunday was. The sun was shining, and it was warm! It was too beautiful a day to stay indoors. Once the car was loaded with cameras, tripods and picnic basket we hit the road. So excited to be out.
The beautiful yellow landscape of rape seed oil stretched as far as the eye can see. The bouquet was absolutely breath-taking. Made me all happy inside. (sorry if you suffer from hay fever). I didn’t know, but the farmers make s big profit from rape seed oil. I thought, in my South Africa ignorance, they planted rape for animal feed only.
Cley next to Sea was a hive of activity being Easter holidays and the Nature reserve was just as busy. Mating season was in full swing.
look at me i’m beautiful!
I took the liberty of copying a small excerpt from the nets.
NWT Cley Marshes is Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s oldest and best known nature reserve. It was purchased in 1926 to be held ‘in perpetuity as a bird breeding sanctuary’. It provided a blue print for nature conservation which has now been replicated across the UK. The water levels in the pools and reedbeds are regulated to ensure they are ideal for the resident birds, and reed is harvested every year to keep the reedbeds in good condition.
The shingle beach and saline lagoons, along with the grazing marsh and reedbed support large numbers of wintering and migrating wildfowl and waders, as well as bittern, marsh harrier and bearded tit.
A new eco-friendly visitor centre opened in 2007 containing a café, shop, viewing areas (including viewing from a camera on the reserve). We have since added to this with the fantastic Simon Aspinall Wildlife Education Centre, a courtyard and viewing deck. The view from the visitor centre across the Marsh to the sea is breathtaking.
I didn’t want to leave but the crowds just kept on coming and we had the photographs we came for. But we will be back when the school children return to school.
Out in the sunshine Cley on Sea – Cley Marshes What a beautiful day last Sunday was. The sun was shining, and it was warm! It was too beautiful a day to stay indoors.