Small Beings In Endless Space

We come to North Norfolk, those of us who come in winter, in search of birds. "Scotland for Golden Eagles and Capercaillie", so the saying goes, "Norfolk for everything else!" You might detect a bit of Norfo'centric bias there, but there is also a grain of truth in it.

And here we are. A small, black cloud makes its way noisily across the clear sky and showers down on to the lagoon at Titchwell. A flock of Brent Geese. Further probing with binoculars reveals Shelducks paddling around in the mud, but staying remarkably pristine despite their choice of feeding ground; Godwits stand on just one leg each, their impossibly long beaks tucked, impossibly, beneath a wing, but with just one eye on the world; and the little islands are littered with Avocets, Gulls, Wigeon and Teals, to name a few.

But out beyond the dunes lies the minimalist landscape of the beach, a wide expanse of sand even when the tide is still high, where the tiniest stumps of old breakwaters seem to take on huge significance.

Just along the coast, at Holme, timber posts were found which were of real historical significance. Two men, apparently out to catch shrimps, came upon a huge upside-down oak stump which the tides had unearthed from the shifting sands. Further investigations by archaeologists revealed a ring of oak posts and many stone axe-heads. All the trees were dated as having been cut down in 2049 BC, which is presumably when the "henge" was constructed.

The whole thing was removed, before the sea could destroy it, and the timbers preserved, despite the protestations of modern-day Druids and many local people. You can now view it in Kings Lynn Museum. Its exact purpose is not known but it may have been some kind of altar on which sacrifices were made, or a place where the bodies of dead chieftains were placed in order for their bones to be picked clean by the birds.

Today some folk (and all dogs) find these wide expanses exhilarating, though others are made nervous by the sheer emptiness. "Too much of nothing can make a man feel ill at ease", as Mr Dylan observed. 

I had an odd experience here myself some years ago: I was strolling along at low tide when a bank of fog rolled in from the North Sea. I'd seen it coming but suddenly I could not see the land, or the sea, or anything at all, just a blank wall of grey on all sides. I suppose I could have seen my own legs and boots but I didn't think to look. It was as though I'd completely disappeared.

Strangely  it wasn't at all scary; there was, after all, nothing I could see to be worried about! Then I slowly walked away from the sound of the gently breaking waves and back to the reality of the coastal path. I walk here now rather hoping it might happen again.

Along the coast at Holkham Gap other disappearing tricks were taking place. We were searching for Shore Larks, Eremophila alpestris, which are scarce visitors to these islands with never more than a few hundred of them in winter and in some years very few indeed. And they are almost invisible!

Quite how a bird with a distinctive yellow and black head can hide out in such sparse cover as is afforded by a thin straggle of weeds on an otherwise featureless stretch of mud is a mystery. The surest way to locate them is to look for a rather earnest group of individuals with their high-powered optics trained on what appears to be absolutely nothing. Follow their general aim with binoculars and there, hopping around nonchalantly, are a group of twenty or so delightful small birds.

Just a little inland you might come across the brand new visitor centre, known as The Lookout. Its circular shape and upright timbers seem to echo Seahenge in some vague way. There are no sky-burials taking place, though you might have to sacrifice two pounds to get a cup of tea!

There is also deep mystery in the strange reflections produced by this modernistic wood and glass structure. The strong verticals come as a relief after the relentless horizontals of the sea and sands. And there are also small sentient beings going about their daily business....

…...a flock of Wigeons grazing the grassland.

Birds seen:

Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Wren, Robin, Pheasant, Fulmar, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Coot, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Moorhen, Mallard, Wigeon, Shoveler, Pochard, Avocet, Cormorant, Oystercatcher, Little Egret, Brent Goose, Greylag Goose, Egyptian Goose, Snipe, Black-Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Twite, Stonechat, Black-Tailed Godwit, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Curlew, Redshank, Shelduck, Teal, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Shore Lark.

Take care.