The temperatures are rising again and the drought continues. We have just had a wonderful few days as our daughter the ‘Lemming’ popped over from Berlin for a short break. This is her first visit ‘home’ in over three years so we tried to cram in as many trips out to favourite places as we could. One such spot is Pensthorpe Natural Park. 700 acres of flooded gravel workings gives many lakes to walk round plus the beautiful River Wensum, woodland and fantastic gardens. The park is well known for being at the forefront in breeding rare species for release such as Corncrake and Red Squirrels. There was also a big collection of exotic waterfowl from the around the world. I say ‘was’, sadly in February the park suffered an outbreak of avian flu and a lot of birds were culled. There was still plenty to see, here are a few images from a lovely day out.







Oh how wonderful it must have been to have a visit from your daughter!!!
Those are some great bird photos. Hot weather here over the weekend and I hear you guys are still steaming as well… hopefully it will break before everything burns up! Driest I have ever seen it here.
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A lovely time CJ short but sweet (and expensive!).
The heat is building this weekend then maybe, just maybe showers next week.
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I know the same forecast for here. They are calling for isolated showers (hopefully not a flash flood situation) and my new garden really could use it!
Yeah, everything is crazy expensive right now. I was checking flights into Scotland and I immediately had to stop! The prices are crazy high even on the low cost carriers. Better for the environment …🤨
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Great photos Brian. 👍👍 I trust your daughter enjoyed her trip back ‘home’. 😀
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Thanks Mike.
Yes, treated like royalty, the wallet took a hammering!
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Just like the Queen, carries no money eh? But that’s what dads are for I’m afraid!
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What a beautiful gallery of geese, duck and other sweet birds. The conversations is a great photo. I large flock of geese just flew over the house making a lot of noise.
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Cheers Timothy.
Are the geese local or has migration started where you are?
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I think they are local Canadian Geese that stay year-round. We’ll start seeing the migrants around the end of September.
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I hope you had a great visit! Nice series too.
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Yes had a great time Belinda.
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You certainly enjoyed this visit! The Lemming-Geese chat is a great capture (as are the other photos as well).
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It was a fun day Greta and my daughter was telling the goose not to be greedy as she fed it from her hand, I just had to photograph the moment!
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Beautiful photos Brian, love the Goldeneye and the last one, so sweet.
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Thanks Anita!
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Pensthorpe appears to be a wonderful venue for nature lovers. And the occasional photographer. Your images are superb!
It is comforting to know we are not the only ones to have Little Brown Jobs skulking around the reeds.
A visit from the Prodigal Daughter surely must be a highlight of the season! I empathize with the expensive nature of such visits. But, then again, the value of such a visit? Priceless.
Goose-Girl Talk – – adorable.
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Certainly didn’t regret spending a single penny just to have her home for a few days Wally, we had a fantastic time but it flew by too quickly.
Pensthorpe is better late spring not when the temperature is nearing 90f (too hot for us Brits!). Lucky I didn’t get heat haze with the big lens on.
Thanks for popping by.
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That avian flu has devastated a number of flocks in the states as well – apparently the caspian terns were decimated – fingers crossed they can recover their numbers. From the shots it looks like you were still able to tin some good finds – that Moorhen looks pretty cool – nice shot!
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The avian flu in this Country has hit poultry production and the authorities act quickly if there’s an outbreak by mass culls. Pensthorpe (being close to poultry farms) didn’t escape when they had a case. Sadly nearly all the exotic waterfowl has gone but yes, still plenty to see.
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I’m glad you enjoyed your daughter’s visit and were able to visit some favorite destinations. Sorry to hear about your drought and heat. I hope both will abate soon. Unfortunately, avian influenza will keep recurring (not unlike a number of human viruses we could list).
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We had a super time Tanja.
The temperatures are now down to low/mid 20’s c and we have had a couple of decent showers but no proper rain is in the forecast.
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Glad to hear it’s a bit cooler and I hope the clouds will bring some rain.
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