In May our Norwich bird life was amazing. I am going to spend the first few paragraphs writing about it. My favourite birds have always been swallows and swifts. Sadly there are no swallows in this part of Norwich but there are swifts, and even a Norwich Swift Facebook page.1 In the summer months we get swifts returning from Africa for, what seem like, fleeting visits, roughly from May to late August. A few years ago, we had swift nest boxes installed under the eaves to encourage them. So far, they have not taken up our offer.
I have swift calls on a computer file, and it is suggested these be played to attract the birds, so this has been done, but perhaps not enough. Despite this I think the birds have looked at the vacant boxes. The other morning I was aware of two darting black shapes by the window. If we have had our accommodation inspected, maybe next year we will see them being used. I am not sure, but I think there may have been fewer in the skies this year.
Our area is also regularly visited by birds of prey, not that they bother the swifts. I am not yet able to identify them. I know there are peregrine falcons nesting on Norwich cathedral. They are constantly watched by a webcam.2 They may be the most common visitors to this part of the city, but other species include sparrowhawks and kites.
The other day one of these predators was patrolling the neighbourhood, using the thermals to slowly circle above the street. A crow spotted it and took exception to its presence. The crow flew up and started to harry it: flying around, cawing loudly, and swooping on it in mock attacks. The falcon treated this as an irritant, only taking minimal evading action.
The aerial combat was like a fighter plane attacking an enemy bomber, something which was a common sight over Norfolk during the Second World War. It made me think of all the war movies I have seen, from The Battle of Britain, to the recent excellent TV series Masters of the Air.3 This last is the story of the American 100th Bomb Group, who flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from East Anglian airfields. I strongly recommend it as an interesting and well-made series, of course the aircraft and action sequences were what attracted me most.
A few days ago, I heard a loud and persistent alarm call from a blackbird. I hurried out to investigate, expecting to see a neighbourhood cat causing consternation. As I turned the corner a falcon or sparrowhawk took off in a hurry, leaving behind a significant quantity of pigeon feathers. The blackbird was cowering under a nearby bush next to the office. It is interesting that the blackbird sought safety in the undergrowth, clearly the right place to be when faced with an aerial threat, but no defence against a cat.
The range of bird species in the garden is growing. The most recent new regular visitors are crows, starlings, and sparrows. I have been aware of a flock of starlings living about 300 metres away, but before this year they never made it up to this end of the road. The flock of sparrows lived in the same area. Over the past month both starlings and sparrows have started visiting regularly.
I scatter mealworms outside my office door, and it is generally warm enough for me to leave the door open to enjoy the birds. Two weeks ago, an adult starling appeared with four fully fledged chicks and proceeded to feed the worms to her brood. It is interesting that they had not learnt to forage, and the mother was prepared to shove mealworms into the gaping maws of teenagers while being ‘shouted’ at. I think the male participated as at times there were two mature adults feeding the babies. Starlings can have between two and four broods per year so we may see more.
The other fledglings I have seen are the blackbirds. They have one or two broods per year and the juveniles appear to require less parenting. Ailsa rescued a young wren from a cat recently. We were uncertain as to what to do with it but when it had a chance it made a break for freedom, so we hope it survived. I am not at all sure where all the nests are in the garden, but I hope we have enough wild areas for the birds to feed, nest and hide. One of our innovations has been to leave patches of unmown grass to encourage insects and hence birds.
There is a lot going on in Norwich. A couple of weeks ago we went to the open day at the newest Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) nature reserve. This is the 90-acre Sweet Briar Marshes in the River Wensum valley. There is an all-weather path to make it accessible. It is a great place where one can simply explore. The NWT has fenced the area to ensure the very small herd of cattle are unable to escape and they are part of the management plan. The range of plants and vegetation is remarkable, and it will become a place for weekend walks. This reserve may be new, but the NWT has been in operation for nearly 100 years.4
On the last weekend of May Ailsa, Douglas and I went down for a walk beside the river, just outside the reserve. It began rather ignominiously for me. There has been a great deal of rain over the past few weeks, and we took advantage of a break in the weather to walk. There was a very small but very muddy incline in the path. My feet just went from under me and the next thing I knew I was flat on my back, looking at the sky. The only damage, apart from mud, was to my dignity.
Later in the walk the heavens opened. We retreated to shelter under one of the road bridges that crosses the path. We were not alone in doing this! The rain was so heavy that we ended up spending over half an hour there waiting for the storm to pass. According to my rain gauge we had 30 mm in two hours.
Away from ‘nature’ the Norwich Forum hosted an exhibition by the Sainsbury Institute for Japanese Arts and Culture. This went under the title ‘Nara to Norwich’, ‘an international, collaborative research project that aims to explore the Silk Roads beyond their current limits of the Chinese and post-Roman worlds.’5 Much of it centred on the interactions between early Buddhism in east Asia and early Christianity around the North Sea and was interesting and moving. I am always amazed by artefacts that are millennia old. The key exhibit was a replica of an enormous tapestry, illustrated at the end of the post.
Opposite the Forum is St Peter Mancroft Church, an immense parish church that is sometimes mistaken for the cathedral by visitors. It is close to 600 years old and was consecrated in 1455. At the end of the blog I have also included a picture of the church. It is comparatively new in relation to the Buddhist religion and that alone was thought provoking.
I wonder what will survive from our times, and how these items will be interpreted or explained by the generations to come. More than that though, this exhibition indicated our ancestors were more connected than we appreciate. The people of Norwich may not have known of a town called Nara in Japan, but nonetheless it was exercising an influence on their lives. And, of course, vice-versa.
It is not just visual art that we benefit from. The Theatre Royal had a short run of ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ performed by the theatre group Ockham’s Razor. They are a contemporary circus company combining circus and visual theatre to make arresting and entertaining productions.
‘The name Ockham’s Razor comes from a logical principle attributed to the medieval philosopher William of Ockham. It states that between two plausible theories, the simpler is preferable. It is called a razor because it cuts out unnecessary elements.’6
The production was based on the eponymous Tess written by Thomas Hardy (1840 to 1928) and first published in 1891. The show was performed on a minimalist stage, with few words, by five women and three men. I read Hardy’s book many decades ago and I had forgotten just how bleak and depressing the story was, especially the end. The production was phenomenal.
Alan Whiteside 