Norfolk Holiday – Part I
Ok, get yourselves a cup of tea because there’s a serious amount of photos to get through… I am going to divide my photos from Pensthorpe up because there are 100.
Yes you heard that correctly, 100!
I have no idea how I managed it because I’m no great fan of wading/water birds but the photos are mainly of the ducks/geese and a rather beautiful and amazing surprise!
Then there are also photos of some of the gardens… Piet Oudolf’s Millennium Garden in particular was a disappointment; clearly it is geared towards Late Summer/Autumn… Oh well, another time perhaps.
I’d known I was pushing it and with the harsh winter plants are behind – Bluebells are still out compared to this time last year when there was barely any left.
So on with the first instalment:
First stop is the lovely B&B we stayed in, Swanton Morley near Dereham… Called Hunter’s Hall.
It was on a farm, and looked to be converted stables, nice rooms and seemed to work more like a hotel than your average B&B.

From the B&B we set off to Pensthorpe, not really knowing what to expect as all I wanted to see was the Millennium garden…
There are so many water birds here it’s unreal, and so many of them are far too tame. If you don’t like birds around your feet then you may be best avoiding one of the entrances into the reserve – i.e. don’t go in the left entrance, go straight ahead into the nature garden!

And on our way out we came across this…
So what did I learn from all this??
• I know far more ducks/waders/water birds than I thought I knew.
• I still have a long way to go.
(Corrections thanks to Shirl)
Nice pics; but your Ruddy Duck is actually a Puna Teal.