Norfolk: A Wildlife Paradise

So last week saw me venturing to Norfolk (I know I seem to be going further and further from my patch but bear with me, kingfishers and foxes will be blogged soon just minutes from my house!). The reason I went was for these eel-like proto fish, the Brook Lamprey, and mainly to film them spawning.

Well, it was a success. In fact myself and my guide and good friend Josh Jaggard found them spawning on the first day and as any wildlife photographer will tell you it doesn't normally happen straight away so this freed up alot of time to do some fun shoots on other species.

I had diffculty picking images as we saw so many species like muntjacs, barn owls, little owls, hen harriers, adders and newts but have cherry picked my favourites. This is the first time I've photographed a brown hare and was from the hide at Cley Marshes so it was even more of a surprise when it came running by chasing a female. I missed the money shot of it mounting the female hare but Josh captured it nicely. 

Another day saw me go to RSPB Titchwell, the birders' Mecca for Norfolk and it didn't disappoint with incredibly close-up views of a snipe. I found the hides great for photography with close-ups of water fowl and avocets and the local birders very friendly and willing to let me know the hotspots for wildlife.

My last day saw me looking for adders but instead finding its larger cousin' the grass snake. They are our only snake to lay eggs and actively live in aquatic habitats. One way to tell them apart from an adder is that the pupil is round while a adder has a slit-eye.

This little one was found on the beach of all places and was very cold so I picked him up gently and took him to the dunes and found out one of its defence mechanisims can be quite smelly! They spray a foul liquid over predators (and wildlife photographers) which I can tell you takes a while to go.

Another large adult snake on the dunes on a glorious day in Norfolk and a brillant way to end my trip.

BBC Wildlife Local Patch Reporter
Jack Perks

@JackPerksPhoto
Facebook: Jack Perks Photography
Website: www.jackperksphotography.com