A look at a fascinating morning and early afternoon yesterday at Watatunga Wildlife Reserve, complete with photographs.
Yesterday four members of the West Norfolk Autism Group went to Watatunga Wildlife Reserve, four miles south of King’s Lynn, for what as supposed to be a get together of people from various charities with mental health connections and Watatunga management to discuss working together and making the Watatunga experience more accessible. As part of this we were to be shown the entire reserve by means of trailer rides.
LACK OF TAKE UP
In the event our group was the only group to show up, and the Watatunga people decided to do only one trailer ride and then we would talk over coffee. The Watatunga experience was thoroughly enjoyable, and we had a very constructive discussion afterwards.
This is an Indian bustard, an even bigger beast of a bird……than this, which is a great bustard.The brindled wildebeest closer to the water than usual for such a creature, because he has made friends with some water buffalo, and although he won’t join them in the water he will go close to the edge when they are in the water.The brindled wildebeest has a name – William – and a nickname – Willy Wonka. This close up og his head shows the wonky horns that give him his nickname.Water buffalo doing water buffalo things, with coots in the background.This is an eastern Bongo – the silvery stripes make it very distinctive.This is a Cape Eland, the largest of all antelope species.Possibly the best picture I got of the bongo.Three species in a single picture – the brindled wildebeest, the Cape Eland and the bongo are all present.A Nilgaitwo male silver pheasants.The first of two guinea fowl species we would see.
WATATUNGAWILDLIFE
The name Watatunga has two elements, the ‘Wat’ part comes from Watlington, the nearest village to the reserve, while the ‘atatunga’ derives from Sitatunga, which is one of the species of ungulates there. Apart from the water buffalo, which are of course cattle and have horns the ungulates fall in to two main types – antelopes and their kin, which have horns, and deer which have antlers. As well as antlers being in general considerably more elaborate than horns there is a second key difference – horns are for life, whereas antlers are seasonal. This latter explains why William the brindled wildebeest has wonky horns – he took a knock before he was brought to Watatunga, and because horns are for life his horns are permanently misaligned. As well as the ungulates there are some exotic birds housed at Watatunga. The first part of the gallery above included cranes. We will be seeing other species in the second part of the gallery.
This is a roan antelope.Pere Davide’s DeerVulturine guinea fowl.Javan peafowl – these differ from the Indian variety in that the male and female have the same colouring, and that they are green rather than blue.The great bustard, ar rest. Your reminder that birds are feathered dinosaurs!These were not flagged up by our guides, but I reckon they are Egyptian geese.White stork.Our transport round the reserve.
A historic happening at the world athletics championships in Tokyo, the women’s rugby world cup semi-finals, an autism acceptance just a cuppa morning and a photo gallery.
There is a lot of sport going on this weekend. There is a world athletics championship on in Tokyo, and the semi-finals of the women’s rugby world cup have happened. This post begins with a piece of history from Tokyo before focussing on the rugby.
A SHARED MEDAL IN THE HEPTATHLON
By the time the final event of the Heptathlon, the 800 metres, Anna Hall (USA) was away and clear (especially as she was the quickest 800m runner in the field), Kate O’Connor of Ireland was also pretty safe for the silver medal, while Katerina Johnson-Thompson (GB) and Taliyah Brooks (USA) were contending for bronze, with the Brit needing to be six seconds or thereabouts quicker than the USian to take the medal. In the event after a noticeable delay the computer awarded them a shared bronze, each scoring 6,581 points for the seven events. O’Connor meanwhile had recorded her fifth PB of the competition. The second Brit in the field, Jade O’Dowda, finished eighth, her best yet at a major championship.
THE RUGBY SEMI-FINALS
Yesterday evening Canada took on New Zealand in the first semi-final of the women’s rugby world cup. Canada came out firing on all cylinders and had scored four tries by half time. They added a fifth early in the second half, and although the Black Ferns, unbeaten in rugby world cups since 2014, hit back hard thereafter the damage had been done, and Canada had booked their place at Twickenham.
The second match took place today, at the same venue as the first, Ashton Gate in Bristol. England were far from their best in the first half and were somewhat fortunate to lead by two points (7-5) at the interval. They played better in the second half, but it was only when Player of the Match Ellie Kildunne crossed for her second try, a spectacular solo effort, to put England 26-12 up that they looked in control. The conversion also went over. France did score once more but missed their own conversion so it was 28-17. Then Megan Jones went over for England’s fifth try right at the end – Harrison’s conversion, successful like all her other four, was the last kick of the match. The final at Twickenham is on Saturday, and although England finished strongly I reckon the Canadians will be feeling fairly confident after this semi-final.
LEGO ARCHITECTURE
There was an Autism Acceptance Just a Cuppa morning at King’s Lynn library today, and as usual I did some lego architecture while I was there…
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
As stick like as it appears this is apparently not a stick insect – it is a Plume Moth.Fungi near Kettlewell Lane (five pics total).One of the others at the Just a Cuppa Autism Acceptance morning at the library was wearing a t-shirt featuring this picture.Unfortunately I will be at work, but this, courtesy of the electronic display board outside King’s Lynn station, looks interesting.A small black and yellow bug on a green leaf.
An account of the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra’s first ever relaxed concert, which took place yesterday at The Corn Exchange, King’s Lynn. Also a photo gallery.
This is the first of two posts I will be putting up today. The second will complete the story of the test match at Edgbaston, which ended yesterday evening. This one looks back at a special event that took place yesterday afternoon.
A NEW DEPARTURE
The Norfolk Symphony Orchestra staged a relaxed concert, the first such that they have done, at the Corn Exchange in King’s Lynn yesterday afternoon. The seating was loosely arranged on an open floor and at the same level as the orchestra. There were no hard and fast rules to adhere to, though there a request was made of people that they not go in among the orchestra as doing would so would disrupt the concentration of the players. The West Norfolk Autism Group had been allocated seats (tickets free of charge), and I was one of those who attended. The concert was scheduled to start at 2:30, and we were advised to arrive early. I was actually the first of the attendees to arrive, getting to the Corn Exchange pretty much on the dot of two o’clock. The performance lasted a little more than an hour.
THE MUSIC
Just before the performance was due to start we were given sheets listing the music – 13 pieces were named in total, and the sheet made it clear that not all would be played.
This image is of an a4 printed sheet which has the official Norfolk Symphony Orchestra header, below which appears “Welcome to our relaxed concert today we hope you enjoy it. We will be some playing music from the following list The pieces will be introduced as we go along so you know what we are playing
Brahms – St Anthony Chorale Variations Pachelbel – Canon Wiseman – Wilde Suite Nyman – Time Lapse Daft Punk – Adagio for Tron Faure – Sicilienne Arthur Benjamin – Jamaican Rumba Ernest Bucalossi – Grasshopper Dance Tchaikovsky – Sleeping Beauty Waltz Vaughan-Williams – Greensleeves Mozart – Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Elgar – Salut D’Amour Rachmaninoff – Vocalise”
The first two pieces actually played were the Brahms and the Elgar. They were followed by three film pieces by Wiseman, Nyman and Daft Punk. Debbie Wiseman was voted the world’s best living composer in 2022, and the Wilde Suite provided some indication of why. The performance then finished with three dance pieces, the Jamaican Rumba, the Grasshopper Dance and the Sleeping Beauty Waltz. All were excellent and all were very well performed. I thoroughly enjoyed this event and look forward to the next one. My only mild regret is that the Pachelbel piece did not make the cut.
The Waders Aviary at Pensthorpe is just beyond the gift shop, through which the rest of the site is accessed. It is thus suitable for being visited briefly on multiple occasions over the course of the day, and being self contained and relatively small it is not a place that one should be in very any great length of time continuously. Information at Pensthorpe is always exemplary, and the composite picture with which this section ends will provide you with help following the photo gallery.
PHOTOGRAPHS
The full gallery from my visits to this splendid enclosure:
The penultimate post in my series about Saturday’s West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe on Saturday, looking at the trauker ride.
Welcome to the penultimate post of my mini-series about the West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe which took place on Saturday. So far there has been an introductory post, a post covering the Discovery Centre and those general pictures not shared in the opener and a post dedicated to the Cranes and Flamingos. This post zeroes in on the trailer ride, for me an essential part of the Pensthorpe experience.
SEEING THE BITS THAT ARE NOT WALKABLE
Pensthorpe is a very large site (from Anglo-Saxon times until the 14th century Pensthorpe was a town, larger than nearby Fakenham), and there are some parts that cannot be accessed on foot, which is where the trailer ride comes in. On this occasion there was a small delay on the stated start time of the ride. As well as a natural park/ nature reserve, Pensthorpe owns farm and grazing land, and generates all its own electricity, mainly via solar panels. Among the beasts that are taken to graze here in the appropriate season are sheep, Aberdeen Angus cattle and longhorn cattle. There is both old and new growth woodland, with one section having started life as a classic intensive conifer plantation, now being thinned out to allow more sunlight to reach the forest floor. One also gets distant views of some of the lakes, including ones equipped with nesting platforms for Common Tern. There are two sections of the route that were once parts of railways, both closed in the early 1960s, and the infrastructure destroyed. At one stage there is a direct view of a ‘maltings’ building (making malted barley is the first stage of the process of beer making). There were dragonflies about, though I was unable to capture any on camera – strictures regarding moving targets when you yourself are in motion apply as much to the only kind of shooting I am interested in as to the other kind. There are many kinds of bird and bat box to be seen. Also reminders of the natural history of the area in the form of small lakes where water has filled holes originally gouged out by glaciers. These are important habitats for creatures such as frogs. The site’s single most important asset is the river Wensum, a chalk stream, and a such heavily protected. I enjoyed my journey on the trailer, and having remembered that I travelled on the non-drivers side on previous occasions I sat on the driver’s side this time round.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are the pictures from the trailer ride…
Crossing the Wensum.A place for hedgehogs to hibernate in the winter.Bat boxes, circling the tee so that bats using them can always position themselves as far from the sun as possible. RhododendronsA Greylag Goose family.
The third post in my series about the West Norfolk Autism Group trip to Pensthorpe.
This is third post in my series about the West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe (see here and here). This post is devoted to the cranes and flamingos. I made two visits to that part of Pensthorpe in the course of the day, one near the start, and one just after eating lunch.
THE CRANE AND FLAMINGO AREA
The Crane and Flamingo Area has two ways in and out, both in between the Flamingo pond and the Crane hide. It is close to the wetland area, and also close to the Monet inspired bridge. Pensthorpe is very well equipped with signage, so finding one’s way there is not difficult, but it is not on the way to or from anywhere else, so it requires a conscious decision to give it your attention. There are four different crane species to be seen, each viewable from a different window of the hide.
The second post in my Pensthorpe series: A look at the Discovery Centre and the rest of my general photos,
This is the next post in my series about the West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe Nature Reserve (68 of us went in total). It features the Discovery Centre and those of the general photos that I have not already shared.
THE DISCOVERY CENTRE
The Discovery Centre at Pensthorpe is a small museum featuring exhibits about the natural history and evolution of birds, stuff about bees, stuff about the area through the ages, and a couple of mini-habitats – a fish tank and specially created habitat tank for harvest mice (as well as being tiny – an adult harvest mouse weighs 4-6 grammes – these creatures are exceedingly shy, and they did not show themselves while I was in there). Though I would recommend visiting it at least once when at Pensthorpe there is no need fit such a visit into any kind of plan for exploring the site – it is located close to the main entrance and can be fitted in any time you fancy.
OUT AND ABOUT AT PENSTHORPE
As well as the specific locations of interest there is an enormous amount to be seen just walking around the site – huge numbers of water birds of a wide variety, sculptures, art works of various kinds, a great variety of habitats, and lots of information boards all of which merit attention.
PHOTOGRAPHS
This the second half of the general photo gallery…
This is at the entrance/ exit of Pensthorpe. Mammoth bones have been found in the course excavations in this part of the world – 10,500 years ago or thereabouts this was at the southern edge of a vast ice sheet, and beyond the ice sheet would have been tundra, where the mammoths would have roamed.
The opening post in what wiull be a series about the annual West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe Nature Reserve.
Yesterday saw the annual West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe, a nature reserve near the town of Fakenham in Norfolk. This post lays out the day and introduces areas of the reserve that I will be covering in more detail, before ending with some general Pensthorpe pictures that don’t belong in any particular post. Please note for both this and subsequent posts in the series: a gallery can be opened by clicking on the first picture there in, and viewing pictures as a gallery enables them to be seen at larger size.
THE DAY IN BRIEF
Some of those coming on this trip had chosen to make their own way to Pensthorpe and meet us there, but for those who either did not wish to do this or had no option of doing so a coach had been hired. Departure from the parking area near Gaywood Library (King’s Lynn and its environs are not massively equipped with places where a coach can park up) was scheduled for 9:30AM, meaning that to ensure a prompt departure we had to get there a bit before that to take our places. As it happens other than the driver and his young son who was also along for the day I was the first to arrive and board the coach. We set off exactly at the appointed hour, and pulled into the coach parking area at Pensthorpe at approximately 10:15 (Pensthorpe when approached from King’s Lynn is a little further than Fakenham, and a road diversion forced us closer to the centre of Fakenham than would have been normal for a journey to Pensthorpe). After a group photograph using the coach as a backdrop we were ready to start the day in earnest. Equipped with brightly coloured paper wristbands by way of indicating that our admission was paid we set off. The only absolutely fixed points of the day were the trailer rides (I was booked on the second of the two we had organized, due to depart at noon) and the return journey, scheduled for 3:15PM (and we departed exactly on time, arriving back at Gaywood just after 4PM). The rest was up to us. There is a huge amount to see and to do at Pensthorpe, and the next section briefly introduces some of things I did, with photographic highlights.
SOME HIGHLIGHTS
One of my favoured areas at Pensthorpe is the Waders Aviary, to which I made several visits (it is centrally located, so on the way to or from almost anywhere on the site).
Not all of the birds in the Waders Aviary are actually Waders.
Also ideally located for dipping in and out of as and when is the Discovery Centre.
The Trailer Ride is as far as I am concerned an essential part of the Pensthorpe experience:
My other great favourite, which I visited twice in the course of the day, is the Crane and Flamingo area.
These are neither crane nor flamingo, but were to be seen in between the Flamingo pool and the Crane hide.This shot of a flamingo taking to the air justified my second visit to that area all on its own.
GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHS
I end with photos from non-specific parts of Pensthorpe:
A nesting coot (moorhens also build floating nests).The Monet inspired bridge.The first of a number of shots of a coot family – my first ever sighting of coot chicks.
A look back at the final day of the opening round of County Championship 2025 fixtures, my pictures of the WNAG third birthday cake and my regular photo gallery.
Monday was day four of the opening round of County Championship matches, and I was too taken up with following the action to write about it at the time. This post looks back at the events of that final day.
TO THE WIRE
At just before 7PM on Monday the penultimate ball of the only match still in action by then, Middlesex v Lancashire, was a dot ball, leaving Lancashire eight down, but with only ball left, and therefore the draw secured. It was the fourth draw in the opening round of fixtures, but of those draws only one could be accused of dullness. Sussex unaccountably batted on in their second innings until not long before tea on the final day by when they were over 380 ahead of Warwickshire. Sussex’s refusal to declare earlier when the fourth innings would have been meaningful condemned that game to a stalemate. The next match to end in a draw was the one I listened to for most of its duration, Essex v Surrey. There was almost half an hour left when the players shook hands, but Surrey had just moved into the lead for the first time of the match, meaning that Essex needed not just to complete the bowl out of Surrey, which was far from done in any case, but also would have had to do at least some batting, Sibley had batted well for Surrey in that third innings, and Foakes followed his first innings 92 with another half century second time round. When this match ended I turned my attention to Somerset v Worcestershire where Worcestershire were mounting a determined rearguard action, while spinners Jack Leach and Archie Vaughan tried to get through their defences. By the time I joined the coverage Matthew Waite was batting with number 11 Tom Hinley. With Waite being right handed and Hinley left handed they followed a policy of Waite facing Vaughan and Hinley facing Leach so that each batter faced a bowler who was turning the ball into them. Leach had a couple of vociferous LBW appeals against Hinley turned down. Somerset did well to get into position for one final over with the clock showing 17:59 (with spinners doing the bulk of the bowling they were a country mile ahead of the required over rate so the close of play was being settled by the clock, not the over count). Leach, wheeling down his 65th over of the innings (and precisely the 200th over of the innings in total), could find no way through and Worcestershire, nine second innings wickets gone and still in deficit, had escaped with a draw. Other than Leach, whose five wickets in this marathon second innings took his tally in first class cricket to exactly 500 and to a lesser extent Vaughan, who topped 50 overs for the innings, the other person who would have been especially disappointed that Somerset could not get that final wicket was Tom Banton whose new county record 371 was not rewarded with a win. Waite had faced over 300 balls in total, and finished unbeaten on 87, while Hinley, the Worcestershire number 11, had held out for 45 balls in support of him. By now, between the definite results and the accepted draws the only game still in action was Middlesex v Lancashire, so I listened to the closing stages of that game, and for the third time in a day witnessed the ending of drawn match which was nevertheless without a hint of dullness.
CAKE PICTURES
As listeners to TMS can confirm cake and cricket have something of an association. On Sunday I mentioned the cake for the West Norfolk Autism Group’s third birthday and promised pictures of it to come. Here they are…
A look back at the Champions trophy final, an account of a pizza making session, a new bird sighting and a regular photo gallery.
The final of the Champions Trophy took place yesterday in Dubai, between India and New Zealand. This post briefly looks back at what happened in that match.
20 RUNS SHORT
New Zealand won the toss and batted first. They started well, with Rachin Ravindra looking in prime form but then lost three wickets in quick succession including Kane Williamson cheaply. I was out for most of the rest of the New Zealand innings after the derailment, arriving back from my morning commitment with the Indian reply under way. New Zealand had finished with a score of 251, respectable, but even on a Dubai surface that is not easy to score quickly on probably 20 runs less than they had needed to make it a really competitive game. Rohit Sharma gave the Indian innings a blazing start, putting them well ahead of the rate. The New Zealand spinners, Santner, Michael Bracewell (at least the fourth of his family after John, Brendan and Doug to play for New Zealand), Phillips and Ravindra all acquitted themselves nobly, Bracewell’s figures in particular being outstanding. The problem was, with Matt Henry out injured the pace element of the attack, O’Rourke, Nathan Smith and the giant Jamieson looked below par, and none distinguished themselves, all proving relatively easy to play on a surface that offered zero encouragement to pacers. Jamieson for all his legendary high release point does not have all that much pace anyway, not even always hitting 80mph. The run chase was tantalizing – every time India seemed away and clear a wicket fell, to just open up the hint of a possibility for New Zealand. In the end the cool head of KL Rahul, assisted in muscular fashion by Hardik Pandya, who fell just before the end, proved decisive. It was another veteran, Ravindra Jadeja who got to hit the winning runs, a four off the final ball of the 49th over, bowled by O’Rourke. India had four wickets in hand, although the fact that Shami was scheduled to come in next suggests that last three of those wickets weren’t worth very much. Rachin Ravindra with 263 runs and 3 wickets across the tournament was Player of the Series, while Rohit Sharma’s 76 (83) won him Player of the Match. Had New Zealand won Michael Bracewell, with 53 not out off 40 balls and 10-1-28-2 would have been Player of the Match for sure. Scorecard here.
PIZZA MAKING
Yesterday morning was an autistic adults Pizza Making event at Pizza Express in King’s Lynn town centre. I was one of the participants…
One starts with a lump of dough and some flour……by the time the base is ready to fo into the dish in which it will be cooked it looks like this.The base in the dish in which it will be cooked. Note the raised edge of the base making form a ‘dish within a dish’, which helps ensure that all the toppings stay where they should.A smear of tomato sauce starts the topping phase.The first topping I accepted was black olives.I also accepted mushrooms, once dubbed ‘food of the gods’ by Nero, a “joke” about how his predecessor Claudius had become a god.The only other topping I chose to have was pepperoni.Second to last comes the cheese which will bind everything together, and which should be distributed as evenly as possible.The last addition, to complete the pizza is oregano, which serves bring out the full flavour of the other ingredients. Then it is a matter of waiting for it to be cooked.The cooked and ready to eat pizza. I can confirm that it tasted at least as good as it looks.
GOOSANDER PAIR IN KING’S LYNN
I have a new bird sighting to report. This morning, between the Nar Outfall and the path through Hardings Pits I spotted what a combination of my bird book and mastodon (where I posted a photograph with my identification and got a positive response). Here is a screenshot of the mastodon exchange…
Here are all my photos of the pair of Goosanders (and a reminder – to view a photo at larger size just click on it(…
PHOTOGRAPHS
To end this post here is the rest of my photo gallery…
aspiblog 