Episode 30: Norfolk's Mangrove

Chris Skinner (00:25):

It is early in the morning, very early in the morning, and I've just been sworn at by one of the roe bucks here at High Ash Farm. There's a bumblebee as well, although it's still cool and chilly. 1st of April tomorrow, and it's a Queen Bumblebee and she's just going round in the leaf litter, sounding it out, bumbling about. Roe buck, one side of me and Queen Bumblebee. So buff-tailed bumblebee, looking for somewhere to start her new nest. I've come down to this area of woodland because it's a special time of year, still lots of leaves on the ground. 

(01:18)
 It's been dry for the last few days, which is a big help out on the farm. Rat’s allowed to be with me this morning. The general impression on the ground layer was brown a couple of weeks ago with all the leaf litter there and it suddenly changed and it's verdant green now with millions of bluebells and a scattering of early purple orchid coming through. Just listening. The dawn course is finished, but jackdaw’s busy searching out for holes above my head in the old trees, coming up to what looks like a moonscape in front of me. 

(02:10)
 And last few nights I've been putting my trail camera down here. It's a badger set with two badger sets at High Ash Farm, and this time of the year they're really busy. The sows, that's a female badgers give birth about now or a little bit earlier. And I'm just walking down this steep hill. It's gravel soil and there's enormous mounds all the way around me, some of them with 30, 40, 50 tonnes of soil outside each of the holes. Just an amazing site and so much activity. The ground is pretty well bare all the way around a set odd. Snowdrops just finished flowering, peeked their heads through. Jackdaws going over my head, enormous Scots pine trees, sweet chestnut trees all around me coming into leaf and just walking down into the set. This particular set has over 50 entrances in it and outside. And this coming up to one of the first holes. 

(03:29)
 They're pretty big. I could almost crawl into the holes myself around the entrance. Holes of piles of leaves, some hay that's been brought here by the sow badger, that's the female. And the bores, the males have been evicted from the set and they've set up, so to speak, about 200 yards away in some old fox earths that are behind me. So they're not allowed to be here. And something amazing has happened with two of the sows have given birth. There's over 15 badges here, which I've recorded. They've all got slightly different patterns on them, so you could identify them. And two of the sows have given birth to cubs. I don't know how many cubs, but the signs are all there. The sows come out of the hole just after dusk and take bedding down. They spend most of the time down with the cubs to start with before they go out and feed. 

(04:34)
 And so the cubs have company most of the time and they're suckled. And when they're about five to six weeks old, that's when the cameras really come into their own. And you can see wonderful footage of young badger cubs and Rat’s just exploring round. He knows now this time of the year not to go down the badger set. He's learned his lesson in the past when I haven't been watching him carefully. He's come back with a rather bloodied nose because so badgers with cubs are formidable at guarding their set. So last night, and I've checked the camera already, I got a wonderful video of one of the sow badges just coming out of the set hole, which was in front of me and having a sniff round and turning round and going back in. But before she went back down, she's only just given birth. 

(05:35)
 She must've been giving off some rather nice perfume for the local fox. So she goes back almost down into the set and remember it's pitch dark and the camera has illuminated the scene for us and the fox comes up and very delicately sniffs her bottom. That's a dangerous thing to do. So because the video only lasts a few seconds, it's just one of those moments that you can capture. And obviously the fox would be very interested in the smell of another mammal giving birth, but there was no fisticuffs. And so that's good. And just walking across the top of the set now, it's been here since I was a child, so it's one of the highlights of wildlife. Remember badgers are mammals just like us, and they have every right to be here, but they've made this their home and it is monumental. There are hundreds and hundreds of metres of tunnels. 

(06:44)
 It's like a labyrinth underneath me. And you can judge how much has been removed in terms of tonnes of soil by the huge piles that are here and keep this bit private. And there's always cameras here for the safety of the badgers. If anything, anybody comes here. And occasionally I get woken up at night by a roe deer, such as we heard when I started this recording. But occasionally you get a false alarm. But I can get down here pretty quickly if somebody comes down here with not good intentions because they're protected species here at the farm. And it's just wonder, I can have a nut hatch singing way in the background, early plane going over the top, and Rat’s being very well behaved. He's sitting down quite close to me. So there we are, early signs of spring badger cubs and the foxes will be giving birth if they haven't already done so as well. So all the mammals are busy giving birth and having mated perhaps last autumn. So wonderful time of year. 

Matthew Gudgin (08:30):

Well, we're off the farm today for Chris Skinner's Countryside Podcast. We having an away day, I think is the correct term here. And we've only gone a few miles, haven't we? 

Chris Skinner (08:41):

Yes, 15 minutes by car from High Ash Farm. And we've just arrived at somewhere where I spent a great deal in my childhood. It's Wheatfen Nature Reserve. It was the home of Ted Ellis. And Ted worked on High Ash Farm when he was a youngster in about the 1950s and got to know my father quite well. He was into archaeology back then. Great deal of family history between the two families. Ted was born 1909. Same year as my father Phyllis. His wife was born 1913. Same here as my mother. My mom's second name was also Phyllis. 

Matthew Gudgin (09:25):

Well, Ted Ellis was a renowned broadcaster, radio and TV. He's a legend in Norfolk Wildlife circles and he founded where we are today, the Wheatfen Nature Reserve. And we are the guests, I've got to say, of two people here who have just handed us life jackets. So I think we're going afloat Rebecca and Will. Hi there. 

Will Fitch (09:45):

Hello. Thank you for coming. Laughing to worry about with a boat. There's just one small hole in it that takes about five hours to get an inch of water. So we're perfectly safe.  

Matthew Gudgin (09:54):

That’s not reassuring Rebecca

Rebecca (09:56):

Well, you should hear some of the other boat stories that we've had at Wheatfen.  

Will Fitch (10:02):

Fan and games as always. Yeah, 

Matthew Gudgin (10:04):

I hope you're good at bailing Chris. 

Chris Skinner (10:06):

Yeah, so they only putting tops back on cricket stumps, that's all that's called bailing. Yes. 

Matthew Gudgin (10:12):

Well, let's go down to the river, shall we? 

Will Fitch (10:14):

Yes. Brilliant. 

Matthew Gudgin (10:15):

Now this is for people who are looking on their maps and are people all around the world listening the River Yare, which is Norwich out to Yarmouth, isn't it?

Will Fitch (10:25):

Through to Yarmouth. Yes, it's a tidal river, but largely fresh water. Of course with climate change, one of the big concerns is salt surges, which could have drastic effects on fish populations, aquatic invertebrates, but for the moment, water quality is reasonably good. And we're going to trundle down the dike system here onto Wheatfen Broad and yeah, hopefully see lots of wildlife. 

Matthew Gudgin (10:44):

Let's go. There's more water falling from the skies at the moment 

Chris Skinner (10:46):

Off we go. Excellent. Yeah, I'm really excited about this. So it's a real thrill and a treat because there's nothing like this at High Ash Farm, only a few miles away, and it just shows you how quickly different habitats change. So we're sort of on the edge of Broadland here to give you an idea of the Norfolk Broad's hand dug for peat centuries ago and now it's just a magical environment. 

Matthew Gudgin (11:17):

Well, we're on a walkway here, Chris, and there's the pontoon that we're going to get a board shortly and some classic broadland scene here. Reed beds. 

Chris Skinner (11:25):

Yes, there's reed beds here. I love to look in the distance at the woodland as well, which given half a chance would cover this old that's called alder car. I think it's Britain's only native conifer. That isn't an evergreen because the larch, which is a deciduous conifer that's an introduced species, but all the produces cones and it's a terrific favourite for birds like red poll and siskin as well. Eat the seeds and if they don't get eaten, they blow out into these reed beds. And that's what conservation is all about, which happens here at Wheatfen to kind of stop the alder car taking it all over. But that's all really the natural succession of wetland habitats. 

Matthew Gudgin (12:15):

So Rebecca, some management is needed, isn't it, to make wildlife thrive? 

Rebecca (12:19):

Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean, if we didn't manage this site, as Chris said, it wouldn't be the reed bed. We wouldn't have our swallowtails, we wouldn't have our sedge warblers, we wouldn't have all of the habitats that we currently have now. It would be either alder car or in some cases on our reserve willow car. So yeah. 

Matthew Gudgin (12:39):

I can see some bird life already on this very wet overcast. But we're next to one of the dikes here, which leads to the river. And will I presume this is our transport here? 

Will Fitch (12:47):

This is indeed. This is our trustee metal work boat and well, we use it for all sorts of jobs. Recently we've been ferrying lots of boardwalk materials round via Rockland Broad along the river up to our northern side of the reserve. Access on the footpaths is very wet at the moment, so it's handy to have a solid boat to get stuff round.

Matthew Gudgin (13:06):

Where's the roof? 

Will Fitch (13:08):

We're hardy in Norfolk souls. We're all right. 

Chris Skinner (13:11):

I should think so!

Matthew Gudgin (13:12):

So speak for yourself. 

Chris Skinner (13:13):

Put some colour in your cheeks, Matthew. 

Will Fitch (13:23):

All right. Yeah. Here's our sturdy vessel. We've got oars just in case, 

Chris Skinner (13:26):

Yes. So it's swim or drown. 

Matthew Gudgin (13:34):

Come from a seafaring family though, don't you?

Chris Skinner (13:36):

I do. I've got Horatio Nelson, believe it or not, Norfolk sort of wizard man, if you like, for sailing. And he's a distant relation and it comes down from my mum's side. So yeah, so a bit history. So as soon as I'm on a boat, I'm over the side calling for my best friends probably. 

Matthew Gudgin (13:58):

Rebecca's on board now and I think it's your turn Chris. 

Chris Skinner (14:00):

Right in we go. 

Will Fitch (14:03):

Mind your head on the bar. 

Matthew Gudgin (14:05):

There goes Chris. And I'll duck under the bar here and onto the pontoon. Here we are on board. There's a little outboard motor, we're in a couple of paddles as well, Chris, ramming speed. 

Chris Skinner (14:23):

And look at the dike Matthew, its dead straight ahead of us, obviously manmade and the reeds sort of bending over the water and it's a typical Broadland scene. And this is I think how you should be seeing it with the rain. It kind of typifies what was Ted Ellis's home. And so he's be quite used to this.  

Matthew Gudgin (14:45):

He was quite a visionary really, and someone who was so keen on conservation years before it was fashionable. 

Chris Skinner (14:51):

Absolutely. He's one of those people that inspired so many others. I'm one of those people, which is why I do the podcast today. And lots of other people were inspired equally. And it was the place to go on a Saturday morning, the local press Eastern and Daily Press had a little column done by Ted. Phyllis used to read it down the phone to a Mr. Saltmarsh at the Eastern Daily Press office and she would read Ted's diction for the week down there and it would appear on the Saturday morning down Nature's Byways with EAE. And it was the place I always went to first in the Saturday paper. There we are. 

Matthew Gudgin (15:36):

Well, Ted Ellis had the vision of this piece of property next to the river and restoring it really, didn't he? Yes, which was the name of his particular aim and ambitious. 

Chris Skinner (15:47):

It seems counterintuitive to be cutting down willow and alder in order to maintain the reed beds. But then you've got the diversity of species, which Rebecca has told us about, and just congratulations to him and to the team, which mainly volunteers looked after this setup. Fantastic. Right. I think we're ready to go. Are we? Yeah, 

Will Fitch (16:10):

I just going to show you just here is the first cuckoo flower, nearly open. With climate change its slightly earlier. It's meant to coincide with the arrival of the cuckoo, the bird itself and 

Chris Skinner (16:21):

Meadow Sweet just on the corner

Will Fitch (16:22):

Meadow, sweet and valerian all grown out of that little island from the jetty, like a little ecosystem. 

There's also the food plant for the orange tip butterfly, the cuckoo flower. So we've seen little orange orbs on there within a few weeks. 

Chris Skinner (16:35):

Yep. Garlic mustard as well. Is the other food plant. Brilliant. I see before we get moving, so there's just no how to look and where to look. 

Will Fitch:

Are you happy? 

Chris Skinner:

Yes. Come on, let's go. 

Matthew Gudgin (16:55):

And we're underway. What sort of bird life are we expecting to see this afternoon do you think, Rebecca? 

Rebecca (17:03):

Oh, well we've got the chiffchaffs, they've now started moving in and black caps as well. One of our volunteers just yesterday saw our first swallow of the year, so I dunno if we'll see them today.  Maybe not in the rain. Recently, over the last few weeks our skies have just been filled to the brim with the calls and sky dances of marsh harriers. So we've been able to watch those me and Will as we've been sorting out all of our dredging work that has happened this winter. 

Matthew Gudgin (17:36):

And the marsh harriers will hunt low over this land?

Rebecca (17:39):

Yes. So they'll probably be gliding up in the sky and then just zoom down over the reed bed if they've seen something making their mating calls at the moment, which is quite nice to hear because over the winter they've been quite silent and now you can start to hear them with their vocal calls. They're kind of a bit like a cat almost. Some people might say. 

Matthew Gudgin (18:00):

They've made quite a comeback, haven't they? Chris? The marsh harrier? 

Chris Skinner (18:03):

Yes, really good. Because if you have the habitat for particular creature or bird insect, small mammal, then the whole kind of ecosystem puts itself back in. That's what you call biodiversity where you have a whole selection of different species feeding all down the food chain. I suppose top of the predator list here would be an otter that's on the fish. And if you've got swan mussels in the river bed there, it'll take those out. And obviously the avian predators, things like the marsh harrier, occasionally sparrow hawks I suppose Rebecca come through? 

Rebecca (18:42):

Definitely in the woodland quite often you can see them in the woodland near our, we don't have feeders at the moment, but in the past around some feeders they sit and hide and wait and then zoom out. So yeah, definitely in the woods for sure. We'll have the sparrow hawk. 

Matthew Gudgin (18:57):

Chris mentioned otter. Otters? Do you see many of them here? 

Rebecca (19:00):

Yes. Yeah, we do. So yeah, they often come in, all of our dikes all the way around our reserve. We normally see them in us with a good sign of them is the spray that they leave behind, which has a rosemary smell. And you can look through that and see all the fish that they've been eating. A few weeks ago I actually saw one in our pond and it walked right in front of me about a metre away from me and went and hid under our hide, the thatch. So yeah, 

Matthew Gudgin (19:33):

That's quite a thrill, isn't it? It is. I mean, otters are coming back to some degree, but still rare.

Chris Skinner (19:37):

Yes they are. We have them at the farm. We've created a water habitat. And last year I managed to have the video, the trail cam on the edge of the area of water and I got the otter, the female with three cubs playing. Oh. And that was just delightful to see. But quick question, has Will been on the beer at lunchtime? Did you notice? We just went into the bank just then. 

Matthew Gudgin (20:07):

He can't hear us. Cause of the engine. It's very windy and very wet and this channel is about 10 foot wide, maybe a bit more. And it's leading into another channel, which eventually I suppose goes into the River Yare. But this is so important, this sort of habitat, isn't it? 

Rebecca (20:23):

Yes. Yeah. So we're now coming up to our, we call it the Fen Channel. It's kind of the main channel that runs through Wheatfen. So if we go to the left, we'll come up to our Penguin Dike, which is named that because there was a penguin that was stationed there during the war, which got bombed apparently. And that's why it's called Penguin Dike. And we're going to head now into our Wheatfen Broad, which eventually going through there and then into Rockland Broad, we'll get to the Yare. Yeah, this is an amazing habitat. It's absolutely great that we can have such amazing waterways at Wheatfen. We've seen lots of fish in there recently, like roach and rud and perch last year there was thick lipped grey mullet in there. And yeah, there's always teal and gudgeon. 

Chris Skinner (21:14):

Gudgeon, yes. There's a surprise. You know what I was just thinking as we've gone through this, we're only a few miles from the city of Norwich and looking where we are now, it just feels like we could be anywhere in the world. It's just another world, isn't it? It's beautiful. Absolutely stunning. 

Rebecca (21:35):

Yeah, that's one of the things that so many visitors say about Wheatfen, that they just describe it as a complete magical wilderness. You are so close to nature. It is, like Chris said, it's hard to believe that we're so close to Norwich. It does not feel like that at all. It does feel like you could be anywhere else in the world away from an urban environment. It is truly magical at Wheatfen for sure. 

Matthew Gudgin (22:02):

This weather isn't no, it's really flowing a hooley and very wet indeed, Chris. 

Chris Skinner (22:07):

It's the boats having…

Matthew Gudgin (22:09):

The things you get me into! 

Chris Skinner (22:10):

The boats having a job to head into the wind. But look at this, we're just coming onto the broad now, Surlingham Broad here, and 

Matthew Gudgin (22:20):

Two mute swans

Chris Skinner (22:21):

Swans and beautiful right beside us, a cob and a pen. 

Matthew Gudgin (22:25):

Well Chris, here we are on quite a small body of water. It's the classic broad sort of environment is it?

Chris Skinner (22:33):

Yes, this is about a hectare, I suppose size about two and a half acres of water. But you have the feeling and it's much bigger because it's open habitat around the water. And remember the water actually goes into the reed beds as well. So the water area is much bigger, perfect for water voles, sedge warblers, reed warblers, you've got a whole variety of habitats. What in fact, there's more biodiversity here than there is in prime agricultural High Ash Farm, which is looked after for wildlife. But I thought the wind was blowing so strongly just then it'd been quicker for me to get out and walk. But how deep the water, Rebecca here? 

Rebecca (23:14):

Well, we're now coming up to the deepest part of the broad called Deep Waters. That's about 18 foot deep there. So recently, a few years ago, maybe five years ago, the broad that we're currently on was completely dredged. Will might know the facts in terms of how much mud got pumped out. 

Matthew Gudgin (23:32):

We're talking about the dredging will here, how much mud was taken out? 

Will Fitch (23:37):

In the two broads here. It was 6,000 cubic metres of silt pumped out and that was through 30 years of succession. Unfortunately lot of it is agricultural runoff, it's top soil. It's getting washed down with various ploughing techniques that obviously the farmers any favours, they want their top soil, they want their nutrients. And again, it's a succession. If we left it this broad would eventually be hover, which is quite a dicey habitat to walk across. The whole world feels like it's moving up and down. And then reed beds and then car woodland again, we got a brunt from Natural England under our stewardship scheme to pump the broads to maintain this wonderful habitat of where we go. Hopefully might see some kingfishers and otters just around the corner. 

Matthew Gudgin (24:21):

Well, I'd love to see a kingfisher. There'd be a splash of colour! And I suppose the point is, Chris, we've gone from extremes, haven't we? We've had one of the worst droughts on record followed by that very wet period. 

Chris Skinner (24:30):

Yes, it played havoc with the farm and farming right across the east of England, and particularly down in the southern part of the UK, the Somerset Levels, and indeed more locally the Fen District and fens were areas like this. They were completely devalued centuries ago, but it was only because of what a group of people called the Fen tigers who managed the fences for sedge cutting and reed cutting. And of course the broads were dug for peat as well. But when all this dies down Matthew, each year it forms a kind of muddy layer, shallow to start with. And then the water, the soil level if you like, just builds up gradually and you lose the whole open water areas, which are fantastic for some of our birds which spend their life in or near the water. And that'd be kingfishers and birds like that. 

Matthew Gudgin (25:23):

And we're just coming out to a larger body of water now with the rain still coming down. A reminder that this week's Chris Skinner podcast is coming to you from the Norfolk Broads. We're only a few miles outside Norwich, but it's a lovely place this, it's the Wheatfen Nature Reserve with so much bird life, insect life and other species as well. Wild flowers to enjoy. And we'll give you details about how you can visit here a little bit later on. But let's carry on with our journey. 

Chris Skinner (25:58):

The willow is producing its pollen at the moment, Matthew. There's some bright yellow sort of what some people call goat willow, but there's lots of different species of willow in the UK and it's got its feet right in the water and producing pollen and the pollen because it comes into flower so early with that nutritious pollen is fantastic for our overwintered bumblebees, the Queen Bumbles, which come out now and Rebecca's made me incredibly jealous already because she's seen the first swallow. So we start having the insects flying about and that brings in the migratory birds as well to feed on the insects. Things like chiff chaff, which I've just heard one at the farm, but I've yet to see my first swallow of the year. 

Matthew Gudgin (26:48):

As we're nearly in April now, Chris, we're getting greenery now, aren't we? The seasons are turning. 

Chris Skinner (26:54):

Yes. The old willow here leaning right over the water, nearly closed the dike in front of us. It almost, it just looks equatorial as though we're in somewhere like Senegal

Matthew Gudgin (27:06):

Like a mangrove swamp 

Chris Skinner (27:07):

Exactly what it looks like.

Matthew Gudgin (27:10):

You don't have black mambas here? 

Rebecca (27:12):

Well, we've got grass snakes, but no, not black mambas

Matthew Gudgin (27:15):

That's the important thing, isn't it? To say that actually amphibians are thriving, but also reptiles as well. We've got our own homegrown versions of these rather exotic creatures. 

Rebecca (27:29):

Yes! So me and Will had a really lovely experience along home dike. Just the other day we saw our first grass snake swimming through home dike. So yeah, you'd think that our reptiles maybe don't go in the water, but they do. So we have our grass snakes here. They're one of the UKs or they're the UK's only snake that actually lays eggs. All the other snakes have live bearing are live bearing. So yeah, 

Chris Skinner (27:57):

Magpie nest there in the willow is that magpie nest Will? 

Will Fitch:

Look like it. 

Chris Skinner (28:05):

It does 

Matthew Gudgin (28:06):

Look like it not far above the water, but well protected.

Chris Skinner (28:09):

This. Yes, it's round. So that's what I guess they're guilty because they build like all crow species, build a flat nest, but magpie put a dome over the top of it to protect their eggs. Very clever. 

Matthew Gudgin (28:22):

We often talk about the encroachment of roads and building of homes that is compartmentalising the countryside. 

Chris Skinner (28:31):

It is. That's why places like Wheatfen and many of the places managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust as well, they're absolutely crucial and it puts people in touch with nature and that's missing in so many people's lives today. And already since we've been here, my mood has completely changed. I feel very relaxed. I feel it's like a second home and yet it's something that most people have never seen. So that's why it's important to save these places because they do alter without management, they can change in a decade, 10 years, this would be unrecognisable unless it's managed properly. So the work done by Wheatfen, the volunteers here is absolutely crucial, but it's just another world and it's only, as I said, minutes from the city. 

Matthew Gudgin (29:23):

But all joking aside, apart from the weather, this is a real privilege seeing this today because it's not really accessible and it wouldn't be practical for lots of people to come here and see it from the water. So what we're seeing here today is a very secluded spot, isn't it? 

Rebecca (29:40):

Yes. Yeah, this, I mean, I've never actually been around here and I've been working here for six months, so yeah, very lucky that we're coming around this part of the reserve. 

Matthew Gudgin (29:48):

The reeds are all growing out of the channel here, so we're coming through this here.

Chris Skinner (29:54):

Yes, the seeds of the reeds are an important food as well for the reed buntings, there's lesser bull rush here or Reed Mace growing out of the water. And Matthew, we've almost come to a stop because we've got reeds under the boat. I think Rebecca's going to get an or and I'm going to pick an oar up this side, so we hope we'll get out for the weekend. We're away now. 

Matthew Gudgin (30:25):

Chris is paddling his own canoe. You've done that before haven’t you?

Chris Skinner (30:29):

 Oh yes. Yeah. Yes. And can you see the alder in the background, which would love to take this over, you can see it's got a black impression when you look at it, and they're the cones still on the trees, so it's perfect seed source for those birds I mentioned red pole, just small brownish birds, but with a pink top on the head, particularly this time of the year with a male and then a siskin as well. Looks rather like a smaller version of a green finch, but a pair of mute swans in front. So we might need the oars for a completely different reason in a minute. 

Matthew Gudgin (31:06):

They look quite chill to me, those swans. 

Matthew Gudgin:

Chris, the kingfisher, and really the name says it all there, expert fishermen, aren't they? 

Chris Skinner (31:30):

Yes. And Ted in his journals and his writings that he did from about the age of 10, kingfisher often featured in those and he brought them to light in a really special way just recording that instant flash that you get as it goes down the river sometimes with a minnow going back to feed the female on the nest. But generally they quickly dive into the water on a waterside perch into the water and come up with a minnow or dare say a small gudgeon and they swallow it headfirst. So just fantastic to see.

Matthew Gudgin (32:13):

Pike - to me that's a quintessential broads of course. A very exciting species. 

Chris Skinner (32:18):

Absolutely, yes. It used to petrify me as a youngster. I spent my entire childhood, if not walking about bird nesting and I was fishing beside the River Tass and pike would be lurking in the shallows on the edge and suddenly they'd explode, go through the water and catch a dace or a small roach. 

Matthew Gudgin (32:41):

Well, it's so pleasant, even on a rather wet day to be here on the Norfolk Broads and not in the middle of a large broad, as you may do when you're on holiday or in one of the rivers, but on one of the side tributaries and in amongst the reeds and seeing the real broadland. 

Chris Skinner (32:58):

Absolutely. And the water level comes up and down here depending on the tide back at Yarmouth or Yare Mouth because we're right next to the River Yare and it's yare mouth, the mouth of the river yare only a few miles away and we're close to sea level here, which is why the water goes up and down. There's very little fall from here to the North Sea, so the water is static a lot of the time, but the reed beds just fascinate me. It's just a completely different feel in the environment to the one I'm used to with the black alder trees in the distance there silhouetted against the grey sky. It's just symbolic of broadland and the bit that Ted fell in love with and captivated him for the rest of his life. 

Matthew Gudgin (33:48):

Well there's the long straight channel back to the staithe and that's the way we're heading now. So let's carry on enjoying this broadland scene. 

Chris Skinner (33:58):

Beautiful. 

Matthew Gudgin (34:05):

Just gone past a clearing in the reeds here, Chris. And that's an important part of the management, isn't it?

Chris Skinner (34:09):

Absolutely. Of course. It was all done as part of people's living years ago. Many of the houses around the Broadland area are thatched. In fact, some of Norfolk's churches are thatched as well. And they would use these species of reed, cut much earlier in the year after they'd finished growing for them. This year's growth is coming through and having clear patches like that is perfect for small mammals and it also allows a fresh crop of reed to come through because people earned their living from it years ago, centuries ago it was so important and then earlier than that, of course peat would've gone into Norwich for burning on the fires over winter. It was dug out in July and August. How you could do that now with the water level this high, I don't know, in the broads. So they must have dried out in the summer months, then it was stored and dried and sold as fuel. And that's what kept these marshmen who Ted loved. He said he learned as much from the marshman and the people that worked and the cattle herders that he did from going into university and talking to the big boffins, he called them, 

Matthew Gudgin (35:24):

They was dear old Eric Edwards wasn't there over at How Hill. And there's a chap Wally who's down at Chedgrave that sort of way I think. 

Chris Skinner (35:31):

Yes, yes. They were fantastic people and they worked with the, and their knowledge was incredible. And it was founded on hard work and observation and that's what Ted Ellis loved. 

Matthew Gudgin (35:46):

Well, we're coming up to the mooring point here. And Will you saw a Kingfisher earlier today? Not for me, sadly. But another thing I was looking out for, maybe it was evidence of water. Water rats. 

Will Fitch (35:59):

Yes, yes. We're very lucky 

Matthew Gudgin (36:00):

You have them here do you? 

Will Fitch (36:01):

We do. And very recently there's been papers published to say the mink has been eradicated from Norfolk, which is a North American species, sadly released in the broads and they decimated the water vole stocks. Now the water voles are thriving. They've come back and we regularly see them swim in the dikes. Interestingly, the other day we watched a stout swimming up this dike here chasing the water voles, which is more of a natural predation. Obviously natural predation is fine. There's a balance there. But when these invasives are released, they do a lot of damage and thankfully the mink has been eradicated. 

Matthew Gudgin (36:36):

Do you see your crew here, Rebecca and Chris? 

Will Fitch (36:39):

Able bodied crew perhaps 

Matthew Gudgin (36:40):

They're getting us moored in. There's a fair amount of water in the bottom of this vessel. I don't like mention. 

Will Fitch (36:44):

I did say there's a slow leak. I wasn't joking. 

Matthew Gudgin (36:49):

Chris, you're holding onto the dry land there.

Chris Skinner (36:51):

Yes, I'm a bit uncertain about, your sea legs, Matthew. Yes. Anyway. 

Matthew Gudgin (36:58):

Well, I've got to say Will, that was absolutely terrific. We really enjoyed that. 

Chris Skinner (37:02):

Absolutely, it's just another world and I've got a huge smile on my face and just, I can't explain it. It just gives you a very special feeling inside to leave the busy world behind. I'm close to the city of course, and it's just another world here.

Matthew Gudgin (37:20):

The Norfolk Broads broadland and there are a lot of opportunities to see wildlife, but this is one of the most special, it was Ted Ellis's vision, the great broadcaster and writer, great naturalist. And Will people can come visit here all the year round, can't they? 

Will Fitch (37:34):

Yes, we open seven days a week, sunrise until sunset. And there's no charge. Of course we love a donation, always very welcome. But I think we're quite unique. We don't charge in the spirit of Ted's legacy. Everyone is welcome.

Matthew Gudgin (37:46):

And you have volunteers as well, don't you? 

Will Fitch (37:48):

Yes. We rely very heavily on the volunteers. I can't take much credit. They do phenomenal amounts of work and we have 40 plus volunteers, all ages and backgrounds. Some have been coming here longer than I've been alive, helping out with the Fen management. They also undertake ecological surveys, they help out with events and we couldn't run without them. 

Matthew Gudgin (38:07):

It's Wheatfen, you'll find it at Surlingham, which is a few miles to the east of Norwich. And Chris, how am I going to get out of this thing? 

Chris Skinner (38:15):

Well, I think you could become a volunteer, Matthew, I've heard you ace with a scythe.

Matthew Gudgin (38:21):

I can't even operate in lawnmower let alone a scythe. 

Chris Skinner (38:26):

Oh, thank you Will. That was inspirational. 

Matthew Gudgin (38:29):

Thank you, Rebecca. 

Rebecca (38:30):

That's okay. Thank you. It's been lovely to have you guys here and just yeah, everyone to Wheatfen, because it is magical. It's truly, truly magical here. It's a special place. 

Matthew Gudgin:

Even in the rain. 

(38:55)

Chris Skinner:
 All right, we're into this week's bumper post bag. Goodness. Have we got some questions asked? Matthew's had to leave us temporarily. He's got wet trousers, but we won't go to, we both absolutely soaked after our boat trip. But anyway, here I am with some of this week's questions. The first one is from Melanie Griffiths and she lives in Albany. She's got quite a large pond in her garden. And last year around about mid-April, it turned bright pink and she was a little bit worried about it. It looked like a scum over the top of the water, but it isn't is doing the same thing this year. And she sent me a wonderful photograph of the pond, and it's a water fern that you've got growing on the top. If you pulled one of the little sort of pinkish plants up, you'd find long roots just going down into the water, not into the soil or the mud underneath at the bottom of the lake. 

(39:56)
 And it's called Azolla filiculoides. But fortunately for us, it's got a common name. It's called Flamingo Weed. And there you are. That's what you've got. And it's brilliant because the, you've got a very up-to-date pink pond in your garden. So well done. 

Next question is from Melanie Banham. Good morning. She says, when my father died 18 years ago, this piece of wood was going to be put out. I saved it because I wanted to know what it was used for. I was just wondering if oracle Chris, I've been called other things I can promise you might know. I love the podcast and have my Sunday breakfast with Chris and Matthew every week. Thank you. You are so lucky because I have found the very piece of wood, the machine's called a Smythe Suffolk corn and manure drill. And it's made by Ransoms, and it's from about 1840 to 1909. 

(40:56)
 It was horse drawn and illustrated, the picture I've sent off is the hopper of the drill is open and it's a vertical seed selector's wheel, and you can change the speed because it's land wheel driven. And so it's a variable seed rate. The front hopper is for fertiliser and contains a plate which is horizontal, and a flicker, which is vertical just over the plate. Your wood is a flicker. It's one of three sets supplied with the drill, holding different number of pegs to vary the rate. It's made of elm wood and it's beautifully made. So thank you for that. And what about that solved that mystery? 

Next one's from Johnny in Norwich listening to last week's podcast on counting hairs with the hares sprinting away as you frantically attempted to count them. Got me wondering about the speed of wildlife on the farm. What are the fastest animals? 

(41:55)
 What are the top speeds and why have they evolved to be so fast? And does Rat the terrier, my terrible Rat, featuring the top fastest animals on the farm? Well, he thinks he's pretty quick, which is really amusing, but without doubt, the fastest animal would be the peregrine falcon, which nest on Norwich Cathedral. They've got incredible eyesight and their favourite meal is to come out to High Ash Farm, which is just a moment's flight away. It's within sight. The farm's within sight, a Norwich Cathedral and wood pigeons. And when they stoop to catch a pigeon, it's the fastest bird that you could ever imagine to see. And every animal has a really fast speed, depending on its size. Bumblebees, for example, fly off a huge rate of knots. Their wing beat is about 120 wing beats, wait for it a second. Honeybees 240 wing beats a second. 

(42:53)
 Just unbelievable the speed that which some of the creatures that live in nature use to get about or in their wing speeds, for instance. And there's even a species of gnat, which is absolutely incredible. I've recorded it. And they land on leaves and they start drumming and they create a vibration and it's just over 1000 wing beats a second. And they're probably the fastest. And of course we talked about the hares sprinting away and hares can go up to about 35 miles an hour, but generally they do that because they have to get away with predators. And really the only predator for hares once they're adults are humans, really. So there we are, and Rat would love to be in this list, but he hasn't qualified. 

Right. Next question is from Claire Deamon. Hi Chris. I look forward to listening to your podcast every week. 
 I just thought I would comment on the question from a listener this week about nest box protection. I had a similar experience when I had a great spotted woodpecker, enlarged the entrance hole of my blue tip nest box and predated the babies inside, which was very distressing. So I found a three inch square metal plate with the right size hole already cut, screwed it onto the front of the blue tit box. Then the woodpecker tried to enlarge the ventilation holes at the side of the box. So I cut out a plate from an old biscuit tin and screwed that onto the box. I hope the new blue tit family can now be raised in peace, stay well and wishes, Clare. Right. Thank you for that. It's a good idea. And I suggested a very large diameter washer with just the right size hole in it, depending on the bird species using the nest box. 

(44:43)
 Next questions from Ian Smith. And it says, I have been interested in trees all my life since I was kneehigh to a grasshopper this week. You mentioned flowers on trees. I was interested in the tulip tree and always thought of its name due to the shape of its leaves until last year when I saw it in flower in Uzbekistan. Does it flower in the UK? And the answer is, yes it does. You need a good hot summer like we had last year. It's an introduced species, so it's not a British native. It was called poplar tree when it was first introduced. And if you look at the leaves, they're like maple leaves. They've got four very distinct points on the leaves. And it can get to what, 35 metres tall, which is well over a hundred feet. And it's called a tulip tree because of the shape of the flowers. Very, very exotic when you see 'em in full flower. Good. Another question, goodness me, it's from Steven Alga. Morning Chris and Matthew Spring has officially sprung in Acle as today. I heard my first Chiffchaff of the year. There we are, and I've heard them as well. But I'm waiting on tenter hooks for the first swallows to arrive at any moment at High Ash Farm, usually about the first week in April. So the week ahead, I'm going down to the old stables every night with a torch and seeing who's come first.