Sunday, 1 December 2013

Buckenham Air Show

This was a strange one so let me explain: Buckenham Carrs is an area, eight miles east of Norwich where thousands of rooks, crows and jackdaws gather each winter night to perform some crazy stuff, before roosting in the nearby woods.


To get there it's through Strumpshaw, along the delightful Low Road and round to Buckenham station. From here, it was just spitting distance to our viewing point, next to a ruined shelter on the edge of a stubbled field.

On arrival, daylight was bleeding and as we looked about, birds were beginning to decorate the trees and power lines, but there was no sign of the large numbers we'd been hoping for.

Now be warned - as an experience, this is something of a slow burn and it took a while, before we realised that the dark border on the far field, was in fact a carpet of birds.

And then things started to get interesting. Without warning the chattering built and gradually the swarm hovered, like some vast stealth jet, first swaying left and then right before returning to the ground. Each time this happened, the flock edged across the field, closer to our viewing point.

At 4.10 the Norwich to Lowestoft train lit up the countryside. Surely this was the signal - but still the birds stayed close to the ground.

After several false alarms and with the birds screaming, it was finally showtime. Positioned right in front of us, the birds rose up into a huge swirling vortex. At that moment, in the deep, black, cold of the Norfolk countryside, something essentially primal was going on. This was something to really put the wind up Tippi Hendren.


But there was more. Suddenly, over our shoulder, another swarm arrived, to swell the numbers. The sky was now full of birds (up to 50,000) shrieking and shape-shifting: and I was laughing out loud because it was so exhilarating. Five minutes later and it was over.

So here's what to do: choose a clear evening, tap NR13 4HW into the sat nav, make up a flask of hot chocolate and take the kids out for an adventure.

They'll love it and so will you.

Location:Manor Road,Hopton on Sea,United Kingdom

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