• Brampton wildlife: Finches in the snow

    As I write, I can look up to see a garden full of finches. The visiting flock of Bramblings, which varies in number from a dozen to a score of birds, has been a daily site, along with the regular Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Chaffinches. The snow is dirty and on the verge of a thaw. The various feeders of Niger and sunflower seed, peanuts and a wheat based mix have become a hub for the hard-pressed bird population. Outside the garden two neighbouring farms have established almost twenty acres of winter bird food crops and these have harboured large flocks of Linnet and Yellowhammers; their flocks often of 40-80 strong, perhaps more. If ever I wanted to demonstrate the value of supplementary feeding, this is the place and the time.

  • Christmas Eve Carols singers raise money for charity

    Thank you to all who gave to the Brampton Carol singers during their tour of the village on Christmas Eve. With you help they raised £150 + Gift Aid and this was donated to the Salvation Army;

    Lieut-Colonel Dean Pallant, in his note of thanks stated that –

    With the help of the support you have given us, we can turn aching loneliness into the joy of company and friendship for forgotten older people. We can ease the constant anxiety of grinding poverty and help give a family a meal on the table and presents, smiles and laughter for their children. Someone who is homeless can find warmth and the assurance of our support to help them move onwards.

  • Brampton’s Sheila Sayer named Good Neighbour of the Year

    Thank you to Katy Edmonds for drawing our attention to the 2019 Broadland Community at Heart Awards.  The award for Good Neighbour or Friend of the Year was presented to Sheila Sayer. A Brampton resident for nearly 40 years, Sheila is the ‘go to’ person in the village. From collecting parcels, to feeding pets, and even lighting one elderly resident’s the fire every morning to make sure she stays warm, nothing is too much trouble for her.

    Well done Sheila, with grateful thanks for all of your efforts. It is great to know that your good works have been officially recognized.  We all wish you the very best for the future.

  • Brampton Spring: annual Litter Pick

    The annual Brampton Litter Pick has become such an established event within the village calendar that we have started to treat it as the ‘first sign of spring’. Although, as I write this   on the next day, Sunday, in which one can almost ‘bask’ in spring sunshine, the slightly duller Saturday weather still favoured all those who gave a voluntary hour to the task.

    It is sad fact that we still need to do this every year in order to maintain the beauty of our surroundings, but it gives us all an excuse (not that an excuse is really needed) to get together for collective task.

    ‘It is like that we are clearing up after a few serial litter louts. The theme is generally the same. Lager cans of a particular brand, containers for a well-know fast food supplier, dog poo bags left hanging in the hedges (As if that was considered as “clearing up”).

    Anyway, job done. Thanks to everyone who participated. The parish looks ready for the warmer weather.

  • Brampton winter – gathering flocks

    The frosts of mid to late January have changed the habits of the parish wildlife.  The most marked change being the flocking of the birds. The Woodpigeons gather into gangs, but most noticeable of all are the large flocks of finches. The finch flocks – consisting mainly of Chaffinchs, Greenfinches, Bramblings, Goldfinches and Linnets – gravitate to the fields planted for this very purpose at the south end of the village. The farm’s conservation scheme, ‘Wild Bird Cover’, consists of a special mix of seed-bearing plants, and it is working. On a fine clear Saturday morning I counted 60 in one flock perched atop the hedgerow trees whilst another, half as big, wheeled round above.   A good example of successful farm-based conservation.

    Frosty clear nights echo with the calls of courting foxes. One evening this week a dog fox called as it ran done the village street making all the dogs jump from their slumber.

  • Village Carol Singers

    The Brampton Carol Singers raised £160 during their tour of the village on Christmas Eve. Thanks to all who participated and to those who donated to their collection this year.  The money which they raised  has been sent to the Salvation Army to support their work with the homeless.

  • Brampton: Autumn and the Michaelmas arrivals

    Over the last few days the evening has arrived with golden sunset. It feels like a time of change – the last Swallows skimmed the last stubble of the harvest a few days ago, before heading south. The autumn migrants have arrived from the north.

    It was last Wednesday evening, whilst accompanied by a post-hopping Barn Owl, that we heard this year’s Golden Plover. Their plaintive whistling calls carry to us, above even the traffic noise along the Buxton Road. It was twilight, the sunset had been spectacular and darkness was falling fast. Every year flocks of Golden Plover rest for a few days on tawny arable fields above the old Roman Road. We could hear their calls but their restless flocks were invisible.

    This morning’s clear skies, after a light frost, rendered the chance of seeing them altogether better. Looking south we soon spotted the flock of about fifty birds, their silhouette unmistakable – on knife-shaped wings they wheeled and turned, in synchrony their colours alternating dark and pale as they flew. Flying for fun, circling and settling before setting off again. All the time their whistles carrying down to us, earthbound.

  • Brampton: Autumn update

    So far a dry and mild Autumn in the village has meant that most of the trees have retained their leaves. The Field Maple leaves started to turn yellow in mid October but most have yet to fall. The Poplars, which never do things by halves, have dropped all but a few isolated leaves and as a result Keeper’s Wood has taken on it’s Winter profile.

    I hear the weak call of the Redwing, but as yet have not actually spotted any of the Winter visiting thrushes. A Common Sandpiper has joined the resident Egret at the Mill Pool. The Kingfisher can still be heard but the many young raised during this bountiful year have mostly dispersed. The occasional Cormornt passes through and I hope that it has a taste for Signal Crayfish rather than for our already depleted Bure fish stocks.

    The Roe Deer have gathered into small family groups. Their coats taking on their tawny Autumn colour, rather than that glowing orange-red of Summer, as they prepare for the colder season. The Muntjac galumph about in pairs – seemingly without fear they focus on the gardens and the allotment.

  • Brampton Harvest Festival and Lunch

    A fine October day for the Brampton Harvest Thanksgiving. The service was followed by a church fundraiser, a Harvest Lunch at the Old Rectory Brampton, which was kindly hosted by William and Jenny Youngs. A gathering of over sixty people enjoyed a lunch based upon the abundant produce from the fields, fruit trees and hedgerows of Brampton and Norfolk helping to raise £1,000 for church funds. One of those small glories that is part of village life in the community.

  • Brampton Spring: Roe buck and doe

    The sight of Roe Deer has become increasingly common in Brampton in recent years (see link to other posts within the Village blog), but they always feel like an encounter with a wilder, slightly separate world. Usually, the sighting it at some distance and commonly it is for a fleeting moment before the deer melt into the safety of woodland. However, the other evening the encounter was closer. It was all the more surprising because, as we walked along with the Whippets, conversation was in full flow – not the whispers and hand signals that so often have to accompany a deer stalk. The wind was in our favour, blowing from the deer to us – otherwise they would have sensed us, a hundred yards further back. But on this occasion it was an eye to eye meeting, as can be appreciated by the resultant photo.

1 2 3 15
Next Page
Cookies For Comments Image