Old man, big skies

It was my birthday today (and I am honoured to discover in the Guardian birthday list that I was born on the same day in the same year as Tim Burton) so we went to the Norfolk coast for the day and pottered about among the jolly sailors at Brancaster Staithe before going for a very nice lunch at the White Horse. Then we went off to Titchwell, an RSPB reserve we used to frequent when we lived in the area. Rising sea levels are going to force great changes on many places in East Anglia and Titchwell is one of them.

The reserve is made up of reed beds, marshes and open lakes sitting behind a wide beach and a wall of dunes that one day (and possibly quite soon) will succumb to a winter storm. There seems to be an acceptance that this change cannot be altogether prevented, but work is going on to try and manage it. The habitat will change, but a new one will be created.

It was nice that the marsh harriers put on a little display for us, but mainly it was a day for appreciating the big skies of Norfolk. Apocalyptic clouds moved in as we walked the beach but even the drizzle that fell as we returned to the car could not dampen our spirits. It gifted us a perfect rainbow as the sun burst through once more.

A good day.