Sunday 10th November 2024 - Whales, Wildlife and Successful Scones

The other day, village fisherman, Andy told us a fellow fisherman had been out near the Sheringham Shoal Wind Farm.  Here, the fisherman informed Andy, there is a massive shoal of herrings; six miles long and the depth down to the bottom of the sea.  Out for the catch, the fisherman, saw more than he would ever have anticipated, expressing, he had never seen anything like it in his life – there were over twenty whales and the one which brought its fluke (tail) up out of the water, was thought to be a humpback.  They were all taking advantage of this rich source of food.  The whale’s fluke was bigger than the boat and left the fisherman’s son, who was out with him, concerned the whale could tip the boat over.  The fisherman took photos of the smaller whales which he sent to Andy who in turn, showed them to us.  We knew, Norfolk Cetacean recorder, Carl Chapman would like to know about the sightings, so I emailed him and yesterday, Carl met up with Andy.  Seeing the photos, he was able to confirm the smaller whales were Minke’s and the larger one, he strongly suspects was a humpback.  Although they can’t be observed from the shore, when gazing out to sea, it’s wonderful to know currently there are whales out there.  On the other hand, I do hope we don’t have a repeat of a few years ago, when humpbacks ended up on beaches and dying and a not long dead minke, on a particularly hostile morning, was washing up against the revetments here in Overstrand.

Staying on the subject of wildlife, currently we have good numbers of birds visiting our garden, particularly in the morning when we observe them while having breakfast in our conservatory.  I wonder if the influx is down to the recent calm days, there’s been little more than a gentle breeze, with birds not needing to venture further inland for protection and food.  As there are a number of cats in this part of the village, we don’t feed the wild birds.  If they come into our garden, it will be to find bugs, seeds, worms and the like, not nuts and fat balls.  We had a short stopover from a flock of starlings last week; they briefly rested in ours and a neighbour’s trees, presumably taking a break from their flight from northern Europe, before continuing their journey.  I forgot to mention, a couple of weeks ago, we saw a snow bunting near the car park.  We haven’t seen one for quite a few years, usually they stay for a couple of days, feeding on plant seeds, but by the next day there was no sign of this one.  Turnstones have also been present; we counted eight early last week, on the promenade and groynes but this morning there was just the one, flying low over the sea.  Maybe, like the starlings, they were taking a break, but for them not from Northern Europe but from their journey from Greenland.

Another attempt at making scones, this time proved successful. The well risen scones with a crack on the sides, which I have been trying to achieve, was finally accomplished yesterday.  I used, 8oz/225 grams self-raising flour, two level teaspoons of baking powder, 1.5oz/40 grams butter, 1oz/30 grams caster sugar and enough milk to mix.  I flattened the mix to about 0.5inch/1.25cms on a floured board, used a floured cutter and cooked the scones on a baking sheet in the oven on a fairly high shelf for ten minutes at Gas7/220°C.  I’m happy now I have finally produced the result I have been aiming for. I should add, neither of us are massive scone fans, there are other sweet treats we prefer.  However, they have the big advantage of taking under half an hour to prepare and cook before eating warm; buttered and topped with my homemade raspberry jam.