A Year In Eden: The Fauna And Flora Of A Norfolk Estate (English Edition)

Do you have an ‘Eden’? A special place, a wilderness where you go to escape modern life’s hustle and bustle. I have the privilege of such a sanctuary. Eden, of course, is not its real name. It is a very private place. A thousand acres of woodland, hedgerow, river, wild meadow, pasture and crops. Deep in the heart of Norfolk. In return for the privilege of walking there, my contribution is to help keep down the small vermin on the estate. The usual suspects … rat, rabbit, grey squirrel, stoat, woodpigeon and corvid. Yet this book is rarely about that. This is not a managed, commercial shooting estate, though the wild game is encouraged to stay with a few feeders. This is purely for a couple of ‘family and friend’ shoots each season. Thus, as there is no full time gamekeeper, my humble efforts are welcomed. My ‘Eden’ sits across an escarpment above a tranquil, snaking chalk-stream river. One of the longest in Norfolk. Home to trout, barbel, dace, pike and chub. Along the river margins, otters thrive and mink menace. Despite this, I’ve found water vole sign often. Flora and fauna are abundant. The varied landscape is perfect for raptors and many of their species breed here. Buzzard, sparrowhawk, kestrel, barn owl, tawny owl and little owl are regularly seen. Almost every land-borne British mammal exists here or has passed through during the years I have enjoyed walking this small corner of England. Red, roe, muntjac and fallow deer … but (not yet) Chinese water deer or sika. Weasel, stoat, rat, rabbit, hare, field mouse, wood mouse, common shrew, bank vole are here. Grey squirrels (my main reason for being allowed here) drove out the native reds (that held out so long in Norfolk) many years before I came here. The owner and tenant farmers on the estate allow me to walk freely with gun, dog and camera. For that I am forever indebted. This book, quite simply, is a celebration of a typical year in my own, personal ‘Eden’.