The Magic of Hickling

With summer fast running out, it seemed the right time to go to Hickling once more and pay homage to Emma Turner on the centenary of her rediscovery of the bittern there. Hickling = Maurice Millard and his boat, and so we set off in the late afternoon with Maurice at the helm. It felt very August - muggy and dark green - and there was a regatta on at the sailing club, but once out on the broad we were virtually alone. We glided across, the wind dropping all the while, and had a look at Rowland Green's last studio (where we stayed) and then at his original place, the one in the mill. As we did so, a bittern suddenly flew above us, only a few metres away, before landing in the reedbed on the far side of the broad. Fantastic views! And perhaps the Spirit of Emma T? Then we paused next to her island, looked at some pictures of her which Maurice had found at Whiteslea Lodge and read a little from Broadland Birds. Maurice had actually been onto the island a day or two before and found an old gatepost in the undergrowth - unsure what this might be, as no remains left of her hut. He recalled how (not sure when) he had met a chap who had "celebrated" his 21st birthday in the remains of the hut, probably in the 1970s - holes in the walls and plants poking through then, apparently. Clearly the structure had deteriorated since the pic Maurice found on googlearth of two holidaymakers sitting outside it in the 1960s.... Anyway, it was good to commune with ET again. Saw some good birds later: marsh harriers, a hobby, wood sandpipers, blacktailed godwits and hundreds of teal. Plus an outrageous sunset to end on. There is something very special about Hickling and its broad; I can see why it captured ET.