An Unexpected Visitor...and a Bat!

M and I took B on a day cruiser on the Norfolk Broads.  This was B’s birthday present (from January) and we hired a lovely little boat, which was the perfect size and was very well equipped, with a hob and kettle, mugs, china, cutlery, a fridge and a toilet…everything we needed.  We had wall to wall sunshine and started our trip at Wroxham and travelled along the River Bure, popping into various Broads along the way.  We anchored in Malthouse Broad for our lunch and put up the table for our picnic.  The swans, geese and ducks are clearly used to being fed, and as soon as we stopped they were straight over to see if we were going to feed them.  When it was clear that we had nothing for them they soon swam away to try their luck elsewhere.  So, it was with great surprise that half way through our lunch, M suddenly spotted this female Mallard looking straight at him.  She had flown up onto the side of the boat and was peering in through the open window to see what we had.  She was lovely although only stayed a few moments…but she did make us smile.
 
The extras is of M and B sitting in the front of the boat during our trip along the river.

The other extras are of St Benet’s Abbey (or at least the remains of it), it was a Christian settlement dating from 800AD, and was the only religious house in England that was not closed by King Henry VIII.  Sadly, it was completely abandoned by 1545 and now the only remaining part is some of the gatehouse, in which a redbrick drainage mill was built in the 18th century.  Also, a close up of our anchor seen through the boat windscreen and an approaching boat in the distance.
 
We had a really fabulous day, we were so lucky with the weather, it was great to have the roof slid back and be able to enjoy the warm sunshine and the river breeze.
 
We were very fortunate to see a Daubenton’s bat fly across in front of us on the way back.  These bats normally hunt at night, and live close to a source of water, amazingly they can live up to 22 years!  It was way too quick and unexpected to be able to take a photo though.