Konik pony

Despite early morning rain, we set off to Hickling Broad, as the weather radar showed that the Norfolk coast was much drier than Peterborough. The weather continued with its autumnal theme, being cool, grey and breezy, but in fact Chris caught more leafhoppers than on our previous visit in warm sunny conditions, and 17C was a better temperature for walking round the reserve, though the flat light wasn't ideal for photography.

I spent most of my time photographing small insects, but on my last excursion I came across the small male group of Konik ponies that are helping to graze the fen. These primitive ponies resemble the Tarpan, the European wild horse that became extinct in the early nineteenth century. They are hardy creatures that can live outside all year round, and thrive on the rushes and reeds available in wetland systems, maintaining open ground for wildfowl, waders and other wetland creatures. They are semi-feral and usually ignore visitors, but this one found my camera quite interesting!

We left the site just after 3.15pm, as we had to be back to meet the plumber and Chris was going to see Mark Watson. Despite a traffic queue though the roadworks at King's Lynn, we made it, though it was a bit of a shock to get out of the car into bright sunshine and temperatures of 23C!!