More flooding at Strumpy

The scene below greeted me this morning. After receiving a flood warning from the environment agency last night I was expecting some flooding, as you can see below the depth guage was almost all underwater. Path closingly high, so I set about putting the signs up and opening up both sluices. Below are just a few shots showing a) why the paths do have to be closed at times and b) shows nicely the answer to so many peoples questions- Why are the paths so muddy in winter?!

riverbank just beyond sandy wall

riverbank just before sluice- water was a foot and a half deep here in places!

Path to fen hide, again quite deep in places

The view from tinkers lane stile, very deep considering its the main path

The lackford run...path!

Otter enjoying lots of water

sluice area and accidental broad connected to the river

Even the chinese water deer thought there was too much water!
Incidentally this is the high bank through the middle of the fen and still is covered in water

 Hopefully the water will drop over the next 48hrs or so, at present the Fen Hide and riverbank from the top of sandy wall around to Tinkers Lane via Tower Hide is all closed as it is underwater.
The paths will be opened as soon as they can be..... on the other hand Buckenham is good for birds at the moment so posibly a better bet for the next few days than Strumpy!

The River Yare is the lifeblood of the fen, keeping it topped up with nice fresh water, but at times it can cause chaos flooding saltwater into a fresh water ecosystem. This is not a great time for the saline incursion as we usually hope to start getting water levels and quality to their spring level to encourage the breeding birds to have faith in the stable water levels. However due to this flooding the level will go up and down over the next month as we bring in fresh water from the Lackford Run and flush the salt through the fen and out along the riverbank, its a tried and tested method but relies on the tides and rainfall being kind to us.