Cow Tower

Cow Tower sits just to the North East of Norwich Cathedral and is best accessed from the carpark by the Adam and Eve pub near the courthouse. The old stone tower makes a good home for the feral pigeons but little else. However if you step around to the back of the tower and face toward the Zaks restaurant you might just catch the flash of blue or orange feathers of a Kingfisher. I've watched them emerging from the overhanging branches and shooting off along the river almost everytime I've visited the tower, and I think they use the bend in the river as a fishing perch. It's also a good site to see Cormorant, Mute Swan, Mallard, Moorhen and Egyptian Goose.

Next to the tower is a small pond with a wooden boardwalk, where I've seen Wren and Dunnock flitting amongst the reeds. My fiancee has been lucky to see Water Vole in this pond in summer, getting several photos of it to confirm it wasn't a big rat! Between the tower and the carpark is a small gate with a swan shaped symbol on it, this is the old swan pool and is also apparently a good place to watch Otters from, but I've not seen evidence to confirm it yet.

By far the biggest draw to the area is to watch the Peregrines. A pair have been inhabiting the Cathedral spire for a couple of years, and raised a brood of 3 there last year (see Hawk and Owl Trust site for details and webcams). The adult pair are present throughout the year, and are quite easy to see when perching on the spire as they're quite large birds, but in summer when they were feeding the chicks they were a lot more active and spent more time around the Cathedral. When the chicks fledged we'd go down to the Adam and Eve and watch the adults calling from the spire as the young returned to the nest site, and occasionally you could see them go into a stoop to chase away any gulls that got too close.
Hoping they return to nest again this year, especially as I can see the spire from my house now!