Titchwell Marsh is an English nature reserve owned and managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Its 171 hectares (420 acres) on the north coast of Norfolk, about 8 km (5.0 mi) east of the seaside resort of Hunstanton, include reed beds, saltmarshes, a freshwater lagoon, a sandy beach, and woodland. The reserve is important for some scarce breeding birds, such as pied avocets on the islands, and western marsh harriers, Eurasian bitterns and bearded reedlings in the reeds. It has regularly attracted rarities, as its location is important for migrating birds, and shelters the endangered European water vole. Facilities include three bird hides, a seawatching platform, two nature trails, and a visitor centre. In 2010 and 2011 the banks around the freshwater lagoon were improved and the brackish lagoon was converted to tidal saltmarsh (pictured), a more effective barrier to encroachment by the sea. Titchwell Marsh is archaeologically significant, with artefacts dating to the Upper Paleolithic, and has remains of military constructions from both world wars.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titchwell_Marsh

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1856:

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issued a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that established the Victoria Cross, originally to recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Cross

1891:

Liliʻuokalani, the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ascended to the throne. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliuokalani

1944:

World War II: At least 38 people were killed and about a dozen injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania) was attacked by Soviet partisan units. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koniuchy_massacre

1967:

The Mantra-Rock Dance, called the "ultimate high" of the hippie era, took place in San Francisco, featuring Swami Bhaktivedanta, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg (poster pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra-Rock_Dance

2006:

India's Irfan Pathan became the first bowler to take a Test cricket hat-trick in the opening over of a match. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irfan_Pathan

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

receptacle: 1. A container. 2. (botany) The part of the flower stalk (peduncle or pedicel) to which the floral parts are attached; a thalamus, a torus. 3. In the Asteraceae (aster or sunflower family), the end of the peduncle to which all of the florets of the flower head are attached. 4. (phycology) A structure at the end of a branch of an alga containing conceptacles (reproductive organs). 5. (electricity, US) A contact device installed at an outlet for the connection of an attachment plug and flexible cord to supply portable appliances or equipment. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/receptacle

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

When a person doesn’t understand something, he feels internal discord: however he doesn’t search for that discord in himself, as he should, but searches outside of himself. Thence a war develops with that which he doesn’t understand.   --Anton Chekhov https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov