Left The Eelsfoot Inn this morning with a heavy heart. The plan was to drive back and stop at Fowlmere RSPB. We took the route via Minsmere on to Westleton to stop off and pick some wild plums. There are a lot about they are bigger than sloes but smaller than a victoria plum, dark in colour. We very quickly filled a plastic box full. See a later post for the results.
We took a great road which took us via Scole and Diss in search of an Army Surplus store, I need some buckles, webbing, and proper poncho. We found a very interesting store down a housing estate it was the proper thing it had a yard full of green and grey metal junk. Unfortunately shut on bank holidays, mental note to self to make a return journey! (Helen says not with her!).
We soon arrived at Fowlmere after various detours in Thetford forest avoiding traffic. Turns out we had been there before, and did not see much. Today was going to be a repeat. We are in late August and had arrived at mid day, so the odds were really against us. We did the tour round but there was not much to see. The list was Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Heron, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, and Brown Trout! The reserve is very quiet and secluded, great for a gentle stroll.
Fake Wasp Fly
We left the reserve and said we would stop if we saw somewhere worth while for a bite to eat. What a mistake that was! Bury Lane cafe in the garden centre just north of Royston. We dropped in for a some food and to sample the goods in the veg shop. We sat down and a waitress was there instantly, too quick for us to decide, so we sent her away, 15 minutes later Helen caught her eye and she took our order. Our drinks came first with an apology that the food would be 10 to 20 minutes, I almost walked! When the food finally arrived to be fair it was nice, I had tuna and sweet corn baguette and Helen baked potato and beans which she complimented.
Back in the car we then drove straight back to home and reality. I got straight onto making the jam. I just got rid of the the stones by the squashing method, i.e put between thumb and fore-finger and squeeze/squash out. I add equal amounts of sugar and not water. Give a good stir and wait for the sugar to draw the liquid out of the fruit. Put on the heat and bring to the boil slowly , you do not want to burn anything. Once boiling turn the heat down and wait till it is ready. There are ways to check that the jam is ready, using a cold saucer or a thermometer, but I have found that if you keep it boiling for about 20 minutes the white foam disappears and the jam gets kind of thicker. I just seem to know when it is ready.
The plums were a bit under ripe and at the start I thought it would not work, but after some boiling a really deal purple colour leached out of the skins. The jam tastes great, quite sharp but the plum flavour is really intense.
Up again early on a Sunday, for a breakfast at 8:30 we were on the trail at 9:30. We headed towards Minsmere but took a diversion off the road to take the path that runs through the woods that leads to Westleton Heath. In the woods the recent damp weather seemed to have bought all the mushrooms out, they were literally everywhere. The sun was out and the light was really bright even in the shade of the trees. So taking photos was really easy.
I modified the gorilla pod by shortening the two front legs this allowed me to set a small aperture, and by using the 2 second delay on the Lumix LX3 I got some really clear shots. Once we hit Westleton Heath we headed towards Dunwich. We started to get the odd light shower but nothing was going to dampen our enthusiasm, we were really happy to be out in the fresh air. We bagged a Coal Tit on the way down.
Coming across the Dunwich museum was well timed. There was an art exhibition going on in a hall behind the museum, some great original water colours and prints were on show. Mainly Suffolk and Essex, painted early in the morning. The guy who had painted them explained to me that he had been a container boat captain for a Brazilian company. He had worked 3 months on 3 months off then retired at 52, lucky bastard!
Mushrooms
We also had a look round the museum all about Dunwich, I really had not appreciated just how much of a town existed around 1900′s, then we drifted down to the car park and famous fish and chip establishment down by the sea. We sat out the front with our bowls of chips and beverages, there was quite a wind blowing, I literally had a storm on in my tea cup. We scanned Dingle marsh for signs of Hen Harrier, but it was wishful thinking. I did spot a bird in the distance but we could agree what it was, when it flew away we were able to identify it as a Greenshank, by the long white patch on the back, a good tick.
After a quick look at the sea we headed up the hill and along the ever moving west cliff path. Great views of the coast and Sole bay in the distance can be had at a couple of spots before the path heads inland, after you pass the ruins of the abbey. It then started to rain heavily as we walked through the woods towards Dunwich heath. I was glad to be able to try on the poncho that my mother in law had kindly bought for me in Millets Oxford for £1.50.
I have to say I have been considering getting one for a while, I am now a convert they cover you and your luggage, you have to be careful that the wind does not catch it but they keep the wind and the rain off. We walked though heavy rain across the heath and could not get any view of Dartdord Warblers, as we headed toward the National Trust tearooms at the Coastguard cottages, we had coffee and I had some bread pudding. When the rain had cleared we could see yet another big bank of storm clouds on the horizon, so after a couple of pictures we rushed off down to the East Hide at Minsmere, and we timed it just right the rain started as we arrived.
Dunwich from Minsmere
We spent about 30 minutes in the hide and some patient scanning revealed Little Ringed Plover, Black Tailed Godwit, and a couple of Snipe. The weather system moved on and the sun came out so we walked back to the visitors centre and on through to the Island Mere hide. I then suggested that we walk back along a footpath that runs parallel to the tarmac road, but involves an extra 10 minutes walking, it was towards the end of the day and Helen was in a “trough of disillusionment” so I got the usual ranting.
Later in the pub Helen did agree it was a nicer walk back, I don’t think the high winds and dropping branches helped the situation. We rejoined the tarmac road and walked the final yards back to the pub, the light over the water logged field was begging for photos to be taken, I obliged.
Back at the pub I stopped the GPS logger and we had walked over 13 miles (may be adjusted down). What a fantastic day out 8.5 hours out on foot, with the wife, plenty of tea and bird watching stops, can life get better?
We arrived at Southwold on Friday and went for a shop round town then a quick tour of Minsmere. Then we went to the Eelsfoot Inn at Eastbridge, booked in. There were a family of Swallows sat under the metal stairs outside our room. All weeknd they were there sometimes all sometimes just a one or two. The parents were doing lots of swooping about, and would roost next to the young at night.
On Saturday we woke up in good time and thought we would have a go at our day record to celebrate our recent wedding. So we got up for an 8:30 breakfast at The Eelsfoot Inn, and were on our way down to the Minsmere sluices via the path that goes directly to the sea from Eastbridge. The weather was bright with a stiff wind from the north east but the air temperature was pleasant. Saw some great beetles and butterflies on the way. Saw a spotted flycatcher on top of a tree. When we got down to the sluice bushes we paused for a while in hope of a Pied Flycatcher but it was not to be, although the lesser and common Whitethroat we adequate compensation.
Sticky bud thingy
On to the public hide to see some Knot, Dunlin, common Sandpiper, and Redshank. Then on to the East hide, where some Sandwich Terns appeared. We were soon sat outside the Coastguard Cottages fighting off the wasps while we ate our lunch of toasted cheese sandwiches. The wasp I trapped in a bottle was really mad, even after Helen freed it. A bit of sea watching produced Common Scoter, but nothing else the winds was probably blowing them all off shore.
Over to Dunwich Heath we did not rate our chances of seeing any Dartford Warblers after the hard winter they have suffered, but there they were loads of them. The Heath was looking good the heather was bright purple and the gorse was starting to flower giving a contrasting bright yellow. We walked to the far north end of the heath before turning round and walking along the west boundary back towards Minsmere.
Four baby swallows
Lots of different mushrooms were out a sign of the recent damp weather and Autumn approaching, the light was really bright so it was a great opportunity to get pictures. We strolled along back to the visitors centre back at Minsmere via the west hide to share a portion of carrot cake. We headed off back to Eastbridge stopping off at the Bittern Hide (not much action except a juv. Marsh Harrier) then on to the Island Mere hide, where a few more ticks were recorded. We saw a very yellow warbler in a willow tree but could not make Icterine from it.
The sun was low in the sky as we headed down the Minsmere road back to the pub, we had a great day out, but had not managed to beat our record. August can be quite a quiet, we managed 61 quite a reasonable tally. There is always tomorrow when we plan to head slightly in land then out to Dunwich and back through Minsmere again. What a great day!
On my way to work this morning I noticed a Rose bedeguar gall, so I thought I would tell you all about it. What it is is a sort of ball of hairy growth found on rose plants, in this case I think it was a Dog Rose in the hedge row.
Apparently they are created by a type of wasp called the gall wasp (Diplolepis rosae), they lay eggs in the leaf buds and when the larvae (almost all female) hatch and they start to eat the leaf bud then some magic happens. It is not full understood but it is belived that a chemical is realesed that causes the plant to grow in the strange way it does, which provides more food for the growing larvae.
The fully developed gall was used in days gone by a a medicine, to cure baldness, and cure a toothache.
If you want to know more why not check out Wikipedia. Picture blow show a new one from this year and an old one from a previous season.
This is a film about a muslim father (Mahmud) who is a “relaxed” muslim, his son want to marry the daughter of an devout muslim cleric, and want to visit the family to check how muslim the family really are.
The story takes a twist when Mahmud when clearing out his deceased mothers house finds an adoption certificate. After some investigation he finds out that he is the birth child of a Jew, who it turns out is still alive.
He then needs to learn about Judism in order to get past the Rabbi who is guarding the birth fathers room. With the help of an american jewish taxi who he had previously had an altercation with Mahmud.
The film is full of funny moments and the commedian Omid Dijalili, makes the funny moments all the better. Well worth a watch even though only 3 stars.
On my way home from work today I came across a pigeon that did not fly away as I got close, he/she was really trusting. On closer inspection it was in a poorly state but seemed to be looking for food. I took quick video with my trusty camera and you can see the footage here.
On reflection I think he was probably a tired homing pigeon, as I noticed he had no less that 4 rings on his two legs, and I have never see a feral pigeon with rings. He also looked in really good state i.e. his plumage was neat and tidy no tufty bits.
George Clooney comedy, about and executive who job it is to go into companies and fire people. He takes pride in his job, and does a lot of air miles. He has his routine down to a tee he one would say a seasoned traveller. He is also very close to becoming only the 7th person in history to achieve 20,000,000 miles, for which you get a platinum card.
A you up and coming employee then upsets the apple cart and proposes to sack people by video link, something which George does not agree with. He gets the job of raining up the new girl and is tasked with taking her on a trip.
There is also an affair going on between Geoprge and another lady whom he meets very occasionally when they happen to be over nighting in the same place.
An original scripts well acted with some very funny moments. I would recommend seeing it.
Helen and I decided to take some time out of our preparations, to go on one of our favourite walks from The Old Swan at Swan Bottom. You take the gravel track from the left had side of the pub do a big circle then end up back on the other side of the road after passing along the outskirts of The Lee.
After the first woods we noticed in the field where the Yellow Hammers hang out that there were quite a few Beatles and Long legged spiders about. We usually do the walk in the Autumn/Winter/Spring time so it was a treat to see it in late summer mode. The blackberries are starting to become ripe, so you had to be careful to find a sweet ripe one if you did not want to end up with a real sour one.
Further round we came across a bare patch in a field that had more that it’s fair share of butterflies, quite a few browns, and a definite Holly Blue amongst the blues that were there. I made a mental note to learn a bit more about butterflies so that I could at least identify the common ones. I guess it is a bit like bird watching you need to start to identify them and after a while becomes second nature and you wander why it was so difficult.
We then crossed the horse field where you can often see Meadow Pipit, Red Wing, and Fieldfare in the winter and then took a wrong turning in the woods. I recognised we had stumbled across the edge of The Lee. Following our nose we eventually got back on track, I will remember that route in future it made a change to pass through some civilisation for once. Perhaps we could start the walk from Lee Common pub instead another time. I thought it is called the Cock and Rabbit but apparently is it called Graziemille . We also passed an old closed pub which looked a bit run down call The Bugle .
Back on track we headed through the farm and along the usually muddy bit, and it was muddy, then onto the final stretch along the arched hedgerow path up towards the big house, which is opposite the pub.
We decided to treat ourselves with a pub lunch, as usual we had veggie burger and chips accompanied by a pint of real ale. Helen had tribute and I had Chiltern Ale, both were great pints especially sweet after our longish walk.
I have been accused of letting my blog become boring, i quote “too many film reviews and not enough walks”. To try to put things back on track here is a post that you might find interesting.
Today was the annual Horticultural Society Fete in Aston Clinton, it is one of the bigger events on the calendar.
We turned up at 2:30pm and paid the £1 pound entrance fee, which entitled us to a program and I believe the chance to win a prize in a draw. The usual charity stalls were present, surprisingly for a land locked county, and about a far away from the sea you can get in England there was a stall for the Aylesbury branch of the RNLI! We worked our way round buying up all the raffle ticks on offer, and I bought some Victoria Plum jam, for the winter stores. Then it started to rain.
Bunch of coconuts
We popped into the produce exhibition in the old school building and checked out the the displays of long runner beans and themed flower displays. Some people go to a lot of effort for the show.
Back at the stalls we came to the main raffle desk and I noticed that Mark Webber (Formula 1 driver) had donated a prize for the raffle, a basketball cap with his logo on it which he had personally signed, how generous I thought.
Then it was off round the kids and craft exhibits where such delights and a garden on a plate or painted stones are pitted against each other for cash prizes. The garden on a plate would win the Eric Sharp cup.
On to the skill based stands where you could win prizes for putting and throwing balls at coconuts. I scored 225 on the putting golf balls though slots in a plank, which put me 2nd equal with “Mark” and the chance of winning a prize if the person who came first and “Mark” was not around to collect the prize at the end of the after noon.
Then on to the coconut shy I reluctantly agreed to have a go, 5 balls for £1, and managed to knock 2 nuts off of their holders. Not sure what I am going to do with them, as they are high in saturated fats I avoid them. Perhaps the birds will like them?
