Today we go on holiday yippee, it is the regular September wife’s family holiday plus the two hangers on. As is usual I was awake early, due to the anticipation of travel etc. so I was up at 06:00 and having breakfast, we were taking Helen’s folks but not till 10:00 so I had some time on my hand. Earlier in the week a Pectoral Sandpiper had been spotted at Wilstone Reservoir, so at 07:00 I headed down to the reservoir to see if it was still present. I parked up, there were only three cars there, and headed up the steps. There was a fellow birdwatcher pulling the legs out on his tripod, I looked in the binoculars and noticed that there was a gathering on the jetty to the left. I mentioned that that it looked like that was where the action would be and we headed off to the jetty.
The strong wind from the hurricane was very warm, my fellow birder commented that it was unusual for Wilstone, I had to agree. When we got to the jetty we were quickly guided to the bird, it looked quite like lots of other waders. I stayed for an hour trying to soak up the salient features, then headed back home to pack the car for the journey.
Beach huts
We picked up Helens folks and were on the road by 10:10, I chose to go M3 A303 because we had the time and it is a long time since we saw Stonehenge. The breezed round the M25 and got off on to the M3 traffic was heavy but moving at usual speeds. When we got on to the A303 we found that the traffic was a bit stop start. When there was dual carriageway the road was quite empty but as soon as we were on single lanes it clogged up again and sometimes ground to a halt. We stopped at a MacDonalds/Spar/Esso station for a cup of coffee and a pee, in all the journey took 5 hours.
The hut for the week is well appointed, plenty of bathrooms, and a massive kitchen. We have broadband, freesatTV, and no fewer that 3 TVs. The view out of the house is over “The Great Field” which at this time of year is just a muddy mess, I must find out why it is called the great field. We unloaded and I nipped up town for a hair cut, after trying two places I found a place tucked away off a street off the main drag. I had a very efficient haircut and it only cost £3.90, the place was alled Terry’s who had cut hair for 42 years before retiring and selling the business. By the time I got back to the house they were all organised and we decided to go for a walk toward Brauton Burrows over the Great Field. When we headed out the sun was shining but by the time we got back we had been rained on very heavily, some of us got soaked but my trusted poncho kept me dry.
We had fish and chips from SixteenTen for tea. Taffy and I went into to town, sorry village, to get them while the others watched strictly. We had arrived and were looking forward to the next 6 days discovering the beaches and coastal paths of North Devon.
After a very pleasant evening in the Eel’s Foot with a few pints and an enjoyable chat with a couple from Cambridge whom we happened to sit next to, we were again up early for the Eels Foot fry up. Unfortunately no vegetarian sausages but lots of toast so very well fuelled as we checked out and headed off to Minsmere. The choice for today’s amble had been subject to much discussion, but decided we could not do better than simply do a circular route centring on Minsmere safe in the knowledge that a coffee and excellent cake could be assured at the end of our walk.
We parked at the visitor centre and grabbed a “what’s about” to get a heads up of what we should be keeping an eye out for. Not many people about yet and we headed off through the woods and soon came across a tit flock in an oak tree, which included two treecreepers, a greated spotted woodpecker, great & long tailed tits. We stopped at Bittern hide, unfortunately not repeating Neils success on Saturday but saw good views of a little grebe and chick. Continued to Island Mere where we saw a bar head goose, which is one of thos e “does what it says on the tin” birds, i.e. is a goose with striped bars on it’s head. Usefully.
Coastguard cottages Dunwich
We pottered on in the sunshine, so coats off, crossing the road at Scotts Hall where a berry laden treee held tantilising views of, as ever, unidentified warblers. The down the bridleway towards Dunwich Heath. The mushrooms has started to appear and Neil got a few photos and the chance to try out his fish eye lens. Another tit flock but could’nt spot the accompanying goldcrest that could be heard and more flipping mystery warblers! Reached the Heath where is was getting a bit busier as the sun drew people out but we took to long way round and managed to secure the seat at the centre of the heath in another unsuccessful attempt to spot Dartford warbler. It’s a bit worrying after we did not see any yesterday
and hope that is just us getting there at the wrong time rather than the after effects of a tough winter for them. We did manage to see the stone chat so that and a cheese toastie at Lighthouse cottages was some compensation.
Refuelled we went down to the sea where, despite there being a chilly wind there were several swimmers. We called in at East Hide to see the sanderling, black tailed godwit, avocets and wildfowl and walked on round the reserve. We reached on point where several birders were starring intently at a bush at a ……..wheatear! A lovely looking bird but we anticipated a mega from the number of watchers. Neil whispered he initially though it must be some special sort of wheatear. Sun came out so Neil took his coat off, then of course it went back in again. The BBC should use his coat wearing a some sort of weather prediction method.
Carrot cake, yummmm
Then lastly we popped into West Hide where it was surprisingly quiet after yesterday, until we spotted the sparrowhawk perched on one island which explained the rest of the birds shuffling quietly away on titpoe. We saw a distant greenhank and another avocet. The back to the visitor centre for coffee and cake and some light shopping (me) before heading back Chiltern-wards at 3.00pm.
We were in bed early last night, and I woke up about 06:30, by 7 I had had enough so I got up and went down to island mere hide. I parked near Scots Hall (not sure is that is allowed!) and walked into the reed beds. No one else was in the hide, the mere was quite full of water after the recent rain, and there were not many birds about. Geese were flying in and out in formation, and I spotted a juvenile Marsh Harrier. I had not bothered getting the scope out but then spotted a Bittern on the far side, by the time I got it set up the bird had gone.
Ragwort
Soon after I spotted another one further along this time I had the benefit of the scope, it was at the edge of the reeds looking up in the classic pose, then it barked and flew along the reeds and dropped out of site. Just before I left I spotted another one.
Breakfast was as usual great but they did not have veggie sausages but they promised some for tomorrow. After breakfast we sorted out our gear and headed in land along the Minsmere river.
The we then did a second side of a triangular route across Westleton heath where the Heather was in full bloom very purple and very fragrant. There were two distinct colours one very vibrant purple the other more pastel in colour. It was still early’ish and we had the place almost to our selves and the weather was getting warmer and sunnier.
Number 98
By the time we got to Dunwich church we had not had a break so we sat on the bench and had half a snack bar each. After a nice rest we walked up the village high street and down to the fish and chip shop over looking Dingle marsh and the car park. Helen had veggie burger and because she said it is the law that if they are offered they have to be taken in case the proprietor thinks demand has dropped. It turns out that the burgers were deep fried vegetable fritters and there was no bun! I ended up having one of them.
Once Helen was tired of the wasps we went over to the beach where there were a few swimmers bracing the North Sea temperatures. After some time relaxing on the beach we headed back up the hill towards the light house cottages.
Just past Grey Friars we heard a great but distant thunder clap. To our west there was a very big and dark anvil shaped cloud, and it was heading our direction. Soon after it started to rain, but as soon as we had unpacked the poncho and got it on the rain had stopped. The storm was heading past just to the north of us, we surmised that if we had stayed much longer at Dunwich we would have got soaked the storm continued to flash and rumble for the next half an hour. We found a bench on Dunwich heath and looked for Dartford warblers, but apart from stonechats and wood pigeons we were out of luck. There was a brief flash of grey at one point but not good enough to get an id of any bird.
Hail stones
At coast guard cottages we had coffee and shared a cake, then a bit of sea watching and a pee. We then headed down to the beach and on to the main part of Minsmere RSPB reserve. The storm was heading away out to sea but you could still see lightning and hear thunder. Over towards Eastbriddge we could see some more dark clouds so we got a speed on, the plan was to go to a hide for a while before heading back. We just about made the hide before it started raining trouble was the hide looked out over scrapes but hey were empty because the Terns that would normalhangout there had left for sunnier clims, so I put on my poncho and Helen her rain gear and we walked back towards Mere hide in the hope of seeing another Bittern.
The rain did not last long and the sun came out the light was warm and brilliant for taking photos, so I did! Not muchaction going on in the hide, which was deserted. We got a few more ticks that had evaded us earlier in the day (Tufted, Great-Crested Grebe, and Little Grebe), but no Bittern in site. Later a man turned up with a 500mm f2.8 Canon lens (£5,000) hoping to get a Bittern fly by, if he got one the light was perfect. Feet suitabkly rested we left the hide for the final push back to the hide it was already 17:30 and I reckoned it would take 30minutes to get back to the pub, Helen reckoned longer 40minutes.
Storm over abbey
Rather than take the road back we turned away from The Eels Foot and walkked past Sotts Hall and joined the bridleway that runs parallel. We were both knackered and Helen needed a fruit bar to avoid a trough, 35 minutes later we were at the last corner before the pub, so I guess Helen was right about the time it would take to get back.
All day we had failed to find a Tit flock but just as we got back to the river Minsmere we spotted one so Blue Tit and Long-tailed wer added tothe day list. Then I spotted a Treecreeper it was really close and hunting insects on the small branches, the view was fantastic. Suitably rewarded we headed back to the pub it had taken 40 minutes!
We had walked about 12-13 miles and been out for just short of 9 hours which is probably a record for us. We quickly freshened up and heaed to the bar for a well earned pint and some pub food, the end of a perfect day.
Just to prove we can be predictable we are off to The Eels Foot Inn for the August bank holiday just like we did last year. However this year we have no excuse we are just going because we want to and we can.
We left my folks at about 11ish after having spent the night. Dad now has iPlayer via the Wii I gave them.
The famous Minsmere blocks
We stopped for a comfort break on the B1120 at the South Suffolk show ground which was a collection of shacks trying to be a village of shops. I was not convinced but the broccoli, stilton and sweetcorn pastie was lovely. We got to Minsmere at about 14:00 parked up and headed the wrong way round because the north wall is shut till February 2012. We had ticked off most of the waders on the what’s about sheet from the west hide, then headed off down towards the bushes around the sluice, for some reason they call them the sluice bushes.
We saw some little brown jobs then headed on to the east hide where some RSPB staff were adjusting a pump to stop something flooding while the north wall works progress. We had some great views of godwit, sanderling, and ruff.
On the way back retracing our steps it started to rain so we popped back in the first hide to wait for it to stop. We finally spotted the ringed plovers that had evaded us up till that point.
We were in the hide for about an hour and it looked like the rain was really set in, but eventually we noticed that it had stopped. We headed back to the car park then were soon back at The Eels Foot Inn.
Thistle
We were in the bar early it guaranteed a table and means we would be in bed early and therefore ready to get up and go early in the morning. I had fish and chips again and Helen had veggie lasagne both were very good. There is a new chef and looking at the specials the food is getting better. Not that it was lacking previously, just that apart from the usual pub fare there are some more unusual dishes, tomorrow I may have smoked haddock, leek, saffron and pea risotto!
After a “Sharp” gathering yesterday it is off to the jewel of a county that is Essex for a “Baldwin” gathering. We were up early so rather than sitting around I found a place called Tollesbury Marsh nature reserve which is sort of en route, being just off the A12 at Chelmsford.
The M25 was heaving because a section in Surrey was closed both ways after an accident yesterday. All the traffic to Kent was being diverted via the north of London. Once on the A12 we soon took a turn off around Chelmsford and passed through Maldon towards Tollesbury. I am always surprised at the quaintness of the Essex countryside when you consider the negative image it has.
We parked up at Tollesbury marina, (loos were locked!) and headed down the short stretch of road to the actual marina itself. We passed an impressive sparrow colony of possibly a 100 birds, then walked past the sailing club and down to the sea wall that skirts the Essex Nature Trust reserve.
Tollesbury Marsh
The tide was out and the mud was exposed, the further from the marina we got the more waders we spotted: whimbrel/curlew, godwit, sandpiper, oystercatcher, redshank, golden plover, lapwing, linnet, reed bunting and wagtail. We sat for on the see wall then headed back for a coffee, in the local greasy spoon. I had cappuchino and crisps Helen had beans on toast and chocolate milkshake, (I can’t imagine why!).
The Barbecue/Party went really well, everyone seemed to enjoy them selves, there was plenty to eat and drink. We were booked in at a B&B called Timbers http://www.timbersbandb.co.uk/ which is close by I popped out and dumped the bags there at 16:00 to save a lot of palaver later. We were not quite sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a great B&B the hosts, Alan & Angela could not do enough to make sure we had everything we needed. Breakfast was a feast, we had a veggie breakfast, but the choices were extensive. There was fresh fruit salad, home made yoghurt, and home made Jam.
Mersea view
After breakfast it was back round the relatives house for a cup of coffee then Helen and I went home but not before another look at the local wildlife, this time at Mersea island where there is a ferry but no song with a Liverpool accent to go with it. The sun was shining and there was plenty to see on the mud exposed while the tide was out.
We had a free Saturday and thought a trip to London was well overdue, I know I went last weekend but Helen did not accompany me so it does not count. The trigger for going was that the press Photographer of the Year exhibition was on at the National Theatre, it is almost like an annual pilgrimage to go to see the great photo’s which are a reminder of what has been happening in the previous year. We needed something else to fill in the rest of the day and decided on the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy an show we have never managed to attend despite it being quite an important event in the art calendar.
Lifes a beach Southend on sea
We did the usual thing of parking in Berkhamsted and getting the train to Euston. We arrived with 10 minutes to spare bought a newspaper to read on the way and the train departed on time. We were at Euston by 09:30 and we got the 68 bus to Waterloo Bridge and were looking round the exhibition by 10:00. The National Theatre lobby area is quite a large space and is carpeted throughout so it is a really quiet space. There were quite a few people tucked away in corners tapping away at their laptops, you wander what their story is and why they go to the NT to do their work. My guess is that it is a nice quiet place with very little distractions.
The Press Photographer of the Year Exhibition 2011 lived up to our expectations, there were some really great pictures. A couple that spring to mind were a picture of a father and child in the Bangladesh floods, it is at night and they are walking towards the camera up to their knees in water, there are bright lights behind them giving their silhouettes a halo, the son is a step or two behind the father and his face is lit by the light reflecting off of the father light coloured clothing. The second picture was a snapshot of a cricket match tightly framing the wicket where a batsman is being judged out by the umpire, the bowler and a couple of fielders are in view, there is so much going on i the picture and it just seems to have locked in time an important point in a cricket match.
The last double screw steam tug in the uk
We next headed over to the Royal Academy on foot heading over the river via Golden Jubilee Bridge. There are some strange things to see on the bridge. One of the bridge footings has quite a few broken skateboards on it most of the broken and all of them without trucks or wheels. Perhaps their is a tradition where kids who break their boards on the Southbank chuck them off the bridge. As we passed Trafalgar square there seemed to be a bomb alert going on outside outside a building to the south on the junction to Whitehall there was a bicycle covered in bags, it looked like it was probably the possessions of a homeless person but the police cannot be too careful, so the area was cordoned off. We moved on swiftly.
There was a queue for tickets at the Royal Academy we waited in line for our tickets then went and had a coffee in the courtyard where there are also buildings of other Royal things the Royal Geographic society, the Royal Chemistry Society, and the Royal Astronomical Society. With my coffee I had a sort of Chelsea bun but instead of raisins and custard it had hazel nuts and chocolate it was a very tasty alternative.
The Summer Exhibition was very interesting, because the exhibition is open to all comers you get a real rag bag of art. Pictures cover all medium from photography through woodcuts, pastels, drawings to oil paintings. There is also sculpture and architectural models and drawings. It took us over an hour to get round all the rooms.
A london Thameside pub
Fortnum and Mason’s was opposite so we could not resist a quick look round. We did not buy anything but is was great to look at all the lovely food on offer. I have to say that the fresh produce looked very good and the prices although not cheap seemed reasonable considering the quality. We hopped on a bus and headed towards Foyles for the obligatory look round the fantastic book shop, but I spotted a Cotswold outdoor shop and we had to get off at Picadilly and walk back, I thought there might be a chance to get some shoes I had tried in Cornwall but could not get the correct size. It turns out they had a pair of Haglöfs approach shoes in my size so I purchased them and we were soon back on another bus to the book shop.
Helen purchased no less that two bags of books, and I bought none after the £115 spend on shoes, but Helen insisted on a taxi to Euston, so a taxi to Euston it was. It turns out that the rush was a bit of a waste of time as there was a signalling problem at Bletchley and all the trains beyond Watford were seriously delayed or cancelled. We wnt outside and got soe lunch, for me some udon and pumpling soup for the asian take away stand.
We decided to get a train to Watford and then decide what to do when we got there. As it turns out the slow train to Watford was overtaken by a few southern trains so we were able to get the next train from Watford to Berkhamsted, which strangley was completely empty. That was the end of a lovely day out.
Here are the results of the post I put up with the headline “Anders Behring Breivik” quite a spike. Notice I have also included his name in the title and body of this post.
Yesterday there was a couple of horrific attacks on the people of Norway, a bomb exploded in the centre of Olso and then a shooting massacre at a Labour Party youth camp on Utøya island. The main suspect at the moment is Anders Behring Breivik a 32 year old who is now in police custody.
I was watching the news on the TV this morning and was also looking at the stories emerging on the internet, then it occured to me had anyone register a domain with his name in it. They had I found that the .com and .net domains had been taken.
A while ago I posted a link to a website that tracked aircraft over Europe when the Icelandic volcano was erupting and got loads of hits on my blog presumably by people looking for the tracker. So here goes another article to see if I can attract visitors just by running links to a popular news story.
After our exciting sea trip, we decided to admire the beauties that inland Wales has to offer this morning. Water was still involved however we did not have to be on it on this occasion, although some members of the party did still manage to get wet. After an impressive 10 mile run, T returned and prepared a picnic lunch, and off we set for Ystradfellte Falls, a limestone area popular with walkers and cavers. We were hoping to see a dipper a bird we have never seen before. It was a 40 minute run from Cardiff to the Brecon Beacons, whilst C & T explained we were passing through the most deprived area of the UK, with the highest teenage pregnancy rate on one of the most dangerous roads in the area! We were however passing through some beautiful scenery and after turning off the main road, passed a lonely tea wagon parked on an empty layby. T manouvered through the narrow, winding roads and we reached the car park, apparently in the middle of nowhere but had the bonus of a small shop & WC.
Before starting the walk to Ystradfellte Falls we descended a steep path to view one of the entrances to the caves used by those brave enough to explore that route. We could see a small dark cave entrance through which a torrent rushed into
A big waterfall
the darkness. T remembered seeing cavers with suba tanks entering, on his last visit. Round the corner was a larger entrance, called White Horse Cave after the limestone shapes formed on the walls.
We went back up to the path and off we went. Thanks to our early start there was no one about and we walked along the rushing river, carefully watching our step with the many boulders and roots amidst the path, whilst trying to cast an eye riverwards in an attempt to spot dippers, and soon our efforts were rewarded with a brief sighting. As we followed the river we saw what was probably the same bird several times and were able to admire him through the noccas.
There are ten falls in this area so to be honest I am not sure which one we were heading for but after a steep descent we reached one that you can walk behind to pass across to the other side of the river. There had been quite a lot of rain and Helen had no intention of re-enacting scenes from the Last of the Mohicans, so perched on a rock to enjoy the view of the falls instead. T, Neil & C headed off but C wisely decided that she did not want to get soaked and her waterproofs were still in the car. Neil & T of course headed off behind the waterfall, apparently the force of the water was forcing the spray backwards and they both returned rather soaked. Back up the hill for a well earned picnic lunch at the top. We then walked back via Sgwd Clun Gwyn waterfall, the sun was out and lots more people were about by this point. When we got back to the car park, instead of our car and the wardens vehicle as when we left, it was full! We set off home, through a cycle race and when we reached the tea wagon layby we understood the reason for his choice of such an apparently lonely spot. He was inundated by bikers, minibuses and car drivers – talk about scarcity value!
Back to the homestead and then back to Bucks! Thanks T & C for a great weekend. I shall not forget the boat load of relieved, bedraggled tourists breaking into song at the sight of a Lancaster bomber. Marvellous!
We are in Cardiff ths weekend, visiting the sister in-law, and today, Satruday, we have a boat trip to Flat Holm to look forward to. We had to get up early to be down at the quay side at Pennarth at 0900. There were quite a few people waiting when we got there, and it was not long before we were giving the organisers our names, presumably incase the boat sank! Word on the boat was that it would be pretty rough out there and that they had almost had to cancel, too me the sea looked pretty flat, it is an estuary after all. The weather was grey and overcast but the forecast was for a sunny day, we had our fingers crossed.
There is a barrage around Cardiff bay and you have to go through one of 3 locks to get out onto the sea. The sea did not appear to be that rough, we bobbed up and down a bit but it was only a 30 minute crossing. We had the talk about what to do in case the boat sinks, and how to put on the life jackets, then he explained that it would be rough and what to do with the sick bags should the need arise.
Some way out it started to get quite rough, we were apparently going over a sand bank, which causes the waves to be bigger. At about 25 minutes into the journey a little boy decided he had to be sick, soon follwed by a woman who puked with her hand over her mouth and got a couple of other people sitting near by. In all we counted possible 5 people who were sick. As we got towards the island we were warned again that it would be rough, and that when we got there the standard practice was to run the boat up the beach, so we
Should not be standing up. To get to the beach the skipper had to get the boat perpendicular to the beach, we were about 500 yards out, and needed to get across an area of sea that had the biggest waves we had yet seen. He had to go down wind a bit to get to the of the high waves, cosing his moment he turned across the waves, and we headed in to the beach with the boat really pitching about, but we did fianlly reach the beach. Later we were told that it was the roughest public trip they had had for 13 years. I was happy to get off the boat, I had not been sick but the old trick of keeping your eay on the horzon had been a great help.
As we diembarked it became obvious that the people in the open part at the back of the boat had got soaked. We were met by one of the island volunteers, who took us to the museum/visitor center. The wet people just wanted a cup of tea but we had to sit through the health and safety briefing. They introduced a guy called Stephane (a Belge it turns out) who was a volunteer and regular visitor to the island and did free tours for those interested.
We waited for the tour to start and took in the view over the island, there were lots of Lesser Black Backed Gulls, many tending to young who could not yet fly. We were warned that some of us would get pooped on before the day was out, and that the gulls will defend thier young/territory by dive bombing us. First Stephane took us to have a look at some slow worms that gather under some iron sheet that are left in the sun. The we walked out
Towards the lighthouse to have a look at the seven inch gun enplacement one of about 5 or 6 we saw. We found out a lot of intersting facts about the isalnd on our way to the farm house, did you know that the fist morse radio transmission was received on Flat Holm? There is a monumnet celebrating the event strange thing is that they never removed the iron frame it was delivered in after the helicopter dropped it off. There are not many mammals on island apart from rabbits that have to be culled every so often. We also noticed lots of bones, bits and plastic and glass fragments, apparently all a result of the Gulls diet, the bones were apparently from the chicken bones found in our refuse.
At the farm house we had a coffee and biscuits before leaving Stephan and heading over to the visitors center for the women to do a bit of retail therapy. I must say that Stephan was a star and a real expert on all aspects of the nature and history of the island. Back at the center I took the opportunity to take some more photo’s with the new fisheye lens I have invested in, a Samyang 8mm f3.5 for £200 it is manual focus and aperture but the
Lens is great and at that price you can’t expect all the thrills of a £400 lens. The weather had brightened up by now and because the wind had dropped a bit we hoped the journey back would be a bit more comfortable.
Everyone was back to the boat by the 13:30 deadline and we headed back to Cardiff. At first the boat pitched about a lot, but it was not long before we were into a smoother sea. I took the opportunity to go up to the bridge to have a chat with the skipper, who was very welcoming and keen to tell me all about the wisdom of the bay barrage authority and other sea tales. About a few hundered yards from the locks we noticed the red arrows flying past then we had a spectacular views of a spitfre and lancaster bomber. Everyone one on board got very excited and some started humming the dam busters music!
We were soon back at the quay. We dumped some of our luggage into the car and headed over to the city center to have a look at the food festival that was going on. It was really packed why is typical for the weather we had, they say that the food festival is either a wash out or a roaring success depending on whether it is raining. We stropped for a glass of champagne to settle Helen’s nerves after the scary boat trip, but Cas managed to knock Helen’s glass over. We had not had any lunch so went on the look for a short queue on one of the stalls, luckily for us the Welsh aren’t that keen on veggie food, so we found a small queue for veggie burgers. I had a great curried check pea, with coriander and coconut one, Cas had a Laver Bread one. We were not in the mood for being with the crowds after our visit to a sparsely populated island so we headed back to the hut.
We went out for an Italian meal at a place called Lorenza’s, I had spaghetti a la vongole.
