Author: neil.baldwin

Well, it did.  Neil had his works do and rolled in at 1am! to tell me it was snowing.  Woke up to several inches of freshly fallen snow. Left the house at 6.45am before many folk had been out and about, and had the fun of trail breaking through the sparkling white drifts.  I love the way there are always a few cat paw prints running hither and thither.  Unfortunately the snow had flummoxed the local buses, even though Redline are usually really good at getting though. Fortunately a colleague who lives up the road came to my rescue, vehicularly and hot drink wise.  We were a bit late for work but we got there safely thanks to said colleague and that’s what matters.  Neil did his Good King Wenceleslas and walked to work through the snow and was rewarded with riches in the form of goldfinch & redwing.  A further flurry of snow on the way home but the buses were back on track, so it was just the slippery pavements to navigate.  Makes note to buy more salt.

Neil braved the cold winds this afternoon to venture out to the very muddy reservoir for a walk. Water was very low despite the heavy rains in what has apparently been the wettest November on record. He was rewarded with literally hundeds of lapwings & golden plover.  They kept flying up and then coming back to land on the mud flats.

Lovely sunny Saturday morning so out and about to make the most of the weather.  Up to Dancers End for a circular walk.  Saw blackbird, robin, tits, chaffinch, redwing, red legged partridge, lots of pigeons & pheasants.  Saw a huge mushroom fairy ring up in the woods past Hang Hill.  On the way back the peace was shattered by lots of tweed clad men with shotguns potting said pheasants & pigeons.  The beaters were working their way through the patches of corn to scare out the birds, so we have at least now worked out the reason for these patches of corn around and about. Hardly sporting.

Set off for a walk from the National Trust car park under Steps Hill. Facing into a strong wind for the first leg, so we altered the route and headed off across fields.  Looked in vain for yellowhammer but got a chaffinch instead. Almost got run over by an Aston Martin in a narrow lane (what a way to go!) and wended our way up through the woods behind the Beacon.  A flock of long tailed tits skirted along the hedgerow next to us.  Tried to find the tree where the treecreepers nested but no luck. Sunny and surprisingly warm where sheltered from the wind.