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.
Category: Miscellany
Dancers End walk
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.
Steps Hill & environs
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.
Back at The Eels Foot
Back to an old favourite for the weekend, a trip to the Eels Foot in Suffolk to meet up with Helen & Nik. Met up first with Helen & Nick at Grimes Graves and the former employed some emotional blackmail to get the other Helen down a long, steep ladder into the bowels of a prehistoric flint mine. Then on to Eastbridge via Southwold. A good dinner, some beer and an early night in anticipation of our 9.30 am bird walk at Minsmere RSPB. The stars at the Eels Foot had once again stocked up on the vegetarian sausages for us, for a hearty pre walk breakfast. Then an excellent walk courtesy of our guide, Derek. He took us out to Island Mere hide where we saw marsh harriers, a Great White Egret and then…to the astonishment of Helen who had, due to their previous non-appearance, instisted that the bittern was a mythical creature, we saw in the space of five minutes, four appearances by bitterns. Three of these were flypasts, one right in front of the hide. Headed up to Dunwich heath afterwards and saw some deer. Walked back through the woods and saw lots of mushrooms, but not brave enough to harvest any. We had met a lady earlier though with a basket of huge ceps. Back to the Eels Foot for dinner and many jugs of Adnams. Another early night was required, then up to a greyer, blustery morning. Paid up (& once again we manage to exceed the food bill with the drinks bill!). Drove to Minsmere and braved a walk out to East Hide. En route, the prophesied strong winds and lashing rain arrived, and we were soaked when we reached the hide. However it did turn out to be nice weather for ducks and there were lots of teal and some snipe being very animated in the rain. Then its was a quick march back to the visitor centre for a change out of soaked trousers and a much needed hot chocolate.
FW: Why Dogs Don’t Like Halloween
Pub dog
We met this dog on our walk last week.
Beer with a view
Half way round a way in the Gower. The Britannia Inn.
Antique suitcase
My colleague Pete has been over working on a server transfer project. Not very interesting you say! However his suitcase is interesting. He bought it on ebay it is an antique suit case with straps and everything. It also has some old stickers from various hotels, resorts and airlines. See the picture.
Three year anniversary
Just noticed that my first blog entry was just over 3 years ago, so happy anniversary to my blog. If you click the links in the left hand column you will be able to read it.
Wentworth gardens
Day trip out with the northerners to Wentworth castle/gardens. Went to playground first for B&H and what a great playground it is. Castle, digger and aerial runway to mention a few. Then went off round the gardens on a fairy hunt with the chance of winning a bag of sweets. In the gardens there were some great plants, including some artichokes in bloom. There were reports of 3 spotted fly’s but we did not catch sight of them. We did however see a goldcrest which was unexpected. We returned to the playground for a final go on the swings, then it started raining and we went home.