tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70548855444285812772024-03-18T03:03:46.704+00:00Wanstead Birder......Latterly getting ripped off for absolutely everythingJonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.comBlogger2218125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-62952763138091927872024-03-17T08:02:00.001+00:002024-03-17T08:11:58.102+00:00Playing catch up<p><span style="font-family: arial;">For a variety of the usual reasons I'd not spent any time on the patch for the last few weeks. My mood was buoyed on Friday by my first <b>Chiffchaff </b>of the year as a I took a slightly different route to work, but I felt strongly that Saturday would be the day that I would properly catch up with all that I had been missing. So it proved.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I bounced out of bed at 6.05am, annoyed with myself for oversleeping a bit. My eBird list went live at 6.24am as I stepped out of the front door. Game on. I had a little chat with Eve on Centre Path whilst not seeing very much - still too early for many things, a small flock of lingering <b>Redwing</b>, some excited <b>Woodpeckers</b>. The temperature began to rise just after 7am when Tony found a <b>Yellowhammer </b>- a strange combination of a skulker that could simply vanish, but also a belting bright yellow male that even began to sing from bushes. It was my tenth <b>Yellowhammer </b>on the patch, so a rare bird here, and the timing was pretty spot on. Of those ten records, seven of them have been in March or April. An ice-cool Richard managed to get across in time to tick it, but unfortunately couldn't stick around for the celebratory breakfast.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course the real prize this morning was a certain <b>Chat</b>. We were at exactly the half-way point in the annual <b>Wheatear </b>Sweepstake, mid month a prime date, and for Tony whose day it was all to play for. As we contemplated breakfast an odd Duck flew over us towards Jubilee. In almost all cases a Duck across Wanstead Flats is a <b>Mallard</b>, but this was completely wrong. A very small head, and a diminutive bill, pale underneath - alarm bells started to ring. This was surely a female <b>Mandarin </b>wasn't it? We scooted across to Jub where it had appeared to land, discussing the various things we had seen, and concluded it could only have been this. <b>Wood Duck </b>anyone? Frustratingly there was no sign on Jubilee, but I'd searched for <b>Mandarin </b>on here before knowing full well it was there and come away empty handed, so either it only thought about landing and then carried on, or it simply melted into the thick vegetation on the islands.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Breakfast from Greggs was superb and we sent Richard the bill - these are basically the rules for full fat patch tickage. As we strolled back towards VizMig a large <b>Peregrine </b>circled the Skylark enclosure - now enclosed again, although more on that later. Another year tick! Then, just as I was finishing my coffee, a <b>Rook </b>flew over. Not as rare as <b>Yellowhammer</b>, my 20th sighting, but really quite tricky as they are almost always flyovers and who can be bothered to check out each and every <b>Crow </b>as it goes over? The timing is a little early, at least for my records, with 15 out of those 20 in April, but it's a good time for things moving around and indeed Wanstead was not the only London patch to record its first <b>Rook </b>of 2024 yesterday.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Leaning against the fence I picked up my first <b>Buzzard </b>of the year, one of ten that morning once the sun had come out. Perfect, the day was proceeding exactly as planned in many ways, but with some massively unexpected bonuses. Tony and I had joined Sgt. Bob (on patrol) to check out a pale <b>Stonechat</b> when the moment happened. <b>WHEATEAR</b>! A smart male on the fence right next to us! Tony called it first, Louis still forming the letter 'W' as Tony claimed the prize and both trophies, finder and date - a new member of the exclusive 'double' club. My sixth new bird for the year, what a morning this was turning out to be!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I wasn't over yet though. Thanks to a dog walker we were alerted to a <b>Little Owl </b>in Centre Copse, and as the day warmed up and the raptors began to soar I felt certain I'd manage to pick out a <b>Red Kite</b>. This took until about 11.15, some five hours after leaving my house, but a bird flew relatively low over VizMig as I continued my vigil. My laggard performance of 74 on Friday had become 82. I basically skipped home.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhciLRIB1A8d91G9Jnjd3eDVEJ61RrBxTu66REuElvkik2v_3EzAEZyBe6yMY25B7wJNzVw_dzXZPlxoHb7yR_1EvSDnO6_XdK2phSHz9koKpEfkzerlQh52DweyfEOZ3kOFV2H92KdEaRB4BfpuOsHXP97H0tAqSlGtYb56JuwLRKx1ZE5oQzjbCfSP1M/s850/fence%203.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhciLRIB1A8d91G9Jnjd3eDVEJ61RrBxTu66REuElvkik2v_3EzAEZyBe6yMY25B7wJNzVw_dzXZPlxoHb7yR_1EvSDnO6_XdK2phSHz9koKpEfkzerlQh52DweyfEOZ3kOFV2H92KdEaRB4BfpuOsHXP97H0tAqSlGtYb56JuwLRKx1ZE5oQzjbCfSP1M/s16000/fence%203.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The presence of a entirely reasonable sign is just so utterly offensive that it simply has to be kicked down and snapped in half.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So what about that <b>Skylark </b>fence? Well in 2024 it has been decided that whilst there will be a fence again it won't be as intrusive as last year, so rather than the full plastic barrier we just have the rope. It looks a lot better of course, and is far more sustainable, but also far less effective as dogs can just run straight under it. I suppose that the mere presence of a barrier of any kind will stop the majority of people, dog owners or otherwise, from crossing the area, but it feels rather weak.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course for some people, or perhaps just one person, even a thin blue rope is an outrage. The culture war is in full swing, and the fence that has now been up for a little over two weeks has been repeatedly vandalised. And I mean repeatedly. Day after day someone has methodically worked their way along whole sections of it cutting it between each post. It is maddening that someone can be so incensed by the thought that wildlife might be more important than they are, but this is where we are in 2024. Bob, Tim and the Corporation have just as methodically repaired each and every section, but it keeps happening and unless we can catch the perpertrator in the act I don't see that this will stop. Lines have been drawn.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6qZMBnVW_NDviA9ih5s4hOOmuYJZBEKvf139ml9h6_Nnx0eTOAV6zXJGewHQ9OvosoujDcyxuMNNv4Bymqp_wmXnAQ3MY7Y5knrYmFuhKrzssFPfR0V5O9M5rAbsw5k0ixlzs_7ujxHpI_VMtm_mJ1Pqinv_5PZ0h1HQpEwdSwTVD-7DQE4CcDd1Kc8/s850/fence%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="585" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6qZMBnVW_NDviA9ih5s4hOOmuYJZBEKvf139ml9h6_Nnx0eTOAV6zXJGewHQ9OvosoujDcyxuMNNv4Bymqp_wmXnAQ3MY7Y5knrYmFuhKrzssFPfR0V5O9M5rAbsw5k0ixlzs_7ujxHpI_VMtm_mJ1Pqinv_5PZ0h1HQpEwdSwTVD-7DQE4CcDd1Kc8/s16000/fence%202.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">You just wonder how petty, small-minded and pathetic someone has to be to come out day after day and defiantly engage in this absurd vandalism, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">sabotaging a well meaning-effort to safeguard what is now a mere handful of ground-nesting birds. It is just shameful, but as</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> I said, it's a culture war. We know there are a few dog walkers who vehemently disagree with our efforts to protect the <b>Skylarks</b>. It is their right to walk wherever they want to, it's public land, blah blah blah. There is no educating these people because this is not about birds, or Wanstead, or even their dog. That is all a pretext. It's about their diminishing influence in the world and I see it as identical to the themes that handed us Brexit. Poisoned by the media, a certain segment of the population has come to hate liberalism, and ironically also authority. <i>They </i>can't tell me what to do, who do they think <i>they </i>are? This is <i>my </i>country, I can do what I want here, your woke rules don't apply. <i>Great</i> Britain. The fence is just a symbol, one of many things that provokes irrational rage in a particular type of person. Unisex toilets and pronouns, asylum seekers, women in power, pride flags, the mere concept of wellness, our blue fence is just another thing in a long list of things that are wrong with this country. Our scissor-wielding friend is fully on board with hating all of this, and chopping our fence is the one small act of defiance that he, for it almost certainly a he, can carry out. It probably gives him a daily sense of satisfaction that he is fighting back against the system that in his head has marginalised him. That's what this is about, a feeling of declining power and a deep concern that the era when he and people like him ruled the roost is over. Well I have news for this guy. It <i>is</i> over and cutting our fence every day isn't magically going to bring back the 1950s. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">All that's going to happen is that we're going to repair it, and the cruel system that is responsible for so many imagined woes and slights is going to move forward unabated because the world moves on whether you like it or not. Get with the program. And hope that we don't catch you.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnymVI_TKDyulHUXhiY2VtrMyUAmaF_DKowckI414QAGGaRnpBjupkaBAVoeOTu9uMLF44Q_66vmORV-zmCy-YxzjlbhOLwIB07_K51HNHXHKJJ_HXSz_CHyMZVQ4uSD1tUlfosdadXmwxTy3FF77EMaU5886zCY07Xmkw7qxHSe5bYa6z_5_CJaBo38o/s1000/fenceww%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnymVI_TKDyulHUXhiY2VtrMyUAmaF_DKowckI414QAGGaRnpBjupkaBAVoeOTu9uMLF44Q_66vmORV-zmCy-YxzjlbhOLwIB07_K51HNHXHKJJ_HXSz_CHyMZVQ4uSD1tUlfosdadXmwxTy3FF77EMaU5886zCY07Xmkw7qxHSe5bYa6z_5_CJaBo38o/s16000/fenceww%204.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-28358049721628347342024-03-12T18:30:00.004+00:002024-03-15T17:18:53.355+00:00Madrid<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I had a problem. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68563068">UK Air traffic control was having a melt-down</a>, and it was not certain if my flight home to London would run. Fine fine, spend another night in France or Switzerland, no? Well yes, that's what a normal person would do but my travel plans are generally more complicated than they need to be. In this case I was due to fly to Bogota from Madrid the following evening, a trip to visit a Colombian friend who was spending some time back home after a long period in London. So I might have been able to get back to Heathrow, but would that have allowed me to catch my afternoon flight to Madrid to connect with the long haul flight? With flights being cancelled in their hundreds and no end to the chaos, would that flight even leave London? I couldn't risk it, I had to be in Madrid, and this was all on separate tickets which meant that if I missed it I was on my own and wouldn't just be put on the next one. Plus I had a day of birding planned as soon as I arrived which I did not want to miss. So in the taxi on the way to Geneva I cancelled the following day's London to Madrid flight and replaced it with one from Geneva to Madrid that was leaving imminently! This was free as it happened, the magic of airmiles and BA and Iberia being in the same alliance - the only bit of marginally good news that evening. Indeed my friends were still in Geneva airport in the small hours long after I'd arrived in Spain.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The big issue of course was that my bag for Colombia was waiting for me in London. In it were were packed lots of clean clothes for the tropics, but also more critically my birding camera and lens. Bugger. Then again I had my binoculars and my passport, all a travelling birder really needs, and I could buy some clothes in Madrid now that I had a full day there rather than a matter of hours. Not ideal, but not a complete show-stopper by any means, and I was glad I had made a snap decision and could now get on with things - it is the uncertainty that drives you mad in these situations. Of course had I planned it better I would have gone direct from Geneva to Madrid in the first place and taken everything I needed with me, but the trips were not planned in this order - Colombia was (by my standards) quite a last minute thing, squeezed between Chamonix on one end and a visit to see my Aunt in America on the other. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9qdRBieAy9ropqArWL57eIsTEvrsPjG6pK1cqytDKUEvfxw5SssCu9NQglPNRWGf_pv20LXEtF6nq3CgiA8XgfUTq-BwZYGM0CfKHGo0C-WnWEslR8zWfnnzHS2rbgZPHrhbFnkis5RkxOOscVaI9OCGpioOH3-4W0oTXvF13kWAFelJSD340-JGeNA/s1001/Madrid%202023%204.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9qdRBieAy9ropqArWL57eIsTEvrsPjG6pK1cqytDKUEvfxw5SssCu9NQglPNRWGf_pv20LXEtF6nq3CgiA8XgfUTq-BwZYGM0CfKHGo0C-WnWEslR8zWfnnzHS2rbgZPHrhbFnkis5RkxOOscVaI9OCGpioOH3-4W0oTXvF13kWAFelJSD340-JGeNA/s16000/Madrid%202023%204.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I like Madrid, I come here quite a lot and know my way around quite well now. After dumping my bag at a cheap hotel that was coincidentally close to Colombia Metro I went out for the evening to a tapas place I know and had a fun time watching the city go by. Even on a Monday evening Madrid is buzzing, especially so in August. Whilst eating prawns and having a glass of wine I constructed myself a little itinerary for the following morning to take in some birding, some clothes shopping, and finally getting some US Dollars, which had also been in my bag in London ready to go and which I had forgotten about up until this point. With this plan formed I returned to Colombia and went to bed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The next morning I was up early(ish) and had a happy three hours walking around Parque Enrique Tierno Galvan in the south of the city, chosen because there were a number of Spanish ticks available. Yes <a href="https://ebird.org/checklist/S148361308">eBird</a> does govern my every waking move, why do you ask? This was really very pleasant, it was a warm morning and whilst I only recorded 30 species five of them were new including <b>Garden Warbler</b>, <b>Western Bonelli's Warbler</b>, and <b>Pied Flycatcher</b>. These latter were everywhere, and I counted at least 28 as I walked a circular route around the Park, quite exceptional numbers. Some were incredibly showy as they fed up, where was my camera? Excellent, missing it already. I hoped this wouldn't also be the case in Colombia, but at least I would get there and that was the most important thing.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj697dhLM-1exePlMkzm7DIdmyWi1TjXqM2ayTYHDj5Ydbr7klBtOz0EJedQtQHKdvV7t5ZhSjpaNPShLfcPtENRJQvIvJ-Ipg5sUyWXBTiX1DoaFfAB1Z9FjA0Usj40JBdiVBmZyeHkcFEgVjJK6XwYywf5Qsj69k7afRmEwgG0f16kDm-LvsO1zRwyeY/s850/Madrid%202023%2010.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj697dhLM-1exePlMkzm7DIdmyWi1TjXqM2ayTYHDj5Ydbr7klBtOz0EJedQtQHKdvV7t5ZhSjpaNPShLfcPtENRJQvIvJ-Ipg5sUyWXBTiX1DoaFfAB1Z9FjA0Usj40JBdiVBmZyeHkcFEgVjJK6XwYywf5Qsj69k7afRmEwgG0f16kDm-LvsO1zRwyeY/s16000/Madrid%202023%2010.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrP0sfuv1OosIhZlSi6iUTtBYllPJcbT87ZJzk_SASOMYNrgTyGb2oy4wphzOLyz3O6bgwUoRDUjoptPyMJptKlixow-0sZuylrvKfwyVeoAql71HL9v4iDdMp9y2vYho4Qp6aWd1tePgq-HIeJIaFGpcxJMfJ7qr69e-z4BuJHEQcvxRIuTYccOnrq6I/s1001/Madrid%202023%209.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrP0sfuv1OosIhZlSi6iUTtBYllPJcbT87ZJzk_SASOMYNrgTyGb2oy4wphzOLyz3O6bgwUoRDUjoptPyMJptKlixow-0sZuylrvKfwyVeoAql71HL9v4iDdMp9y2vYho4Qp6aWd1tePgq-HIeJIaFGpcxJMfJ7qr69e-z4BuJHEQcvxRIuTYccOnrq6I/s16000/Madrid%202023%209.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgngzfs_gSnLDX9ztYiYA-0ovacxiYp-mrhg6Hundi911TiWb7X2GwGG58vrApDvR50zpj2413jD1UmQaSRBkoa_3N5n_zkZJfM6FDJ0XF17quFiQ-yX-4Qs7s2iDl-rnY38YAHGl9AGqYNzAGxnkx7IG5HFr7fG3-lSnAXvwmLnDPBFJp-nw2l5CY7s/s1001/Madrid%202023%208.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgngzfs_gSnLDX9ztYiYA-0ovacxiYp-mrhg6Hundi911TiWb7X2GwGG58vrApDvR50zpj2413jD1UmQaSRBkoa_3N5n_zkZJfM6FDJ0XF17quFiQ-yX-4Qs7s2iDl-rnY38YAHGl9AGqYNzAGxnkx7IG5HFr7fG3-lSnAXvwmLnDPBFJp-nw2l5CY7s/s16000/Madrid%202023%208.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir00n41rOi9oMMDI-LtQFAMzty4g4O8vzRml0_XIFCPI_NiXSium7X_BIAXPms5wFTKWcDqY8eNbjemulf3xAW3OZVFOWBezK7hQZIvzzdGDc7ID4Mye-KQTH0HkDQ7o5arTxsb5mcGaz8i7XVee9A2pMOULRQE3X5nJsW8olh6q-5Y0pNYI3BebBLSZ8/s1001/Madrid%202023%205.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir00n41rOi9oMMDI-LtQFAMzty4g4O8vzRml0_XIFCPI_NiXSium7X_BIAXPms5wFTKWcDqY8eNbjemulf3xAW3OZVFOWBezK7hQZIvzzdGDc7ID4Mye-KQTH0HkDQ7o5arTxsb5mcGaz8i7XVee9A2pMOULRQE3X5nJsW8olh6q-5Y0pNYI3BebBLSZ8/s16000/Madrid%202023%205.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUbbS_0fv06TVUaWx5Jl3YbGuI7XmrNT_dB4MAjdV2nnSHwAOSimN-YPTWxxqhhFAOlTO7j-B3lkm256_2Et4kIkOB1cx1lQ2rLpOhbx-lB2_DxngQRVkKC6LQ4F-BCQSQlCkqXIGBHhH3cdKXcCT-q38bJthR1_jGmm-K1Xk-dy5B7SvCtansuIXsEU/s850/Madrid%202023%2011.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUbbS_0fv06TVUaWx5Jl3YbGuI7XmrNT_dB4MAjdV2nnSHwAOSimN-YPTWxxqhhFAOlTO7j-B3lkm256_2Et4kIkOB1cx1lQ2rLpOhbx-lB2_DxngQRVkKC6LQ4F-BCQSQlCkqXIGBHhH3cdKXcCT-q38bJthR1_jGmm-K1Xk-dy5B7SvCtansuIXsEU/s16000/Madrid%202023%2011.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAl-a1KpmY9zUuoMHThyphenhyphenBMO50bPSq4Vfpp0xL948u1y9dphHhdtU5GPiyPypdf7AtdoIX1v_ouMMYFvm485mtrmdB8sLpOYpaCi-lByLp-iaI9ou919ztGWapviE5c5GCOGY516Ete5DPu1QSC6FwhG6uX_DHSbmUyAhNhAPsAq1NFID_4aPB-iFjEyJk/s850/Madrid%202023%207.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAl-a1KpmY9zUuoMHThyphenhyphenBMO50bPSq4Vfpp0xL948u1y9dphHhdtU5GPiyPypdf7AtdoIX1v_ouMMYFvm485mtrmdB8sLpOYpaCi-lByLp-iaI9ou919ztGWapviE5c5GCOGY516Ete5DPu1QSC6FwhG6uX_DHSbmUyAhNhAPsAq1NFID_4aPB-iFjEyJk/s16000/Madrid%202023%207.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uVMvsZ5i_1u4By3ZMQwT-0X2qk2abAD3TKdEAmpwXxRIgqkv78wNSg__kfYycFkEY3Q3-JppWRxJ9qZLL0lFsmErlmonJVvPtDnzsQ0_lEss37WGT9i5Ry38w3GmI7j2eWgtZwuxF6PHU3Nfi452yqTTQ5EocqW4JZU5dOgik6vmnJZ3Fxlqcr0lUzg/s850/Madrid%202023%206.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uVMvsZ5i_1u4By3ZMQwT-0X2qk2abAD3TKdEAmpwXxRIgqkv78wNSg__kfYycFkEY3Q3-JppWRxJ9qZLL0lFsmErlmonJVvPtDnzsQ0_lEss37WGT9i5Ry38w3GmI7j2eWgtZwuxF6PHU3Nfi452yqTTQ5EocqW4JZU5dOgik6vmnJZ3Fxlqcr0lUzg/s16000/Madrid%202023%206.JPG" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>I had a relaxed open air lunch at a place near the park popular with office workers. This is one of the reasons (there are many more) why Europe is so much better than the UK. People take lunch seriously. At Canary Wharf it is exceptionally rare that I don't eat my lunch at my desk. In Spain I would leave my desk, roll up my sleeves and put on my hat, and go to a local restaurant for an hour and a half whilst soaking up some sunshine. Which of the two scenarios is better for the soul? Anyway, very pleasant indeed, the Europeans have it all worked out and we could learn a thing or two. After lunch, which included a nice cold beer, I went shopping at Uniqlo which is a cheap source of OK-ish light-weight clothing in my experience. Pants and socks formed the bulk of my purchases but I also picked up a couple of shirts that I could wear until I could do some washing in Bogota. I think I may have changed into one straight away. I replaced my dollars close by and then spent the rest of the afternoon being a tourist and doing things like having an icecream, some more early evening tapas, and another beer. I returned to the hotel quickly to pick up my case and repack, and then went to Barajas where I was able to have a shower and repack yet again. The flight left on time just after midnight and as I settled down in my seat a sense of complete calm and satisfaction came over me. When travelling lots of things inevitably go wrong but they are quite often surmountable with a bit of tweaking provided you don't hang around. In the event I worked out that I would have been able to manage the turnaround in London although it would have been a matter of hours at home rather than a full day, and the flight to Madrid by some miracle did in fact leave as scheduled despite the chaos. It even arrived early! Such is life I suppose, but I have no doubt that my decision was the correct one. In a few hours I would be birding the western slope of the Cordillera oriental in Cundinamarca, that was all that mattered at this juncture.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLPjONvXBLFgFlCI8lEtgpkaxd6-LKyhvPRTdT-ETteDE3EhKl-WvuZIRkslBXk2Mh5DGry57CJ565FgY2MzY0LOT46D7Bw3mj7nezJmAO-wYlyoa93yh6M0xp-fP5798ps3_14NZ6nPymzfduKz_I9pfDKE7V2rnJFB_jsYood7-Ne-XCo4ngnpGgBI/s1000/Madrid%202023%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLPjONvXBLFgFlCI8lEtgpkaxd6-LKyhvPRTdT-ETteDE3EhKl-WvuZIRkslBXk2Mh5DGry57CJ565FgY2MzY0LOT46D7Bw3mj7nezJmAO-wYlyoa93yh6M0xp-fP5798ps3_14NZ6nPymzfduKz_I9pfDKE7V2rnJFB_jsYood7-Ne-XCo4ngnpGgBI/s16000/Madrid%202023%203.jpg" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdzDf7ovb2vlgc9_Y1-Iri9UEuwWh8pBzrAif6OGnVllTMqWdCg8C-iNigpFQy1dF8Ypqpw6T5xwUfVXjmAmv9vf1LWSnkLie32_Crrsjlr7s3x_sqPhtr9mFssUM13fPy4VMmNeMvl1s5cDKxXcXR_H77VR1HB0Zvz-CgeMt797VPZs3vgz6-t25a1o/s1000/Madrid%202023%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdzDf7ovb2vlgc9_Y1-Iri9UEuwWh8pBzrAif6OGnVllTMqWdCg8C-iNigpFQy1dF8Ypqpw6T5xwUfVXjmAmv9vf1LWSnkLie32_Crrsjlr7s3x_sqPhtr9mFssUM13fPy4VMmNeMvl1s5cDKxXcXR_H77VR1HB0Zvz-CgeMt797VPZs3vgz6-t25a1o/s16000/Madrid%202023%201.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the murals at the Colombia Metro. Very apt indeed.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-3780725462573071812024-03-07T18:01:00.000+00:002024-03-07T18:01:01.578+00:00Montagnes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEfWvGvEzVPoPORtrIKyuQAF4wbkdGz2-FlCaMUsdZkGrI5ZEFTf42LOpXVCsLkjgG8fmZmHIy54h7m7ThXcF5YTY_62XShS3Qegy23tOfApqF7eLgE-LxaGDNS64ETFOOzyDQcuxRPXECUGxwLlaA0SBPfzb8ZUNMTbTQf98zyRaaQv5A0Za6s7ss0tU/s1001/Chamonix%2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="1001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEfWvGvEzVPoPORtrIKyuQAF4wbkdGz2-FlCaMUsdZkGrI5ZEFTf42LOpXVCsLkjgG8fmZmHIy54h7m7ThXcF5YTY_62XShS3Qegy23tOfApqF7eLgE-LxaGDNS64ETFOOzyDQcuxRPXECUGxwLlaA0SBPfzb8ZUNMTbTQf98zyRaaQv5A0Za6s7ss0tU/s16000/Chamonix%2011.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Back in August of last year I went to Chamonix with some good friends - Charlie, Ben and JT. Andy, the fifth member of the gang wasn't able to make it. We've known each for about a million years, or it seems that way. Since the start of University more or less, which is coming up to a horrendous 30 years ago. Half a lifetime, although I think the actual milestone being celebrated was 25 years since we all graduated. We met up for similar reasons in Zermatt in 2018, I'm not sure why mountains are involved. I think Charlie just likes them! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We're all arts graduates, none of your STEM nonsense here. All four of us studied French in some way, combining it with other things. For Charlie and I that was Management Studies, and ensured a year away at a French Business School. We chose the South of France, lived together, and had a thoroughly marvellous if rather un-academic year. Ben added classics, and taught in a school in the sud-ouest during the same year, and in fact we met up a few times as Montpellier and Dax are not hugely distant in the grand scheme of things. JT went to Canada I think, he was always ambitious like that. So nearly three decades have passed and we are all still alive and broadly doing OK, let's meet up somewhere and some fun. Mountains anyone? Yes, mountains will do. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ben and I arrived first even though we were supposed to arrive last. JT and Charlie's earlier flight was cancelled, whereas our later flight was not. In the ensuing chaos Charlie ended up on the next flight out the following morning, but somehow JT missed that boat (well, plane) and didn't travel until the following day by which point we were probably over the half-way point! Transport woes did not end there but I can save that for later. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ben and I had a riotous journey. Even though we managed to get there on the correct day our flight was really quite delayed which meant we were able to spend a lot more time in the airport lounge than originally planned. Seeing as we had the time we started with a few drinks. After working up an appetite at the bar we then had a very leisurely multi-course dinner and then moved on to after dinner drinks. <i>Lots</i> of after dinner drinks. We continued the after dinner drinks on the plane too and were pretty well oiled by the time we arrived in Geneva where our transfer was waiting. This is a rare event in my life, and pretty rare in Ben's too - we are normally serious people who are not stupid. On this occasion however..... I make make no apologies, we had not seen each other for a long time and despite the sad news that our travelling companions were not with us </span><span style="font-family: arial;">we had a lot of fun.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhQ1X2zPrRMcVjiSq80rfNQR4zkPQuEpcUFDUVD7hZ0sfcxRMrDg-9IzGaxBDoyPYQ4uttQIp7IQjcqjXQrlicgRcZG5LBJUNtCy9LM6UHEd-ewBsnkIgA2p9NtPxr1sn7iFIGVg1tvzk81ZdcU0vuNmJ7eUgtXYAn4y3U6ctbWfdawDKbGCII9_ICUQ/s850/Chamonix%2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="557" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhQ1X2zPrRMcVjiSq80rfNQR4zkPQuEpcUFDUVD7hZ0sfcxRMrDg-9IzGaxBDoyPYQ4uttQIp7IQjcqjXQrlicgRcZG5LBJUNtCy9LM6UHEd-ewBsnkIgA2p9NtPxr1sn7iFIGVg1tvzk81ZdcU0vuNmJ7eUgtXYAn4y3U6ctbWfdawDKbGCII9_ICUQ/s16000/Chamonix%2015.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxlxlsGs0-iJMN0HhhjLthYeUhSKkUDO4Xh3OOWUgEwIr50Y0d3DoAAQz3-dmvB5yL7zN29jReAszyY271oAvRFUE2-fueuvnV3IzQ-pekGBnVZctF1CE9NPEgJhxSYhjTB8dEQ_oLDktXVlCNvutQIm7Vr-EHrXssiBwfwXObb98RVqulp9eow2riems/s850/Chamonix%2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="613" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxlxlsGs0-iJMN0HhhjLthYeUhSKkUDO4Xh3OOWUgEwIr50Y0d3DoAAQz3-dmvB5yL7zN29jReAszyY271oAvRFUE2-fueuvnV3IzQ-pekGBnVZctF1CE9NPEgJhxSYhjTB8dEQ_oLDktXVlCNvutQIm7Vr-EHrXssiBwfwXObb98RVqulp9eow2riems/s16000/Chamonix%2018.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5eYvNpc8hmfFBxJOq8lAUmrZFh0i47umBmRFjrsolAWDEZCQrvc_YQCy2wNgh4JZSCcHADUit_eB6ZZ5L9fP2iNWQ9Bg2FXkFySLFb3aEr7Wf_tfhu5k34Lahe3WmyTZfC9f96sTmaQIamn_MAbNLlHhCOjzSay9JXHTsegm5qTI8ZFzHE275QjShqXk/s850/Chamonix%2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="555" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5eYvNpc8hmfFBxJOq8lAUmrZFh0i47umBmRFjrsolAWDEZCQrvc_YQCy2wNgh4JZSCcHADUit_eB6ZZ5L9fP2iNWQ9Bg2FXkFySLFb3aEr7Wf_tfhu5k34Lahe3WmyTZfC9f96sTmaQIamn_MAbNLlHhCOjzSay9JXHTsegm5qTI8ZFzHE275QjShqXk/s16000/Chamonix%2014.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sPNg7IT68kbTqGHsMLsBQby4y6uv5LA271rfZCQVKJMjhDmCOaw18nvDWpn9WW3y4LWvthw_jva4PdQFYdgpB5iu661IPHsVzBANCgGZAVsXGOK1nxtBqcJwoU9nkMjQU_3XNcxfpg6bXff0fbhCxf7I7N596yUon5o29MphvYfhMMynWE7Vv8Emea4/s1000/Chamonix%2021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sPNg7IT68kbTqGHsMLsBQby4y6uv5LA271rfZCQVKJMjhDmCOaw18nvDWpn9WW3y4LWvthw_jva4PdQFYdgpB5iu661IPHsVzBANCgGZAVsXGOK1nxtBqcJwoU9nkMjQU_3XNcxfpg6bXff0fbhCxf7I7N596yUon5o29MphvYfhMMynWE7Vv8Emea4/s16000/Chamonix%2021.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLhQ1r20y0-yJA4Hk3E_RnCtWKHm1RjPlPsuKcLGCW0Hz7Kd8G42lqmATXkQG9XdGkcXsCGUGLtOrPpXlCggkyWf0lkmnTvv6n-MQh13T-XAP9IKmaucN54GJamINVjUvm9qnj0TKyxjVYPVUL_pcB6Zdv_s3mSKCk4q9GQcKD7C9rFUDRcf2ZAa0SkVU/s1000/Chamonix%2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLhQ1r20y0-yJA4Hk3E_RnCtWKHm1RjPlPsuKcLGCW0Hz7Kd8G42lqmATXkQG9XdGkcXsCGUGLtOrPpXlCggkyWf0lkmnTvv6n-MQh13T-XAP9IKmaucN54GJamINVjUvm9qnj0TKyxjVYPVUL_pcB6Zdv_s3mSKCk4q9GQcKD7C9rFUDRcf2ZAa0SkVU/s16000/Chamonix%2020.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The next morning we were quite in need of some cool mountain air for some reason..... Up the cable car to Brévent it is then! What a view! What. A. View. I now remember why we come to the mountains. I am not a skier by the way, I tried it a couple of times in my youth and never really enjoyed it, I just found it boring and painful. Walking in the mountains in the summer however, well that's just an excellent use of time, despite my near certain tendency to be crushed by patellar tendonitis at the drop of a hat. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7kVh4UhCzZjctC6iEkcRi0FxNMN3uQANzwyA02KrdQ_PJ6LPcG1ObFNQ8DdlnF4Jt7L22KDW448XnQPwVknsRd3riDq9oRLvuyWB2BIr9Gv6-BvS5b9xpJ4zjSg0TgeRY-F-dGL22X3lWSwJzA9MFvwVgBiGIFAPOk2F9aHkfyewT6zVFz3XTUF7Xqg/s1000/Chamonix%2022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7kVh4UhCzZjctC6iEkcRi0FxNMN3uQANzwyA02KrdQ_PJ6LPcG1ObFNQ8DdlnF4Jt7L22KDW448XnQPwVknsRd3riDq9oRLvuyWB2BIr9Gv6-BvS5b9xpJ4zjSg0TgeRY-F-dGL22X3lWSwJzA9MFvwVgBiGIFAPOk2F9aHkfyewT6zVFz3XTUF7Xqg/s1000/Chamonix%2022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirIU1naiMQgWxrxW7xul8-Aav9iGMNhdUJxjne9OYOdjcRJHXlnMC0HUORhDlIY0KxGR4cGgMSR1cbbmWg4arHGbpbUze_eH-2_0PI3PT5VdNu2wmAVN4dCt7gwZjyA77ig6sByO8q4g8Zi2RZzIw9R_doOSzjzCYpkwlPa7Usnu4iiUmm4avqsAnQr9Y/s1001/Chamonix%203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirIU1naiMQgWxrxW7xul8-Aav9iGMNhdUJxjne9OYOdjcRJHXlnMC0HUORhDlIY0KxGR4cGgMSR1cbbmWg4arHGbpbUze_eH-2_0PI3PT5VdNu2wmAVN4dCt7gwZjyA77ig6sByO8q4g8Zi2RZzIw9R_doOSzjzCYpkwlPa7Usnu4iiUmm4avqsAnQr9Y/s16000/Chamonix%203.JPG" /></a></div></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7kVh4UhCzZjctC6iEkcRi0FxNMN3uQANzwyA02KrdQ_PJ6LPcG1ObFNQ8DdlnF4Jt7L22KDW448XnQPwVknsRd3riDq9oRLvuyWB2BIr9Gv6-BvS5b9xpJ4zjSg0TgeRY-F-dGL22X3lWSwJzA9MFvwVgBiGIFAPOk2F9aHkfyewT6zVFz3XTUF7Xqg/s16000/Chamonix%2022.jpg" style="text-align: left;" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Charlie met us halfway up the mountain at some point in the late morning. The band is getting back together. We went on a short walk during which my legs behaved perfectly, or did they crap out? I can't remember. Actually maybe they did let me down? Anyway, we were together again and it was all very pleasant. This is the type of friendship where even if you don't see each other for months or years it is as if time has stood still when you do get back together. I am sure you know what I am talking about. In short it's great. That evening we consumed a hundred-weight of cheese and then attempted to replicate the previous evening's antics in various bars in Chamonix, pretty successfully I might add.</div></span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0jZw5LR0OHa-PGt5eaaFGtOfBUIdPXutB7UANQwcjLPZ-3Q-UjAWT88LAsPUN9PyrDy396Pdr1Az3o8tI-lrJt2GVVVR_-6cFnsPT5DZNejhmyfPzV8zxGkJdSYGQbORQhS7AEq6mMTzDJuLgvV_TfAoCJjcYqpJfRjOkbJCDyjz0X0hPCqKJYaNezg/s1000/Chamonix%2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0jZw5LR0OHa-PGt5eaaFGtOfBUIdPXutB7UANQwcjLPZ-3Q-UjAWT88LAsPUN9PyrDy396Pdr1Az3o8tI-lrJt2GVVVR_-6cFnsPT5DZNejhmyfPzV8zxGkJdSYGQbORQhS7AEq6mMTzDJuLgvV_TfAoCJjcYqpJfRjOkbJCDyjz0X0hPCqKJYaNezg/s16000/Chamonix%2019.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The next day JT arrived reasonably early and we went up the other side of the valley to the Mer de Glace. The others are in much better shape - less Burgundy I expect - and marched up there. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I could barely walk so was forced to take the red train a little later after having a nice walk birding around the town on the flat. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Chamonix was gearing up for an ultra-marathon, a gruelling course where you run around the Alps day and night. For seriously fit people only, I was content just to watch these perfect humans wander round the town as they got ready.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsUr9k9GFvqvTjth02dDATHgpNwCQhXUnwLF1hHaoYNnO57pWySUUzoa8qUSH3H6QjPfaPCVDCpBYNk171H-ESj2qHIvRKQJImTGopKa2kYtqNX9XMBwTOW-rtneQMCyt4BthDR8nC4JTnJbziteDjry1IaJFLZG7pcEyZBp2NbLJZk9oYm2oYSZs4Qw4/s850/Chamonix%2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsUr9k9GFvqvTjth02dDATHgpNwCQhXUnwLF1hHaoYNnO57pWySUUzoa8qUSH3H6QjPfaPCVDCpBYNk171H-ESj2qHIvRKQJImTGopKa2kYtqNX9XMBwTOW-rtneQMCyt4BthDR8nC4JTnJbziteDjry1IaJFLZG7pcEyZBp2NbLJZk9oYm2oYSZs4Qw4/s16000/Chamonix%2013.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ni7LN6el-n_bT4GmNLEIQC7H4NH9bi3knJZciL4SjW2VXDrEf_6q2jeSSlbilDc4YCccCzyYuFEoWS6iqNivO3B1jK6c92ry4T39eAowSVSKYiqJqaMq2GI_VMZorTn_meByjm1iidpuqdqbVCK4IXnEnaA0Z4Gga-GeeJ4aojGJgQDTbdLDJTjQHBw/s850/Chamonix%2010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="595" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ni7LN6el-n_bT4GmNLEIQC7H4NH9bi3knJZciL4SjW2VXDrEf_6q2jeSSlbilDc4YCccCzyYuFEoWS6iqNivO3B1jK6c92ry4T39eAowSVSKYiqJqaMq2GI_VMZorTn_meByjm1iidpuqdqbVCK4IXnEnaA0Z4Gga-GeeJ4aojGJgQDTbdLDJTjQHBw/s16000/Chamonix%2010.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCufdXd3uaMNklK0yiZl6DaqUT2NNqrZuLKd0q6xY3HemjgBNiLL_jXltjuudpIpAmcLTzgy2W1LTuzzOd1wa-ur3n7iw7Wqsgn6Ik8yxhavCaVK0nnuMaqT5Np2nqv0lLwR4twD5S6APT1HLvSf2lUnsenUzHw1oHk-cWdALEUQtz7roQGEy7DlJ1c3M/s850/Chamonix%2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCufdXd3uaMNklK0yiZl6DaqUT2NNqrZuLKd0q6xY3HemjgBNiLL_jXltjuudpIpAmcLTzgy2W1LTuzzOd1wa-ur3n7iw7Wqsgn6Ik8yxhavCaVK0nnuMaqT5Np2nqv0lLwR4twD5S6APT1HLvSf2lUnsenUzHw1oHk-cWdALEUQtz7roQGEy7DlJ1c3M/s16000/Chamonix%2017.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>In common with many other glaciers the Mer de Glace has retreated so far in the face of climate change that it is now a Mer de Pebble where Glace once was, but in any event the weather was pretty filthy, with cloud obscuring most of the view. We all took the train down, and back in the town the weather was nice enough to sit and have lunch outside. With<b> Sparrows</b>. We went for another walk along the river, the boys being kind to my legs. Very bizarre whatever this tendon is, I can walk perfectly happily either uphill or on the flat, but a single step downhill is agony once it has gone. We then repaired to the roof-top hot tub of our hotel and consumed a series of colourful drinks. This is what old guys do apparently, sit around and get pinker and more wrinkly. In the evening we sought out yet more cheese (although I passed and had something else) and then spent the rest of the evening in a very loud bar pretending we were a lot younger than we were. We fooled no-one.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2RroL0Po3r4XIh-v0D5HDeonJYcu8ELo_VQDYBG5VMfTT8SGXj6ALvFdu4mJ5VcylLmUhAcGO4NXjXtrTQR5WY7ppY_NDcB0_MPo_2bHYwSHJ0gU0IETM7ZXY6GznpOkMTdjby31eJXnQpnGslvv2_i7PiWBljx6Az0-f4NiavP0EVklDRwpj-2zV6Q/s1001/Chamonix%2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2RroL0Po3r4XIh-v0D5HDeonJYcu8ELo_VQDYBG5VMfTT8SGXj6ALvFdu4mJ5VcylLmUhAcGO4NXjXtrTQR5WY7ppY_NDcB0_MPo_2bHYwSHJ0gU0IETM7ZXY6GznpOkMTdjby31eJXnQpnGslvv2_i7PiWBljx6Az0-f4NiavP0EVklDRwpj-2zV6Q/s16000/Chamonix%2012.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuC7DMcnIUJSYZ4ySM3IsVfVAcMHnGN6MWrqXJn5sBQFOTPqUxvjzbE2Us-Zndb_o3GfF1bGehx-MJ8nHd3JWjbym_Y-7FCXTa6ABgdHfzijbqEdAX622V2PJWkoHUid-K7nplpZ-8huF5yXDZEloIaHHAltQzcUpJXgKutDx6NRbxOwoi23C9_YJHuU/s1001/Chamonix%207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuC7DMcnIUJSYZ4ySM3IsVfVAcMHnGN6MWrqXJn5sBQFOTPqUxvjzbE2Us-Zndb_o3GfF1bGehx-MJ8nHd3JWjbym_Y-7FCXTa6ABgdHfzijbqEdAX622V2PJWkoHUid-K7nplpZ-8huF5yXDZEloIaHHAltQzcUpJXgKutDx6NRbxOwoi23C9_YJHuU/s16000/Chamonix%207.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfbBVF4-Dsm0-ZEJDrdrjniMntoQLkpDc_ZzCL_shp_soSvsfX9wX72qlxmy0vHchno3HCx83PQFgkezydNw5uWLlWHx82lAxR7LitjKOXyR9eo4AQ9okxhjhLVP-lmzmJr-RtNqfqnD35BUsONIN19sUCPlKMaEtTzsxkPyjLlSsjFmvx1X-xtbDwaE/s1001/Chamonix%205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfbBVF4-Dsm0-ZEJDrdrjniMntoQLkpDc_ZzCL_shp_soSvsfX9wX72qlxmy0vHchno3HCx83PQFgkezydNw5uWLlWHx82lAxR7LitjKOXyR9eo4AQ9okxhjhLVP-lmzmJr-RtNqfqnD35BUsONIN19sUCPlKMaEtTzsxkPyjLlSsjFmvx1X-xtbDwaE/s16000/Chamonix%205.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYWZ9BjPqg-Aljiv9Wq_8zdbTM5kb-2pLdZJ5DkHh3JSly0g3g7JIbF6LTcVPe7ITME5r-exHh6U9hPKy0jwgYTNsFRghyphenhyphen3R0zcPyMJhWggYD1xEd3FZkVgZA-VEMtStp2-IApSWYM1tLL9DNCULAJhIzB65Y_guR7sqb4dEyDGl2vjQ1zQiVBFo6KW28/s850/Chamonix%206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYWZ9BjPqg-Aljiv9Wq_8zdbTM5kb-2pLdZJ5DkHh3JSly0g3g7JIbF6LTcVPe7ITME5r-exHh6U9hPKy0jwgYTNsFRghyphenhyphen3R0zcPyMJhWggYD1xEd3FZkVgZA-VEMtStp2-IApSWYM1tLL9DNCULAJhIzB65Y_guR7sqb4dEyDGl2vjQ1zQiVBFo6KW28/s16000/Chamonix%206.JPG" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmupGguGN3Fa2cyw4tiil1M-5b-qY9vwIh3_pTK1Ebx3pYexA3ob289kLxzr4UtsAtg1gCYFmDz5EXpWOimm4TyUuR9CLLuMxD9V2x9PIKJs1M2GHixl7ISa4r1r2diEgJpFFaNkXH499vI38n1rPL1cuCgrsgBl9Tz_oGvce78fh7WB_CGxYhuJBFzqE/s1000/Chamonix%2024.JPG.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmupGguGN3Fa2cyw4tiil1M-5b-qY9vwIh3_pTK1Ebx3pYexA3ob289kLxzr4UtsAtg1gCYFmDz5EXpWOimm4TyUuR9CLLuMxD9V2x9PIKJs1M2GHixl7ISa4r1r2diEgJpFFaNkXH499vI38n1rPL1cuCgrsgBl9Tz_oGvce78fh7WB_CGxYhuJBFzqE/s16000/Chamonix%2024.JPG.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Our final day and my knee still did not allow for strenuous descents so I chilled out whilst the boys climbed Mont Blanc or something. JT had had to leave already but Charlie, Ben and I had a leisurely lunch and then watched some of the superhumans complete the course which happened to finish just outside our hotel. They had been running through the night and to be fair most of them looked like it. Incredible though. Soon it was time to go, our decadent long weekend was over, and so we took a taxi back down to Geneva and had a walk around the lake until our flight home to London left. <i>If</i> it left that is. UK Air traffic control was having some kind of meltdown and we were not sure what was going to happen. More on that later, as it had a significant impact on my next trip and I had a decision to make. Still, a wonderful few days. Already looking forward to 2028.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmV8wn8E2t2Qv_T15mPUOLstqqNtOlu7oHBwah-B76wrdSvcJa6tFCg9sPnCz3vdsyn4xeJHemOh5fuZANetO8-ZxbGF5_6G77T-poaHgSPVvNFWc5plVQAKfNqpxFQqZYkuwUsqH7IRJrBqNCvkJOiD_xd0L-tr3Y8aAze8qdSYsNdJvdZRsp3QBWSQM/s850/Chamonix%209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmV8wn8E2t2Qv_T15mPUOLstqqNtOlu7oHBwah-B76wrdSvcJa6tFCg9sPnCz3vdsyn4xeJHemOh5fuZANetO8-ZxbGF5_6G77T-poaHgSPVvNFWc5plVQAKfNqpxFQqZYkuwUsqH7IRJrBqNCvkJOiD_xd0L-tr3Y8aAze8qdSYsNdJvdZRsp3QBWSQM/s16000/Chamonix%209.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0YnlfQn-1OgM7InXjlBMkDawky5zICgsDmZwhIEbtlGyu10moS2dqUUvDzpcvd04xB-zw3ugzxlBGHH-8ADQduVXcIZ1qMMsHs4UXH-uN0FdXgu6uqwoalLz0KzZn07rZ2GT8pc0FmjtwMSbEskeHaZGM_N3K-PRFgphvgeJ10m0UL5ZKz02RBlXg6U/s850/Chamonix%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0YnlfQn-1OgM7InXjlBMkDawky5zICgsDmZwhIEbtlGyu10moS2dqUUvDzpcvd04xB-zw3ugzxlBGHH-8ADQduVXcIZ1qMMsHs4UXH-uN0FdXgu6uqwoalLz0KzZn07rZ2GT8pc0FmjtwMSbEskeHaZGM_N3K-PRFgphvgeJ10m0UL5ZKz02RBlXg6U/s16000/Chamonix%202.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1ibdHX8kMCMhts8KxduO8diklJemHMWSBBGEXEznn13Xgrqdii7Hy1awx3gyM0vVOav07sXY4INZJqnjcaefPs2Wla9dkfDUhI0P0b81GQHW_j9POEyzV2MjpuhQmZfTlr-AagqpKpfJBkKKRCzAXGAOoPu2l4YnlsUrWyiDo5FZCawclAI5DtTZNUE/s1000/Chamonix%2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1ibdHX8kMCMhts8KxduO8diklJemHMWSBBGEXEznn13Xgrqdii7Hy1awx3gyM0vVOav07sXY4INZJqnjcaefPs2Wla9dkfDUhI0P0b81GQHW_j9POEyzV2MjpuhQmZfTlr-AagqpKpfJBkKKRCzAXGAOoPu2l4YnlsUrWyiDo5FZCawclAI5DtTZNUE/s16000/Chamonix%2016.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-83491718487341902512024-02-26T18:30:00.003+00:002024-02-28T19:46:35.797+00:00Fife targets<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've just returned from my first trip to Fife of the year. Seeing aged relatives was the primary purpose as ever, but I find there is always time to sneak in a little bit of birding here and there, especially if I travel over a weekend. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I arrived on Wednesday morning, leaving so early that I'd had to stay in an airport hotel the previous evening as there was no way I could have got there on public transport in the morning. I hadn't considered this when I booked the ticket, I had just assumed it would be fine, and that London, the capital and one of the largest cities in the world would have functioning transport links that would allow me to cross it no matter what time of day. Well now I know. I am kind of surprised I didn't know actually, maybe it is simply a coincidence that I've never taken this particular flight before and thus had never had to test it out. I could have taken a taxi, but this was more expensive than the hotel and would have meant getting up in the middle of the night. As it was I only had to get up at 4am.... </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-WtRLiW_SDHMGwRkwDPya87dSdI9mKtLe7uQuOE0hJkBEY3YdrK7lfCSjIjDaUFIOA8yWoyP57fK6EJWYjklzxpU_Bcc77uPlw1RkKutE46yR8FUKtKbkPEDuOjeDTsERchKgRz0n8jrHs1piMXz4rHzVmCgRKUvNIT2-iHaK-Jl8gNVzyJilUezWb0E/s1000/Cameron%20Reservoir.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-WtRLiW_SDHMGwRkwDPya87dSdI9mKtLe7uQuOE0hJkBEY3YdrK7lfCSjIjDaUFIOA8yWoyP57fK6EJWYjklzxpU_Bcc77uPlw1RkKutE46yR8FUKtKbkPEDuOjeDTsERchKgRz0n8jrHs1piMXz4rHzVmCgRKUvNIT2-iHaK-Jl8gNVzyJilUezWb0E/s16000/Cameron%20Reservoir.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So after three full days of work I had a bit of me time. Saturday morning I went and looked at the sea at Leven, then Cameron Reservoir which had a very lovely drake <b>Smew</b>, and then somewhat speculatively checked out a particular tree near St Andrews that had had some <b>Waxwing </b>in it on Friday. Remarkably it still had <b>Waxwing </b>in it nearly 24 hours later, a new bird for my Fife list. In the afternoon we went into Edinburgh to see my sister. I was fortunate to be able to use one of her tickets for the Rugby at Murrayfield, and so the afternoon was spent with my nephew watching Scotland spank England and win the Calcutta Cup for the fourth time in a row. Excellent. I wore my (very old) white shirt with pride, but it is a febrile atmosphere and the travelling fans were very much outnumbered. My nephew was wearing blue.... Then a lovely birthday dinner which was the main purpose for the visit.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaum4p3TVHOXBPQ5Tz9QEbXlLMl47QyuilErHeTvaG9Y710O9MRyjbLg3i6opmrHDBzWPfL0L5LKS5uoh5DtDJu2FaiskHs6ereYSusEARCbaqETC5arapB-QvZTouJODdXXTcrkIB1Y7H7ThbqOTmhYhCFKGBFJhC-2aMX9MZY7AQ8Xq0FbtxvGFi9_A/s1000/Murrayfield.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaum4p3TVHOXBPQ5Tz9QEbXlLMl47QyuilErHeTvaG9Y710O9MRyjbLg3i6opmrHDBzWPfL0L5LKS5uoh5DtDJu2FaiskHs6ereYSusEARCbaqETC5arapB-QvZTouJODdXXTcrkIB1Y7H7ThbqOTmhYhCFKGBFJhC-2aMX9MZY7AQ8Xq0FbtxvGFi9_A/s16000/Murrayfield.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sunday I started early, heading west towards Rosyth via Loch Gelly. My luck was in as there were <b>Jack Snipe</b> ringers working St Margaret's Marsh. Having seen just one <b>Jack Snipe </b>in Fife before my tally is now eight by virtue of standing on the path watching as the ringers (armed with thermal imagers and a big net) attempted to sneak up on birds. I only saw them miss four by about the halfway point, but they reported 8-0 when they stopped for a break after about an hour. As I headed back towards the car I occasionally stopped and scoped them up, seeing them miss another three. <b>Common Snipe </b>numbered about 50, these of course getting up way before the guys got anywhere near them.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXVSrFWdJVCGL8pHHhevuMJF74FprjdwQG_54c9rn8bk9-5CEamdHr8vhKl5rb_aRE1zSgxbTbCTLsqrrgb_1y3y6o9LwCCBiTIVF8ePRcuemj0xsP4K54ZW6IliO1CDq_XmoBA3b0FoDgtllP9J9ZuaX28us47fYFtO2KA6YeChQojBr5zSBcGj327k/s1000/StMags.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXVSrFWdJVCGL8pHHhevuMJF74FprjdwQG_54c9rn8bk9-5CEamdHr8vhKl5rb_aRE1zSgxbTbCTLsqrrgb_1y3y6o9LwCCBiTIVF8ePRcuemj0xsP4K54ZW6IliO1CDq_XmoBA3b0FoDgtllP9J9ZuaX28us47fYFtO2KA6YeChQojBr5zSBcGj327k/s16000/StMags.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Next stop the Tay at Newburgh, somewhere I had never managed to get to in all my many visits up here. It was a clear and calm day, and I felt sure I would have a good chance of <b>Bearded Tit </b>in the reeds of Mugdrum Island, halfway across the river but still in Fife. These are very irregularly reported, no doubt because of the perfect conditions needed to see them. The slightest breeze and you would probably fail, but Sunday was gloriously calm, both the Forth and the Tay like glass. My scope was at the full 50x magnification, and they were still tiny, but my luck was in and I found a group of eight really quite quickly. Another Fife tick and this puts me on 199. Exciting! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">200 could have been on the cards as I headed towards a spot I'd heard about for <b>Goshawk</b>. Fife is well wooded, and there are apparently quite a few pairs, but they are as hard to see as elsewhere and news is of course kept to an absolute minimum. As I headed east however the weather changed markedly, as can often happen up here, with dark clouds and quite a heavy mist bearing in mind it was close to midday by now. I abandoned my planned vigil when I passed Cupar and instead went and dipped <b>Dipper </b>at Ceres. From there I went to my favourite spot at Letham before doubling back to the coast at Leven for a simply brilliant extended scan of Largo Bay - I was going to call it a sea-watch and then realised that wasn't quite like that. So then I came up with bay-watch, but....oh nevermind. Anyway, <b>Velvet </b>and <b>Common Scoters</b>, <b>Black-necked Grebe</b> (rare here), multiple <b>Red-necked</b> and <b>Slavonian Grebes</b>, <b>Long-tailed Ducks </b>and <b>Mergansers</b>, <b>Auks</b>, <b>Kittiwakes</b>, two species of <b>Diver</b>, waders on the beach.... Wonderful, I love it here. A quick stop off at a nearby hill for <b>Red Grouse </b>and <b>Short-eared Owl</b> and my time was up. I'd crammed quite a lot into the weekend and ended on 93 species for my trip, with nothing added on Monday as I was working again. As usual there were <b>Bullfinches </b>and <b>Tree Sparrows </b>in my parents' garden.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-17700411850585097482024-02-18T17:58:00.001+00:002024-02-19T07:10:40.064+00:00Cooking and wine<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've had an extremely productive weekend. A bit of birding on Saturday morning netted <b>Treecreeper</b>, <b>Kingfisher</b>, <b>Grey Wagtail </b>and a Bacon bap. The bacon bap is usually the highlight of any morning birding in Wanstead, and to be fair it was pretty good, but today it was eclipsed by the birds. None of them are rare, but they are all tricky. I was aiming for them all of course, but without any real feeling of certainty so to get them all, probably in the space of an hour or so, was really quite unexpected and very pleasing. 72 for the year - above average.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Back home I blitzed my to-do list, including a long and tedious admin exercise that I had been putting off since September. It was not as difficult as I had remembered it being, but it is one of those things that you simply have to get right, the stakes are genuinely high. I've done it once before, successfully I might add, but it was probably the most stressful fortnight of my entire life. Miracle of miracles it came off, still a massive high and one of the things that when I look back I am most impressed with having done. The time pressure and various other sensitivities aren't there this time, but still. It's impossible to approach it with anything other than anxiety. Anyway, step one is done and now we wait. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I was going to devote some time to gardening but wasn't feeling it. Instead I turned my hand to cooking - a massive ragu that will provide several days of meals when we next need them most. This would have been ideal during the mental Ofsted/Year End period a few weeks back, but those times are never far away and will no doubt return. This is what we need - no takeaways, no ready meals, no garbage - forward planning like this means you can eschew all that. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I use a traditional recipe that involves a massive amount of vegetable chopping - carrots, celery and onion. I put on an old episode of my favourite radio show, <i>A Prairie Home Companion</i>, and got to work. Each one is two hours long, and I was still on the carrots when the Powdermilk Biscuits segment came on at the end of the first half hour. By the time the hour mark came up I was into the onions, but that's an hour of chopping - you have to cut everything into tiny cubes and this is just not my forté. Mrs L came back from choir and helped me over the line, but the show had finished long before I had even got to the simmering stage - almost all of that time in prep.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The recipe calls for a whole bottle of red and there is no such thing as cooking wine in Chateau L. I opened the cheapest red I had and it was just delicious, a bottle of 2016 Cairanne, a wine I'd bought for under a tenner some years ago and patiently put aside. Five years ago it would have been a blow your socks off full-throttle alcoholic mess, but good things come to those who wait. So much so that I couldn't do it, a quick taste confirmed that this would be sacrilege. Instead I poured myself a big glass and went and found something else. Although pricier, this time there was no</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> looking back, no hesitation, and in it went - 2019 Syrah from Yves Cuilleron, a producer from the Northern Rhone. Still a waste, but c'est la vie. The house smells lovely....</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDM8x5Pk5CdoHqcgA4nvNHoYEH8pksEp0otcPhY6kF4pFP9ih8CnhARwMwoJgp30yYnF3e0n7HeapjXoQ7yXaETvJvx3DL8aW1HNffqRmZRthgVFJYp7_eDkDqPbfP7mviOPCEZ4GqH-nDw_WVgYGTlVAPga5lhxq0HV03vttLQXtvs33l3MNiX2yQUSc/s1000/ragubefore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDM8x5Pk5CdoHqcgA4nvNHoYEH8pksEp0otcPhY6kF4pFP9ih8CnhARwMwoJgp30yYnF3e0n7HeapjXoQ7yXaETvJvx3DL8aW1HNffqRmZRthgVFJYp7_eDkDqPbfP7mviOPCEZ4GqH-nDw_WVgYGTlVAPga5lhxq0HV03vttLQXtvs33l3MNiX2yQUSc/s16000/ragubefore.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you see what I mean about the amount of chopping?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfA9y6oXW8y7_vk8-gYlVPEQV3zzyjkCEwnN8gjj0hXm-5Y982ekfuvZJz3aqFn5dPLIvIAzNLXmx_y7Mgy8Sk90njbU2JiV8Th8_tYfouM2aCoQYjb6wlkni8ibTk9LR27_cnfxZHVtQRIEURuzL-7RMPtazCcrZRIce75VhMDEOhTKHy4ph7-dzBM0I/s1000/raguafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfA9y6oXW8y7_vk8-gYlVPEQV3zzyjkCEwnN8gjj0hXm-5Y982ekfuvZJz3aqFn5dPLIvIAzNLXmx_y7Mgy8Sk90njbU2JiV8Th8_tYfouM2aCoQYjb6wlkni8ibTk9LR27_cnfxZHVtQRIEURuzL-7RMPtazCcrZRIce75VhMDEOhTKHy4ph7-dzBM0I/s16000/raguafter.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting there</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">There are some wines I simply would not cook with though. There is a category of wine for pure hedonistic consumption with like-minded people. Nerds. My people. I've always drunk wine, it was as long ago as 1995 when I bought by first en-primeur case (where you buy it as a 'future', before it has been bottled), but during lockdown my interest in wine grew exponentially. When the world opened up again I did something very unlike me and joined some online wine forums. Some chat groups are all about online discussion but this was different, it was always destined to culminate in actually meeting real people. Whoa! </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I still remember turning up at a venue in Crouch End back in 2021, bottle in hand and full of trepidation. What would these people be like? Would they be normal? What if I don't like them? What if they don't like me! More importantly, what if my wine is terrible!! The shame! Etc etc. I needn't have worried - everyone likely felt the same way but it went well, so well that I now have a group of new friends and we meet up all the time for themed tastings or dinners. Sharing good wine is a genuine pleasure, and whilst courtesy of this group and others I've rotated into I've drunk some ridiculously good wine, it's still really about the people, their enthusiasm, their generosity, their knowledge, humour, and kindred spirit. The next one is coming up at the end of the month, a comparison of French and South African syrah from top producers. My entry is French, from Hermitage in the Northern Rhone, the middle one in the photo below. With the other bottles being brought by my friends it promises to be an epic evening, if you're into that kind of thing of course. Once upon a time I would have laughed at this kind of thing, the wine I drank I was divided into two categories - nice and eugh. But times change, people change, and along with birds, plants, photography and travel, wine is a full-fledged all-consuming hobby. I just wish I'd cottoned earlier.</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8X-DJBWVxuFP0FERRuJ2nC6O7zik6n9SR6YOBmfAF7yOXW9BRA4s2v-uATbbs85x6r1__b5ChO1Dvoox744A0pkpZD41t8yHa5XVjxiK2h-CgRFttdESeb_ckAFVk3UzUpV2AvNZf74uWqbUloi8eQlpFUGF5ygWhyphenhyphenKHrpkaVXV7dNIGxWyujhBrbtrk/s1000/offlines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8X-DJBWVxuFP0FERRuJ2nC6O7zik6n9SR6YOBmfAF7yOXW9BRA4s2v-uATbbs85x6r1__b5ChO1Dvoox744A0pkpZD41t8yHa5XVjxiK2h-CgRFttdESeb_ckAFVk3UzUpV2AvNZf74uWqbUloi8eQlpFUGF5ygWhyphenhyphenKHrpkaVXV7dNIGxWyujhBrbtrk/s16000/offlines.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have now have a shelf in my cellar for wines scheduled for sharing at various events.</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p><br /></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-76502804116188172592024-02-15T18:30:00.009+00:002024-02-15T18:30:00.127+00:00Go west young man<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Last Friday I worked from home. When I was done, I stood up from my desk, walked downstairs, got in the car, and drove to Cardiff. This was not my ideal evening all things considered, but Mrs L had long ago organised a family get-together with her sisters and their families, none of whom live in Cardiff but they all like it. Of course this was not an entirely random destination...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Yes, number one child now lives in Cardiff. For you old-timers out there the little kid that I dragged here there and everywhere birdwatching from around 2009 onwards is now an enormous twenty year old at Cardiff university. How time flies. I mean he is not even a teenager any more! Anyway, we don't see him very often, <strike>but we still hear from him all the time</strike>. Sorry my mistake, we don't hear from him either, so travelling to Cardiff is a good way to establish contact. It's not a massive undertaking, but neither is it just popping round the corner. So off we went. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To cut a long story short he was in Bristol...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But he did show up the following morning (having had precisely zero hours of sleep) and spent the day with us and the extended family which was very nice. Despite 36 hours and counting of being awake, once he had a couple of beers down him in a Cardiff pub he perked up a lot, and with an important Rugby match on found the kind of second wind that once upon a time I could summon on request but that these days rather eludes me. </span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBfJ2H8e_YerO9JsMlCgfmwEVwWA2prMXnKw5EI6oco2sjyHNrtAMM619IJIv-ZX2OP_VXoeIvkQ3m-5Ip4IyKLrxHmgQNGqaKnkTX9AzU55D47mOIxB1-FfbHHVr7f3SDVbQ2AOKtO_CxduEWOyvDr59w6EnJ0cjo1weyoT2vYhf16uMvpU5rDhrDR4/s850/cardiff1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBfJ2H8e_YerO9JsMlCgfmwEVwWA2prMXnKw5EI6oco2sjyHNrtAMM619IJIv-ZX2OP_VXoeIvkQ3m-5Ip4IyKLrxHmgQNGqaKnkTX9AzU55D47mOIxB1-FfbHHVr7f3SDVbQ2AOKtO_CxduEWOyvDr59w6EnJ0cjo1weyoT2vYhf16uMvpU5rDhrDR4/s16000/cardiff1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A partisan crowd. We had to be very quiet at the end...</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For the younger children - not <i>that</i> much younger is has to be said - Cardiff on Friday and Saturday nights was rather an eye-opener. If anything Saturday was more exuberant than Friday with people able to kick things off that much earlier. Hen parties seemed to get going shortly after midday, and by mid afternoon they had already reached the drunken barefoot lurching around streets stage, heels in hand. The vomiting presumably started shortly thereafter. We left the city centre and went to Cardiff Bay for the afternoon, but when we returned in the evening things were in full swing. And I mean <i>full</i> swing. I am a very boring person as everyone knows and I barely go out in the evenings. When I do it is to genteel middle-aged things like wine tastings, restaurants and recitals, and so the scenes that greeted us were as much of an eye-opener for me as for the kids. KFC has bouncers on the door, this is the level I am talking about. On a short walk down the main drag that earlier that day had been populated by familes out shopping I narrowly avoided a hug from a drunk, had to sidestep more than a few puddles (liquid and solid) and got flashed by a young lady who had almost no clothes on yet still seemed insistent that everyone see parts of her that <i>were</i> marginally covered. This was with my youngest daughter on one arm and wearing my woolly hat by the way, I was not exactly cart-wheeling down the street pint in hand.</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMgBjXePW_r2fBpVxFz56lYdXT4vyY4q8z71zxFwqsOc9cB18RTBo4RvmdZN8UCdb9ws6ySXFF6utXOqR4Wmd6-XAnIr7AMFNLCx7RiIqyBJiGURZRPr3nnMdDXmU-1HT7KrDMbX-b_YZzhBYNifhkQdoXUamSODe51iaof-mFbWCMdIK7_r543Er_vU/s850/cardiff2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMgBjXePW_r2fBpVxFz56lYdXT4vyY4q8z71zxFwqsOc9cB18RTBo4RvmdZN8UCdb9ws6ySXFF6utXOqR4Wmd6-XAnIr7AMFNLCx7RiIqyBJiGURZRPr3nnMdDXmU-1HT7KrDMbX-b_YZzhBYNifhkQdoXUamSODe51iaof-mFbWCMdIK7_r543Er_vU/s16000/cardiff2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cardiff has a bit of thing for Arcades.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA1ARWkZcSHsnbeXneQV49vgyL45KSbDDAUfis-dHjERDsDYI12s5Q5l4QJOU9nx-ooCOH-e0i8abU7NCW_r_sjhD14jTUoeXZn4mzqd5GHEu-WzfpWw7tPSDSr8uSZ7qMcM6iW6FgUKz2AmUxjlO0xo_C8GhDWpODk8eFMMkM9WK-v-962vVqUORaGQw/s1000/cardiff3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA1ARWkZcSHsnbeXneQV49vgyL45KSbDDAUfis-dHjERDsDYI12s5Q5l4QJOU9nx-ooCOH-e0i8abU7NCW_r_sjhD14jTUoeXZn4mzqd5GHEu-WzfpWw7tPSDSr8uSZ7qMcM6iW6FgUKz2AmUxjlO0xo_C8GhDWpODk8eFMMkM9WK-v-962vVqUORaGQw/s16000/cardiff3.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cardiff street life c2000 years ago. More or less unchanged judging by the people crawling along the floor.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The next morning this had all been swept away and the main pedestrian area was civilised once more. The street with a thousand kebab shops on had seen heavier use, and despite some remedial action was still rather sludgy... yuck. Despite pubs already being open again we opted for a museum and then Cardiff Castle for lunch, after which we bade goodbye to one and all and headed back for the long drive east.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So that was the weekend, and whilst there were no birds I thought I had better bash something out lest people think I was phasing again. I did add <b>Coot </b>to my Wales list from the pub window, but that was about it - I didn't even have my bins with me which is essentially the story of February. A shame really as I rather had the bit between my teeth from a blogging perspective in January. Anyway, it will be March soon and everyone knows what arrives in March. Don't they?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Do I have to say it's name?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>No.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Do I have to say it's name?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>No.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Say what?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">....</span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-66721543162014639552024-02-04T13:35:00.003+00:002024-02-04T13:35:40.298+00:00A quiet weekend<p><span style="font-family: arial;">The weekend has been about recovery here in Chateau L. For me it has been for catching my breath after a torrid couple of weeks at work - there is one left and it should then calm down a little bit. I'm exhausted, my industry is a young man's game. I have the knowledge, lots of it, gleaned over many years, but the energy.....not as much as I once had. The hunger, the ambition? Limited to doing a good job and making it to Friday. I was hoping that at this stage in my career things might be getting easier and that the 11pms might be a distant memory. Alas no, each year is harder than the one before. Gruelling is what it is. I am resilient but it stacks up. The people are what make it tolerable - champions all of them, no doubt more than a few of the older ones would echo my thoughts. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Mrs L is a teacher and last week Ofsted arrived. It's probably as good a time as there has ever been to be inspected by Ofsted but that doesn't make it any easier. They arrive with almost no notice and can delve into anything they want. Which they did. The ramifications of a bad result are enormous, imagine the pressure, the stress that the staff are under. Four days, four categories, five possible words. There wasn't much sleep last week. She is shattered, I've never seen her so tired, but she's through it and its over. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Unsurprisingly come Saturday morning neither of us were really up to much. The <b>Sociable Plover</b> in Cornwall? Not a chance. I didn't even make it out onto the patch until about 11am, that's how slow I was. When I did get out it was pretty decent though - a vaguely regular <b>Caspian Gull </b>on Alexandra Lake waited long enough after being found for me to pedal down there, and then a little later I found <b>Mistle Thrush </b>and <b>Cetti's Warbler</b> in the Old Sewage Works. These three take me to 69 for the year, a pretty solid start all things considered, certainly higher than the last two years. I do enjoy birding around here, even during the quiet season. There are still ten or so realistic targets before Spring gets underway so I've played it quite well, rather than the whole of February to get through with nothing to see there is still interest out there.</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsa3pVCkQ1bS74vKzeamTJKV9fxMxnkBTCfsXTzZm6d1kfCNn0MFUQFg-grbOgzsK8SkAvCh-xdDxvNSpUOf3eUByIbXK6SISwjBtVWtExIFZir3vTP-LT9RFcuYAVQjkLnlG8CqyP0Y5UDwjm5ozZaiUFFnmnGQoHYB0p5hyphenhyphenqmzVdUa3YqKsD0okiZM/s1000/Caspo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsa3pVCkQ1bS74vKzeamTJKV9fxMxnkBTCfsXTzZm6d1kfCNn0MFUQFg-grbOgzsK8SkAvCh-xdDxvNSpUOf3eUByIbXK6SISwjBtVWtExIFZir3vTP-LT9RFcuYAVQjkLnlG8CqyP0Y5UDwjm5ozZaiUFFnmnGQoHYB0p5hyphenhyphenqmzVdUa3YqKsD0okiZM/s16000/Caspo.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caspo in 100 pixels.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This short trip nearly sent me back to bed, but I plucked up the courage to instead have an Espresso Martini which brought me back to life. The rest of the afternoon was then spent caressing a glass of Chambolle-Musigny - well, several glasses actually - and then we spent some quality time cooking together. I say cooking, I am very much a sous chef when Mrs L is around. A junior sous chef. A junior <i>trainee</i> sous chef. My role is to fetch things for her and clear up after her. Sometimes I put things away <i>before</i> she has used them which can result in being fired but which is always fun. It would be easier without me apparently. Yes, but then I would be lonely, and anyway, I like thinking I am being helpful. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Today is more of the same precocious inactivity. I could not be bothered to go birding, but I did make it down to the greenhouse for almost the first time this year. I have about as much fungus as plants it seems, but that will dry up and clean off once the sun starts to appear for longer. For now it was about a brief watering to keep stuff going, wake things up a bit. The proper work will start in March I expect. I always look forward to it whilst partly dreading it. What will I find, what has died? This year I cracked and put the heating on down there during the cold snap, so actually things looks pretty good. I learned that lesson the hard way last year, not this time. It was nice to see plants I've not looked at for weeks, reminding myself of my plans for them this summer, what needs repotting and so on. Roll on Spring, for all sorts of reasons.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-44276692120007411892024-01-28T20:40:00.004+00:002024-01-28T20:40:44.518+00:00Not close and no cigar<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Having seen a lovely photo of what seemed to be a very friendly <b>Scaup</b> from a gravel pit in Kent, Mick and I made plans to go and get better ones. Hah! Fat chance. We did find the bird, a Kent tick no less, but whoever the photographer was had been extremely lucky with the bird in close. We had no such luck on what we hadn't realised was a pretty big lake, with the bird staying steadfastly right in the middle! I won't bother posting my distant effort here, even with the 800mm and converter it was a dot. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Most birds remained distant, a boat would have been excellent.....but I got a couple of photos of a slightly closer <b>Great Crested Grebe </b>that are blog-worthy. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Still - and something I am beginning to appreciate more and more - it was nice to be somewhere new and different. Once upon a time I was somewhere different every other weekend and I remember it being fun. These days I am usually at home, yawn - I blame the pandemic for changing my pattern of behaviour semi-permanently. Need to break out of it, get back to day trips, get the camera out more often. I used my tripod today, a rare event, but I have to say that it makes it a lot easier. It's just bulky, heavy, annoying, painful.....</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy2R1_nniLJ-eXKLsstQZzHR3CnzGGh0KuMn275-W8NY6xnkwLLIgpawa3kwkZYTpg4XWN3oGJXazeYPmGhf7lmzMyUXp6PreIxLMBTSR_T2fTXCenAMjMnF4VvIYDmM0M9se4ZMpzuVBADYWwSdMwEB3971UXuMLOU0lDWSa050L2C0DqMih6uJTIaQ/s1000/IMG_5537_GCG%20Kent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy2R1_nniLJ-eXKLsstQZzHR3CnzGGh0KuMn275-W8NY6xnkwLLIgpawa3kwkZYTpg4XWN3oGJXazeYPmGhf7lmzMyUXp6PreIxLMBTSR_T2fTXCenAMjMnF4VvIYDmM0M9se4ZMpzuVBADYWwSdMwEB3971UXuMLOU0lDWSa050L2C0DqMih6uJTIaQ/s16000/IMG_5537_GCG%20Kent.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf7R9jUDrCwKpdzBICmKu3JPsO0mZsr5sSMs-QHq4cWO8wBRBs4OBdQOEr7-Cb6DoEy3_SJllLKZ6njaPwR9iK-AN3B8Bi-ToVhyYw0CX4gv9r0m1zxpxpZk6rIDR3B8X3vNWkFfv5CKDH3bwRB_Iaw3MXAidntYW72h_fBv8YWhBI3H_JtCTGHALF7qE/s1000/IMG_5494_GCG%20Kent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf7R9jUDrCwKpdzBICmKu3JPsO0mZsr5sSMs-QHq4cWO8wBRBs4OBdQOEr7-Cb6DoEy3_SJllLKZ6njaPwR9iK-AN3B8Bi-ToVhyYw0CX4gv9r0m1zxpxpZk6rIDR3B8X3vNWkFfv5CKDH3bwRB_Iaw3MXAidntYW72h_fBv8YWhBI3H_JtCTGHALF7qE/s16000/IMG_5494_GCG%20Kent.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: arial;">After dropping Mick back I crossed over the river and went to Rainham - my starting game plan for this weekend. It was great to be back, I should go more. I spent a bit of time on the sea wall and a bit at the top of the ramp. Pick of the birds were 50+ <b>Avocet </b>in Aveley Bay, and a pair of <b>Raven </b>on Purfleet. I left about 20 minutes before a <b>Goshawk</b> flew over.... Can't complain, it wasn't that long ago that <b>Raven </b>was a Rainham tick, number 198 to be exact. I'm on 201 now, a decent total for a single site, even it is the best site in London. Wanstead isn't that far behind in raw numbers, but it'll never compete with river.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvC7kP-3OOvDtXlsWKjVKRmPnMSvF6jE4_9GP8UMxbRlOkrUr69GuK902mCQ5PXfpnSce2SJ7p6VmNAT9c7QMIYDIUA9ZiTIkv0waA3YK1aXxhfT3KrcwPSbFyibQF5BDp9BsHSoe0f0bpeFpi_K-ykqNYs2LD6rEE22hZr8SQPVdzxyk08Js3izpETQ/s1000/IMG_5603_Raven%20RM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvC7kP-3OOvDtXlsWKjVKRmPnMSvF6jE4_9GP8UMxbRlOkrUr69GuK902mCQ5PXfpnSce2SJ7p6VmNAT9c7QMIYDIUA9ZiTIkv0waA3YK1aXxhfT3KrcwPSbFyibQF5BDp9BsHSoe0f0bpeFpi_K-ykqNYs2LD6rEE22hZr8SQPVdzxyk08Js3izpETQ/s16000/IMG_5603_Raven%20RM.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-69172142601905253112024-01-27T21:43:00.004+00:002024-01-27T21:50:38.033+00:00Southend Pier<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Let me start by saying I dipped. Let me also say that I knew I would dip and that I didn't care and I went anyway. For those of you wondering what on earth I am talking about there was a<b> White-billed Diver</b> off Southend Pier on Thursday. A stonking rarity anywhere, particularly in Essex. There was a vague report Friday afternoon, but it sounded duff and deep down I knew it wouldn't be there on Saturday, but as I wrote about earlier I wanted out of Wanstead and this was the perfect excuse. Somewhere different, somewhere with different birds, and not too far away.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Being feeble I went out on the patch first, adding <b>Great Black-backed Gull</b>, <b>Teal</b>, <b>Siskin</b>, and a bacon roll. I leave it up to you to decide which was the most appreciated. It was cold and clear, very nice in fact, and I didn't begrudge it at all. I love living here, with Wanstead Flats on my doorstep. It might not be the countryside but I couldn't contemplate living anywhere without a green space nearby. Nonetheless by around 11am I was all done and in need of something different.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqfEmUre-Cjugb3xaLFJFIGx7DeNtGwHSSjkGXCviXeLUiXGuUnRVj7U50GaUN5CcLMe2c9DKskxY1TWozSlV1tMMzLTxKqJQLFot6HDcJvCs3wPybbQyYMl3BBbdcBi8zVeprJRICvtOxpPv6E0FIPpaydOwAicCZnjfcOPYYAFjn4SkjCdcNmipNTg/s1000/IMG_5330_Med%20Gull,%20Southend.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqfEmUre-Cjugb3xaLFJFIGx7DeNtGwHSSjkGXCviXeLUiXGuUnRVj7U50GaUN5CcLMe2c9DKskxY1TWozSlV1tMMzLTxKqJQLFot6HDcJvCs3wPybbQyYMl3BBbdcBi8zVeprJRICvtOxpPv6E0FIPpaydOwAicCZnjfcOPYYAFjn4SkjCdcNmipNTg/s16000/IMG_5330_Med%20Gull,%20Southend.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Astonishingly I'd not been to Southend Pier since 2012. Wow. That is a measure of how quickly time flies. I used to bird a lot in Essex and it was good to be back. The train has been significantly modernised, with the old train carved up and made into shelters alongside the tracks and at the far end. There was a small crowd assembled, none of them seeing large banana-billed birds, and amongst them were Bradders and Mick. I spent most of my time on the upper level above the Lifeboat scanning east, picking up a few <b>Great Northern </b>and<b> Red-throated</b> <b>Divers</b>, a couple of <b>Razorbill </b>and a <b>Shag</b>, but of the prize bird there was no sign unfortunately. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">No matter, I had my camera and when I got bored I descended to the lower level and took a few photos. Arriving later than the others I had missed the glassy conditions and there was now a bit of a breeze getting up making the water choppy, but I had fun papping a few <b>Med Gulls </b>and so on. A nice afternoon actually, better than sitting around at home doing nothing, and I am pleased I went. Here are a few more photos, including the one <b>Turnstone </b>that had only one leg. After all the trouble I went to getting down low I could scarcely believe I'd homed in on the lame one, but there you have it.</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1gxuP5QFBAlDK5rz_bhNZVWraVF97tsX-QJA7Ib5C6QKonyKBqum1ACNJG3SX92cPGMyO2FEZTB3CZOa9AOYcHv6mV9fTm53oShDhseI9QUQAZauQwWNMY7eI6OIkjAhb-3x_pZ6-rAbNSLmwEIz-CIrSXsPk9R_aFC506r0O1ghMAXYlmw-NKCZjEs/s1000/IMG_5373_Med%20Gull,%20Southend.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1gxuP5QFBAlDK5rz_bhNZVWraVF97tsX-QJA7Ib5C6QKonyKBqum1ACNJG3SX92cPGMyO2FEZTB3CZOa9AOYcHv6mV9fTm53oShDhseI9QUQAZauQwWNMY7eI6OIkjAhb-3x_pZ6-rAbNSLmwEIz-CIrSXsPk9R_aFC506r0O1ghMAXYlmw-NKCZjEs/s16000/IMG_5373_Med%20Gull,%20Southend.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oB-BTF_M9YzE-anRgkOUGajQIn0aD5-b3LoZ1-YfSxC3a1ZuhPDxHuiFhP6krzGkE4ebs_aCoqcqCxs1tvvvb-XyhR6SVi1jrftIpmVOW0TbpSJLEfZHdSt4lBxi4PlDzTn0pkNOL71KqFW0o9uY6YQkH8JkqVKXYOO17k9AOpBDRHgdSZeAmjczqzc/s850/IMG_5344_Med%20Gull,%20Southend.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oB-BTF_M9YzE-anRgkOUGajQIn0aD5-b3LoZ1-YfSxC3a1ZuhPDxHuiFhP6krzGkE4ebs_aCoqcqCxs1tvvvb-XyhR6SVi1jrftIpmVOW0TbpSJLEfZHdSt4lBxi4PlDzTn0pkNOL71KqFW0o9uY6YQkH8JkqVKXYOO17k9AOpBDRHgdSZeAmjczqzc/s16000/IMG_5344_Med%20Gull,%20Southend.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFE-3OkIYzxCIeBabAB70EWZGOtcUSKzYgNqJIdwPx3V2C1X_bUjlSNbwgaVi3lf_UME05cLJq8RS_2eIL9U5Yxm2FxH3Vm-yG9sXlUZQRpSHKRojaF97LMeli1Kfblt4_6_VYIK7GMAyb9Uz2f4W4j0udRNQz4OgKqpTtb1Fc0OBwJ3EholKYxw9BZ-A/s1000/IMG_5357_Turnstone,%20Southend.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFE-3OkIYzxCIeBabAB70EWZGOtcUSKzYgNqJIdwPx3V2C1X_bUjlSNbwgaVi3lf_UME05cLJq8RS_2eIL9U5Yxm2FxH3Vm-yG9sXlUZQRpSHKRojaF97LMeli1Kfblt4_6_VYIK7GMAyb9Uz2f4W4j0udRNQz4OgKqpTtb1Fc0OBwJ3EholKYxw9BZ-A/s16000/IMG_5357_Turnstone,%20Southend.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-3CvuEK3iFZ_mXBRDhnFPmHRP1tqOJjquF35wFbWDwWuFiDQEmPbCsJI2oRC0No9n8FnRDJsd_EK-Wq-7p5_4gkzpNx4DKQhXnUS8Rc0QbMFU356swYQQ5j1dPA3DfSaf5fKDJfMtPP4YNdVtlbg2MZ6PdvzPePR_Ib-jRzmkzcLhW6-ANP4fAKCmUI/s850/IMG_5455_Turnstone,%20Southend.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-3CvuEK3iFZ_mXBRDhnFPmHRP1tqOJjquF35wFbWDwWuFiDQEmPbCsJI2oRC0No9n8FnRDJsd_EK-Wq-7p5_4gkzpNx4DKQhXnUS8Rc0QbMFU356swYQQ5j1dPA3DfSaf5fKDJfMtPP4YNdVtlbg2MZ6PdvzPePR_Ib-jRzmkzcLhW6-ANP4fAKCmUI/s16000/IMG_5455_Turnstone,%20Southend.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfURYSs1uV-zuSK7K5vxtg4ioIZ3E-ARqnVFQzqzAWS-dqhh0MK1bvkY1ivV-e-GU_kt5iGnMu1QTXco-gBGvrkfBekmFDfcp5UWg5-fKG0gzo-CkcINePFB4eiz5LrIwJfbKcvxtQ-DKwRWm7fM2WDLLT1TB6RgvdqQzE-9svkjPRpwp2W__BhJuV1w/s850/IMG_5302_Shag,%20Southend.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfURYSs1uV-zuSK7K5vxtg4ioIZ3E-ARqnVFQzqzAWS-dqhh0MK1bvkY1ivV-e-GU_kt5iGnMu1QTXco-gBGvrkfBekmFDfcp5UWg5-fKG0gzo-CkcINePFB4eiz5LrIwJfbKcvxtQ-DKwRWm7fM2WDLLT1TB6RgvdqQzE-9svkjPRpwp2W__BhJuV1w/s16000/IMG_5302_Shag,%20Southend.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9U1_HXgpOPc9UNRiRMKt_n4VYWrlZs-crLx5wJVq-jCB6LD6rdFbxY1KTiZkNmxWf5jItrfc93wAItBPtACouapIVCzc4sl3D_xfv-AF33vrRDlK-XOGLJvkgPW7PlOJybSXj3537318TDawL7PHFF9FXfXNYJ7z4kLARUK8UC46TRS15D6W9Es8LrY/s850/IMG_5338_Shag,%20Southend.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9U1_HXgpOPc9UNRiRMKt_n4VYWrlZs-crLx5wJVq-jCB6LD6rdFbxY1KTiZkNmxWf5jItrfc93wAItBPtACouapIVCzc4sl3D_xfv-AF33vrRDlK-XOGLJvkgPW7PlOJybSXj3537318TDawL7PHFF9FXfXNYJ7z4kLARUK8UC46TRS15D6W9Es8LrY/s16000/IMG_5338_Shag,%20Southend.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSkOTs8ANwH4SvQZK-fNrJ8NEUhYIMLTh1HSYlwVRUCkpfnYAcDrAoAM9uOJVydRArgjyIkBm6Diny2RzNHSeT6bgCqyUGO8Ed03YT7VzE3_ouKTlx3XEKNF6T1t4jWei7ufsf3B4CNtoL_5eFlkPirWCHiGUnX57S-MXae6Sd03G341N_3VKfo1OWA1g/s850/IMG_5392_Seal,%20Southend.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSkOTs8ANwH4SvQZK-fNrJ8NEUhYIMLTh1HSYlwVRUCkpfnYAcDrAoAM9uOJVydRArgjyIkBm6Diny2RzNHSeT6bgCqyUGO8Ed03YT7VzE3_ouKTlx3XEKNF6T1t4jWei7ufsf3B4CNtoL_5eFlkPirWCHiGUnX57S-MXae6Sd03G341N_3VKfo1OWA1g/s16000/IMG_5392_Seal,%20Southend.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-24052559528624374682024-01-26T20:09:00.000+00:002024-01-26T20:09:15.040+00:00Thank you Isha, Thank you Jo-ce-lyn<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Channelling my inner Alanis Morissette a bit with the title there, but I am sure you get the picture. Yes, winter storms, of which there seem to be an ever increasing number each year. Surely it can't be the climate breaking down can it?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When I see one of these coming and look at the forecast I always have a sense of dread. Our house and garden contain a lot of glass - greenhouses, conservatories, french doors...all protecting precious tropical plants. Oh and family members of course, which are my chief concern naturally. As the winds gradually build to a ferocious howl, to the point where I can actually see the glass bending, my heart is in my mouth. Will I get away with it, or will there be damage.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKwkpvPBkXXJUHGliVwCcvJICaXdTsW6f67H65x_OwDQiXxoL8uQPlTiV4vzcPuv9dYLZ8JfK9gHR_nLB6c8lUzjnTK1PXpVL6_yhQ2f8EPc5GTR-C6s23wXhv9Cxfj6oeIOKtpnm1T0dq7_f2D8B2xI4iCGPIj2TVHefuAYR3-dcjZlf4oISSgDVsy_c/s850/isha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="459" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKwkpvPBkXXJUHGliVwCcvJICaXdTsW6f67H65x_OwDQiXxoL8uQPlTiV4vzcPuv9dYLZ8JfK9gHR_nLB6c8lUzjnTK1PXpVL6_yhQ2f8EPc5GTR-C6s23wXhv9Cxfj6oeIOKtpnm1T0dq7_f2D8B2xI4iCGPIj2TVHefuAYR3-dcjZlf4oISSgDVsy_c/s16000/isha.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As I surveyed the damage after Isha I breathed a sigh of relief that I appeared to have had no significant issues once again. Yes lots of plants had been blown over, including ones I can barely lift, but such is their height and exposed surface area that the gusts from these storms easily topple them. A greenhouse vent had come loose and smashed itself to bits, but the panel was deliberately polycarbonate so I can simply find some replacement nuts and bolts and put it back together. Other than this there was nothing that would cost money to fix, for which I am thankful. It could have been a lot worse. One day it probably will be.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I didn't have time to fix the vent between Isha and Jocelyn, they came one after the other without pause, so I bodged it and hoped for the best. I was worried that the wind exploit the obvious weakness, dispense with the so-so vent very rapidly, and then enter the greenhouse and explode it from the inside. But that didn't happen. Of course Jocelyn did re-topple all the same plants that I had picked up after Isha, and as I stuggled to get them upright again before work after it (she?) had passed I wondered whether I shouldn't have just left them on the ground where they were. Would have been easier.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqnak9AFAxVv0HK6wuEhd7QAxEQ_A8bS027MhXpMtI_uKTJ3VwFcCsUz8fydraHDtjTshrtB_c5_AUjfAQWK1BJThISBOPQG9XokTmZvrrdXbhrnfNQpFLU5wzoioGGoC7goS9Eo1mOMicTyYNO_nHttlXa73HO0t3Kff61pgD4ePza5jbbboZQqyNgY/s1000/jocelyn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqnak9AFAxVv0HK6wuEhd7QAxEQ_A8bS027MhXpMtI_uKTJ3VwFcCsUz8fydraHDtjTshrtB_c5_AUjfAQWK1BJThISBOPQG9XokTmZvrrdXbhrnfNQpFLU5wzoioGGoC7goS9Eo1mOMicTyYNO_nHttlXa73HO0t3Kff61pgD4ePza5jbbboZQqyNgY/s16000/jocelyn.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sleeping is the biggest problem. Up in the loft where we sleep the windows face the Atlantic. Well, not really, but the room faces south-west so we align directly into the path of these Atlantic storms and are buffeted mercilessly each time, pounding wind and lashing rain. It is very noisy, and it gets a lot colder too. These storms seem to occur overnight more often than not, although there is no logical reason why this is the case. I'd prefer to be at work in Canary Wharf in a nice sturdy office when they go through, but it always seems to be when I am trying to get some rest.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">No, not much birding, why do you ask?</span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-39057150232401219702024-01-23T22:12:00.001+00:002024-01-23T22:12:18.947+00:00An enthusiasm for numbers<p><span style="font-family: arial;">In a post towards the end of last I spent a lot of time obsessing about numbers. Amongst other things about how I had not quite managed to see 1000 birds during the year, how I might have another go this year, that kind of thing. Of interest to noone but myself really. Ideal blog material...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Obviously it is a lot easier at the beginning of the year, but I just noticed that I had already cleared 300 in 2024. 220+ species in The Gambia and Senegal in the first week of the year has clearly made quite the difference, but more importantly it has generated enthusiasm that is not normally present in January. Not only about the prospect of foreign travel and a nearly blank year in the calendar to fill up, but also about what a day on the coast might bring at this time of year, or a simple visit to Walthamstow. What might a trip to Fife add? All of a sudden I find myself thinking about salt marshes and mudflats, rather than where the local <b>Mistle Thrush </b>is hiding (a great deal of energy, both physical and mental, expended on this so far pointless question!).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I love planning, and whilst I don't have the mental capacity to work out exactly what the remaining 698 species are and where I will see them, I can at least start to consider some ballpark numbers. A trip to America in April for instance, how many might that add? What if I were to go to Spain, that kind of thing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I think I'll start closer to home though. If these relentless storms would just pack it in I might be tempted by Kent. If not, a quick spin around Rainham perhaps, I've not been there for ages and winter is a good time there, I could add all sorts of things, and it would make a pleasant change from traipsing around Wanstead which I have been doing a lot of lately. Yes, I think I'll do that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In closing, here's a photo from Argentina of a knacked old Ford truck from the barrio of La Boca in Buenos Aires. No particular reason other than I don't have a photo of a <b>Mistle Thrush</b>.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAa_jYScI_wdsko2kCSedDn2CKp9uw9mq_aZIpeHSbfOHUfNPmK_Mp0dd0a37-G4RAb2dDjgxo7fIZE3-R2tZg2v6HIUk8RHVJ8n7qdUGV4z6Rzr2RltAEnUJU2Fubazhv72qogu9n6i6L5omuI23z_TyzgV2YrpveRHRGPBdCz2XMgilXa_2-idR_6Q8/s1000/Ford%20BA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAa_jYScI_wdsko2kCSedDn2CKp9uw9mq_aZIpeHSbfOHUfNPmK_Mp0dd0a37-G4RAb2dDjgxo7fIZE3-R2tZg2v6HIUk8RHVJ8n7qdUGV4z6Rzr2RltAEnUJU2Fubazhv72qogu9n6i6L5omuI23z_TyzgV2YrpveRHRGPBdCz2XMgilXa_2-idR_6Q8/s16000/Ford%20BA.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-66671657082694088022024-01-21T12:20:00.002+00:002024-01-21T12:20:24.009+00:00Incoming!<p><span style="font-family: arial;">A final foray out this morning before storm Isha pummels us with wind and rain. On balance I think I prefer the crisp cold, although if I worked outside like <a href="https://notquitescilly2.blogspot.com/2024/01/wot-no-waxwings_16.html">Gav</a> I would no doubt feel differently. Mind you, working outside in a raging storm probably isn't much fun either, and I imagine that more than a few people in outdoor professions will be finding reasons to have a short hiatus from work over the next day or so. I'm lucky, or unlucky depending on your point of view; my job continues no matter what. Pretty sure I've not missed a single day due to weather ever. Once, when high winds cancelled a return flight from Spain back to London, I simply worked from my company's office in Madrid. There are literally no get out clauses!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyway I may have missed 100% of the <b>Lapwings </b>that the cold weather brought, but that <b>Ferruginous Duck </b>more than makes up for it. That won't happen again for a while, in fact never again is the most likely scenario. Walking around the patch this morning the ice largely persists but you can feel the warmth in the air, and pretty soon than warmth will also continue moisture - lots of it! I made the most of the brief window and went through the Park and across the Flats. Despite the continuing ice there was definitely a bit more clear water, especially under the overhanging trees, and I was pleased to find a couple of drake <b>Pochard </b>hanging out. Even better a pair of <b>Little Grebe </b>made themselves known, and then on my way back home a <b>Linnet </b>chupped overhead. That puts me on 62 for the year, a vaguely acceptable total for this point in January. In years past I've got to this number on January the first, but these days I don't have either the stamina or the inclination. Well, more the inclination I suppose, I could still toddle around all day if I absolutely had to!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Changing the subject completely, I've just got back from The Gambia and Senegal, and I had time over the last few days to have a quick spin through the many photos I took whilst out there. I've not had sufficient time to process them all, but here is one that jumped out, a glorious <b>Red-throated Bee-eater</b>. Birds like this lift the soul, the perfect tonic for a cold, wet, blustery and generally miserable January.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvtop54edlT4abFDRVFKS0ROU2cJDNfhRLQdPfhnqy-0UBGfPgVS2FeSV6AkhXMBmf1arQIbz4v_oLO7KtIvD_hp-FyxKVhpzgp59v-Ba-WzyOeklJR516ITg3E0x2LMUE3URkg27mmKN2m5reP50OdLXyhyN3lV1CVnUiuzBrU2guge-GY3IiAVw1TCA/s850/IMG_2213_Gambia%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvtop54edlT4abFDRVFKS0ROU2cJDNfhRLQdPfhnqy-0UBGfPgVS2FeSV6AkhXMBmf1arQIbz4v_oLO7KtIvD_hp-FyxKVhpzgp59v-Ba-WzyOeklJR516ITg3E0x2LMUE3URkg27mmKN2m5reP50OdLXyhyN3lV1CVnUiuzBrU2guge-GY3IiAVw1TCA/s16000/IMG_2213_Gambia%20copy.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-12833114358088401232024-01-20T11:52:00.002+00:002024-01-21T07:15:57.925+00:00Screwed up<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Well I messed that up. I dedided to go to the Park this morning to stock up on year ticks. What I should have done was go to the Flats, where 99 times out of a hundred I would be on a Saturday morning. So I was stood by the Roding in the Old Sewage Works year-ticking a <b>Little Egret</b>, a bird that frankly I could see just about any day I fancied, when a flock of <b>Lapwing </b>flew over the Flats. Excellent. I was about done anyway so hurried back and spent the next two hours scanning the sky from my usual vantage point. Guess how many <b>Lapwings </b>flew over?</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichnzpcr2y2YWsBxQZpxY7oLR9yliNYRxaUzf_AHWNJfGsR9oGKmUNwzvIdLQTInf9WDBY3pzJyUYzjiVLfXopvNZv0T53vCj4u0yED2XiuttigEPQaUFIHsJDZ5OtZrNwKFpYECd6ldTfuM3pVU1jET1rRgZuuD4TnAum0BCuWjs2qDiyxGkiFHvJeA4/s1000/SoM%20cold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichnzpcr2y2YWsBxQZpxY7oLR9yliNYRxaUzf_AHWNJfGsR9oGKmUNwzvIdLQTInf9WDBY3pzJyUYzjiVLfXopvNZv0T53vCj4u0yED2XiuttigEPQaUFIHsJDZ5OtZrNwKFpYECd6ldTfuM3pVU1jET1rRgZuuD4TnAum0BCuWjs2qDiyxGkiFHvJeA4/s16000/SoM%20cold.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shoulder of Mutton just after first light</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The other thing I messed up was my spreadsheet of targets. I thought I had added two birds in the Park as I had also seen a <b>Kestrel</b>, but it turns out that I hadn't yet seen <b>Gadwall </b>or <b>Grey Heron </b>either, so with the addition of a <b>Reed Bunting </b>on the Flats I now find myself on 59, one greater than I ended last January on. And tantalisingly close to 60 of course. But missing <b>Lapwing</b>, a bird that I should have prioritised the merest possibilty of. Oh well, plenty of time left. I think I remember saying that throughout last year....</span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-52179914613647108472024-01-19T20:44:00.002+00:002024-01-19T20:44:36.199+00:00Weekend Targets<p><span style="font-family: arial;">The weekend is upon us. Praise be. It was a tough week here in Wanstead. Well, in Canary Wharf more specifically. But it is over and the next two days are mine. Birds are required. I thought about going somewhere different but there is a lot to do here in Wanstead, a lot to try and eke out.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_0Irm2k6cVhYVJttB0XGImyPm89_K7BgUBTd4B2E_w7AV4pHONlmFDTKDYgKAe08Q5Q2XpY8ATZgYOY5JIIs3Ndhk0WXIyYUm8A3D-7dekfdvK2K9mBcB1N02_vPBrZU4pLQq4XxZCWJYck3KpsIPdgXMykKl83bFL8-_rZ5Y5cEATGwlJtpMiUj1b0/s1000/frosty2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_0Irm2k6cVhYVJttB0XGImyPm89_K7BgUBTd4B2E_w7AV4pHONlmFDTKDYgKAe08Q5Q2XpY8ATZgYOY5JIIs3Ndhk0WXIyYUm8A3D-7dekfdvK2K9mBcB1N02_vPBrZU4pLQq4XxZCWJYck3KpsIPdgXMykKl83bFL8-_rZ5Y5cEATGwlJtpMiUj1b0/s16000/frosty2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Blackbird </b>fell this morning on Wanstead Flats. The Central Line has been suffering from a lack of trains, the one thing that you might hope that it had lots of. Rather than spend half an hour on Leytonstone platform each morning I've been walking across Wanstead Flats and getting on the Elizabeth Line which has the required number of trains to able to take people to work. Most mornings it has been deathly quiet, no life in the frigid landscape, but today there was a bit of a flurry with <b>Blackbird</b>, <b>Jay </b>and <b>Stonechat </b>falling quite quickly. This puts me on 54 for the year. I had thought it was 53, but I had of course forgotten <b>Cormorant</b>, much as I do every year. This means that there are a lot of targets. Do have a spreadsheet? Of course I do.....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvj1R1f29xtKJt2oryLUslEGdXu4PqSlClSa4XmDZmC565R8YDO6JBuUrqaQdyBG9lEaBijj_3ORaFdLaB2amUFmdgBdknuFTIE_UL6l_oHe7d_d-5DsfB9zQUtjYkhA9MhQjPsnHi_m8-UG8Lp8Gx7yPPYf40aQmQ3EgxiVB2ld5Yy26HEY0jmw0rMLw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="108" height="583" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvj1R1f29xtKJt2oryLUslEGdXu4PqSlClSa4XmDZmC565R8YDO6JBuUrqaQdyBG9lEaBijj_3ORaFdLaB2amUFmdgBdknuFTIE_UL6l_oHe7d_d-5DsfB9zQUtjYkhA9MhQjPsnHi_m8-UG8Lp8Gx7yPPYf40aQmQ3EgxiVB2ld5Yy26HEY0jmw0rMLw=w175-h583" width="175" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />I hope to find at least some of these tomorrow. My January average is 64, so ideally I'd like to see slightly over half of these before the month is out but let's see. It will be nice to spend a little bit more time out there rather than have to yomp rapidly across, but I fear the mostly frozen water bodies will have seen off a fair few of these targets. They will be back I'm sure. Maybe 60 is a nice number to aim at, and a bit more realistic. I'll be in touch.</span><p></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-16291224170182606522024-01-18T08:47:00.007+00:002024-01-19T19:03:34.059+00:00Great White Egret<p><span style="font-family: arial;">It has been a very nice and relaxed start to the patch year, made even better by being in The Gambia for a week and seeing far better birds than are available locally. More to come on that later, probably a lot later as I'm still stuck somewhere around July 2023 on that front. Maybe I'll just skip ahead a little? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyway, the usual jam has occured and not only did I manage to see <b>Waterthrush </b>in Essex, but back in Wanstead I also scraped the <b>Ferruginous Duck </b>which turned out to be a one day wonder. I also picked out the <b>Med Gull </b>on Jubilee on a short afternoon thrash after the twitch to Essex, and as I mentioned briefly in that post also had the good fortune to be standing around chatting to Nick when a <b>Great White Egret </b>flew over us and appeared to descend. We hoofed it over there to discover it had indeed landed - a rare sight indeed. It was of course extremely short-lived, and two of the innumerable off-lead dogs that occupy the patch every minute of every day caused it to fly off. I didn't have my camera, but had the presence of mind to whip out my phone and video it as it flew right past us. I've just worked out how to post this so here it is.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="489" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QQrDP4ltJ9k" width="588" youtube-src-id="QQrDP4ltJ9k"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In other news whilst looking for the Ferruginous Duck yesterday I also saw the <b>Water Rail </b>on Jubilee, presumably the same bird I found in late November last year. As the pond is now almost entirely iced over it showed very well, and in keeping with my relaxed approach to patch birding this year this was just my 51st species of 2024. Slow and steady wins the race or whatever the phrase is, and there are still plenty of things I've yet to see that will gradually eke my total upwards. Such gems as <b>Little Grebe </b>for instance, and <b>Blackbird</b>..... It has always been a life goal of mine to see <b>GWE </b>and <b>Ferruginous Duck </b>on the patch before <b>Blackbird </b>so I'm very pleased to have finally managed it.</span></p><p><br /></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-62418464480635852462024-01-17T18:30:00.018+00:002024-01-17T18:30:00.256+00:00Patch tick<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I hadn't really thought I'd get a patch tick this year, and certainly not in January. Or maybe I hadn't spent much time considering it as any new birds are just so random these days. When I think about what we've had, and what my biggest gaps are versus some of the others who bird here, there is really nothing very obvious that sticks out. So it is all about rarities, and of course these can turn up at any time. Cold snaps, such as they one we are currently in, are often good, but the expectation here is a rare (but resident) wader, pushed off an icy field, lake or shoreline, and a high likelihood of it being a very brief flyover as we have no suitable habitat. The expectation is definitely <i>not</i> a <b>Ferruginous Duck</b> swimming about on a tiny pond as that would be ridiculous.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But that is what has just happened. No doubt a Fudge Duck can get pushed off a frozen lake just as a wader can, but this is random dialled up to 11. Where has it come from? (Who does it belong to?! Ha!) Actually it looks good, or as good as a<b> Ferruginous Duck </b>can. There are no traces of hybridism, there are no rings, and as yet it hasn't got involved in eating bread. Looking at BirdGuides the closest and most recent drake that hasn't subsequently been reported is a bird at end of last week in Nottinghamshire, 160 miles away. Could it be this one? There has been some very cold weather there. There is another one a bit closer, in Norfolk, but that's still there, or was on the morning that our one turned up. But for this bird, wherever it came from, to end up on the smallest and most accessible pond in Wanstead is just crazy! I mean the chances of cold weather displacing any individual bird are exactly the same, rarity or resident, but in that case where are the 100 <b>Pochard </b>and 250 <b>Tufties</b>? Nope, just this one.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It's credentials are impossible to know and we will almost certainly never find out. In these situations I'd like to think it would get the benefit of any doubt. Regardless, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">it is a super find by Tim, and needless to say a first for the patch. It's my 168th bird here and I am within touching distance of another milestone! Jubilee Pond is tiny, and when the bird arrived was already about 75% frozen. It was thus limited to a much smaller area of open water and showed brilliantly, almost too well actually, but we are putting that down to the need to feed and there being no other option for it. All the wild </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Shoveler </b><span style="font-family: arial;">and other ducks are having to do the same.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Almost all the regular patch birders managed to see it, now we just have to see if stays. Part of me wants it to depart immediately so that it remains unblemished, but I'd like those few who have so far missed out to see it - this is a collective patch despite the competitive element. I managed a couple of brief photos late in the day in sub-optimal light. Not ideal, but on the plus side the bird was extremely close in to the edge.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmBIMVZdyb73hEeLlpeNhbrN_7VPgkrTmiu7099C_GSqU-aKQUzmnLd8VSZELtEPNc4WX_DlqGBOZ-7DRh920tu-Vmj8rBXOdcRl-3qHley6u5wlWdIbdij3Wb9UbzEb7Akhvj-PZtxzuVEmAec5nTjiQgVJHLKBUYsw0hI2DD8sfqSvlN7aaFJtAe74/s1000/IMG_5210_Ferruginous%20Duck%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmBIMVZdyb73hEeLlpeNhbrN_7VPgkrTmiu7099C_GSqU-aKQUzmnLd8VSZELtEPNc4WX_DlqGBOZ-7DRh920tu-Vmj8rBXOdcRl-3qHley6u5wlWdIbdij3Wb9UbzEb7Akhvj-PZtxzuVEmAec5nTjiQgVJHLKBUYsw0hI2DD8sfqSvlN7aaFJtAe74/s16000/IMG_5210_Ferruginous%20Duck%20copy.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzEeCFgPPgkIzxzW09eIxV3-XSNonPQ8AIx5uZJZrSBcpZrt5BYyGS5xhhcB9z2EigMJ8p2nclEMF2qNGTOJ6zttbYR_rSs9gYa5sd46tco0kOiiVJ3YvNXsb8J5_sZkLGfIHbxTkYF3aYhjKS4Twoi2mwzFPiu2yx90gNsplC5b2RXpboH3BHDnsXLd0/s1000/IMG_5267_Ferruginous%20Duck%20copy.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzEeCFgPPgkIzxzW09eIxV3-XSNonPQ8AIx5uZJZrSBcpZrt5BYyGS5xhhcB9z2EigMJ8p2nclEMF2qNGTOJ6zttbYR_rSs9gYa5sd46tco0kOiiVJ3YvNXsb8J5_sZkLGfIHbxTkYF3aYhjKS4Twoi2mwzFPiu2yx90gNsplC5b2RXpboH3BHDnsXLd0/s16000/IMG_5267_Ferruginous%20Duck%20copy.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvWjh0cOO7QD3IOU3qiDt5ii8hWTbFMNrxd6Mr4sA9bySbTqvwWcEa8mP7WMNSXTUyOhkWv9VVgudqsFUyFedoDnZq8zDu66xCe0BHRsl6ZkZDOubNvir0nPlIf4GGcI4S6n3734B3nf9rcYjG02lcN1XXayqLX_H62IJ5bKyJYmqzxY4MJLaxvEhM5ns/s1000/IMG_5246_Ferruginous%20Duck%20copy.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvWjh0cOO7QD3IOU3qiDt5ii8hWTbFMNrxd6Mr4sA9bySbTqvwWcEa8mP7WMNSXTUyOhkWv9VVgudqsFUyFedoDnZq8zDu66xCe0BHRsl6ZkZDOubNvir0nPlIf4GGcI4S6n3734B3nf9rcYjG02lcN1XXayqLX_H62IJ5bKyJYmqzxY4MJLaxvEhM5ns/s16000/IMG_5246_Ferruginous%20Duck%20copy.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-67219750104206587122024-01-14T20:51:00.003+00:002024-01-15T06:49:23.873+00:00Playing it cool for the Waterthrush<span style="font-family: arial;">I made the trip to Heybridge this morning to see the <b>Northern Waterthrush</b>. I had wondered when the first over-wintering Yank would be found after the mega-fall in the autumn, but a bird an hour away in Essex had not been on my radar at all. It was found late last week I think, just as I was leaving the country. There was no need to panic as I'd seen the bird on Scilly many years ago, but part of me felt that fear of missing out. A <b>Waterthrush</b>! In Essex! </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Happily it was still on offer when I got back yesterday. Otherwise engaged, I had to wait until today, but the bird played ball.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mick picked me up around 8am, and by 9.20am we were on site. Twenty minutes of that was the walk from the designated car park near Heybridge Basin, so it was of course rather disappointing (but not in the least surprising) to discover that many there had decided that parking opposite the bird and in front of people's houses at 7am on a Sunday morning was absolutely A-OK. Clearly more convenient but imagine if that were your house. I'd be properly pissed off.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">We had missed the early morning showings, but the bird returned a few hours later as has consistently been the case the last few days. A good thing it did as by this point, sitting on the cold ground, my backside was numb. Shutters went nuts as you can imagine, including my own, although somehow I had managed to dial in the ISO to 8000 when I had meant to stop at 3200. Oh well, at least it meant a reasonably decent shutter speed - it is quite dark in the bird's favoured ditch. It landed in small oak first, giving the game away with its sharp metallic call as it dropped in. Pausing momentarily it then skipped into the ditch and started to feed along the edges, coming ever closer. Oh boy. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxcU3XOCzoMUyBwnYdvWrVZJRTo859pumXyUjl0ybZ16vBioXLL0v75oaof9PhtSyyyjjPWvHp9VsDTDe_qWYWMLDhlMMbF6uGXeiD-SRbTC53AAnm7ZVXyLnsgTFtUtyXvVP2TAc_sl2jOv9jMMdbSSvYkxhnu440HvzC-swftzbF54RlWcWAXTSrWA/s1000/IMG_5182_Northern%20Waterthrush,%20Heybridge%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxcU3XOCzoMUyBwnYdvWrVZJRTo859pumXyUjl0ybZ16vBioXLL0v75oaof9PhtSyyyjjPWvHp9VsDTDe_qWYWMLDhlMMbF6uGXeiD-SRbTC53AAnm7ZVXyLnsgTFtUtyXvVP2TAc_sl2jOv9jMMdbSSvYkxhnu440HvzC-swftzbF54RlWcWAXTSrWA/s16000/IMG_5182_Northern%20Waterthrush,%20Heybridge%20copy.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It may have jumped up onto the nice mossy culvert wall, but we will never know as when the bird was reasonably close and getting closer a long blast of a car horn sent it skittering back down the channel and soon after that it was off. Presumably this was a local venting his or her frustration at having to slalom down their own street. People were sarcastically irritated - "<i>Thanks mate!</i>", "<i>Bet that was on purpose</i>", but you reap what you sow frankly. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In other news I had a quick mooch around the western side of Wanstead Flats later in the afternoon, hoping to pick up Tony's <b>Med Gull </b>that Richard had refound when I was in Essex. I wasn't holding out a great deal of hope that it was there still, but soon after meeting Nick and agreeing that it had likely done one I picked it out in the melee. A bird I didn't get on the patch last year - alongside <b>Snipe </b>and <b>Lapwing</b>, both of which have already fallen (to others!) this year. Funny how these things pan out. It was to get better though, as standing chewing the fat with Nick back towards my house he picked out a <b>Great White Egret</b> flying over us. Remarkably it landed in what we call the 'Boggy Bit' and as the inevitable flushing by our four-legged friends occured I was able to video it flying off. This was my 7th GWE for the patch, all of which have been since 2018 - clearly increasing. So all in all a fine day with a few decent birds to kick off the year with.</span></div>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-34922425562285752432024-01-10T18:30:00.001+00:002024-01-10T18:30:00.153+00:00Flower wonder<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Just a quick update as we head towards halfway through January to say that my Strelitzia flower has become evem more impressive. If you recall it burst into life on December 18th, so this has been in bloom for over three weeks. I have some plants whose flowers last just one day, like Mayflies. This one on the other hand has some real longevity. If you <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/12/christmas-comes-early.html">go back and look</a> at my original photo you will see that more petals and spathes or whatever it is that they are called have emerged, and that the flower head now looks spectacular. Also note how the angle has changed to nearly 90 degrees as the flower has matured. It is just magical how it does this.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9I2y1n13R-daU7S2pWLgOI7LTp6WEJMUcdKPML9c3k870fO6S7BarGv_VPzu5op4FvnCdjd95LAYOrrOMDSKL0Fmf6_mhLtmKQNNXV37mXAO_WKfBsJc3WSkF6IqIm9vTj5HfeJ_20OvBbVyT6oHOOs8_LvIRw5Z73epjYMZHmB924BSeJWl2sJdafY/s850/Flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="590" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9I2y1n13R-daU7S2pWLgOI7LTp6WEJMUcdKPML9c3k870fO6S7BarGv_VPzu5op4FvnCdjd95LAYOrrOMDSKL0Fmf6_mhLtmKQNNXV37mXAO_WKfBsJc3WSkF6IqIm9vTj5HfeJ_20OvBbVyT6oHOOs8_LvIRw5Z73epjYMZHmB924BSeJWl2sJdafY/s16000/Flower.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">You can also see that it is leaking nectar profusely. I had a quick taste and it is incredible sweet, a shame that there are no native insects to take advantage of it. I've been having to mop up pools of it from the floor underneath plant, and it shows no signs of giving up. Eventually of course it will fade and dry out, but I may cut if off at the stem and keep it as an art installation in a swanky ceramic vase for a while. The next step is to repot the plant in the spring, if I can get it to get really big it could end up producing multiple flowers each year, a bit like my larger Aloes.</span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-11634902152645511942024-01-08T17:00:00.003+00:002024-01-08T17:00:00.145+00:00Coot takeover<p><span style="font-family: arial;">The local <b>Coots </b>have started warring again. Maybe they never stop? Earlier this week I had four in a face-off, warily circling one another, necks and heads to the water. From time to time one would lunge at another one, and the other two would then pich in as well, though whether in defence of the first one or in cohorts with the other was impossible to tell. Eventually one would have enough and shoot off with the other three in pursuit and then this curious western would begin again on a slightly different part of the pond. They seem to have no off button.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJDg4SR3-WCP-LXt0R7t6kX2A4gd7ffr7LEYhAQuMemF0KnBed7btYK_a6cavMcomz3R77L-3r2eYE0b1S9TXoHiku1vEgegHDd40VajMzFGA7ujqqplecQ9k4OGwdiDCCBoSvCsIwmvCxcEHSX0r6GgtPB-nrNGSu_eHcHa75sa13v-6FKJ98exn6j0/s1000/Coots.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJDg4SR3-WCP-LXt0R7t6kX2A4gd7ffr7LEYhAQuMemF0KnBed7btYK_a6cavMcomz3R77L-3r2eYE0b1S9TXoHiku1vEgegHDd40VajMzFGA7ujqqplecQ9k4OGwdiDCCBoSvCsIwmvCxcEHSX0r6GgtPB-nrNGSu_eHcHa75sa13v-6FKJ98exn6j0/s16000/Coots.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Alexandra Lake currently has the most <b>Coots</b>, I counted 59 at the start of the year and that is probably under-selling it. The biggest concentrations, gangs if you will, is at the end near the car park where people arrive to dump rotting veg, bread, rice and other wholly unsuitable foot stuffs. I've blogged about this before, no need to again, but when this happens you don't just see a melee of <b>Gulls </b>and <b>Geese</b>, the <b>Coots </b>are front and centre, all their battle training coming to the fore. You don't even need to have food, just the fact you stand on two legs is sufficient to have them all hurtling out of the pond to stand at your feet. So far I've not been attacked for being empty-handed, but you feel that day will surely come for one poor unsuspecting visitor, and they will be mercilessly pecked to death and then dragged into the shallows to be consumed. The <b>Moorhens</b> - and there are quite a few - will take the scraps.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">No I didn't see a <b>Northern Waterthrush </b>at the weekend in case you were wondering.</span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-37156393876520093492024-01-04T19:52:00.002+00:002024-01-04T19:52:58.390+00:00Creeping up<p><span style="font-family: arial;">After spending the first day of 2024 not birding in Wanstead, my patch list stood at two on the morning of the 2nd. Time to get to work. The weather being a bit so so, and me being very much a fair-weather birder, at least locally, I was limited to looking out of the window at home before I went to work. Nothing surprising at all, but I found I could hear two separate <b>Song Thrushes</b>, and all the regular Gulls flew over. I ended on 15, upped to 16 on the commute with a <b>Stock Dove </b>on the way to the tube. Meanwhile all my birding compatriots having diligently flogged the patch on Monday were on about 50. I am not too concerned, this is a marathon and I am good at those. Not running ones obviously. I recently found out that I came top of last year's patch list which I wasn't expecting, and this despite no <b>Snipe</b>, <b>Wigeon </b>or <b>Lapwing</b>. It wasn't a great year for anyone by the sounds of it, including for Nick who usually wipes the floor with all of us by virtue of being out all day every day. With the amount of time I spend off patch I am amazed I stayed in the game, but I did put a lot of effort in when I was here. There is no prize beyond kudos, and barely any of that, so we have all reset to zero and are starting again. Hurrah!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So January 2nd wasn't great but it started to come together on January 3rd when there was a brief gap in the constant deluge. I got out on the Flats nice and early and did a complete circuit before going to work. Nothing spectacular, but <b>Chaffinch </b>and <b>Greenfinch </b>were a little unexpected (this is a measure of how dire it is at the moment) and I ended up on 38 before catching the Elizabeth line in.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This morning there was another brief gap in the weather and so I headed out on my annual foray to Bush Wood. In about an hour I managed to pick up both regular <b>Woodpeckers</b>, both <b>Crests</b>, and <b>Nuthatch</b>, and as I was working from home today <b>Collared Dove </b>fell pretty easily. I also stopped by the Basin for <b>Great Crested Grebe </b>whilst running an errand at lunchtime. 45. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">My January average is 63, with a max of 72, so there is still a long way to go. I confess I am not feeling it very much though. <b>Northern Waterthrush</b> in Essex? What seems like eons ago I went to Scilly for one of those, one of the best birding weekends I have ever had. Everything falls eventually. I had been wondering if the September storms might have squirreled away some goodies, a bit like that <b>Yellowthroat </b>at Rhiwderin in February 2012, but I hadn't predicted Essex being the place!</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0MVXAFvEMuOT4L8Gg9DpIoR4mv7xUkZtpNzjsG21odr2PXfspwswrXc-Ievq-OZwGkA4q1x-M-RgFFlk_mhZjsM2IKOOoRgAs0ALMfcdX3UV-cOyZ6n6yRFv_gLkYL9B3XrvW6tH2vODj8U91T7wZ-iKoqW7sxKwFsCeq0SPPZ4hs5JXJJLA2m0TJuc/s1000/IMG_9310%20Northern%20Waterthrush,%20St%20Mary's,%20IoS%20copywtmk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0MVXAFvEMuOT4L8Gg9DpIoR4mv7xUkZtpNzjsG21odr2PXfspwswrXc-Ievq-OZwGkA4q1x-M-RgFFlk_mhZjsM2IKOOoRgAs0ALMfcdX3UV-cOyZ6n6yRFv_gLkYL9B3XrvW6tH2vODj8U91T7wZ-iKoqW7sxKwFsCeq0SPPZ4hs5JXJJLA2m0TJuc/s16000/IMG_9310%20Northern%20Waterthrush,%20St%20Mary's,%20IoS%20copywtmk.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blast from the past. 2011</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyway, Happy New Year to one and all, hope all your birding wishes come true.</span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-11296181238631257972024-01-02T18:30:00.003+00:002024-01-02T18:30:00.137+00:00A Positive Start<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've had a great start to the year. My Wanstead list stands at two. Brilliant. <b>Robin </b>before the sun rose on New Year's Day, and then a <b>Magpie</b>. On January 1st I left Wanstead behind as threatened and went to Essex, a great choice. Door to door service from Mick S to Abberton, where we gave the Aythya flock a good grilling. I had meant to go on the 31st but had wimped out in the end, preferring to stay local, where of course I saw nothing. But of course Monday was a brand new year, and why start it off somewhere I will no doubt visit endlessly? Abberton it was. Mick had dipped the <b>Canvasback </b>the previous day, but the weather looked good if a little on the cold and breezy side. Nonetheless I was confident it would be there and that I could find it. It was and I did. I am still amazed that Howard found it without knowing it was there, that is just next level birding. Even knowing that it is there somewhere it is very difficult indeed but somehow I picked it out amongst the hundreds of <b>Pochard </b>and was able to get everyone on it. The all black bill is the key, at which point you realise that it <i>is</i> a shade lighter than the <b>Pochard </b>and maybe a little bigger in all dimensions. Try to use those two distinguishing features when they are all asleep however and it is virtually impossible. We both had quite large cameras lenses and had high hopes of getting some decent photographs but it was not to be; the part of the flock containing the target remained steadfastly distant at all times.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxppEbrh2-6_5TeIxX-Q3VY2jmZoEO01Jk4Y72aOGtG-tjSQbSJ2NEmH9ZszvjAM8ZCgWVNzSLpJaRwH_bjO1-09y0sET7G0kLfGEcPW6jCP4_FxIR5ru3cYP6LG6gswrY4DswR2d_tctx3-pfivRE_9Nfis99chP1RXzbXkKWQGtVtVXq1nL4AXY7yY/s1000/IMG_1248_Canvasback%20Abberton.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxppEbrh2-6_5TeIxX-Q3VY2jmZoEO01Jk4Y72aOGtG-tjSQbSJ2NEmH9ZszvjAM8ZCgWVNzSLpJaRwH_bjO1-09y0sET7G0kLfGEcPW6jCP4_FxIR5ru3cYP6LG6gswrY4DswR2d_tctx3-pfivRE_9Nfis99chP1RXzbXkKWQGtVtVXq1nL4AXY7yY/s16000/IMG_1248_Canvasback%20Abberton.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Moving from Layer Breton to Layer-de-la-Haye we added <b>Smew </b>and <b>Goosander </b>to the day list, and then a quick scoot around to the screen below Abberton Church added the long-staying <b>Velvet Scoters </b>as well as a <b>Glaucous Gull </b>that had just been found and that was an unexpected Essex tick. Back to the small causeway and I was able to pick the <b>Canvasback </b>again east of the road but it was still at the far side, nice scope views but no photographs other than distant record shots. At this point we gave up and decided to join the throngs in Colchester for the <b>Waxwings</b>, a species I confess I have been very keen to see despite really not wanting to be a part of a group of middle-aged men standing around in an industrial estate. I guess sometimes you just have to do these things. Ebird tells me that I last saw a <b>Waxwing </b>in the UK in 2013 so it is not as if I do this very often. They didn't stick around long but I was able to have a bit of a play with my camera which I had not used since October in South Africa. It still works thankfully, though I am far less conversant with it than I was. Once upon a time I could alter the settings without taking my eye off the viewfinder but today it was a bit of a struggle.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7N3_1ssAFxielSaSDiXgTfwCuM2xuWUh_Y6YbOSdk7bTSw6jRgWs0xTM4xKzM86HemD_2E6RJj-gCev53lamMfV1pjg7t3vXVByvz1kboSszMlNTe3x2eHuPJlKu51Y3GDU_MF8Iyfg0qQ4ayVfFSQPWmR1ixDZ5PQPl8SHNu6YNQ06AfwmLDLTSCCB8/s850/IMG_1328_Waxwing,%20Colchester_s2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7N3_1ssAFxielSaSDiXgTfwCuM2xuWUh_Y6YbOSdk7bTSw6jRgWs0xTM4xKzM86HemD_2E6RJj-gCev53lamMfV1pjg7t3vXVByvz1kboSszMlNTe3x2eHuPJlKu51Y3GDU_MF8Iyfg0qQ4ayVfFSQPWmR1ixDZ5PQPl8SHNu6YNQ06AfwmLDLTSCCB8/s16000/IMG_1328_Waxwing,%20Colchester_s2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Back to Layer Breton to discover the entire flock asleep on the far side. Seemingly mission impossible but we did eventually manage to pin it down on the mantle colour alone - hurrah! So a fun day out in Essex, just over fifty species to kick off the year so nothing monumental but a little bit of quality. I'll probably have a quick check of the patch in the next few days. Amazingly Tony found a <b>Med Gull </b>on Monday - we didn't get one at all in 2023 and then it goes and falls on January 1st. That's patchworking for you I suppose!</span><p></p></div>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-52118354420112310172024-01-01T12:00:00.040+00:002024-01-01T12:00:00.136+00:002024<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I read a scary line the other day that went something like this: "2040 is closer to us than the year 2000 is distant". Not a complex proposition I suppose, simple maths, but it did make me stop and think. Not only is it true but where exactly has that time gone? The years have passed incredibly quickly. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I've worked at my company for nearly 25 years.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I've lived in the same house for nearly 20 years. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">My children are 20, 18 and 16. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In 2040 I will be 65 years old. Imagine that! I still vividly remember my Dad's 40th birthday party in Cambridge, sat with my sister at the top of the stairs as our normally quiet house filled with people downstairs. I am significantly older now than he was then. 2040 also came up the other day when I was looking to get some wine delivered. I noticed I had a case of Port that people recommend <i>starts</i> drinking in 2040. Starts! That made me go and look at the end dates for wine in my cellar - I have a fair few cases of red wine that goes out to 2050 and beyond. Some of it will be particularly long-lived - to 2070. Predictably that made me start thinking about <i>my</i> end date. I'll be 95! Or more realistically I won't be here at all. And even on the offchance that I am the nurses will probably have banned wine anyway. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The start of a New Year always tends to provoke these kinds of thoughts in me. Time rushing by, famous Pink Floyd lyrics etc. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">A lifetime is literally the blink of an eye, you have to make the most of it.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> I urge everyone to think about that the next time they contemplate half an hour watching crap TV, or as they endlessly doom-scroll on their phones. And I urge myself to take my own advice. Get out there, stop pissing about. You, yes you! Get out of that chair and go and do something! Or stay in the chair. It's comfy, you're warm and you're quite happy, and a glass of something is to hand. Do what you want to do, enjoy yourself, you're only here for so long. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">PS. You bought that wine for one reason, and it wasn't with inheritances in mind! Drink up!</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLF-icqCj-BKElv1IAgUZh5MXSQUUw0uhoovQC-fCL6Xp417f2hkJWg7nSaXLklB2_IY40d-aASprHiB0hHrh4Iu7_tx_uc4Knsn7NHKUB0dyq7OUgSNKxZFeDFkZrHsiRdbdR2ATyjaJVdk1Ry6PPIDa9QVj347VFC37guLiss24sVnN5evGI0cRkVA/s1000/xmas23.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLF-icqCj-BKElv1IAgUZh5MXSQUUw0uhoovQC-fCL6Xp417f2hkJWg7nSaXLklB2_IY40d-aASprHiB0hHrh4Iu7_tx_uc4Knsn7NHKUB0dyq7OUgSNKxZFeDFkZrHsiRdbdR2ATyjaJVdk1Ry6PPIDa9QVj347VFC37guLiss24sVnN5evGI0cRkVA/s16000/xmas23.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas 2023</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-51078446241197305752023-12-31T09:00:00.001+00:002023-12-31T09:00:00.242+00:00The year in numbers<p><span style="font-family: arial;">At the start of this year I wondered if I would be able to see 1000 species by the end of it. A 'Big Year' of sorts, but with my own little target, nothing like these frankly bonkers global missions where somehow one person sees 7000+ species in a single year. It has taken me a lifetime to see somewhere around 2500, I just don't get it. As per usual I had a lot of travel planned but no, 1000 would suit me fine. Previously my best annual effort was 781, achieved last year and in no small measure due to having spent a week on a guided birding trip in Colombia.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ6hZJ9rf-v-a6mWpKNVw40rCezloGCZWCgPzjPtNf901UDiZuPb37Wjtzgl_4EqAFYPefxGOdeDTSPezRjXVswm3EVTu6Dus6kOcJgxO2FvLXbzd9ROjP4iiaHoP2p77dcxAQnRqjmGEy3UP1qh_OwSrrihXPMmkhY4i9uIL_FERksoLc8P5towvdV_c/s795/world%20count.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="795" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ6hZJ9rf-v-a6mWpKNVw40rCezloGCZWCgPzjPtNf901UDiZuPb37Wjtzgl_4EqAFYPefxGOdeDTSPezRjXVswm3EVTu6Dus6kOcJgxO2FvLXbzd9ROjP4iiaHoP2p77dcxAQnRqjmGEy3UP1qh_OwSrrihXPMmkhY4i9uIL_FERksoLc8P5towvdV_c/s16000/world%20count.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To cut a long story short I <i>didn't</i> make it, and even with a month left to go I knew I wouldn't. But I did come pretty close - 960 at the time of writing, completely obliterating my previous total but nonetheless falling short of that nice round number I had hoped for. Oh well, it is only a number. I half thought about doing another trip just to get over the threshold but dismissed it as silly and frivoulous, a rare instance of self control. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I am exceptionally fortunate to be able to travel as I do, and it's very self-indulgent. Then again it's one of the principal reasons why I work where I work. But you knew that, I covered it a few weeks ago. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyway, I didn't quite manage it but I will simply try again next year, something to aim at and as you would expect I already have a few things lined up. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJtUcsTG1AH_VViO_p-UH1T21_c5P-9234-PjJv4ufaYHiiqW3KR7t3O8zKZIG89xruQLKveN4L74jE3Jaqxe0COImII7b5sgnLopsT5Qa39u0yCpf8YduSqOFscP2wUUKi_3LJajBQq3fi1yvzJ07NlmiU7oPi5Q5fc_QXXbASh_HCll-jH0Vs18JbA/s1000/2023%20travel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJtUcsTG1AH_VViO_p-UH1T21_c5P-9234-PjJv4ufaYHiiqW3KR7t3O8zKZIG89xruQLKveN4L74jE3Jaqxe0COImII7b5sgnLopsT5Qa39u0yCpf8YduSqOFscP2wUUKi_3LJajBQq3fi1yvzJ07NlmiU7oPi5Q5fc_QXXbASh_HCll-jH0Vs18JbA/s16000/2023%20travel.jpg" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">With apologies to those who hate flying, frequent flyers, airplanes and any other mode of transport apart from a bicycle, above is a map with a breakdown of where I went in 2023. I didn't mention this in the <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/12/lifestyle-choices-writing-choices.html">post I referenced above</a> as that wasn't the thrust, but a few years ago I had a long think about how much I fly. This was during COVID when I wasn't going anywhere and was rather depressed about it. When the world re-opened would I resume, or would I be so used to seeing nothing and going nowhere that I could just give it up? Over the course of a few weeks I wrote a mammoth blog post as I agonised about my personal contribution to global warming called "The Elephant in the Room". This contained all of the good things that I did for the planet, all of which were then rendered completely redundant</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> by taking just a single flight anywhere. It was full of arguments, counter-arguments, contradictions and despair, and when it came to it publishing it I instead just deleted it in a strop. With myself, and with mankind's seeming inability to see beyond one week in the future. Bottom line it </span><i style="font-family: arial;">is</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> a lot of travel for an individual when compared against the average. I don't know how these things are calculated but if a person takes just one flight it likely uses up their entire annual 'carbon budget' or close to it. Then again I'm told that even driving a modest car around the UK a fair bit has the ability to do that. Of course I take many more flights than just one a year but after beating myself up for a couple of months I concluded two things. 1) That the only way to actually stop contributing to global emmisions is to essentially stop doing almost everything. 2) Even if I and my entire family immediately went and lived off-grid in a cave it wouldn't change the outcome in any way. We're pissing in the wind, fiddling in the margins. The world is going to continue to heat up with or without me, the planes - more and more of them - are going to fly regardless of whether I am on them or not, and frankly we are all screwed and nothing is going to stop that and certainly not the actions of an individual or even a family. It comes down to this - I enjoy travel above pretty much everything else. I could stop but then I'd be miserable, and I see no point in being pointlessly miserable. Moral superiority perhaps, but at what cost? That's where I'm at. One day, when I have the time, I am going to do some very long voyages by train and by car. I've been reading about long-distance train trips across continents and they sound incredible. Right now I don't have the time, so I fly places. </span><div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've read the counter-arguments to my stance and I agree with a lot of them. Call me irrational and selfish (or less charitable things) but they don't change my view on individual flying, or indeed the wider picture as i</span><span style="font-family: arial;">t's not just aviation that is the problem regardless of what some would have you think. The complexity of what we face and the morass of inter-related themes is mind-boggling, but flying, which is measurable and where individuals can exercise a choice, is a soft and understandably popular target. Actually more carbon emissions come from commercial shipping, much of it to support all the crap we don't need but buy anyway. And as for coal-fired power plants across the globe, well we might as well all give up. My own "</span><i style="font-family: arial;">What the hell is the point?</i><span style="font-family: arial;">" moment came from one particular visit to America a few years back. I had just arrived and it was dark. I was headed away from the city along a six or seven lane highway (each direction) that was bumper to bumper with cars, many of them gigantic SUVs. Alongside both sides of the highway were a sea of illuminated signs for an almost infinite number of fast food joints, car and truck dealerships, fuel, shops and megastores, personal injury lawyers, you name it it was on a sign, just extraordinary levels of consumption and consumerism. Planes were coming into land overhead one a minute and I had this realisation that this was the current day incarnation of Bladerunner. Was I in LA? I can't remember, but the scene surrounding me felt semi-dystopian and i</span><span style="font-family: arial;">t went on for miles and miles. And I knew that not only was it like this night and day, but that it was like this in every major city across the country. I just saw this same road stretching across the States and felt insignificant and helpless in the face of it. Fair enough on that particular evening I might have been a part of it, but for the vast majority the time I wouldn't be here. But the traffic still would be, the fast food places, the gas stations, the strip malls, the fumes, the noise and the excess, it would run continuously. Deep down I knew that nothing could change America or anywhere else quickly enough to make a difference. Some people might witness this and return home to become a hermit. I took a different path, not one of denial exactly but one of resignation. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Critics can say that I gave up because the alternative was too hard, that I took the easy and selfish route, buried my head in the sand. Fine, I did and I have.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I can't justify it, who can?</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> Feel free to flay me in the comments because I dare to acknowledge it.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">So yes I continue to travel by air, and despite all the above I find it incredibly liberating. As I have mentioned before I plan each of these trips meticulously, I get almost as much enjoyment from the planning as I do from the executing of the plan. Travel is also not always straightforward, but I get a perverse kick from being able to navigate through non-straightforward situations and still make it work. One day it will no doubt all do wrong but that day has yet to come, and 2023 was actually a pretty easy year. Here it is in bird count form.<br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>USA - 258</b>. I went to America three times this year. An expedition to <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/11/oahu-logistics-and-itinerary.html">Hawaii</a> in April which also included a morning in California. Five days in <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/11/new-england-may-2023-logistics-and.html">New England in May</a> was all about birding, and I then had five days in Ohio visiting family in September. It's my biggest ever year list for the States and I saw 31 new ABA species.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Colombia - 184</b>. I went again, but to visit friends and experience some real Colombia, chilling out with a large extended family. I did have a day being guided near Bogota at the very start, but this was mostly a non-birding trip if such a thing exists in my lexicon. Most of the time was spent in the lowlands towards the start of the Llanos, hot and humid, and teeming with birds. Many were just seen from a garden or a pool, beer in hand....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Mexico - 167</b>. Mick and I went on a fun <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/06/mexico-eastern-yucatan-logistics-and.html">trip</a> early on in the year to Cancun and explored the jungles towards Belize and Guatemala using the Mayan ruins as entry points into pristine forest. It was hot and difficult but extremely rewarding - <b>Ocellated Turkey</b> anyone?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Argentina - 150</b>. Another non-birding trip, ahem....A week with Mrs L in Buenos Aires in October somehow netted an amazing number of birds. What can I say? Well, for starters Costanera Sur, an urban reserve within the city, is simply fabulous and is responsible for most of them, but we also went south of the city for a day out. This is as yet not written up, I ran out of steam after.....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>South Africa - 146</b>. I took two of the kids on <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/12/kruger-national-park-south-africa-july.html">safari</a> in July. Although the primary focus was mammals, there are also a ton of birds in the Kruger and the trip report probably contained as much on them as it did Lions etc. A fabulous country, utterly beautiful.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Greece - 89.</b> I spent a <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/04/the-gulf-of-corinth-part-1.html">weekend</a> around the Gulf of Corinth in January exploring ancient sites and birding some coastal marshes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Iceland - 66</b>. Another l<a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/11/iceland-may-2023-logistics-and-itinerary.html">ong weekend</a> on the west coast. Dreadful weather probably didn't limit the total - there just aren't many birds in Iceland.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Canada - 53.</b> This was the same trip as New England, I just started and finished in Montreal instead of, say, Boston, because flight timings worked a little bit better and I fancied spending a bit of time in Canada.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Croatia - 51</b>. A weekend in the spring, a country tick and I saw a few birds at the same time as exploring Zagreb on foot.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Portugal - 41.</b> My son and I spent a <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/11/lisbon.html">weekend in Lisbon</a>, and then Mrs L and I went to <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/09/april-on-madeira.html">Madeira</a>. The low species count is evidence that I don't just go birding everywhere.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>France - 34</b>. A walking holiday in the Alps over the August Bank Holiday weekend with my friends from university. We were in Chamonix but started in Geneva, so the Switzerland count is from the same trip.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Spain - 30</b>. I flew to Colombia from Madrid. Air Traffic Control meltdowns meant I had a day in Madrid rather than an hour, so I decided I would go birding, you know, just to do something a bit different...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Switzerland - 16</b>. As above.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Hungary - 11</b>. Birds seen from Budapest airport as part of the Hawaii trip. As I think I've explained before for some crazy reason it is significantly cheaper to depart from various European cities than London, so that's what I do. Airlines (or Governments) need to sort their shit out and disincentivise this, rather than positively <i>in</i>centivise it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>UK - 201</b> I spent most of November and December inching towards 200 and just cleared the hurdle in Fife with a <b>Black Redstart</b>. Many people see this number by the end of April, indeed when I spent more time away from the local patch there were years when I did too. This year most of my UK birding was local, and so 113 of the 201 were here in Wanstead. This is very slightly over the average, my eighth highest total out of the 15 years I've been keeping score.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWxczeePkX4R9paz3W9EvFP3qzGDnvv5110ExTkrEDycKUQDfrJR7k7N4gDK-KHsQduuuss7hyphenhyphenp2R9snrJ5lc4JBBVPpbFWNF7HF6vkwQwj82kxE-Cu-2FRqhWY52FHXQRs2CQ3w7LeEK5Er0_XVCckbWtqki3EikiQih4R75HYsvesSv4b2jpdTqOik/s1000/Wanstead%20years.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="36" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWxczeePkX4R9paz3W9EvFP3qzGDnvv5110ExTkrEDycKUQDfrJR7k7N4gDK-KHsQduuuss7hyphenhyphenp2R9snrJ5lc4JBBVPpbFWNF7HF6vkwQwj82kxE-Cu-2FRqhWY52FHXQRs2CQ3w7LeEK5Er0_XVCckbWtqki3EikiQih4R75HYsvesSv4b2jpdTqOik/s16000/Wanstead%20years.jpg" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pqmn7IzJmEgfn9w4Gm9eMFrvFy2W9Xwj_XMmTSiQqeLquuAHBhyphenhypheng05piuF_0OIpo1KtE8Orr0qjJ9Ww7qBVo68WJjT9Uy1_DDeiOJvGvxWPn_11JhQLFnPZ4vpDLUBL83OwvQ3GWKj6k73qmnggrXbMgGq9RXHMV5XsBi-N0tLAvX5RaTFwucVhs2JQ/s918/Wanstead%20years%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="918" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pqmn7IzJmEgfn9w4Gm9eMFrvFy2W9Xwj_XMmTSiQqeLquuAHBhyphenhypheng05piuF_0OIpo1KtE8Orr0qjJ9Ww7qBVo68WJjT9Uy1_DDeiOJvGvxWPn_11JhQLFnPZ4vpDLUBL83OwvQ3GWKj6k73qmnggrXbMgGq9RXHMV5XsBi-N0tLAvX5RaTFwucVhs2JQ/s16000/Wanstead%20years%202.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wanstead through the Ages</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Nationally, I went on just five twitches in 2023, two more than in 2022. One of these was a dip in Kent where I sat in a hide listening to inane conversation for five hours. Fun times. The others were successful though and I added five new birds. In May the<b> Grey-headed Lapwing</b> in Northumberland en route to the <b>Stejneger's Scoter </b>in Fife, which in turn was en route to my parents who live there. I then surprised myself by going to Wales in September for the <b>Magnolia/Canada</b> duo, and finally in November I went to Essex and Norfolk on successive weekends for the <b>Canvasback </b>and <b>Pallid Swift </b>respectively. I enjoyed all these days out considerably but I still reckon my twitching days are more or less over. You have no idea how difficult I find it to motivate myself to get in the car.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Globally I added 233 new species to my life list. The Nearctic dominates heavily, as it always seems to in my case - I nearly always head west rather than east for some reason, probably my heritage. I need to try and change that but I have to say I am becoming heavily addicted to South American birding, a dangerous thing. It is just so ridiculously good. What is interesting about the above (to me at any rate) is that of all of those days away just two days were spent with professional bird guides, and between them they didn't even contribute 80 species that I didn't see elsewhere by myself. I reckon that's pretty good going and something I want to try and continue to do. Roll on 2024.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ72WapO8DBVSkTj2fsDm0QTIVMQl2uyMTRNvTtF_GvBebMgJrgyJWU6rHF_45iriwnaDYCBR7O_zMqCfNRKltdBvnfmmSpwUheq_03WYJJjupoCNorm9Tlx2csrTOGvMU_7QG-il2qtNLmcd58XAmXLc5CnFYx97WEwTWulYV7DxElr99Brj0G1zV6oA/s785/world%20count%20lists.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="785" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ72WapO8DBVSkTj2fsDm0QTIVMQl2uyMTRNvTtF_GvBebMgJrgyJWU6rHF_45iriwnaDYCBR7O_zMqCfNRKltdBvnfmmSpwUheq_03WYJJjupoCNorm9Tlx2csrTOGvMU_7QG-il2qtNLmcd58XAmXLc5CnFYx97WEwTWulYV7DxElr99Brj0G1zV6oA/s16000/world%20count%20lists.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In terms of checklists and my contribution to citizen science through eBird I've had my second-most productive year, with 632 checklists submitted. I'd do it anyway of course, even without the research aspect of it, but equally it does make it feel less pointless. A lot of people scoff at lists, say they're pathetic, silly, but each singing <b>Song Thrush </b>I dutifully record ends up being part of a wider effort and contributes to our understanding of what is happening to our wildlife. 228 are from the UK, of which 129 are from London, all but 7 from Wanstead. This pales in comparison to the 'lockdown' year, 2021, when I submitted over 300 checklists from my local area. In total I've submitted over 1600 lists within a mile of my house, and next year could see me submit my 1000th checklist for Wanstead Flats alone - that is true dedication.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Elsewhere I submitted 54 lists for Fife, and then a further 45 from other parts of the country, mostly East Anglia from a few day trips out to Essex and Suffolk. Further afield I submitted 144 lists in the USA, 48 in Mexico, and 46 in Colombia. Birding abroad is rather different, and the same amount of time birding will generally contribute far more lists than in the UK as I move between sites, often submitting over 10 lists in a day. Back home it will likely be just one, probably before work, and even on a weekend it will mostly just be a single visit to Wanstead Flats. I really go for it when I'm away, and it is no exaggeration to say that eBird has transformed how I bird. Where I need to do better is with media - adding photographs and sound recordings to the lists. That requires a lot more time as it generally can't be done on the fly. And it's also true that my photography has waned this year, again this is likely due to eBird emphasising recording of species as numbers rather than as media, but it can of course be both with a little extra effort. Let's see. I am starting off 2024 with what I hope will be a photography intensive trip away, with any luck it will rekindle a spark that I have been missing. I thought about doing a "best photos of 2023" post but realised I would struggle to even get to ten. How things change! What I probably could manage is my top ten bottles of wine, but although that would fulfil the brief of a year in numbers, it might be a little over the top even for this blog.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">And what of this blog then? When I was trying in vain to find the post about climate change I discovered a draft post signalling the end of this blog, a big goodbye of sorts, penned a few months into 2020 and coinciding with the start of the dark days of COVID. I never published it for some reason, perhaps the simple act of typing it got me over whatever it was, and somehow that year I managed to eke out around 100 posts. This year it finishes with this one, the 103rd. Remarkable that I had the stamina, it came in a rush at the very end. As I write this this in late December 2023 there have been 2.42 million clicks (since 2009). Not quite the latest Taylor Swift video, but for a boring middle-aged man with comensurately boring hobbies..... Of these 220,000 came in the last 12 months, slightly under 10% of the total, but under 5% of the content. Should I read anything into that? Maybe, maybe not - I still think that blogging is dead/dying.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Per the stats the most read post this year was about <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2013/10/st-lucia-hummingbirds.html">Hummingbirds in St Lucia</a>, which I wrote over ten years ago. There is nothing quite like being relevant I suppose. That's an anomaly though as after that they're all from this year, with - gratifyingly on one level - an <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/05/a-big-weekend-on-patch.html">innocuous post</a> from the patch about seeing a <b>Sedge Warbler</b> in the same bush as a <b>Garden Warbler</b>. In third place was <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/01/a-critical-mass.html">a post about new birders</a> on the patch and how to deal with an understandable tendency for over-excitement and related over-reporting. <b>Wren</b>! So two out of three about the patch is reasonably telling, shame it is so dull most of the time. Seeing as we are here, number four was about the aforementioned <a href="http://www.wansteadbirder.com/2023/05/scoterfest.html"><b>Stejneger's</b> and <b>White-winged Scoter</b> double</a>, and the fifth was that one also referenced above where I railed against being told to shut up. If I ever seem to be in danger of quitting, just make me angry.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So those are a few of the numbers from 2023 - birds, countries, lists, trips, posts and patch. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Happy New Year! </span></p></div>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-6557711986942984932023-12-29T12:13:00.004+00:002023-12-29T12:16:12.777+00:00Notable deaths in 2023<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><u>Bob the Turaco 2008-2023</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I didn't actually know it had been named Bob, but this popular Wanstead bird passed away this year in a local Old Turacos home. I'm not sure of the full story but apparently he was found unwell in a garden, easily scooped up, and transported to a vetinary hospital. Old age or illness had taken its toll, and he died on December 3rd. Bob, a <b>White-cheeed Turaco</b>, was first seen in Wanstead around 2008, the earliest photo of him I can find is from February 2010. A local legend frankly, amazing that a bird from Ethiopia could survive here all these years - including some really cold spells. Local residents used to leave out chopped fruit, and he quite liked hanging out with Chickens. I attracted him into our garden from time to time by whooping and clucking which generally worked a treat. His red wings were nothing short of spectacular when he flew, and of all the birds that live here this was the one that non-birders most often mentioned to me. RIP Bob.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWfbBHC_pBLKHcOuP2E-iZB40Hubiqt2_kl6h_h6D3TAH_ZUs7VuYeoEADJEPtZ2FbXadWOmAVuB7BSMuFUdQlsmRwdKHOULl32sfBi0ktPYzdQnr3z53DSEGR8KZeBQvnnwtEanIRWyeD7pLoU2aVwL8PzIrV4BOdmZzgEeYFkX4VwrynLq-j9MGXdlw/s3198/IMG_3149_Turaco,%20Wanstead%20Flatswtmk.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3198" data-original-width="2598" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWfbBHC_pBLKHcOuP2E-iZB40Hubiqt2_kl6h_h6D3TAH_ZUs7VuYeoEADJEPtZ2FbXadWOmAVuB7BSMuFUdQlsmRwdKHOULl32sfBi0ktPYzdQnr3z53DSEGR8KZeBQvnnwtEanIRWyeD7pLoU2aVwL8PzIrV4BOdmZzgEeYFkX4VwrynLq-j9MGXdlw/w520-h640/IMG_3149_Turaco,%20Wanstead%20Flatswtmk.jpg" width="520" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><u>World's Stupidest Black-necked Grebe, 2021-2023</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In early May 2021 a <b>Black-necked Grebe</b> took up residence on Alexandra Lake, a pond so unsuitable for it that you had to question whether it was firing on all cylinders. It stayed for something like six months and became a bit of a looker over the summer. The following year, in April, it returned - clearly this was a very dim bird indeed. The next year, 2023, it returned in March, and this time brought a mate. I mean really, what an idiot. Mrs <b>Grebe </b>hung around for a few days, dismissed it for the dump it was, and left. What followed was tragic and ultimately very sad. The <b>Grebe </b>called for days, a plaintive "why hast thou forsaken me" moan, but to no avail. A few weeks later it was found on the side of the pond in bad shape. It was collected, taken to Grebe hospital, and died overnight. Of a broken heart we suspect. RIP.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbnWjk4lXvgmbb-xX9BAwES-mAijPm2ziCPAo0qeOOF2ibKsghZQ9MRKP1JdFpPbVPwf06ZoIWvCsWBzPLGb80RnBNcm0idS1pB-1Ao6g7QRdgcZHZbK11Sig7LHIZ_05_YXtyY_W1FNzVEKIXUS-oYHf1cC9V7Yrhyphenhyphenmg2DvdWuV_NA3yM12amxAFUyA8/s1000/IMG_8595_Black-necked%20Grebe,%20Wanstead%20Flats%20small.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbnWjk4lXvgmbb-xX9BAwES-mAijPm2ziCPAo0qeOOF2ibKsghZQ9MRKP1JdFpPbVPwf06ZoIWvCsWBzPLGb80RnBNcm0idS1pB-1Ao6g7QRdgcZHZbK11Sig7LHIZ_05_YXtyY_W1FNzVEKIXUS-oYHf1cC9V7Yrhyphenhyphenmg2DvdWuV_NA3yM12amxAFUyA8/s16000/IMG_8595_Black-necked%20Grebe,%20Wanstead%20Flats%20small.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It even looks a few slices short of a loaf in this photo</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054885544428581277.post-13436491524806038212023-12-27T17:22:00.004+00:002023-12-27T17:22:55.222+00:00Nacreous Clouds in Fife<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I was in Fife for Christmas with the family. Birding opportunities were thin on the ground and the festive season seemed to coincide with a real drought in birds. I neatly missed the <b>Waxwing </b>incursion, missed the sea-watching season, replete with big Shears and <b>Brown Booby</b>, missed the <b>Snow Goose </b>and the <b>Shore Lark</b>. This is the trouble with trying to keep a list in a county that I don't live in, all the good stuff happens when I'm not there which is of course most of the time. I had a couple of sea watches off Fife Ness, picking the exact two days when <b>Little Auk</b> wasn't seen.... </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The sole crumb of consolation was a long-staying female <b>Black Redstart</b> on the beach at Crail which showed very nicely and was my 197th bird for Fife. Five trips this year, about 17 days, added seven birds which is not a great return. I was working for many of them, but still. 200 remains annoyingly distant and elusive but surely 2024 will be the year?</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIHc5uU3AC5Be_sNtbdrg-kUwYS-jfuqAxU1PmdQQoIHMpLs9WSACWwL86gJQBvh9HFwzQsX_t19PLbGenG6WMPOIeP3Pm3_5fMKteo7DQZHf5jvC_fuXArebca7G8heTIuqa5gSBD5Gv_YsboOMmTVp06x38ycExWy-ipRDVUOUBMYr8i0eMxMQbN1as/s1000/nacreous.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIHc5uU3AC5Be_sNtbdrg-kUwYS-jfuqAxU1PmdQQoIHMpLs9WSACWwL86gJQBvh9HFwzQsX_t19PLbGenG6WMPOIeP3Pm3_5fMKteo7DQZHf5jvC_fuXArebca7G8heTIuqa5gSBD5Gv_YsboOMmTVp06x38ycExWy-ipRDVUOUBMYr8i0eMxMQbN1as/s16000/nacreous.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Clouds on the other hand are much easier to see than birds, and I was pleased to be able to get in on the Nacreous action during my visit. I thought I might have missed these too, as most reports had been just before I arrived, but luckily on Christmas Eve just before dusk I nipped outside to have a look at the sky and found one from the terrace. Looking the other way there were at least three of four more. I put the message out on a Fife WhatsApp group which may have prompted a few more people to nip out as soon there were reports from Crail, Newburgh, Anstruther and Ladybank. Clouds being big things we were probably all looking at the same ones. Still, it was nice not to dip and whilst my photos don't remotely do the scene any justice I very much enjoyed this natural phenomenon which somehow I have not seen in the close to 50 years I have been rotating around the sun. </span></p>Jonathan Lethbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791327377479687655noreply@blogger.com0