Twitchers in the Making

I've been ill the past couple of weeks. What started with a mild sore throat  rapidly became a heavy cold that turned into sinusitis. It was unpleasant, made slightly worse by the need to be in bed right when the country was experiencing a heatwave.

After several days of feeling sorry for myself I began to feel a bit better, so on Saturday evening I decided to go on an adventure with my husband, and my youngest brother and his girlfriend.

Armed with two pairs of binoculars, two good cameras, and a picnic of epic proportions we headed to a village a few miles south of our hometown to go bird watching. We could have been partying. We could have been watching Eurovision. We could even have reinstalled World of Warcraft and been busy raiding. But no, we went bird watching. Because...we are cool.

Cool, I say!

We parked at the end of the village and began to walk along a bridleway that leads to the river. The sun was still pleasantly warm and the sky a clear blue. Luscious green fields and swathes of bright yellow oil seed rape stretched for miles before us, framed by the South Downs on either side of the river valley, the odd church spire poking up through the trees. It was the perfect rural idyll, and I instantly felt all stress and sick-related grumpiness melt away.

My brother and his girlfriend both had their binoculars out almost immediately, after we had spotted some swifts, scanning the horizon for anything of particular note. My husband played with the various fancy lenses on his camera, until he was satisfied that he could capture a fine shot, and I looked slightly mournfully at my less impressive version, knowing it was best for taking flower macros, not epic photos of birds in flight.

It was as I scuffed along the road ahead of the others that I spotted a bird on a power line. I pointed it out to my brother's girlfriend, fully expecting her to say that it was just a wood pigeon, when she squealed with delight. "That's a little owl!"

Suddenly we all had binoculars or a camera to our eyes and were taking a closer look. It was indeed a little owl, looking directly at us. I've explained before that we love owls, but this was the first time I'd ever seen an owl in real life that wasn't in captivity, and I don't care how cheesy this sounds - it was breathtaking.

Little Owl! 

Despite our excitement we were being as quiet as possible, but the little owl appeared to be glowering at us angrily, as if to berate us for interrupting its hunting. We had perhaps alerted its dinner to its fate. After several minutes it flew off, following the power lines north, in search of another small rodent that wouldn't have scarpered at the sound of our boots thumping along the ground.

Overjoyed that within the first few minutes of our expedition we had seen one of our favourite types of bird, we continued on towards the river, stopping every few yards for more bird watching. We eventually found a nice grassy spot at the edge of the bridleway to stop for our picnic, and relish in the peace and quiet of the countryside. Whilst we ate we were serenaded by sky larks and reed warblers, and every so often a heron, little egret, or swan would fly overhead. I'm surprised that the others didn't get indigestion as they continuously leapt up to investigate or photograph various birds, but it was a lovely way to enjoy a warm summer evening.

Shortly after the picnic we were engulfed by a swarm of midges that took to travelling with us all the way up to the river, and then all the way back to the car when we had given up any hope of seeing any more owls. Despite this storm cloud of insects we were still able to witness a stunning pink sunset behind the Downs, and once we were free of the flood plains they abandoned us. We were then treated to the dance of another one of my favourite animals - bats flitting right above our heads as we meandered through the darkened village to the pub for a much needed beverage.

Red sky at night, shepherd's delight

We figured out that we had seen and/or heard twenty-two different species of bird, which I don't think is too bad for a very amateur birdwatcher's first time, especially when one of those species is the Little Owl, squee!

I have to say, I don't know if I am ever likely to take up bird watching as a serious hobby, but I know how much my husband likes to photograph birds, so there's a good chance this could become a more regular thing.

In any case, it was a truly relaxing evening - a delicious picnic in the beautiful countryside with three of my favourite people, and no sound but that of the birdsong and the light breeze rustling the reeds. Sorry Eurovision, as much as I was sad I missed you this year, you can't beat that.

Photos my own.

Bayham Abbey

When I was younger my parents used to love taking my brothers and I out for the day to an English Heritage or National Trust property where we could spend quality time together as a family, learning about history, conservation, plants, or wildlife. My parents could also have some peace and quiet whilst my brothers and I ran around playing games in a safe yet adventurous environment.

One of their favourite places was Bayham Abbey, situated in the middle of nowhere on the Kent/Sussex border. The abbey was constructed in the 13th century, and is in ruins like the majority of abbeys and priories in England, thanks to Henry VIII. Despite being just a shell of its former self it was a brilliant place to explore. My brothers and I would make up all kinds of games, running between pillars, through doorways, and searching every nook and cranny for the best hiding places. The abbey is surrounded by beautiful countryside, so my parents would just sit back and relax, watching us play, absorbing the tranquillity.

It was this tranquillity that I was hankering after last weekend, when finally, amidst this wet spring, a sunny Saturday was upon us and it would have been criminal to stay indoors. My husband and I joined one of our friends with our picnic and we headed up to the abbey for some rest and relaxation.

It was just like I remembered, beautifully peaceful, and the perfect setting for forgetting life's stresses for a few hours.

We relaxed, chatted, soaked in the surroundings, and then ran around the ruins being very silly with our cameras. It was the best of both worlds.

I have very fond memories of many English Heritage and National Trust properties, but I love making new ones in them with my husband and friends.

PS. It was chillier than expected, so I tried out a new fashion - wrapping oneself in a picnic blanket - what do you think?

Photos my own.

This Year in Our Garden...

...we will hopefully succeed in growing spinach, lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes, chillis, and numerous flowers!

A couple of weeks ago we did a massive tidy up in the garden. It's only small but we still managed to fill four green sacks for the dump! We hacked and pruned at the bigger, overgrown plants. We destroyed numerous weeds. We cleaned the brick patio so that the original red colour is starting to come through instead of the murky brown of the mud and dead leaves that had been covering it. My husband even attempted some topiary on a small bush - he was going for a Steam Punk cog, but it just looks like a smaller version of its original self. Oh well, at least the ladybirds can still live in it happily, they've only lost a few leaves.

After tidying up the lower flowerbed we planted a range of flower seeds - poppies, candytuft, and larkspur. There should be a bright display of a range of colours at the beginning of summer.

We then planted the spinach and lettuce in pots, and planted the strawberries in a hanging basket just outside the kitchen. The strawberries that were planted before we moved in are in a darker part of the garden, where they are easily overshadowed by the more tall bushes that seem to grow a centimetre an hour, and so they barely grew at all last year. So we've decided to have a go ourselves, and these ones are in a good sunny spot.

The lettuce and spinach have begun to come up
(This section of patio still needs weeding and cleaning!)

One of the strawberry plants has begun to flower

We've planted tomato and chilli seeds indoors, and they will be moved outside in the summer.

The tomatoes on one of our sunnier windowsills

We had a fair amount of rain and sunshine throughout April, so hopefully everything has got off to a good start, however I am little concerned about the continuing strong winds. Still as long as another fence panel doesn't come crashing down, like in January, then we should be OK!

Will update you on the progress in due course :)

PS. Happy Star Wars Day!