Attenborough Activities

There's something in the air at Attenborough!

11th March 2020

Pam, Maggie, Jo and Helen J met at the cafe, but how should the babes greet under the new regime? We waved and toe-tapped but a Jane Austen curtsey felt just right and we could do it at a distance too!  And, to all our other babes, we sent a virtual wave, as this was as close as we dare get, especially to Alison practising her Italian for:

'I'm a Gelly Babe, get me out of here!'

and Helen M, who had averted the problem, but had still managed to find a way to do an Italian job 

But this is all that remains...

As it was so lovely outside, we decided to sit out on the terrace where it wasn't really possible to observe the space rule unless one was the photographer. Pity we forgot our sunglasses but

Our knees got very toastie! 

And with Bob being left at home to dog-sit, it was a case of...

doggie bowl-y no-mates! 

As the main activity of the day was walking whilst birding, it felt incumbent on Helen J to get our annual bird list up-to-speed very quickly.  With no January birds and a vague listing of the February ones, she had started before the others had even thought about getting their binoculars out.  Then  Pam realised that she had left hers at home, but fortunately some birds are quite big, were quite close and easily identifiable. 

When 'mutes' become 'mates'.

A quick shout of there's  'corvus corone corone' in the air, led to some consternation until it was revealed that a carrion crow was doing a fly past, a member of the 'corvid' family, not to be confused with the other harbinger of doom. However, one can't be too careful and it was with relief that we  only saw the one far, far away. 

Our chat lightened and quickly turned to managing our holiday budgets but some of us were not quite so sure about house-sitting in far flung places. And, it is probably best not to repeat what some owners had left lying about....

Topped up with vitamin D and having been sheltered from the weather we set off on our walk only to do battle with the wind and a very noisy railway line!  

Whooooshhhhh

Look what the floods left behind...

Whilst the walk wasn't that pretty and the birds had  generally hunkered down out of view or were flitting about in crazy unidentifiable flight patterns, we did come across scenes of domesticity

little egret pretending to be a cattle egret

How did ewe manage such un-identical twins? 

a well-fed grass snake

Excited by an albeit very grubby map, Pam started planning her next adventure involving a train, her bike and a coastal walk somewhere 'up north'. But she is unlikely to go for the speciality dish of the region "a bit of Scarborough 'woof 'n' chips'," well... maybe the chips'll be ok. 

Despite the map, we found ourselves another path and Jo's route-finding across the largest muddy patch was helped by a slightly sun-dried part and bit of old blue rope.

And finally, we were back on track with water in all the right places

Mr Goosander looking very smart

Pam and Maggie waited very patiently for Jo and Helen who were attempting to  identify a 'Little Brown Jobbie' which turned out to be two different birds: one reed bunting and one stonechat.  Jo definitely knows her stonechats and has succeeded in seeing the first one since records began. 

Maggie: There might be signs of spring, but it'll be summer before those two catch up!

Pam: Chillax, Maggie, and just admire super-fast running brown river.

We then went into hiding and added quite a few birds to our list.  Not many about, but it is quality, not quantity which counts. 

Lovely sky, but no sky-larks. 

Now, whilst Pam admits that birding can sometimes be a bit of challenge, she might be more successful if she chose a better vantage point

Nope, can only see the plank bird! 

We ended up back at the cafe, with its super-clean tables, for afternoon tea and a return to familiar chit-chat: the rise of the refillable stores and fall of stocks in our ever-dwindling shelves, ailing but perfectly capable parents plus a report back on the hustings and the future of a shadow not shady leader. 

An attempt to spot a flying LBJ in the sand martin hide was a little premature as they are not due until 25th March exactly.  The timing was good though, as we sheltered from a little bit of rain but then emerged to a lovely rainbow. 

How does she do it?

It was now time for our final Jane Austen curtsey but not before a delivery of another secret santa pressie. Hope it isn't next xmas before Charlotte receives hers? 😉

Wonder how will Jo react if I give her a cheeky peck? 

So, here is our bird list for the day which won't go where I want it to!  38 for the day, bringing our total for the year to 39 (it might be 40, but no-one confirmed the tit list from February). We now have a rolling number of 103!

black-headed gull

blackbird

blue tit

canada geese

cetti's warbler (heard)

chaffinch

coot

cormorant

crow

dunnock

egyptian goose

gadwal

goldeneye

goldfinch

goosander

great crested grebe

great tit

green woodpecker (heard)

grey heron

greylag geese

jackdaw

jay

kestrel

kingfisher

little egret

long-tailed tit

magpie

mallard

moorhen

mute swan

pochard

reed bunting

robin

stonechat*

teal

tufted duck

wigeon

wood pigeon

Here are some other signs of spring...

I am not an LBJ, I am a female reed bunting

I am definitely a sign of spring

So, am I this year!!

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