7 December
At long last we had a day out birding yesterday with a
trip to RSPB Titchwell in Norfolk. The weather was really nice and bright,
although a tad cold in what little breeze there was. I got a total of 138
images for the day, of which just 13 were worthwhile keeping. At least I will
have a few for the next few days.
We got no really major surprise though in the 48
species we saw. The new, well, newish now, Parminder Hide is a great hide over
all. However, part of it faces into the setting sun, and that side of it looks
over the main part of the lake outside. We could see a lot of birds out there,
or at least black dabs of shade which were birds. It could well be that we
would have got a few more for our list if it wasn’t for that. We are not
grumbling about it though.
The main point of interest of the day for us though
was that we didn’t see any swans at all. Collard doves is missing from the day
list as well. A report in the issue of Bird
Watching I bought, claimed that number so Bewick’s swans over-wintering in
the UK has fallen by a third to around 20,000 birds. The report then wet to
give some possible reasons for this fall but didn’t come to any conclusions. So
what did we see?
I’m not about to the list all 45 species though, no,
just a few that stick out. Red kites are now becoming a lot more common
throughout the UK thankfully. One such area is the along the A47, the route
from Dorktown to Norfolk. We are always on the lookout for them as we travel
along it. Just one is good enough for us, but yesterday we saw at least five!
That was a good figure. The M40 now has so many red kites along it that you are
more or less guaranteed to see at least one.
Have you seen a pheasant? I’m sure you have but there
have been times when we have been out and we’ve not seen one at all, even at
our destination birding spot. Yesterday however, we lost count of them, both male
and female birds, on the side of the roads and in fields. Jan was lucky enough
to see some grey partridge too. I was driving so I missed them, but we’ve
already seen them this year so it’s not loss really.
And just to show I’m not telling porkies …
A redshanks at
Titchwell.
And today’s funny …
A man was
married to a woman whose commands to her husband were as sharp as the bite of a
barracuda. It wasn’t so much that he was a coward, or too timid to talk back,
but you know how it is…let’s keep peace in the family. One day the wife invited
a group from the local women’s club to her house for tea and discussions. To
make sure that her husband did not interrupt the goings-on, she ordered him
into the closet and sternly told him to stay there until the last lady had
left. During their bridge game, the ladies of the club spoke of the authority
they wielded over respective husbands. Not to be outdone, the hostess informed
the others that not only had she ordered her husband into the closet, but she
could order him to come out, at will. “I’ll prove it,” she boasted. “Bob!” she
commanded, “come out of that closet!” No response. “Bob!” she called in a
louder voice, “come out of that closet this instant!” Nothing. “Bob!” she
screamed at the top of her lungs, “I order you to get out of that closet this
instant!” “No, I won’t!” came her husband’s muffled cry from inside the closet.
“I’ll show you who’s boss in this house!”
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