Wednesday 10 March 2010

It's an ill wind........

There's an old fisherman's saying: "When the wind's in the East, the fish bite the least". I've always found this to have an element of truth to it, so guess where i'm going for the weekend, the good old Hampshire Avon. I don't expect to catch anything which is fine by me, it's an excuse to sit alongside a lovely river for two days with my binoculars and camera at the ready and then retire to the bar at the Hotel with the lads for a few beers and a reminisce, this is our 20th year of doing this two or three times a year, same river, same Hotel, same company.
Anyway, back to this wind, the Reed-mace or Bulrush or Cats tail, hopefully one of those is right, pictured below is happy with it because it has helped it disperse it's seeds all over the garden. It looks like a light frost in the vicinity of the pond, it's incredible how much of the stuff comes out of one spike.


At least the Easterlies are drying winds and I was grateful for that around the New Hythe pathways today which are getting drier by the day now.
I arrived at 9 o'clock this morning, it was freezing cold and the wind was biting at the backs of my already chapped and dried out hands, the downside of the drying Easterly. I stood by the car thinking, why am I doing this, I could be home indoors in the warm?
The answer is simple. If i'd stayed at home I wouldn't have seen the Weasel that ran across the path about 20 yards in front of me causing me to stop and get my camera out and ready before "calling" it back to about twelve feet away from me. It shot up a small tree to my left to get a better view of the "Mouse" but shot back down even faster upon seeing it had been tricked, so still no picture of a Weasel, damn and blast!! I also wouldn't have seen the charm of 23 Goldfinches bouncing around the corner of Brooklands lake, their tinkling calls cutting through the loud hum of the paper mill. I wouldn't have seen the small flock of Canada Geese flying overhead honking urgently into the distance followed by a similar arrow of Greylags flying in the same direction. I wouldn't have heard the strange and unlikely whinnying call of the Little Grebe from somewhere in the middle of a reedbed. I wouldn't have seen the flock of at least 30 or 40 handsome Fieldfares chuckling away in the East Scrub with several Redwings keeping their company and I wouldn't have seen the Kestrel hunting around the lake, absolute master of the same wind that blows us no good.
I only saw 32 species this morning but that's a lot more than I would have seen from indoors with my face in a book or a computer screen.

5 comments:

Warren Baker said...

I'm still awaiting a photo of a weasel/stoat Phil. Ive come close, but no cigar!

Adam said...

Hi Phil - You sure it's not a Penduline Tit done that to your reed mace!

Adam

Ken. said...

Hi Phil.
At least you braved the elements, that's more than some of us have done lately.
Good luck with the fishing, and I hope some of the web page links I sent you helped a litle. Suprising what you can find and learn on here.

Greenie said...

Phil ,
I see you've gone into a poet vein on you last post . Was this to compensate for Warren's advice of ' you won't find rarities sitting in doors' ?
Tight lines and enjoy the weekend .

Phil said...

Greenie. I can only put it down to the Easterly influence. Although I have to say you could see a return to the journalist vein soon, after all the Sparrowhawk hasn't had a chance to defend his actions yet.........