Project: Allotment

After six years of sitting on the waiting list we have finally been offered an allotment. 127 square metres of dirt to grow our own fruit and vegetables. No shade. Close to the water supply. And it even came with a bench, compost bin and shed already onsite.

 It's clearly been well looked after in the past and has only gone to seed in the past few months, not sure what happened to the previous owner but there are a lot of paving slabs on the site for paths.

So the family went down and conducted the first round of weeding, followed by some digging over and the planting of a couple of fruit bushes.

Plenty of work to be done but an exciting prospect for next season.

Gulls & Waders - or at least there should have been

So, like two old men with nothing better to do with their time John and I sauntered off to Wales, Margam Discovery Centre near Port Talbot to be precise, and joined an FSC Course on Gulls and Waders. The Centre is set in a country park so is nice for a morning stroll, in particular when the deer are rutting. We got a nice surprise rounding the rhododendron and stumbling across this big stag.

So, despite the quest for Gulls and Waders we kept a record of what we saw. The weather was truly atrocious, with horizontal rain, winds we couldn't stand up in, even some hail for good measure.

Robin, Wren, Blackbird, Siskin, Redwing, Long-tailed Tit, Crow, Dunnock, Pigeon, Chaffinch, Magpie, Jackdaw, Mistlethrush, Pied Wagtail, Moorhen, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Oystercatcher, Common Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Merlin, Shelduck, Redshank, Teal , Wigeon, Great-crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Pintail, Dunlin, Starling, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Mallard, Skylark, Mute Swan, Snipe, Little Egret, Turnstone, Black-tailed Godwit, Grey Heron, Canada Goose, Kestrel.

A good number but the weather and other factors did not help with seeing too many waders. The Purple Sandpiper eluded us due to a quick receding tide and the Chough was a late arrival on the Sunday, missed by some. Still, had some additions to the life list and the stag sighting was a beautiful start to the day.