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The little fir tree
As Chair of Governors at our local First School, I had an invitation to attend the Christmas production this afternoon. It was a heartwarming tale of a little fir tree who was teased for being so small but eventually found his place as a Christmas tree in a children’s hospital. The characters included several fir…
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Waiting room
Yesterday started with a bit of a surprise – 12 Greenfinches in the garden. They’ve been scarce so far this autumn/winter and other observers in Northumberland have noticed the same lack of birds. The worry is that many of our local birds may have fallen victim to trichomoniasis, so it was good to see, and hear, this small…
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Classic arrival conditions?
After the Seal and Seaduck Special on Saturday, we opted for a birdwatching walk on Sunday. The original plan was to leave my car at Alnmouth, drive to Craster in Sarah’s car and then walk the coastal path between the two villages. As we set off from Craster it looked good for our walk, but…
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Seal of approval
Saturday was scheduled for our “Seal And Seaduck Special” (sounds like a really bad curry concocted by the Farnes wardens to see them through the ‘hard times’, is in fact a 4 hour NEWT cruise around the Farne Islands and Holy Island). The weather forecast hadn’t been particularly promising (that’s not entirely true – it…
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Time flies…
Yesterday was split between the office and a very entertaining business meeting at the Black Olive Cafe at Lee Moor Farm. An exciting new product will be the eventual outcome of the discussions started yesterday, but a more immediate agreement was to hold a New Year’s Eve walk around Lee Moor. The drive up the A1 was…
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A harrowing story…
of suffering and depravation. That’s the ongoing tale of heroics, kelp crisps and seal milk over on the Farne Islands blog. I’ve always been impressed by the majesty of the North Sea, particularly when it’s crashing against the east coast in the early winter. It can’t be much fun for the lads out on the…
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Desolate
The wind is whipping around my ears, bitingly cold. A real multi-sensory experience, with an eerie whistling as it carves through the dark towers of a nearby stand of pines. Against the inky blackness of the night sky a myriad of stars are twinkling and the moonlight is diffused through a thin halo of cloud.…
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Shifting sands
The sharp wind, and even sharper pellets of icy rain were stinging the backs of our necks as we walked along the beach from Cresswell to East Chevington yesterday. Once every month, between September and April, we walk this section of the Northumberland coast. Purposeful birdwatching; the waders and wildfowl that we encounter are logged…