Jay House Rock

Until today I had only seen Jays (Garrulus glandarius), a member of the Crow family,  in flight, a glimpse of their colourful plumage catching my eye. But today, I saw  this beautiful pair enjoying the mid-morning sun.

A beautiful bird with pinkish plumage and intense blue patch on the wing. The pair nearly brought the bird hide down cos they were oblivious to the dozens of binoculars and cameras pointed at them. It was a lovely sight.

The reserve was very busy cos a coach load of twitchers descended.  Aaah...Even Mr. Hood wasn't around. Apart from the usual culprits, we saw one of the Great Crested Grebe sans chicks, Shelducks, Red shank and coots with their chicks.

We went early to Brandon Marsh to avoid the traffic build up around the Ricoh. Today is the Heineken Cup, a showpiece semi between Munster and Saracens. 35k fans are expected. The match finished with Munster winning, they will next meet Toulouse in the final, to be held at Cardiff, after a very tense victory against Saracens.

Today too was the start of the Grangemouth strike in a row over pensions. It is Scotland's only oil refinery and there were already rumours of panic buying, but what can you do when you rely on fuel to live, to work... Although an oil shortage was not predicted for the Midlands, we still fill Benzy up. Just in case, and the price just keeps on soaring.

Yesterday, we left the casa early again. This time to avoid a local derby between the Sky Blues and Wolves. It was 1:1. They still do not know which division they will be in next season following this result. City now need West Bromwich Albion to beat Southampton on Monday or they will face a nervous last-day visit to Charlton. Watch this space.

We went to Touchwood in Solihull. Kevin wants to pick up his latest toy, a Sigma 500mm lens. Men and their toys :-). It's quite ironic that at such a huge shopping mall, I came out empty handed. A first, methinks. We tried out a new eatery, Home made burger co. Expensive, but nothing special. I guess all burgers taste the same.

Tuesday was Earth Day. CC and I  celebrated by going to Wing  Wah. Actually, she got a voucher, 2 for the price of one. We'd a lovely time stuffing ourselves. This month have seen me eating out several times. I'm not complaining at all. Just look what's on my plate...

Thursday, was the teachers strike over pay, as usual. They are the biggest moaners. Starting salary 20k, rising to a max. of 34k; excellent hols and employment pay package. I may feel differently if education standards were improving but they are in dire and standards getting lower and lower and they want more money!!!

And I come from a long line of teachers, my dad's a teacher, my grandfather's a headmaster and uncles, aunties, friends who are also teachers in Malaysia.

They don't know which side their bread is buttered.