Bank Holiday Musings

We started the weekend with a quick trip to Brandon Marsh after work. Not a soul about and we could hear the cuckoo greeting us. Babe showed me where the woodpecker was nesting. We saw him flirting from tree to tree. And we waited and waited but he refused to fly into his nest. We left cos we don’t want to stress him.

At Baldwin Hide, we saw the pair of Great Crested Grebes and Oyster catchers sans chicks. It was quite sad to see that their babies didn’t make it. Most probably eaten by predators but then that’s nature for you.

On the way out, we observed this whitethroat   (Sylvia communis) being territorial. He was chasing another male away and then singing his heart out on the tree top. He was soo busy singing and chasing his rival that he was unaware that we were right below him with a camera. What a treat. We were also serenaded by a Mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus), singing loudly from the very top of a tall tree.

My heart is like a singing bird

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

What an evening. We met a few twitchers checking in for the night shifts. We kept on saying that we are going to pop in at night to see what the natives are up to. One day soon…Before we left, we were greeted with this stunning sunset. Isn’t it a beauty?

On Saturday was the usual bank holiday weather. It rained and rained. But I still went for my morning walk. By hook or crook, I’m going to force myself to walk during the weekends. I’m pleased to say that I’d clocked a total 20 miles for the 3 days. Not bad huh…

Babe had stressed his neck and spent the day in bed trying to recover. I did my bit by bringing him plenty of drinks and hot-water bottles. I spent the day reading and gardening. I have done all the hanging and wall baskets. I didn’t use many plants, only Lobelia 'Fountain Mixture Trailing'  and geraniums. I also planted 2 pots of sweet peas and sow 11 pots of sunflowers. Why 11? Cos that’s our house number.

I spent the evening watching the 55th Eurovision Song contest from Oslo, Norway. The UK has somehow managed to come last again but at least not nil phua. Josh Dubovie song, That Sounds Good To Me, co-written by Coventry Pete Waterman, was very uninspiring in my opinion. We need a very catchy, contemporary song although the winning song didn’t appeal to me either. I was hoping the Danish duo Chanée & N'evergreen to win.

On Sunday, Babe was feeling much better. We did the shopping and pottered around the casa. Then we went out to get some fresh air at Brandon Marsh again. We met Andy, Kay and George who were on their way home and had a little natter.

We walked towards the sheep field when Babe startled a Muntjac. In a blink, it disappeared into the bushes. Then we heard the cries of fox cubs playing from the undergrowth. I turned and saw their momma(I think) but was too stunned to take a photograph. I think the fox was as stunned as I was. We waited but nothing appeared but we could still hear the cubs.

We continued walking and saw loads of whitethroats about. From the Wright Hide, we saw a coot nesting, a pair of terns mating, lots of lapwings making a racket, a redshank and a few Little ring plovers feeding along the mudbanks.

On Monday, Babe fell ill again. I spent the day pottering around the casa. I made shepherd pie for dinner which went down well. Lyanna called to say that they are flying back to Malaysia. They will be there for 3 weeks to attend Hafiz sister’s wedding. I asked her to pop over to see my parents. Have a safe trip and looking forward to see you return with the delish goodies :-).

The sun shone the whole of last week. During one of my walks, I spotted this tree stripped of their leaves and covered in gluey sheets of silk. It was  like a scene from a horror movie. I called Babe and asked him to bring the camera with macro lens. Just look at them wriggling away..

According to Babe, he thinks it’s the Ermine moth caterpillars. They eat the leaves, then the larvae cover the trees in cocoons of silk like giant spider webs and change into a white butterfly with black dots. These silk web cocoons were designed to protect them from predators so they can eat the leaves undisturbed. I’m hoping to catch one of these beauties when they metamorphosis.

I also attended a guided tour of the artworks in the Mead Gallery during my lunch break. The artworks were a selection from the University’s Art Collection which explores ideas around the theme of Destination and the Jaguar Project which is an exploration of one of Coventry’s micro histories by the Portuguese artist Miguel Palma.

The enthusiastic curator gave a valuable insight of works by fifteen different contemporary artists and the ways they developed a project. I am not an arts connoisseur but I do enjoy listening to the story behind each artwork and try to see it from the artist’s view which I often failed to see :-).

As you can see, we had a very quiet bank holiday weekend. Not doing anything exciting but a quote from John Burroughs (1837-1921) sums it up.

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.

I also liked to wish a very Happy Birthday to our beautiful niece, Elly and warmest congratulations to my new colleague, WFP, who got hitched on Trinity Sunday.