Ingrebourne and Rainham...

This weekend was spent 'dahn in Essix' with the man.

I got extremely tiddly at the Crown on Friday night and felt rather groggy in the morning when the man woke me up with tea... Blame his father for buying me doubles...

Saturday was the day of the man's concert, so whilst he was off warming up and practising the old vocal chords, I was with certain family members of his watching and groaning over the Lions v South Africa match... We lost, in case you didn't know... But the second half had some damn good rugby.

The concert itself was pretty good, two other music connoisseurs came too, and agreed that the half in which the man was performing (Mozart's Requiem) was far better than the purely orchestral half... At least one of the violinists was VERY off, and there was a rather cringe-worthy moment with a French horn... Apres the concert I lost my shoe on the wet pavement, and we adjourned to the Victoria to eat peanuts and drink ourselves merry, whilst avoiding the croonings of the awful 'singer' in the bar... Bread and cheese were then consumed in very generous quantity whilst I admired a very nice Streptocarpus.

Sunday was lie-in day :-)
(this deserves a line all to itself)
In the afternoon I stole the man's car and explored the Ingrebourne Valley, whilst he and these people were suffering in a very hot and stuffy rehearsal studio...
I absolutely fell in love with Ingrebourne. The wild flowers and butterflies were fantastic, as were the sheer variety of damsel flies. Birds of note which I identified were: Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and hundreds of Long-tailed Tits with some Blue Tits mixed in... Also got a great view of a Wren with a beak stuffed full of fluff :-) On the butterfly count I got: Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Large White and Small Blue. Damsel flies were blue, green, red, black and white striped, and that one with the black splodges on the top wings - ask the people with the book... All very pretty though.

Rainham was done with this person, being a fellow scrounger off the state... Nothing hugely exciting was seen on the bird front, although we got some great views of Reed and Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings. There was also an obliging female Blackcap and many Whitethroats. I also got a good view of what I'm certain was a Stonechat (having since conferred with the appropriate text). There was also one life and year tick for me - a Mediterranean Gull - which is so exciting it isn't even in my pocket-sized RSPB Guide to British Birds which covers 174 species - obviously not enough... The Little Egrets were on fine form, and there was one female mallard who had 10 quite large ducklings with her! - well done Missus!

I got excited over damsel flies and the wild flowers mainly though. I'd purchased prior to starting the circuit a proper field guide of wild flowers of Britain and Northern Europe, and it came in very useful! Many of the plants I knew, or if I did not know them, I could at least take an educated guess at their family - many pea family plants there! An exciting find was a Dark Mullein, with delicate yellow flowers with vibrant purple anthers... :-) I was able to have an erudite conversation with a nice old chap who chatted to us a couple of times, on this particular plant... :-) I think I came across like I knew what I was talking about (which I definitely didn't!).

A new butterfly sighting for the year was a Woodland Ringlet (see this person's blog for pikkies), which I don't recall ever having seen and identified before... Meadow Brown were out in strength, as were the Large and Small Whites. We also found ourselves a Peacock and a Cinnibar Moth.

However, in the whole of Rainham we never saw a Water Vole! :-( Heard one munching some reeds and one point, but no sighting at all... Pity, they're cute little things...

And now I am back in sunny Hampshire and awaiting some news on a potential job interview - Mental Health Paralegal in Guildford - I had a phone call about it whilst eating a sausage sandwich at Rainham yesterday... *crosses fingers*

Beginning...

I have finally succumbed to the phenomenon which is 'blogging' it seems...

I woke up with a headache this morning, so have been consuming copious amounts of water and tea to try and kill it. Not had much success so far, so I may be reaching for the paracetamol soon...

Spent the weekend with the man and went to RSPB Rainham Marshes to see some birdies and go walking. Went there on the Saturday and the Sunday, though twas a little birdless for our liking. However, some good views of Reed Buntings and Herons. I'm getting a bit too into this whole birding thing, all the fault of the man I might add, and it looks like I'll be investing in a spotting scope (smaller than the man's) whenever I have money...

Stupid BT have sent me a bill for a service I'm not supposed to be receiving from them anymore! I'm registered with Virgin Media for it, and their records confirm that; so God knows what BT are up to. They're as bad as British Gas sending me bills for a property I hadn't lived in for 3 months!

An amusing joke from 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet': "You know the difference between a hedgehog and a Range Rover? - The hedgehog's got pricks on the outside."

Looking forward to seeing the man again on Friday (wait, that's tomorrow!), yay! He'll be arriving under his own steam for the first time, so fingers crossed for a stress-free drive and minimal traffic. Will be heading down to see my Grandma on the Saturday to take her out for lunch; she lives in Somerset. Hoping there will be some good birds to see from her garden as it overlooks rolling fields and hills further away - good spot for sparrowhawks.

We're going on 'ho-li-day' soon :-) Off to what will hopefully be a sunny North Coast of Norfolk, with a couple of friends for a long weekend's birdwatching, walking and exploring. It's a part of the country I've never been to, so I'm looking forward to the change of scene. The man and I will be trying out his new 5 man-sized tent, as we'll be going by car, so we'll be enjoying the extra space it affords I'm sure.

Got choir practice tonight, back to the Church choir, as The Waverley Singers (semi-professional choir I've just joined) have got two weeks off over Easter. Just as well really as Sunday's services will be extra important due to it being a) Easter Sunday (one of the biggest events in the Christian calendar) and b) the last service of our Rector before he retires and moves to Cambridge.

Had something exciting through the post this morning - a freebie! :-) How I love freebies. On this occasion the item is a mini cookery book on Bramley apples... Lots of tasty-looking things inside to try I'm sure. I'll bet the man agrees with me too...