Woody
Well-known member
Well I've not been up to much lately, what with bathrooms to be ripped out and garage roofs to be replaced, not to mention that little seasonal celebration we had recently.
With a bit of luck things will begin to settle down now for a while and normal service can be slowly resumed!
Got out to Elmley on Sunday in the first sunshine we've had this year. The tide was in and the fields and marshes were drenched with recent rain. This meant there were plenty of large flocks hanging about and that, in turn, meant that the predators were active. Spotted both peregrine and merlin on the way in plus plentiful marsh harriers. The birds of prey flying about lifted massive flocks of lapwing, curlew, starling, wigeon and teal and the sky filled with birds periodically. Strong wind and bright, clear sunshine lifted the soul and it finally felt like the year was beginning. Time was limited by the late start forced by the lack of light so the only sketching I got done was of a very beautiful, very well marked and darkish female barn owl. She was up and down one of the counterwall banks and stopped for a while on one of the posts that I think have been deliberately placed for the benefit of the owls and kestrels. I need to start re-stretching my sketching muscles but at least I got something down!
Mike
With a bit of luck things will begin to settle down now for a while and normal service can be slowly resumed!
Got out to Elmley on Sunday in the first sunshine we've had this year. The tide was in and the fields and marshes were drenched with recent rain. This meant there were plenty of large flocks hanging about and that, in turn, meant that the predators were active. Spotted both peregrine and merlin on the way in plus plentiful marsh harriers. The birds of prey flying about lifted massive flocks of lapwing, curlew, starling, wigeon and teal and the sky filled with birds periodically. Strong wind and bright, clear sunshine lifted the soul and it finally felt like the year was beginning. Time was limited by the late start forced by the lack of light so the only sketching I got done was of a very beautiful, very well marked and darkish female barn owl. She was up and down one of the counterwall banks and stopped for a while on one of the posts that I think have been deliberately placed for the benefit of the owls and kestrels. I need to start re-stretching my sketching muscles but at least I got something down!
Mike
