I'm back and the holiday was fab! I loved North Wales - we avoided the rain and some of the time were even bathed in sunshine, which was great. Not a lot to say tonight ("Ugly Betty" is in 30 mins and I can't miss that!), but things that stood out for me were:
1. Seeing a Green Woodpecker for the first time. Always good to meet another creature with a red head and who favours green.
2. Sitting in a bird hide and having a Great Spotted Woodpecker on a birdfeeder literally two inches from my nose, and being completed gobsmacked by it. It's a constant astonishment that we even have birds of such glorious and unlikely colours in the UK.
3. Seeing choughs, red-breasted mergansers and grey plovers for the first time. Not too far away either.
4. Being completely and utterly blown away by the beauty of Snowdonia on a gloriously bright morning (we took the train - hey, what do you expect??).
5. Seeing reed buntings and a hen harrier.
6. Breathing easily for what seems like the first time in a long, long time (is it the salt from the sea??).
7. Having a lovely, clear TV reception in the hotel (it makes watching "Strictly Come Dancing It Takes Two" even more fab than usual - but where oh where is the divine Claudia's fringe??).
8. Falling over on some marsh grass on the way to a bird hide and twisting my ankle a little - sorry, but it was funny and both Lord H and I looked up to see if the man on the white horse was galloping to save me, a la "Sense & Sensibility" ... Sadly, he wasn't, but the ankle is walkable on!
9. Having a nirvana experience with the hotel orange-scented cheesecake - bliss ...
10. Quantity time (sorry, but there's really no such thing as "quality time") with Lord H. Double bliss indeed!
Ten nice (or memorable!) things, so probably no need for a list of other nice things today.
Oh, and I read (or reread) Daphne Du Maurier's The House on the Strand. I fell in love with this - and the hero, Dick(!) - when I was a teenager, and this is a lesson for sure in not going back in terms of reading matter as, after reading it now as a woman in my forties, all I can say is what a total prick is Dick, and I am rooting entirely for Vita!! Well written though, and a powerful ending indeed.
Anne Brooke
Anne's website
7 comments:
Thrilled you had a good time. And you're now an official member of the Hen Harrier spotting club! Was it male or female? Beautiful, graceful creatures, aren't they!
Nik
Gosh red-breasted merganser. Lovely.
Ooh, now you're getting technical, Nik!! It was lovely, but I didn't get a clear enough glimpse! The merganser was definitely male though!
:))
A
xxx
Male Hen Harriers are a silvery blue colour, while females are that lovely orangey brown.
So now you know!
N xx
Ooh, thanks, Nik - must have been a girlie then!
:))
A
xxx
I think the girlie ones are the prettiest - a bloody good bird to see.
Was it a bit like this:
http://www.birdfoto.fsnet.co.uk/action/henharrier.jpg
Actually, after googling male ones, close up, they look more gull colured than blue.
Again, so now you know!
N xx
Ooh, that was definitely it - thanks, Nik!!
:))
A
xxx
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