Monday 21 December 2009

Landed with a fluffy thud.

The safari was out as usual on Patch 1 with Frank this morning in the drizzle and true to form the Peregrine was still up there on his favourite roosting ledge; easily viewable in the glow from the street-lamps. Nothing but silence from the park proper;
no inkling of what was to follow…Snow - and lots of it.

When we left for work there was a bit of a snow shower but by the time the short journey was over it was nearly two inches (5cm) thick and still coming down strong, you could feel it under the wheels of the Land Rover. We got a call from a colleague who normally rides in on his motorbike who was unable to get in so we set of in the Disco to fetch him – an hour later we arrived back at work, only been a mile or so down the road and back - total gridlock chaos! Buses and vans were struggling to get over the railway bridges and kept sliding back down causing traffic backlogs.

Once we got past the gridlock we got stuck behind the most over-cautious driver doing about no miles an hour, what a numpty – its only snow for cryin’ out loud, makes driving a little trickier but hardly impossible! This is what I think to your driving…
Travel nightmare – still it will all be gone by tonight.
We got a report from wifey that Frank went out and got so excited by the snow his tiny Labrador mind decided he should eat as much of it as he possibly could – he ended up with a touch of hypothermia and very loud chattering teeth – dozy dog!
This snowman was probably the first built in our grounds since 1996.
The safari was out on Patch 2 briefly at lunchtime where a very hardy fisherman was casting his line in to the rising tide. About 30 – 40 Common Scoters, in two flocks, bounced reasonably close in on the choppy sea, nothing else moving around at all further out in the distance. Most unexpected was a patch tick – 12 Lapwings flew past going south towards the estuary, very welcome.
Another snow shower moved in giving spectacular views over the sea and along the prom…worth getting cold, wet feet for. This gull photo might just squeeze in to my exhibition I have booked for next summer.
Where to next? Back to Patch 1 more than likely
In the meantime let us know how deep the snow is in your outback.

2 comments:

Monika said...

That sounds like how people drive here in the Pacific Northwest when there's a dusting of snow. They can handle rain, but people forget how to drive at the sign of a snow flurry!

Silly Frank!

Love the gull/rainbow shot - nice catch.

Warren Baker said...

Hey Dave,
I'm pleased to see you got to build your snowman at last!!