Days like this don't come along often

The Safari turned up at work this morning in mild sunshine to see that a Poppy had flowered on the edge of the rough path near the car-park.

It reminded us what day it was today and we thought about how absolutely terrified we'd have been had we been there hearing the machine gun bullets rattlinng off the door of the landing craft that was about to be lowered and let us out and them in...we're a sensitive soul and not the bravest of folks at the best of times.

Our next door neighbour was there, he died a few weeks ago with a piece of shrapnel still lodged in his back. Richard was taught to drive by being shown how to reverse an army truck into a certain sized space - a few short weeks later he was reversing his trucks side by side onto one of those landing craft and was ready to drive them off at the other end of the journey.

Today we salute his many fallen comrades who did what they had to to end a tyranny and give us the freedoms we now take for granted.

Patch 2 was dire, a cold but calmer empty sea, there was nothing out there apart from a couple of Common Terns from the colony in the docks round the corner down the river.

A lengthy morning had us wishing to get out again, if only for some fresh air. The time came and out we went. It was no better, we scanned this way and that seeing nothing but a few gulls on the beach and a couple resting on the gentle waves behind the almost non-existant surf. About to give up we scanned one more time and thought we saw a dark shape, perhaps the fin of a Harbour Porpoise, then we saw it again - not a porpoise but a Bottle Nosed Dolphin!!! Game on, and then there was another, smaller - a fairly well grown calf perhaps. The next half hour was pure and unadulterated joy with breaches, headstands, tail-slaps. In the end we counted at least five and maybe as many as seven. They stuck around long enough for a friend to drive down and join us and we also got a passing family on to them - to the usual 'What??? Dolphins you don't get them round here do you?'

A Grey Seal was completed upstaged by the other mammals and birds were eventually represented by a flock of 10 Shelducks and tow flocks of about 15 Common Scoters each.

Unfortunately all the action was far too far out for any hope of  photos.

Our afternoon at work wouldn't go fast enough either as we had a mission to complete - a bit of a treat for helping out at an event recently.

The appointed hour came and we made our way to the zoo where we were taken to feed the Giraffes - what fantastic creatures, we've always had a soft spot for them ever since Daktari and Animal Magic (if your under 45/50 you'll have to use that new fangled google thingy). we don't know what it is about them, is it the bizarre patterns that are actually fantastic camouflage in their natural habitat, where we'd love to see them one day, or the bizarre gait that makes them look like their moving in slow motion but can easily out run a horse, maybe it's the blue prehensile tongue or perhaps just their calm enigmatic face? whatever it is they sure are wonderful animals and we were privileged to be able to feed them...Brambles and Nettles!!!

Thanks to our host LS for taking all the pics.

After all the excitement we stopped off on the way back to Base Camp and went to search for the lcal Bee Orchids.

It didn't take long to find the first of what would eventually be 16

What a quality day...and then we were told Wifey had some great news too! Time to crack open the Champers!

Where to next? No moth trapping tonight, rain forecast but we might find something somewhere tomorrow.

In the meantime let us know who's browsing on the browse in your outback