Garden Birds

I had a nice surprise yesterday in the form of a new garden tick ! I was making a cup of tea when I noticed a smart male Brambling on the feeders.

Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)

This brings my garden list to 48 species, not bad for a small rural patch. Other notable visitors have included a Common Pheasant, I don't know who was more surprised when came home to find him in the garden. He took off like a Harrier Jump Jet and flew over the house !
I also chanced upon a Tawney Owl one night sitting on the bird table, he also promptly flew off leaving the table vibrating like a tuning fork !
Birds like Great Spotted Woodpecker and Treecreeper have also graced 'my patch' on occasion and one winter we also had a male Reed Bunting that found our garden to his liking and spent a few days visiting.
Regular visitors include Coal Tit, Bullfinch, Dunnock, Greenfinch and Long Tailed Tit. Whilst Ravens are a common 'fly-over' species, on one occasion numbering six individuals.
Brambling however was a long hoped for addition to my list and many times I've watched from the Kitchen window checking out all the Chaffinches in the hope that the flock would include their Scandinavian cousin.

Last Tango in Crewkerne

Skittles last week was a disappointment in both games. On Monday the Jockey's were beaten again by the Golden Boys in the Nomination League and on Wednesday the Hustler's lost to the Bandit's, only our second defeat of the year.
On Thursday the usual suspects met up for our final Ale Trip of the year. We went first to the Old Barn Owl at Westport. The pub was full with Christmas party goers but we did manage to secure a table. The beer on offer though was a poor selection with only two ales, neither of which was very exciting. The choice was between 'Tribute' or Cottage 'Headly Silverstone'. I tried the Silverstone but it was weak and insipid.
Needless to say we did not stop long and moved onto the Wyndham Arms in Kingsbury Episopi.

 This was much more inviting and we were given a warm welcome by the Landlord. There was a good choice of local ales on offer and I went for Cheddar Ales and Potholer at 4.3%.
We now decided to move onto our last port of call for the evening and the Old Coach House at Crewkerne.
We knew we would get a good selection of ales here as the Landlord knows his trade and how to keep a good pint.We were not disappointed with three good choices.

I started with Bath Ales Festivity at 5.0% which was a lovely dark porter with a caramel after taste and my personal favourite of the night.
I then went onto Hurricane from the Windy Brewery at The Volunteer in Seavington. This was a crisp tasting American style IPA.
Last up was a half of Town Mill's Granny's Teeth (named after the steps on the Cobb at Lyme Regis) at 6.0%, which was OK but not really to my taste.

So now it's onto Christmas and my in house supplies.

Xmas Shopping Tick Two

Skittles this week began on Monday with a home tie against the other team that plays on our alley. We didn't
have a great night however and ran out losers to the Golden Boys by 14 pins. I did manage to hit the top score for our team though.
Ale on tonight was a Brain's seasonal called Fir King Good Ale at 4.0%
On Wednesday it was back to the Hustlers and the Club League. We were playing the Perry Winklers and the first two hands were really tight with us reaching the halfway mark 2 pins to the good and the points shared. The third hand however shaped the game and we were 29 pins up after our opponents could only score 61. We eventually won by 34 pins and took the points 14-2.
On Friday Miriam and I went down to Lyme Regis for some more Xmas shopping. We bought a few things and then as the weather was starting to deteriorate made our way back to the car. I however had one more stop to make, so leaving Miriam in the car I made my way over to the Cobb and walked out on top of the wall. I was looking for Purple Sandpipers but due to the tide being in I had to walk nearly to the end before I spotted two Sandpipers feeding on the low wall and dodging the breakers that threatened to engulf them.

Christmas Shopping (Birding)

Today Miriam and I went Xmas Shopping, but with a twist. We headed over to Otter Nurseries near Ottery St Mary to pick up a few Christmas presents and to also have lunch at Joshua's Harvest Store.
I had a ulterior motive for going in this direction though as Waxwings had been reported in Exmouth and Exeter recently. I had set my phone for Birdguide messages and whilst we were having lunch a message came through to say that there were 7 Waxwings in Exeter on Wonford Road. All good so far.
We finished our shopping and got back to the car. I wanted to pay a quick visit to the Aquatics shop further down the road and parking the car noticed this buzzard over the hedge.

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)

We now headed into Exeter and twenty minutes later had located the Waxwing flock except there were now 14 of these cracking birds giving their trilling calls perched 10-12 feet above our heads.

I fired off around a hundred shots until the light started to go and I reluctantly dragged myself away and back to the car. I later learned that after about twenty minutes the whole flock flew off.

We now decided to call in at Darts Farm at Topsham, one of my favourite places  because of this .....

One of the best stocked bottled ale shops in the west country. I must have been feeling flushed with success because I bought this at £11.00 a bottle, you heard me £11.00

I've been waiting to get my hands on a bottle of this for ages. It's called Fusion and at 8% is a fusion of young and old, grain and fruit. Blended vintage old ale and matured in Somerset Cider Brandy barrels.

Think I might save it for Christmas !

Pointing in the Right Direction

This weeks Skittles matches produced two good wins for the two teams I play for. On Monday the Jockey's were playing at the Poppe Inn, One of only two away games I can walk to, the second being the other alley at the Perry Street Club.
We won the toss and and elected to play second in this our 4th Nomination League match of the season. We started well and and claimed both points. We ended up winning 12 points to 0 and by 80 pins.
The next night the Hustlers played the Cupid Stunts, a new team in the league this year. We were on first and posted a score of 76, Our opponents came back with 75 but lost the points by tying the second leg and losing both on count back.
Our second hand was much better and we hit 88 with the Cupid Stunts only managing 61 giving us a healthy lead and all the points. This proved to be the turning point and we went on to win 16-0 taking both the next two hands and all the points to keep the pressure on the Outlaws whose lead over us is now just 3 points.
So two wins in as many days and no points lost.