Axe Estuary Wetlands

This afternoon Miriam and I paid a visit to Black Hole Marsh,which is part of the Axe Estuary Wetlands.This is a good site for us as it has good wheelchair access to two of the hides meaning Miriam can enjoy the facilities as well.
We parked at the car park, which is situated through Seaton Cemetery and made the short walk to the Island Hide.There were plenty of Shelduck on view and also several Little Egrets which were engaged in territorial disputes and were constantly chasing each other around.

I was hoping for a Little Ringed Plover to be there as a few have passed through this week but I was unlucky.
We then moved onto the Field Studies Centre hide. Here were several Mallard groups including one family with eleven ducklings.
Whilst we were there a large Brown Rat disappeared under the building but too quick for me to get a photo. I did managed to get this Dunnock though.

I don't if anyone else has noticed but Dunnocks seem to be doing rather well. I nearly always have a pair in the garden and on a recent trip to Topsham counted at least five pairs in the lane to the Goatwalk.
We then drove around to the estuary and parked up for five minutes enjoying the spring sunshine.
A commotion behind me revealed a Carrion Crow trying to drive away a Raven which was nonchalantly walking around the field.
Around 3pm we decided to head back home and get the dinner ready.

Three to go !

Last night the Hustler's took on the Perry Winklers at the Perry St Club. We won by 15 points to 1 and so now the gap between us and the Outlaws is just 16 points as they lost their game this week. Its all shaping up for a winner takes all game when we meet them in the last game of the season.
I hit 61 pins to keep up my average for the season at 55.5.
Ale on tonight was St Austell 'Spring Brew' at 4.3% which I wasn't sure about when I first had it a couple of weeks ago but is now growing on me.

Iceland At Last

A quick lunchtime visit to Chard Reservoir today produced an Iceland Gull. The bird has been seen on and off for a couple of days now and Andy and I were lucky enough to connect with it during our lunch break.

Its one of those !

Ten minutes after we arrived and it was gone flying north.

Signs of Spring

This evening I made a visit to my local 'patch', the gravel pits at Chard Junction. There were the usual Tufted Ducks and Coots on the East lake along with a single Mute Swan and a juvenile Grey Heron. There was also a late Fieldfare feeding on the slopes on the far side.

Roe Deer

A walk along the track produced no Hirundines although a text from Andy G earlier in evening had said there were two Swallows over the reserve. There was a Roe deer just over the bank keeping an eye on me.
A walk through the reserve produced signs of spring with at least three singing Chiff Chaffs and several large clumps of Primroses.

Primroses

 

 

 

On the way back to the gate I flushed a Green Woodpecker from the edge of the East lake. I then took a quick look over the 'extension' a little further up the lane but apart from another Green Woodpecker there was little else to see.

Nearly Over

Last night we played our last home game of the season against the Golden Boys who share our home alley.
We ran out winners by 13 pins and 9-3 on points. It was one of our better nights and if we had played like this all season we would have finished much higher in the league.I scored a creditable 41 pins.
Ale on offer was Worthington's Spring Brew at 4.2% (we missed having Doom Bar by one pint as it went off as soon as we arrived). This was a totally different ale to the St Austell Spring Brew as it had none of the fruity/citrusy flavours and as a consequence went down rather well.

My Chistmas Present

This weekend saw Miriam and I at Woolacombe staying with our friends Dave and Caroline. Miriam had arranged a horse ride for me for a Christmas present and it was arranged for this weekend.
We travelled up on Saturday and spent the afternoon with D & C and also Rob and Carol our other good friends who were in on the surprise.
On Sunday morning Miriam,Dave,Caroline and I made our way to the riding stables(Rob and Carol had gone home again the previous evening). Dave and I had had horses together in the past, but it had been around thirty years since I had ridden. I had booked a half hours refresher lesson and an hours ride out.

The lesson went really well and it soon all came back, just like riding a bike you never really forget.
The hours ride took us high up the hill with a spectacular view over Woolacombe Bay and all too soon it was over.

I can honestly say it was one of the best Christmas presents I've ever had.
We then all went up to Bulls Head Lighthouse and sat watching the sea crash over the rocks below us before heading back to the house and lunch. We made our goodbyes and left around 4pm for the 2 hour journey home.

March Ale Trail

On Friday the 23rd myself and the usual suspects went out for our monthly Ale Trail. It was Andy G's turn to drive but unfortunately his car wouldn't start (so he says !) so Nigel stepped up and volunteered again. He won't have drive for four months now.
Our first stop was the Culm Valley Inn at Culmstock in Devon. It was quite a trek out there but it was worth it.
It's renowned for having up to ten ales on at weekends all served direct from the cask. This night we had a choice of seven beers, all from local breweries. I went for an O'Hanlons Firefly first at 3.7%, this is a light bitter with fruit flavours but a little uninspiring. Next I tried a Bays Best also at 3.7%, this was more to my liking.
As its Wetherspoon festival time we decided to cut short our visit and start to head back to Chard, but not before we had called into the Half Moon Inn at Clayhidon.

Here we all tried an Ale from a new brewery at Plymouth called Pilgrim which at 4.4% was well received by all.We shall have to keep an eye on their progress at the Plymouth Brewery when their website is up and running.
We then headed on back to Chard to see what festival beers were on offer. Again there were only three from the festival catalogue on sale but two were quite good so it wasn't quite so disappointing.
We all went for the Caledonian Coffee Porter at 4.3% first (Nigel had taken the car home first and met up with us). This is an exclusive to the festival beer with its official launch in May and was well received by all.
I next went for a Batemans Smokey Joe at 4.8% and boy was it smokey tasting just like a bonfire but not at all unpleasant. The last beer on in the festival was Wadworths Swordfish at 5.0% but having tasted Andy J's I decided not to bother and went for another pint of the Coffee Stout.
And so ended another Ale Trail, watch this space for next months outing