Today was the monthly bird survey out by the River. It was a slow start because there was quite a strong wind. We were treated to about 200 Wigeon flying up the river. Later when we walked what we called the Snipe Field we saw 45 Snipe and 4 Jack Snipe. One of our young members of our team got very excited calling out the numbers! Some pictures at the bottom of the blog of Snipe from previous encounters in different places.

Following the bird theme I did my weekly bird watch with young people at Wick Court. They had the drama of a marauding Sparrowhawk and later good views of a Great Spotted Woodpecker in front of them when sitting in the Hide.

We also went to a great talk on Tawny Owls last night with some brilliant photographs.

Just got back from my weekly Story Telling at Wick Court telling some old favourites. I now  need to learn stories for a gig on Monday afternoon.

Finally the football on Tuesday night was much more encouraging – we travelled up to the game  apprehensively after Saturday’s debacle! Fingers crossed we play like that again on Saturday.

I used to always get my blog titles from well known songs – I then ran out of inspiration or knowledge of enough songs! Today’s title of course is courtesy of the band 10cc! There is a little tale from today that makes it appropriate!

Tomorrow is my lovely Clare’s birthday so haven’t not got a birthday card yet (one day I will use Moonpig) I set off on my bike up to Whitminster to buy a card. All was going well till i tried to mount the kerb for the pavement to avoid the dangerous A38. Big mistake! My front wheel got caught in a groove and catapulted be in the air. I crashed into a gate and landed on the pavement. My knees are battered and bloody. I think I got of lightly but my dignity suffered! Hence 10cc’s song for today!!!!!

The title refers to me not acknowledging what a depressing sporting weekend it has been! The cricket was woeful on Saturday morning I got up at just after 5 to watch England’s abject batting and later their poor tactics in the field. Later on my football team capitulated spectacularly at a ground we normally do well at (at least when I go!).

Away from sport had a lovely weekend with our two delightful grandsons. It is great to see them fully engaging with books they love them as does my granddaughter in Exeter. They all love listening to me telling a story as well.

The title refers to the Test Match Down Under. What an amazing day (well night for us)! 19 wickets in a day- will it last much more than two days. I couldn’t believe the score when I woke up- I managed to watch most of the Australian innings – great bowling from England’s pace attack.

You may ask where has Bill been? Well it has been action packed! I cycled to Gloucester on Tuesday morning to do another Winter Bird Square. Saw well over thirty  Long-tailed Tits (picture below not mine), sadly part of the square was limited because of flooding but I managed to see 19 species.

Wednesday was my regular bird watching session with young people from Gosport at Wick Court. One group were delighted to see two Curlews flying over (don’t see that many on this side of the Severn’s Horseshoe Bend. I was story telling for them last night- I told a Russian Folk Tale (a trick story) which went down well.

Friday was an awful day weather wise and it rained persistently for 24 hours. We managed to get to Bristol for Gloucestershire Seniors Cricket Dinner. An excellent evening!

Sadly Saturday’s football was a cure for insomnia it was so boring. The pictures below are from  the week before at Stockport. See if you can pick me out for some reason I’m not smiling.

Currently we are away enjoying the company of our granddaughter (and her parents).

Wednesday was my regular day at Wick Court taking young people bird watching. My goodness didn’t we get wet! The children were great no moans at all despite the heavy persistent rain!!! We managed to see 20 species which surprised me. back tonight for story telling with them.

It was our book club last night back in our spiritual home The Three Horseshoes which reopened last month after being closed for nearly two years. A great discussion on a provocative book The Safekeep – parts of it were a challenge! Our annual Christmas entertainment will be back at the Shoes on December 10th – all welcome! (more details in a future blog).

It is that time of the year for us! Every November and February we are allocated two different  kilometre squares on the Ordnance Survey Map to record all the birds we see. We really enjoy doing this because we are always sent to places we wouldn’t normally consider to bird watch. We did our first November square in Upton St. Leonards this morning. We saw more than twenty species and we had good views of a  grey wagtail and a goldcrest. I managed a picture of the wagtail see below as well as a perky coal tit on our crap apple tree at home.

We had a delightful lunch with two old friends yesterday (David reads this blog).

Had a super day out yesterday in the North! Great pub before the game. What happened afterwards was a pleasant surprise. The Mighty Hatters brushed aside the league leaders also nicknamed the Hatters with a good all round team performance. Is this the start of a recovery?

We enjoyed seeing Michael Morpurgo and Jamila Gavin this morning at the Stroud Book Festival. They were talking about their books that had war themes as it was Armistice Sunday. Both read extracts from their books which were poignant.

The Two Severn Bores performed our new show for the second time on Wednesday this time for Slimbridge WI. It was a lovely atmospheric setting. We had a fire behind us and it was mild enough for our audience to sit outside. Dan and I were delighted with how well it went and we had some lovely feedback. We are aiming to do some recording in an effort to promote us to wider audiences. So watch this space for details!

I did my usual volunteering at Wick Court with young people from The Charles Dickens School in London. They certainly enjoyed the bird watching and they were entranced by the story telling last night.

Last night Clare and I went to see Roger McGough at Stroud Book Festival- it is a long time since I last saw him perform. He was excellent and impressive for a man of his age. He read the eulogy he did for Brian Pattern’s funeral – it was very moving. We are seeing Michael Morpurgo and Jamila Gavin on Sunday.

Finally tomorrow I am off to Stockport to watch the Mighty Hatters – not that confident but looking forward to a good day which will include the odd hostelry with friends before the game!

Sadly on my cycle on Monday I got a puncture towards the end and guess who forgot his pump!!!! I managed to nurse my way to the Gloucester-Sharpness Canal and then walked home. When I went to repair it I found the tyre was starting to disintegrate (it was a fairly new tyre as well!) Punctures happen but are really annoying and inconvenient! New tyre now fitted.

Today I travelled down to the County Ground in Bristol for a photo shoot with the Gloucestershire Seniors who are going to India again in February. You will be amazed how long it took-herding cats comes to mind.

I have been learning my stories again for the Two Severn Bores Gig tomorrow- Bonfire Night! It will be a cracker and I’m sure we will sparkle (groan).