The picture above should of been in the last blog In Search of Wheatears forgot to put it in! I hope you get a feel of how desolate it was!

Slightly different this morning as I was out by the River doing our monthly Bird Survey and saw the Tide come in-always a fascinating watch and never the same! It was really cold but at least it was dry. 88 Curlew, 27 Redshank 4 Oystercatchers , Jack Snipe were some of the highlights. Ironically saw my first Sand Martins and Swallows this morning when it was so bitter. I also did my weekly bird watch at Wick Court with young people from near Vauxhall. They were pleased to see a Chiffchaff. I am Story Telling for them tonight.

A dank damp day here in Frampton. A busy domestic day catching up on chores and admin. I went looking for migrants late afternoon-not a great success. I went to Saul Warth  right by the River on my bike. Sadly it resembled a desert apart from a few Rooks in the field nothing on the River apart from a vast expanse of mud! (picture below). Where are the Sand Martins and the Wheatears? I will keep looking!

Decided that the Supertramp song is just right for today’s title as I think it is back to normal here! I have been on the bike for the first proper ride since covid hit us! Obviously will take a while before I get my fitness back but wonderful to feel physically tired again!

I did manage to get out to a rehearsal yesterday afternoon but we were short on numbers because many people have succumbed to the virus. Sadly numbers are high in South West. 

Back to Story Telling later this week and hopefully to start planning future gigs.

Still haven’t seen any Sand Martins! I might look for Wheatears  tomorrow near the river.

Well that song title matches today’s weather especially as I am now able to go out! I still haven’t seen any Sand Martins and I have been to look (twice today) . The picture of the Chiffchaff below is the best I’ve seen migrant wise and many of them now stay here for the winter.( Much better picture than the one I took a couple of days ago.) The other picture greeted me on the lawn this morning!

I am avoiding all mention of cricket in the interests of my blood pressure!

I’ll steal the immortal lyrics from Me and Bobby McGee for today’s title because guess what? I was negative this morning! So freedom! Technically I need to test again tomorrow before I go anywhere with people. The picture of the Tufted Duck below shows I left the garden earlier!

Managed to get the Starling picture earlier in the garden- they are attractive birds when the light brings out that iridescence- think if the sun was at a slightly different angle it would of enhanced the colours even more.

                                          .

Well I suppose the words same as same as sum up life here. Have been lucky there has been some cricket to watch-the Pakistan- Australia has been fascinating over the last few days and now we have England to watch as well.

Beginning to feel better and testing tomorrow to see if I can go out into the big world beyond our garden. Clare is just beginning to turn the corner. Glad we have been vaccinated because I would hate to think how poorly we could of been. As someone with mild asthma that would of been a worry.

Slowly learning my lines for the play-our next rehearsal is without scripts! I might be able to think about how I move on stage.

A Chiffchaff I have heard a few recently hope to get a better shot in the next couple of weeks.

The sun is shining,, leaves are coming into bud, flowers are blooming. The Frog Spawn is pulsating and shimmering with life and a few tadpoles have already broken out. I have of course plenty of time on my hands at the moment and I keep walking round the garden. I will do another test on Thursday/Friday to see if I will be able to  break out of isolation!

Anyway some random pictures from the garden today.  I missed the Coal Tit!

After two years I have finally caught it! I tested positive on Sunday so stuck inside for a few days. feels more like a brain fog and being washed out. Although I might sneak up to the lake to look for Sand Martins and avoid any humans.Clare is negative at the moment. Sadly it means our Spain cricket tour we were flying this Wednesday is now  off.Now have to see if we can get any money back.

Sadly had to miss a rehearsal for the play Between Severn Tides we are performing the weekend of April 22nd and 23rd.Believe it or not it does involve some singing which might be a surprise for anyone who knows my singing ability! The play was written by my friend Brian Dimmock and it is coming together well. Anyone who wants a ticket let me know.

Well those of you that know me know I can’t write about anything else today. No I am not talking about Italy at last winning the rugby or the rather dour cricket. It is of course the Mighty Hatters that take centre stage! I am over the moon Brian! I can’t quite believe where my football team  are! Third in the championship on our resources is remarkable. Very proud of my club with a strong ethical stance in contrast to those clubs with questionable ownership.  I keep pinching myself! I am now getting nervous about the run in!

One bird we saw yesterday I didn’t mention that had us scratching our heads it was a Canary Yes a Canary we saw this yellow bird fly towards the Severn and my friend and I said “What is that? Is it a Canary? Can’t be can it?” It turns out others saw it and photographed it! Certainly not a bird you would expect to see – we assume it had escaped.

Lovely morning birding out by the Severn -foggy to start with and then sunshine. A variety of pictures I took below. I have managed to cycle a bit this week and even did the shopping this afternoon with three panniers on my bike  ( a cheaper way of shopping!)

Male Reed Bunting

Two Common Cranes

A real surprise two Bewick Swans still around I think all of them at Slimbridge have already  left!

This Buzzard we watched for a while at first we thought it was carrying nesting material but decided it was a stick caught in its talons! Finally when I got home I saw the Blackcap in the feeder.