Experiment, week 20. Yes, we’re now a third of the way through the 60 week experiment! So here are this week’s five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful.
- Photographing Parakeets. As you will have seen from my post earlier in the week I spent a nice sunny afternoon sitting in the garden photographing the local Ring-Necked Parakeets.
- Birch Catkins and Pine Cones. The garden today has been a real delight. It’s been a bit cooler than a few days ago but still wall-to-wall sunshine. The catkins on the silver birches are just out (note to get out the hayfever tablets!) and our Christmas trees (now around 20 feet high) have enormous crops of cones, and are spreading seeds everywhere.
- Butterflies. The warm weather has also brought out the first butterflies, as well as the early bumblebees and queen wasps. The first butterfly I saw, a couple of days ago, was a Holly Blue. Shortly followed by a Small White. And today sitting in the sun there was a brand spanking newly hatched Comma — and I’ve not seen one of those here for a few years either.
- Goldcrest. While in the garden this afternoon, Noreen looked up into the smaller Christmas tree and said “What’s this bird over my head?” I went to look. And there just 5 or 6 feet above us, and completely oblivious to our presence, was the tiniest Goldcrest. It is our smallest native bird, much smaller even than a Blue Tit, and although not hugely rare it is uncommon and seldom seen because it prefers living deep in (preferably conifer) woodland. This is the second one I’ve seen here in a week; and they’re the only ones in the last 10 years! One can hope they’ll stay, but I doubt we have enough nearby trees, especially conifers. I couldn’t get a good photo of it as I was shooting against the bright sky but here’s an image from the web.
- Cold Roast Pork Sandwiches. Finally on a foodie theme … At the end of last week when we were in Norwich visiting my mother we picked up a large, but incredibly cheap, joint of pork shoulder for roasting in Roy’s, the local supermarket chain. It was magnificent; it was so tender that you could cut the cooked meat with a spoon. And it made some delicious cold roast pork sandwiches! I love cold roast pork!
