Christmas is coming

and the geese have a slight look of concern in their eyes

but not half as much as their domestic cousins.

Grumpy

This Blue Tit looks how I feel after a day flogging a quiet (I'm just spoilt) windy patch. Now why's the spell checker telling me I spelt spoilt wrong, and spelt. A quick check in the dictionary tells me I'm correct or at least partly so as unusually the yanks prefer spoiled and spelled. Oh how very posh. Gave me something to write about anyway and just for good measure ......colour. Bloody heathens!

Look at all those berries

many blown off in the recent winds but some good fare still remains.

Sitting pretty

Magpies are doing well but Christmas is looming

Will they shoot skyward like a gun or drop to the ground and play among the cats?

That's high

The unusual sight of the Pilot boat at Blyth last night steaming past level with the quayside as high tide reached the boardwalk level.

As I watched it eventually topped pavement level and started flooding the road. This was about five minutes before high tide.

The Pilot headed off upstream with the water now breaching the gaps on the quayside left for mooring bollards.

Followed by his escort fortunately at dead slow for a wake would have inundated the quayside. Just as the vessel passed hide tide was reached and the water started to recede.

Full fare

Trees heaving with Fieldfare preparing to roost on the Carr last night

and as soon as you approached for a photograph off they went.

Streak

An excellent weekend on the patch although the Pipits and Snipe needed to keep their head down! Saturday saw a large singing flock of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starlings up the Bridle track numbering between 800-1000. A walk in the woods flushed two Woodcock twice (can I count that as four?) which brought up 107 on the PC list and I found my first pair of wintering Stonechat since the freezing winters of a few years ago wiped them from inland localities. Tonight was duller and unfortunately calmer although a large female Sparrowhawk was making repeated sorties down the bumpy road.