Apparently, when you reach adulthood you're supposed to stop enjoying snow and become either fearful of it or incredibly grumpy whenever it happens. I must have missed that lesson because I love snow.
However, I do hate how we as a nation deal with it, or more accurately fail to deal with it and I also hate how, for at least a week prior to a possible snow event our media goes into snowverdrive (HAHAHAH) and bombards us with endless shit about how we're all going to die. As I'm sure you're already aware today was one such snowpocalypse. I didn't die. If you weren't aware of that before, you are now. I was able to spend most of the day either watching the river from the flat, which is a rare luxury, or poking about on the seawall in front of it.
However, I do hate how we as a nation deal with it, or more accurately fail to deal with it and I also hate how, for at least a week prior to a possible snow event our media goes into snowverdrive (HAHAHAH) and bombards us with endless shit about how we're all going to die. As I'm sure you're already aware today was one such snowpocalypse. I didn't die. If you weren't aware of that before, you are now. I was able to spend most of the day either watching the river from the flat, which is a rare luxury, or poking about on the seawall in front of it.
As you can see, we live in a really nice area.
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| Almost promising migrant scrub and junkie hangout |
The cold snap has bought a few more birds into the river, but despite putting in the hours Grays didn't really produce the goods like other sites along the river did. In terms of waders and waterfowl I didn't get anything more than decent amounts of the usual suspects - Redshank, lapwing and teal numbers are all noticeably up. Grey plovers headed upriver on and off all day, with around a dozen or so knocking about our immediate stretch of the Thames, but I didn't get any of my target birds - godwits, golden plover or either of the snipes. Best birds on the river itself were two great-crested grebes, only the third and fourth I've ever seen here, and the kittiwakes, fast becoming "normal" expected sightings, are still hanging around. As usual they're almost exclusively seen following ships when the tide is highish. On a quick walk this morning I had a rock pipit just up from the flat that unfortunately doesn't make the list, but that's just a matter of time.
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| Real proper birds, just in front of (if not directly in view from) our flat |
The only real birds of note were two adult little gulls that went upriver just before 1pm. They were a long way out, almost over Swanscombe Point, and hard to pick out against the snowy background. I snapped off a few shots hoping to catch them and while one or other of the birds appears in several pictures and this is by far the best of the bunch. It's another one where I've had to circle the relevant part...
Awesome, huh?
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