October 9, 2008
Ibis, seal and punctures
After the weekend's dismal weather, yesterday morning I woke up to this:
I decided the good weather was too good to pass up, so I took the morning off work to cycle up to Sutton Gault, in the hope of seeing the adult Glossy Ibis which has been feeding there regularly. The 22 mile ride out to Chain Corner was a breeze (thank heavens Cambs is so flat!), and after a 10 minute walk I was enjoying good scope views of the bird in bright sunlight.
A Marsh Harrier soared high overhead, but this Sparrowhawk circled close enough for a photo.
The biggest surprise of the day was this inquisitive Common Seal in the Great Ouse, a good 30 miles inland from the nearest coast. It was very inquisitive and often swam directly towards me when it surfaced.
I decided to cycle back to Earith along the levee to check out the other bodies of water - much more joggly than it looks!
A whirling flock of Golden Plover and Lapwings flew in from the east, but neither settled for long enough to scan through them.
The ride back to Cambridge was much less pleasant. First I came across a freshly-dead Tawny Owl...
... and shortly afterwards had a flat rear tyre. Mercifully, the tiny garage in Willingham village sold a puncture repair kit, and I was able to locate the puncture fairly easily. The approach to Girton village was hard work, which I initially put down to tiredness, but it turned out that now my front tyre was deflating! I managed to limp back into the lab, where our technician Ian was able to find and remove the offending hawthorn spike.
The cold mornings mean that many of our native ladybirds have packed up for the season, though there are still quite a lot of Harlequins around town.
Jays are particularly easy to see at the moment, very vocal and often travelling in loose flocks. This one has taken to stashing acorns in my parents' lawn.
