Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
A Brace of Woodpeckers
by admin - 17:22 on 06 March 2010
A mild almost-spring day made this the perfect time to begin the garden’s after-winter tidy-up. But lethargy was rampant in The Rural Retreat and nothing was done. Maybe tomorrow.
Our laziness paid dividends. Not only did we see two great spotted woodpeckers in the garden at the same time – something unlikely to happen if we’d been crashing around our estate on a petrol-powered lawnmower while armed with garden forks and pruning shears – but I got photographic proof too.
The snaps aren’t brilliant, for I had only seconds to get them both in frame and in focus, and they were fooling about in The Nutella Tree, which is a bit distant for small-to-medium-sized bird photography. However, as a record of the event the snaps are great. And there may be another opportunity another time.
I didn’t see whether the birds were a pair or two males. Observations will continue.
Anyone who thinks they’ve had bad luck recently should spare a thought for Mike, my former best man, and his moll Michelle who recently took part in an epic holiday to mark two milestone birthdays.
They avoided the earthquake in Chile during their cruise around South America and the Falklands, and were not among the ship’s passengers who were put into quarantine when a vomiting bug swept through the decks. The real bad luck began when they returned home to discover that their home had been gutted by a chimney fire.
Their cats survived, as did the house-sitters. I’m not yet privy to the full details. I’ll keep you posted.
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