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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2888 |
24th January 2019 Hiking - Walking: Alton Water Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: cloudy and cold Max Speed: Distance Covered: 4 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Thursday 24th January - walk ***** – Alton Water – cloudy and cold. We arranged to meet up with old friends Peter and Gill Cutts and Neil and Linda Hurrell at Lemon’s Hill Bridge at Alton water to walk to a bird hide in hope of seeing a Brambling! With a meet up time of 9.30 we were up early and with a good frost we needed time to clear the van thick with ice! There was a nice red sky and I had time to walk down to the beach at the end of the road with my camera while Mag put the van’s diesel heater on which made a good job of clearing the windows:) Sadly I had missed the best of the sunrise but it was still pretty as a picture with light airs on a mill pool sea and frost on the sand. Back home in time for warming porridge as Mag packed the cakes she had made yesterday and we set of at nine in plenty of time to drive the 16 miles to the reservoir. We have been to Lemon’s Hill several times as it is from here, we set off to bike around the reservoir but for some reason I turned off too early and we ended up doing a complete circuit of Alton Water! but the Suffolk countryside was just beautiful all white with frost. Mag had already started the day’s bird watching list as we had seen three buzzards sitting on posts by the roadside in French motorway style and loads of Lapwings were in the fields in search of a cold breakfast! We arrived at the carpark spot on at 9.30 with the Hurrell’s already there. The Cutts’ followed shortly after and after wrapping up well we set off across the bridge Neil and I had windsurfed to on New Year’s Day. We expected the reservoir to be frozen over but it was mostly OK with only patches of ice with gulls standing on it, Tufted Ducks with their striking ringed eyes and a bunch of Godwits feeding in the mud - so a good start. Mag returned to the van to get our supply of fat balls to attract the birds at the hide but she needn’t have bothered because the large selection of bird feeders at the hide had recently been filled and there was a queue of birds making the most of a free meal! It was further than we expected to reach the hide about two miles but we had a great catch up chat on the way and despite the cold because the wind was light we were all OK:) We eventually made it to the hide, were lucky to have it all to ourselves and were soon snapping away at Long Tailed , Coal and Blue tits flitting in and out to get a mouth full of seeds while the Robin picked up the scraps on the ground. We even had a grey squirrel join in the fun. Peter and I tried to get pics of the small birds in flight, easier said than done with the poor light not helping and boy do those little buggers fly fast!!! With flasks supplying the hot drinks and Mag’s cake we had a great time and the six people chattering in the hide failed to put the birds off! It was then time for a bite to eat for lunch, so we ambled back the two miles to the car to drive in search of refreshments. First, we tried the popular Brantham Bull but that looked a bit too posh for a group of OAP birdwatchers so we continued to Manningtree Station Café but the carpark was stuffed with commuters so couldn’t park which was lucky because of the parking charge! So, we carried on to the Manningtree Crown, an old pub with lovely views of the mirror flat River Stour looking wonderful with the tide high. What was even better was the Senior Citizen section of the menu with a great selection for the bargain price of £7 per head:) So I ordered my first OAP meal but at least I have resisted getting my bus pass! What delicious meals we had, three bangers and mash, two cranberry, walnut and brie cheese tarts and a plaice covered in shrimps:) we will definitely go back there, lovely friendly staff too! So well fed and watered it was time to say goodbye after a top day out in the cold making the most of beautiful Suffolk, we will do it again soon! We had to drop our van at the garage to have the wheel arch repaired and were still home in time for Tipping Point:) Photo Gallery Here |
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