Heading south

Summer is a tricky time for my partner, Megan, to take a holiday as this is when she is busiest with Wild Orkney Walks. For the past few years, we have been gently edging our Summer holiday date forward and shortening the time away, so as to reduce the impact upon her business during the tourist season. This year we took our Summer holiday at the end of April, a week in a cottage in rural East Anglia with walks from the door and plenty of opportunity to feed Megan's life list with birds and mammals. En route, we visited or met up with various members of my family, and we reduced the driving a little by catching the ferry to and from Aberdeen, saving three hours of motoring in both directions. We still managed to rack up 1500 miles, which is a lot of potholes, and often felt like we were in an episode of Wacky Races, especially in Englandshire.

Due to transport and accommodation logistics, we left Orkney at midnight on a Wednesday, a really strange time to begin a holiday, I thought. The overnight sailing from Kirkwall to Aberdeen was pleasantly smooth, which allowed us to begin our drive south shortly after 7am the following morning. Our first pitstop was at RSPB Loch Leven near Kinross for a leg stretch and refreshments. And wildlife watching, obviously.

Grey Heron

Seven-spotted Ladybird

A pair of Teal busy feeding (😍 those green flashes)

Little Grebe

Lunch was at the William de Percy Inn in Otterburn, Northumberland, where Megan was gently introduced to the culinary delights of the northeast of England with a Pease Pudding and Ham Stottie. She was also amazed that "everyone talks like you!" We then had a walk along the bank of a stream in the company of a Grey Wagtail and half a dozen Peacock butterflies.

A pair of Jackdaws

We spent a pleasant evening with my brother and his wife in Teesside, also meeting one of my nieces and her beau. Once back on the road, our luck with the weather held out for about an hour before it started to rain, and then we hit roadworks which caused a bit if a delay. Lunch was at RSPB Old Moor near Barnsley, Yorkshire, where I had sensory overload from pie and mushy peas, whilst Megan had sensory overload from all the birdsong. Even during a rain shower, the number of species singing or calling was a wall of sound which she took some time to comprehend. Unfortunately, that split second hesitation meant she missed the one and only Kingfisher of the trip. But the disappointment was soon overcome by a couple of lifers: Reed Warbler and Cetti's Warbler.

Great Crested Grebe

Eventually, we reached our destination, a cottage along a lane near Wicken Fen. By late evening, after we had unpacked and settled in, we were keen to explore.

A Cambridgeshire sunset

Several years ago, after my dad died, my younger daughter, Ruth, sent me this map of the Cambridgeshire fens around Wicken. It felt good to be finally using it.

Not many contour lines, mind!

We pottered out into the fading light, along a farm track, eyes and ears on high alert. In the surrounding fields were Brown Hares, Red-legged Partridge and Pheasants. Muntjac Deer suddenly appeared then abruptly disappeared, a Tawny Owl called in the distance, and then another shape emerged from a hedge and walked cautiously towards us. It was a Chinese Water Deer, with its 'teddy-bear' ears and face, and two downward-protruding tusks. There wasn't enough light for a photograph, so we stood stock still and watched the deer as it stopped frequently to sniff the air, before coming closer and closer. The magic was finally broken when the deer was so close it could differentiate us from the background, and it turned tail and ran back the way it had come. Incredibly, whilst watching this spectacle, another one was unfolding in the background, but one which we couldn't react to until the deer had departed. A Barn Owl was flying low over the fields, searching for rodents. At one point, it landed in the tree next to us, only taking flight again when a group of cyclists pedalled by in the dark (🤷‍♂️ me neither?), all lights and chatter. Returning to the cottage, a few bats (species unknown) were hunting along the hedge by the track, a fitting finale to the day. We slept a sound and contented sleep that night.