We went up the Shard on Sunday. The views were impressive as was the speed of the lift to the 68th floor. You had to take two lifts but the total time in the lifts was about 60 seconds.
Author Archives: pnbrown13blog
The Rolling Stones
I went to see the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park on Saturday. My brother had got us tickets for the event, thanks Tony. We had previously seen them in 1982 at Wembley Stadium. At the time I did not expect to see them again as I thought they were pretty old then. It is quite amazing to see them 31 years later, still going and still good. We had a good day in London first and consumed too much real ale.
and some video:- http://youtu.be/6kA9jOlAaT8
and some Jake Bugg video:- http://youtu.be/0AGDDFj47bM
Chasing the Tern
Travelled up to Cresswell Pond Northumberland where the Bridled Tern had been seen the day before. Spent a few hours there in hope but no luck. Lovely day and lovely beach with views over Druridge Bay and as far as Coquet Island. There were lots of seabirds on view in the bay including many Puffin and an Arctic Skua. We then decided to go further north to Amble for some fish and chips. No sooner had we got there and there was a pager message that the Bridled Tern was now at Saltholme RSPB on the outskirts of Middlesbrough 62 miles further south. We set off for Middlesbrough straight away but it was no surprise that when we arrived it had already flown off. We waited a couple of hours but it did not return. Later that night it was relocated 4 miles south of Amble!!. We did see a Roseate Tern at Saltholme RSPB. We then went to Whitby Lighthouse and then stayed the night near Scarborough. On Sunday I went to Wykeham Forest Raptor Viewpoint where I did NOT see any Honey Buzzards although I did see a Goshawk that was perched in a tree across the valley for about half an hour.
**MEGA** Pacific Swift
15/06/2013 Trimley Marshes SWT. As soon as I saw the Mega Alert on my pager I knew I had to at least try and get to see this bird as I had missed the Cley bird in 1993. I knew the journey would take at least 2 hours and then there was a three mile walk to where the bird was being seen. I did not expect it to still be there when we arrived. In fact when we were about 15 miles away we received news that it had flown off south over the River Orwell. We continued the journey and luckily it came back and we saw it. We also saw the Trooping of the Colour flypast as we were travelling up the A 12.
Badger
I often see badgers in the garden but it usually too dark to get a good photo of them. I noticed one tonight when it was still quite light and managed a few photo’s.
Knocking Hoe Nature Reserve
9/6/2013 I had never been to this Nature Reserve in Bedfordshire before. It is on the other side of the road from Pegsdon Hills. It is an important reserve for some rare plants including Burnt Tip Orchids.
Bonaparte’s Gull
8/6/2013. Went to Kent for the day. First place visited was the Oare Marshes Reserve for the Bonaparte’s Gull that has been seen there on and off for the last few weeks. Although it was not seen when I first arrived it was not too long before it put in an appearance over high tide. We then went to Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Sandwich Bay and Pegwell Bay.
Savi’s Warbler
1/6/2013. Another weekend another trip to Lakenheath RSPB, this time for a Savi’s Warbler which was found last weekend when I was there but I did not see it then. It showed well several times between 6-7pm when it came up to sing near the tops of the reeds.
Some video footage here :- http://youtu.be/-NqM3I1AEbk
Roller Before Breakfast 26/5/2013
An early morning trip to Broxhead Common in Hampshire to see a Roller today. Left the house at 5.15am and had seen the bird by 6.30am. Back home by 9am for breakfast. I have added a few pictures of the Roller but they don’t do such a colourful bird justice as it was quite distant. There were also 3-4 Woodlark in the same area.
Red-Footed Falcon
25/5/2013 Lakenheath RSPB – Finally saw the Red-Footed Falcon today and got a few pictures. I have also added a couple of pictures of an Avocet at Welney WWT.
Brunsblog 
