In A Bubble

It's weird.

The thing is, there's all this stuff on the news about snow and ice and how terrible the weather is, but on the Patch it's just not happening. I had to take more than an inch of snow off my car at work last Friday, and there was some snow in the air and sticking to bushes on Tuesday [I think?] morning, but even then it wasn't settling. There was a nice attack of hail, which made things slippy for a few minutes, but then it too just melted away. We have water here; nothing has settled, nothing has frozen. It's just cold and damp.

It's a little disturbing - like I'm living under a dome or something, isolated from reality. I looked out to the far hills of Occombe* when I got up and they were green [ok, also a bit brown.. but the pint is no snow]. I'm not complaining. Far from it, as trying to get in and out of work [exposed sloping car park, plus high narrow wet roads] in ice let alone a foot or two of snow would be a pain...

The only evidence that connects what the media say with life as I experience it, is that there are gaps in the shelves in shops, at work they're almost out of coffee beans in the machines - this is actually very serious news, there may be blood [ ;) ] - and not all the post has been arriving on time. But otherwise... crisis, what crisis?


They don't call it the Riviera for nothing.


I suppose some bird news is in order.
Staying inside the Bubble on Sunday I bashed the Patch and got bugger all. [Thus no Monday post about it] The grebe roost turned up a miserable 11 GC Grebes. Cold weather movements? Not here, anyway. Lots of nice un-frozen snow-free habbo, but no influx yet.

Yesterday I got down to the Harbour to count the Herring Gulls and actually got lucky! As well as a Shag, the 2 Moorhen [still can't get over them] and a couple of GBBs, the 47 Herrings had a 1w Yellow-legged Gull with them. YES! Nice burly one, a real classic example. Worth getting out in the rain and murk for. :D  Also, on my way down I heard the first singing Blue Tit of the year. :)




Definitely no complaints.




[[*Being high up and inland and thus the bit of the Patch most likely to get and keep any snow.]]