30
Jun 18

RSPB Minsmere & Aldeburgh, Suffolk

The sun has been shining for a good few weeks now, so we thought it would be a great idea to get up super early, and head up North to Suffolk for a day trip. RSPB Minsmere was our destination, with 7 different hides, located right on the coast.

We arrived in Suffolk without any trouble, and headed straight for the reserve. We were greeted nicely by the RSPB volunteers, and headed straight in to catch some wildlife action. Right out of the gate, we were treated to some lovely little sand Martins, all flying in and out of their little homes, inside the sandy wall, and some rabbits.

A pair of Sand Martins

A bunny!

The reserve is quite big, with a couple of big fresh water lagoons in the middle, and the big circular loop that goes around the lagoons takes you over towards the sea. So we decided to do the loop, and stop over at the hides. It’s a very pretty reserve, I must say – we had a lovely time walking through in the sun and the tall grass. Once we reached the coast, we continued on down, spotting the Artic Tern out at sea, before heading back in to one of the various hides.

Artic Tern

A couple of Black-tailed Godwits

The first for us was spotting a lovely Avocet – I’d never heard of them before (Gina had, probably), but there was a very knowledgeable chap in the hide we were in, making a massive fuss over the Avocet that was out in the lagoon.

Avocet (black & white)

Gina on the coastal path

After we continued around the loop, we were both pretty hungry. As Gina was armed with her Lonely Planet book, we decided to head into Aldebrugh for lunch – what a beautiful little place! The village was full of very colourful little houses, right on the coast, with some nice little shops. We had a nice seafood lunch at one the little restaurants that the Tripadvisor recommended for us, followed by a home made ice cream, and a walk along the sea front.

All in all, a lovely little Saturday outing!


05
Jun 16

Horniman & Seven Sisters

Another nice weekend on our hands, decided to potter around a bit, nothing serious. On Saturday, we went to the Horniman Museum and Gardens, which was quite nice and we also saw the Horniman aquarium with loads of little creatures. Then we drove down to Crystal Palace for lunch in a nice hipster place (the type that is a cafe but also a vintage crap type shop, managed by three guys in skinny jeans, one of whom brings the coffee late on purpose just to be able to make an excuse for ‘having to get the grind right’ – so, right down our alley, and by ‘our’ I mean Iest’s).

Hipster lunch

Hipster lunch

On Sunday we decided to go all the way to the coast to Seven Sisters, which gave us an opportunity to drive through some nice english Sussexy countryside. We arrived at about noon, which turned out to be super busy on a sunny Sunday, so once again, we had a problem parking. Eventually we found a spot, and finally made it out of the car into the sun. In the visitors’ center we got a little seaside life guidebook, which was on sale and is from the same series I already got the bird book and insect book, so I am all set now for my nature explorations. Then we walked the usual path along the river bed toward the cliffs, and in the meanders of the old river branch we saw a beautiful grey heron, very majestically owning the place. And not only that, there was also a little egret sharing the space, all white with a black beak and yellow feet, elegantly wading the waters. We were very excited to be able to observe them, and took many cool pictures.

Heron & Egret living in harmony

Heron & Egret living in harmony

When we had enough, we continued the South Down Way path away from the river and up on the cliffs. It was a beautiful day, so there was a lot of people, but the cliffs were nice and shiny and it was a pleasant walk. We then made it down to the main beach for a little stroll in the cool water.

Seven Sisters

Seven Sisters

All seven of them

All seven of them

By then of course we were already really hungry as we had no lunch or snacks, and so we started to make our way back to the car. On our way down we saw a great looking pub in Friston, called Tiger Inn, but when we got there around four they were not making food yet. So we drove back to the Cuckmere Inn by the Seven Sisters’ park, and we definitely did not regret (egret?) our choice! From the deliciously refreshing virgin cocktails through rustic bread starters and big burgers to the freshly made desserts, everything was perfect. Plus, the outside terrace where we were sitting was flooded with scores of little birds, waiting for crummies and being all cute. A great finish to the day. Well, except for the drive back that was still awaiting us but Iest totally covered that. I managed not to fall asleep throughout, although I did have a couple of weak moments. Fortunately there was and 80s hour on the Heart radio, so that helped to revive the zing in Terrell for the rest of the trip.

Cuckmere entrée

Cuckmere entrée


30
Mar 16

Wales Easter

As usual, we headed up to Wales for Easter. Hurricane Katy was also heading up, so we had to give up kayaking plans, but otherwise we were totes on the top of our game – hiking, sea, sunsets, birds, oen bachs and family time, all check! Plus, awesome time with my macro lens.

We did a nice little hike up the Roman steps to Rhinog Fawr, down by Harlech. Saw a Red Grouse on the way too.

Up Rhinog Fawr

Up Rhinog Fawr

Down Rhinog Fawr

Down Rhinog Fawr

Red Grouse

Red Grouse

Sunset before the storm, from Dinas Dinlle.

Sunset

Sunset

Also a nice hike our fave Yr Aran, the Vatican way this time, with some nice views on the snowy Snowdon ridge.

Gina and Yr Wyddfa

Gina and Yr Wyddfa

Cwm Llan a Yr Wyddfa

Cwm Llan a Yr Wyddfa

Up Aran

Up Aran

Up on Aran

Up on Aran

Down Aran

Down Aran

Spectacularly windy trip around Morfa Nefyn, sort of sunny though. No seals!

Morfa Nefyn

Morfa Nefyn

Macro throughout. Getting really good at it, should be selling them for postcards!

Macro

Macro

Oen bachs everywhere!

Oen bach

Oen bach