On The Road Again

Monday 14 November 2016

On The Road Again

Sunday 13^th November Fresh SW

Cloudy morning and heavy rain in the afternoon.

Cricket delays me. England may beat India in the First Test match. Wicket after wicket is falling.

It is a draw. Very creditable for England though.

Trees. Large, tall beech trees arch over the road with a variety of colours of Autumn leaves. These are the first such trees I have seen for over three months. No such trees on the Northern Isles. Well not along any roads that I have cycled down.

A great tit on a roadside fence post. The first great tit seen in over three months too. No great tits on the Northern Isles too. I remember that a blue tit on Fair Isle, seen back in October, was a very rare bird there.

Back to the reality of the Mainland the plan for the day is to cycle just twenty two miles from Stonehaven to Montrose. The weather forecast is for heavy rain from 4:00 p.m. Add to that the wind is in my face making the going rather tough.

My body has to get used to cycling distance again. A different group of muscles are needed compared to the ones used for walking and general birding. The last three months spent mostly birding, mostly walking around the ditches and dykes, cliffs and geos of Fair Isle and North Ronaldsay, have been superb but now I need to cycle many miles every day.

I stop at a War Memorial to pay my respects.

Rain starts to fall at 2 o'clock.

In a beautiful Bed & Breakfast, The Hermitage in Montrose; one where I stayed last year too, I find a friend request on Facebook from my wonderful nephew Tim. Friendship accepted, I message Tim to say hello. He replies asking whether I have broken the European record. I go to Jim Royer's superb Green Birding Record blog to show Tim and am surprised to find that the banner photograph at the top of the page is me! Thumbs up Pressa.

I send a message of thanks to Jim. Here is his reply:-

You've really done well this year! And you've been a great ambassador for green birding. Congratulations. I've enjoyed following your year. Good luck for the rest of the year!

Thanks Jim and Tim.