BIKING BIRDER I March 20th 2010 Ham Wall RSPB Reserve and Shapwick Heath NNR

 On This Day - 2010    Biking Birder I

20th March 2010

Bullfrog Blues        Rory Gallagher

          The only guest at Street Youth Hostel, breakfast was had quickly and just as quickly I was on my bike careering down the steep hill towards the Avalon Marshes.

          A cycle path from the Glastonbury end, the eastern end, of the marshes was superb and with a cool, misty start and only a light breeze, progress was easy and pleasurable.

Ham Wall RSPB Reserve

Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve

 

Prehistoric pathway reconstruction

            Despite a wet afternoon, I managed to see a fair number of Sand Martins [bird number 157], the long-staying Long-tailed Duck, [bird number 158], a female Smew, three Glossy Ibis, [bird number 159], two Great White Egrets, a Bittern, with more individuals booming hidden in the large reedbeds and eight Whooper Swans, with a Black Swan thrown in for good luck but of course not countable.             

            Actually although most of these birds were seen on Shapwick nature reserve, one Great White Egret was at Sharpham. So another RSPB reserve seen and memories of last year's Little Bittern, a T.I.T.S. twitched bird when with great friends Ian Crutchley and Steve Allcott, seen so well and heard even better. Woof.

     I did have a scare whilst walking back from the far hide after finding the Smew. I suddenly had vision as though my eyes had turned into watery insect eyes, a fly-like view of the world with multi images. I stopped walking and just rested against a tree and maybe fifteen minutes or so it faded back to normal.

Now this had happened to me a couple of years before when I was teaching a class at Rigby Hall Special School, whilst standing in front of an interactive whiteboard. The ceiling-mounted projector light had been directly shining me at me as I talked to the children. Suddenly my vision went as described and I said to Sue Wilkes, the superb teaching assistant, that I could not see. As before, the problem went away after about ten minutes or so and as there was no pain, I put it down to being in front of the projector light too long and was careful to avoid it.

This time I had no idea what could have brought it on and once again, as soon as my normal excellent, better than 20:20 vision had come back I forgot about it as the day progressed. It has since been diagnosed as Painless Migraine. 

Around the corner from where this occurred, I came across a reconstruction of a prehistoric pathway.

6.9 miles cycled

mostly flat!