2023 is nearly over

Well that was Ohio. I could have skipped it, but that would have left a gap and that would have annoyed me beyond what you might think would be normal. I can't help it. But it was the penultimate trip of the year and there is just one more to come, a last hurrah before I can close that chapter (in my tiny tiny mind) and move on. I confess I am looking forward to starting on 2024, I seem to be on a bit of a roll. I might even be able to catch up before it all drains away again. Let's see. But it is progress though as a few weeks ago I couldn't even contemplate putting pen to paper, or rather finger to keyboard. It couldn't be more different now - sorry! There is no explanation for this, the only thing I can perhaps point to is that feeling of inner annoyance that only I understand and that only I can do something about. It may also coincide with a particularly busy period at work, and this is in some way a release. No idea. Readers avoid all this inner drama, they just have to read it. Or not of course, which doesn't seem to matter or have any bearing on whether I am able to string a sentence together. That comes from within rather than any external spur. As I've mentioned before many times I am clearly not alone, and in fact I stopped writing this midway in order to undertake another sad cull from the Blog Roll over on the right. It was bigger than ever before. Two years, three years, in some cases more, and for some of them the webpages are even defunct. Will they ever come back or is that it? I think we all know the answer sadly.

Anyway, back to August 2024 and I've still not managed to go birding locally in any meaningful way. Seeing as it seems to be wader season I am easing myself in by doing a bit of noc-migging. This has largely not borne fruit, but I do have a recording of a Common Sandpiper and a few unknown things. For one of the unknowns I was actually awake, listening through headphones whilst sat in bed. I don't know why either. It sounds a bit like a Whimbrel but I am not sure. Of course on the nights where I sensibly decided to go to sleep like a normal person Bob goes and records Avocets and Oystercatchers and so on.....C'est la vie I guess. Much more satisfying was a Green Sandpiper that had the presence of mind to call somewhere south of my garden not in the middle of the night but shortly before I was about to log on for work and was pottering around the bedroom. I'd forgotten how fun it is. More fun would be finding one on the edge of one of the ponds, but that would entail actually going out onto the patch and I am not quite ready yet.

Much more exciting than any of this however is the warm weather we have been enjoying lately. I like warm weather for a number of reasons. One of these is that it really makes a difference to my plants, they need some intense heat to kickstart growth. But another reason is that it is perfect for chilled Rosé and other summer drinks. Here is an other summer drink, a Hurricane that I made last weekend. Remember people, it's five o'clock somewhere. And it's the weekend again very soon...