To continue to Blog or not to continue to Blog that is the question?

128. Common Tern

Peregrine's Birding Facts I am very bad at identifying med gulls :-(

I got home after work at around One O'Clock having changed the menu (More of my photos on the menu) in the cafe I have found to my dismay that I reckon its going to add an extra hour to two hours a day to prepare which when taken over a week is a possible extra twelve hours or in other words an extra weeks work per month, which on top of doing six days a week is more than enough. So am fairly pissed off to put it mildly on top of which I asked the manager of the cafe I work out of to sort out a strip light in the office where I print my sandwich labels in the very early hours three days later absolutely b-all has been done about it so It takes me ages to print everything off in virtual total darkness. Tomorrow I will end up changing it myself. Which takes me to todays title there are times when I feel pressure to continue this blog or guilt when I have not posted in a number of days which increases the longer I leave it and has now come to a head. I have read most blogs fizzle out after a few months and I have wanted to better that. I have also come fairly disillusioned about volunteering at the hide in Belfast and am going to give it a break for a while. I think I will restart in June.

I also feel guilty if I do not give the dog a good walk most days and I havent for the last four because I am so tired. However I decided to take her out to Killard my favourite local spot. It was very still and threatening to rain when I got there. I had taken my camera and no sooner had I gone five hundred yards it started to spit with rain. Do I go back or carry on? I carried on and I am glad I did. I came over the hill and down on to the beach and there were three Red Throated Diver (Gavia Stellata) in the Bay. The tide was almost out as far as I have ever seen it. So Pickle and I went down to the waters edge and I was looking through my binoculars at two of the divers which were in summer plumage and looking great. Then the third diver popped up ten yards from me and Pickle decided to swim out to it. It wasnt that concerned and just kept swimming out of her reach. I'm not sure whether its a 2nd-cal spring bird or an adult still in winter plumage.

As Pickle and I walked along the waters edge the Razor Shells were spitting water whenever she ran over them You can see an out of focus one in top left of photo. She then went absolutely beserk trying to catch the squirted water which went on for a good ten minutes. It made my day. The flowers are also coming out at Killard and in some areas there is a light blue look to the ground which when you get closer is masses and masses of violets.

I am supposed to have 22 days holiday between now and the end of May as I have only taken four in the last eleven months and frustratingly I wont be able to take them. I think I will be able to manage twelve at most. So as Penny cannot take the same time as me I am probably going to go do a round trip of The UK. Scotland-Northumberland-Norfolk-Suffolk-Berkshire-Dorset-Wales and then home and hope to catch up with at least ten to fifteen species of bird that I have never seen.Target birds are Crested Tit*, Capercaillie*, Black Grouse*, Cettis Warbler*, Little Ringed Plover*Little Tern
Hen Harrier, Stone Curlew*, Dartford Warbler*, Nightjar* Hobby* Bittern* Bearded Tit* Woodlark* Avocet*.

And finally back to the title I am going to continue but probably not quite as regularly as I have been.