Waiting For Eunice

 The weather has been poor recently and the ground is saturated. Following hard on the heels of Storm Dudley is Storm Eunice, which is due to hit us any time now as I write this. The sea front looked good this morning as I wandered along before the storm arrived.

The calm before the storm

In and amongst the wind and rain though, the sun has been shining and a few reasonable photos have clicked into the camera.

On my way to the hide on 11 February I came across my first Barn Owl of the year. This is the  first year since we moved over here that I've had to wait until February to see one.

This photo shows that the bird is ringed

There are plenty of nest boxes in the area for Barn Owls to use - but unfortunately we have a shortage of birds to use them.

The birds are making themselves heard more noticably now and I regularly hear 3 or 4 Song Thrushes each morning.

A Song Thrush living up to its name

The hide viewing platform overlooking the west end of Hornsea Mere is where I head for a few times each week on my morning walk, getting there nice and early to avoid people as I still have a fear of catching the dreaded lurgy 🤣😂

A view from the viewing platform above the hide

All manner of plants are showing themselves as the year progresses towards Spring and the snowdrops are looking particularly beautiful in the wood.

A previous storm (could have been Malik) brought down several trees in the wood including one of the large pine trees that fell right over the footpath. The estate workers did a good job in removing it and my task, should I choose to accept it, is to count the rings to see how old the tree was...

Pine tree with large root ball

How old?

I used to work with a couple of ladies called Eunice, one based in Halifax and one in Edinburgh - I wonder how many times they have been the butt of stormy jokes over the last day or two? 🤣 Hopefully I will resist the temptation to post a comment on Eunice Lamb's Facebook page.