The Autistic Naturalist: Jan 3rd Strumpshaw Fen

Wednesday 3 January 2018

Jan 3rd Strumpshaw Fen

View from Reception Hide this morning!

It has been a painful start to 2018 for me. At 3am on Saturday, I woke up with extreme agony in my right side. After two trips to A&E and a walk-in centre, including 11 hours waiting at the hospital yesterday, I finally discovered what was causing me harm. A kidney stone. For those who have experienced kidney stones, you will know how unpleasant they are. It hurts like hell! Thankfully, I think the stone has passed through now as I feel much better than I was.

The pond dipping pond

Today was my first shift at Strumpshaw this year. However, 2018 has continued to throw more spanners in the works. This morning, storm Eleanor has hit the mainland and has caused major disruptions across the country. With winds of up to 100mph, many trees and electrical cables have been blown down. When I arrived to Strumpshaw this morning, men were at work fixing a downed cable and removing some of the trees along the road leading up to the reserve. With that cable down, it meant that we had no power in the Reception Hide. We were unable to use the till, coffee machine or even have the heaters on to warm up the hide. On top of that, the water levels were high and there wasn't much to see.

View from Fen Hide this morning

Coots and Mallards riding the waves caused by the strong wind

The main and only highlight of today was seeing a Chinese water deer nonchalantly strolling past the back of the Reception Hide and behind the flower bed before seeing me making my way from the office and making a dash under the bird feeders. I made a short walk around the woods and to Fen Hide. I didn't see that much, but I did manage to find a few scarlet elf-cup fungi peeking out of the slightly submerged parts of the woodland trail. At Reception Hide, there wasn't an awful lot about except for a group of coot, a few mallards, a couple of mute swans, Cobber the black swan and several marsh harriers that were swirling around in the strong gusts. Not the best of starts for the new year.