Beyond the Golden Triangle - Temples , Tigers , Turbans and Tea.This trip had been booked well in advance of the above dates , with the ‘ Golden Triangle’ referring to the route from Delhi to Agra to Jaipur . The beyond bit was the visit to Ranthambore National Park .
‘Lets go find a Kite’ ( Of the Red Type )
A booking to speak to the RSPB local group at Didcot on this Monday evening took me to this part of Britain . The topic was to be ‘ Costa Rica’-Pura Vida . So with an overnight stay already booked in Oxford I decided to spend some time both viewing and hopefully photographing these wonderful birds. As it turned out the weather on the Monday deteriorated into rain, rain and more rain. But a trip round to check out the sites proved to be invaluable .
‘ Time and Tide waits for no man ! or even Waders ‘
An organised coach trip on behalf of the local RSPB group saw me head off to a favourite reserve . With a good tide set to be at its peak at 4-40pm and the prospect of good weather it promised to be a fruitful trip .Setting off from Lincoln and arriving at ‘Snetts ‘ at 11am the weather was perfect also with the added bonus of not many people around . A walk along the seafront over the shingle promised a lot but delivered very little with just the odd calling Redshank and occasional Dunlin for company .
Birdwatching Weekend in Norfolk
With the vehicle on the drive , it was just a case of loading up the luggage and the passengers ( 7 in total ) for what was going to be the inaugural tour for stevelovellgreenscapes. The weather forecast was not very favourable with a front hanging over the southern half of Britain for the next few days . We were going to have to be flexible regarding the weather .
Morocco
A previously planned short break to Morocco had been organised on the back of many favourable reports from fellow birdwatchers . On account of the Isis threat and other terrorism in North Africa it was a destination which many people had temporarily taken off their itinery .So it proved to be a budget holiday with return flights from Stanstead to Marrakesh for £83, Four star Hotels on Bed and Breakfast basis at £23 per person per night . The low cost certainly did not detract from the quality of the experience .
Scotland
Several invitations to speak in both England and Scotland resulted in a mini lecture tour . Starting in Huddersfield talking to the Local Birdwatchers association where a talk on the straights of Gibraltar was warmly received .A journey further north to Oban taking a ferry to Mull brought me to the lovely little town of Tobermory ( Balamory for you kids out there ) . The ferry crossing was particularly interesting for the number of Great Northern divers and the wonderful light reflected from the hills over the sea. Later in the evening the banter between a group of locals in the pub just had to be witnessed to appreciate it , a situation comedy waiting to be written so so funny !