Estuary Land

Winter can be monotonous and long, with the weather interrupting plans and throwing in difficulties at every turn.  With most of the country gripped by snow and ice, we thought it would be nice to travel south in winter, with the hope of escaping it all.  Last year we managed to get away to India for a fortnight.  But this year we are not as far south as that - we’re in Essex!  

But Essex has been lucky, having had only a light and picturesque dusting of snow.  It has not escaped the freezing temperatures though and so our bikes have been locked in the van for many days, with no chance of our being able to ride them. 

Garden View

I’ve made good use of my time; learning to paint (again) from scratch.  It’s been easy to be inspired - our temporary home is in the most exquisite spot, with a tidal river bordering our garden and a system of locks and weirs just a few hundred yards from our door.  I have always had a fascination with water, so I am in heaven here, and I walk out each day to see the effect of the tide on the weirs and the wildlife that lives there. 

Yesterday, we managed our first Essex ride.  With many icy patches remaining on the roads we chose to stay on gritted surfaces, and that meant riding B roads.  We rode the tandem down to Burnham on Crouch, over land so flat that we felt like we were flying.  But I saw plenty to interest me, mainly winter thrushes and eastern arable birdlife, finches and partridges, in quantities I simply never see in my Marches home. 

We took a short detour before returning home, along a road leading to a causeway across to a low lying island, Northey, in the Blackwater Estuary.  Well over a thousand Brent Geese were feeding in a field of stubble onshore, and in the muddy riverbank, tens of thousands of wading birds took advantage of the receding tide.  It was simply a breathtaking sight.

I’d done my RSPB “Big Garden Birdwatch” before we’d set out.  I have counted 14 species of birds feeding in and below just the one tree immediately outside of my window.  But as I rested on the sofa following my ride yesterday, I saw the fifteenth - a Goldcrest, flitting around the branches.  

Here, wildlife comes to my window.  But if I ride only a short way, it is there in spectacular and magnificent, wild and windswept abundance.

Low tide, but flooded from melting snow