Forsythia in the garden

First day of Forsythia in the garden

Barn owl near Loddon

Another daytime hunting barn owl, lovely to see, between Loddon and Haddiscoe

Aconites in Haddiscoe

Today the wind dropped, the sky was cloudless and I pushbiked for the meat shop to Beccles. Stopped on the way back to see what the Aconites looked like, the ones which were in flower in early February

Still very pretty and the leaves were a lot taller than during the flowering phase. Also Landspring Beck was looking nice in the sunshine.

Blades on Yarmouth seafront again

Forecast was for cloudy and cool. Definitely cool, but the sun came out for most of the day. The wind was not friendly!

Paddling the Blyth with 0.49m on the Billingford gauge of the Waveney

Paddled up the Blyth from Blyford Bridge up to just below the railway line on the edge of Halesworth Common. At this stage the river tributary was getting a little small:

It wasn't worth portaging up this one to get the last half mile to Halesworth centre

The bridge, soon after the start, was a portage both ways, oddly enough.

And the drop under the Blyford Bridge was well worth a miss at the current state of flow:

Minsmere Haven beach walk

Deep in to Suffolk, roughly half way between Dunwich and Sizewell B.

Telephoto to Southwold, pretty much where I'd left the car in Walberswick, just this side of the harbour.

And looking South towards the power station, tucked away behind the hill on the right:

In all of the miles of brightly lit shingle I've yet to pick up an agate or carnelian. Very different from NE Norfolk where I'd usually pick up five or six on a walk...

Shotford Bridge to Syleham Mill and back with 0.35m at Billingford

Paddling up the gravel rapids just below the sluice at Weybread is damned hard work and I had to carry up the last 50m. Easy paddle back down on the way home.

Weybread Sluice: A cautious water slide, bump down then lean back as there is piling within the small stopper which you need to keep the bow well out of. Easy enough in a play boat and a lot easier than the portage.

The weir at Needham is really just for the flow gauge, most of the river flow goes under the mill or down the little narrow side shute in the foreground here. Under low water the slope is dry and so with this minimal flow (0.35m on the gauge at Billingford) it's a rather harsh scrape down un-weeded concrete. Under high flow it is horrible, no wave and the back flow is from several meters downstream on to the weir face.

And from below

Lastly: Just below Shotford Bridge. The last little rapid of the series below Weybread Mill and sluice. At this flow it's paddle-able but much lower will need a walk or carry down. Deep water from here down stream to Mendham.

Anemones at Walberswick

Half term, traditional sunny day at Walberswick. Anemones on the concrete wreckage at low tide along side the southern harbour wall.

Walk to Three Gates Farm Woodland Trust wood

Aconites in the woodland where the Aldeby Rd crosses Landspring Beck. Lots of them...

Passing a rather nice Mistletoe on the way

And in to Three Gate Farm Wood

Just a few Hazel catkins out at the moment

But the rest is a little bare as you might expect from a young woodland in the middle of February, no matter how mild it has been

The garden in early February

After a very mild winter the daffs are about 6 weeks ahead of last year, and last year wasn't a hard Winter either!

Primroses are early

Late January and the Primroses just north of Beccles are getting started:

This was April last year:

Syleham Mill side channel

Lovely paddle last Monday in glorious sunshine, mild and no breeze. This is Syleham Mill side channel. It's a simple waterslide once you get under the chain above the slope and the drop at the end just about gets your hair wet. About 0.5m on the Billingford flow gauge and quite a lot of water going over the main fall, which is not at all practical...

Syleham back drop from Petro Dobromylskyj on Vimeo.

Chet bank snowdrops

Snowdrops are well ahead of last year on the bank of the Chet just upstream of Loddon

Just upstream of the woodland the weeds have been scoured out by the recent spate, much like the Blyth. Time to paddle is clearly going to be early Spring for these little streams...

Owl just upstream of Mells on the Blyth floodplain

This owl gave me the pleasure of about 5 minutes of careful hunting on the River Blyth marshes just upstream of Mells. Lovely. The kingfisher, egret, kestrel and heron didn't stay for long enough to get the camera working!

Summer weeds vs Winter cold on the Blyth

If you are thinking about paddling from Halesworth down to Blyford or beyond, the upper reaches might be easier after Winter floods than after Summer weed growth...

End of Summer:

And after a Winter flood:

Both looking upstream from the bridge at Mells. The Summer picture was absolute basal levels, the Winter one had about 0.6m showing for Billingford flow gauge on the Waveney.

There are a number of serious tree blockages between Halesworth and Blyford. Several might need a difficult portage around.

Short paddle from Bungay to Earsham Sluice

The drop at Roaring Arch Bridge:

The edge of the drop has quite a decent water cushion on the sill so the slide over is easy and, although the landing is on to flat concrete, that concrete is very smooth. An easy and fun shoot in a playboat.

Today's complete paddle was from Bungay above the Loop to the sluice at Earsham/Stow Fen. This will need a check of the depth for landing below the drop and some work to see how easy getting past the safety barrier above is going to be. And I guess a safety buddy/camera person would be a good idea too...

All in all a lovely morning, taking in the cut to Roaring Arch on the way back then really struggling on the upstream section through the Bungay gardens to the launch point. Lots of uphill pushing in shallow gravel runs. Still fun.

On the doorstep

Just love the colour of this random Nasturtium in the flowerbed by the doorstep while waiting for the children to be delivered by the school bus.

And may as well put the poppy seed head up here as well, complete with spider

View of some pines in woodland on Sisland Carr. Lying on my back of course!

Thorn Apples on Hales Green

Had a wander round Hales Green again, mostly looking to see where there might be an environment for Bee Orchids next Summer. Found a group of Thorn Apples in a rabbit disturbed nettle patch...

None of the flowers was in terribly good condition but this gives a general idea: