School holidays 3 - canvas capers

I decided rather hurriedly early Saturday afternoon, that a couple of nights camping might just about be feasible. Julia was going to be working Saturday and Sunday afternoon/evenings and therefore likely sleeping the following mornings so when I found a campsite near Woodbridge that would take me and the boys, we decided to go for it. The BBC weather forecast predicted rain around 4pm, so I hoped the brief light shower at around 2:30 was a one off and perhaps indicative of maybe a more optimistic outcome. Unfortunately, we didn't leave the house until almost 4, so we were always going to be pushing that optimism to the max. As things turned out, the BBC were nearer the mark than my optimism had hoped and so I ended up putting the tent up in light rain, which if anything does manage to concentrate the mind on the job in hand. After a late tea, we climbed into our sleeping bags and drifted off to sleep to the accompaniment of falling rain.
Sunday was a different day altogether, with plenty of sunshine. Camping breakfast always tastes good, especially when it's bacon and eggs, and it sets you up for the day. We decided to go for a wander through the wooded area at the end of our field, where a party of goldcrests were flitting around the tops of some pine trees. Gatekeeper butterflies were plentiful, with a few painted Ladies and Small Coppers too. One of the boys did very well to spot a Common Lizard by the side of the path. He looked somewhat worse for wear, with his stubby tail and red mark by his eye. He was still sharp enough to disappear almost effortlessly into the grass when we got too close though.

On our return, we decided that a short jaunt to the beach was in order, as it was only a 10 minute drive away, and so we took our lunch with us and spent a very enjoyable afternoon on the beach at the mouth of the River Deben. As the tide went out, a sand and shingle spit became more and more accessible, and as we wandered out onto it, skimming stones along the way, the boys spotted a duck make its way from the spit to the estuary. It never stayed on the surface for very long and even when it did only its head was visible. It kept diving under for between 10 and 20 seconds and eventually disappeared. I took a raft of photos and posted some of them into a thread when we were back home, as it had me stumped. It turned out to be a juvenile Shelduck, but its behaviour had totally confused me into thinking it was some kind of diving duck. Still, something new learned. We arrived back at the tent to discover that the ant nest on which we had unwittingly pitched our tent had all but emptied itself of occupants who, unable to escape the confines of their canvas prison, were now nearly all dead on the floor. Fortunately we had zipped up the bedroom compartments so it was only a matter of sweeping up the bodies!
In the evening we decided to take a short drive to see if we could see any night wildlife. A deer (fallow I reckon) was the only sign of life that we had seen as we rounded the corner about a quarter of a mile from the campsite and there in the road was a beautiful Tawny Owl. His road sense was quite good and although we stopped he didn't wait long and flew off gracefully to a nearby tree - a real treat with which to end the day.
Monday was home day, and the heavy dew was being burnt off by another warm, sunny day. It was a good excuse to pack away the tent slowly, allowing each fold to dry properly. It gave me time to have a last wander, and look at a tree that was obviously very attractive to wasps, as a number were busy either chewing it or, as it appeared, taking the sap from a number of holes in the bark. A couple of hornets were also there and my first Red Admiral of the year. A rather ominous looking Deer Fly, tabanus sudeticus was making its way across the bonnet of the car.

As it went, step by step, it would use its front feet to sweep the area in front of it, presumably in search of food. It was about 2cm long, and again, only identified once I had sought the help of WAB.
So all in all, a fun couple of days, with plenty of sunshine and a bit of wildlife thrown in too. Just a week of work to get through now before we go on our week's holiday to Yorkshire! Can't wait