Splendid German War Movie.

When I saw this movie on Amazon Prime, I could not resist downloading it. I was not disappointed. It was an in-depth movie – a good German production. I liked Das Boat, Downfall and the original 1950s version of The Bridge. I suppose my choice of Rommel was upon the good merit of these previously watched German made war movies I had seen. I suppose I could add Stalingrad, but it was dubbed in English. I’m a Brit but dubbed English really does not work for me. Therefore, I was pleased when I realised this was still in German. I prefer to read subtitles and get a real feel for the nation speaking its native tongue.

The Rommel movie concentrates on the last seven months of Field Marshal’s life. We see him just prior to the Normandy invasion force and during the botched assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler’s life. The movie makes for a splendid historical drama and I would highly recommend watching this superb war film. If you are on Amazon Prime, you can rent it for 30 days at .99p. A bargain by any stretch of the imagination.

Giving You The Red Kite Bird of Prey

My wife and I were driving home from Whittlesley a few weeks ago. We were coming to the end of the roads leading out of the village of Coates towards the T-junction of the A47, where the right turn takes us towards our town of March. It is very rural with farm fields in every direction as far the eye can see with the odd scattered farm house here and there.

As we neared the T-junction there is a set off traffic lights and I caught it on red. There was a line of trees across a field to the right and I was looking up into the clear blue sky. Usually there is an abundance of crows and ravens but this solitary bird had a different flight signature and my interest was immediately pricked.

My wife Carole was next to me. I mentioned the way the bird moved and she replied, with confidence, that it was indeed a bird of prey. Our traffic lights turned green and pulled out and swung right onto the A47 and drove to our town of March. As though on cue, the bird of prey began to descend for a landing by the line of tall conifer trees ahead of us. Its flight path was across a field to our left, across the road ahead of us, and into the field on the right. Its white head stood out and we realised it was a splendid looking Red Kite.

Just before the line of trees was a telegraph pole and we watched, in awe, as the beautiful bird lowered its talons to land upon the telegraph pole. It was like watching a plane coming in to land with it’s under carriage dropping down. The view was majestic and fantastic, especially the yellow coloured talons as the grabbed the side metal strut at the top of the pole where the cable passed by.

A fleeting moment and then the car was further along the road towards March with the passed line of trees obscuring the view when I looked in my rear view mirror. Carole and I were whooping with delight and saying how great it would have been to capture such an image on camera. The creature gliding down before us and we coming level as it had just passed over displaying talons as land apparatus for the telegraph pole. It was a fine little moment as we continued home.

What Happened On the Way to the Bird Hides? (A result along the way)

This morning, my wife (Carole) and I were driving along the country lane towards a small village called Manea. There is an RSPB sanctuary there that looks out across the marshy fenland towards the town of Ely, where the Cathedral towers stand out in the summer haze. It is also the place where Oliver Cromwell was born.

It is a place we often go to just to while away a good few hours in the bird hides. We take a picnic box filled with coffee sandwiches and a few goodies on top. We also have binoculars and the Nikon D3100 camera with the 55m to 200m lens. This is inadequate for what I like to photograph, but I’m learning this slowly and surely.

I’ve sent off for a new zoom lens of 420m to 800m. It is, of course, a cheapy and I’ll have to use manual setting upon a sturdy tripod. This is because the camera adjustments don’t work with the particular zoom lens. I’ll have to learn by hand. If I can do this, I’ll think about a more expensive one with better connections between camera and lens during automatic adjustment setting.

In the meantime, we are making do with the max 200m on the Nikon and as we were driving along, Carole spotted a bird of prey circling majestically above the fields whilst travelling through the farmland fen. Good fortune had a gravel layby close at hand so I pulled in and got the camera ready. I took a string of shots but the hawk was high up. I could not make out if it was a marsh harrier or a common buzzard.

The under wing seems to look like that of a marsh harrier and the head seems white. I was so pleased to get this bird before even arriving at the hide. What a fabulous start. Carole has eyes as good as any hawk. I would have completely missed that sight as I drove along the country lane.

Most of the shots are at distance but with the new zoom lens, I’ve ordered; I’m sure I’ll get better quality pictures. However, the snaps were still pleasing to me.

I got back into the car and proceeded towards the hides. I was saying to Carole that this was a perfect start. I was harking on about it as we travelled through the village of Manea. We turned down a country lane that led towards the bird sanctuary when she told me to stop the car suddenly. It was a deserted lane going through the farmland towards the canals, marshlands and hides, with reeds growing high along the dyke that ran next to the lane.

“What is it?” I asked excitedly. Carole’s eyes never miss much. I often say she could spot a pimple on an elephant’s backside at two miles.

“Just slowly reverse the car,” she instructed.

I complied and then she said. “Stop.”

On a fence post, looking straight at us was a kestrel. I think it was a male and how the heck she spotted it was beyond me. We were close up and the kestrel was staring straight back. I knew I’d have to be quick before it got spooked. However, I had time to lower the window and, for once, get a good few shots at close range. I was thrilled we still had not arrived at the bird hides and already we had got a few nice results.

Once we got to the hides we saw marsh harriers and many other types of bird. The marsh harriers were circling high with Ely Cathedral in the background. Our binoculars focused in on them, but they were too far for the 200m lens. Still, can’t get too spoilt, we still had a great morning in the hides and walked along the dyke to try out several locations. 

There was also other types of bird, but I'm more switched on by the birds of prey. It's what I like about fenland. I've never seen so many raptors since moving to this place.  

Wildflowers in Fenland Garden.

Last year, my wife scattered a mixture of wildflower seeds. We had acquired bags of horse manure for the strawberry and rhubarb plants and there was a spare section of earth where these wildflower seeds were scattered, along with some of the horse manure.

Not being one for gardens, at that time, I paid little attention to my wife’s toil where this endeavour was concerned. However, when the next year’s spring came along I was very pleasantly surprised at how well the seeds had taken. There was an abundance of cornflower blue with other types of flower growing within the sea of blue. As the summer came about, the other coloured flowers took and became so wonderfully more vibrant.

I’m very taken by the way the wildflowers look. They seem wonderfully unconventional with an attack of untamed growth, consisting of exciting colour mixes.

I spoke to my wife Carole, about how unexpectedly surprised I was by the floral explosion. We have a raised decking platform right by it all and look out at them on the summer evening.

I have now got more wildflower seeds and scattered them in the front garden amid bark chippings. I’m hoping the same thing will happen around the Red Hot Pokers and the Curry plant rockery.

As I grow older, I’m beginning to realise that I’ve never noticed the wood for the trees where gardens are concerned. It’s like I’ve had this wonderful awakening to it all. I think it is because I bought a camera to do my blog. I thought I might photograph a few things and use it to write blogs whilst searching for subjects of interest. I can’t believe where it has taken me.