Blackbird's berry binge: boater bags blog bitmap

There we were, coming down the steps to get to the Tyne a few days ago, and in the bushes was a blackbird gorging itself on berries. It ignored us, even when I got my camera out (most animate things take flight when that happens). The first two shots weren't very good, but everything came together for the third attempt.


Berry in beak, head clear of branches, framed and in focus.


It holds the berry in its beak for a couple of seconds, and then, in one sudden movement, gulps it down whole. I can't remember having seen this before, let alone this close.

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Today I removed 28 years-worth of accumulated dust from inside the bathroom scales. Now it's (almost) as good as new. You can actually see the scale as it rotates! I have yet to check its accuracy against some known weights. Perhaps the best weigh way would be to take it with me to a "proper" machine somewhere, and way weigh myself on both devices. (It'll never happen.)

I also submitted a write-up of our summer adventures on the Thames, with some photographs, to the BCF Word, the quarterly magazine of the Boaters' Christian Fellowship. That makes it sound as if I wrote it, but I didn't. Jan did. I merely tweaked it slightly and added the photos. Is 1800 words too many?