The final push

 Despite the awful weather forecast, with just three more days of the "traditional" angling season remaining I have a single aim before the curtain falls. I would really like to catch one more decent fish from the flatland drains. Having landed a very nice pike, just last weekend, the target species are now carp and/or tench. Am I mad? All I know is that only by casting a baited hook, into the water, will I ever get an answer to this question. I've been putting quite a bit of effort into this particular challenge and will, hopefully, be able to blog about my efforts with a fish, or two, to share? My approach is to do things my way and, as such, not something copied from the Korda/Nash Youtube "how to do it" offerings. Quite what defines a "decent" fish will be for me to decide if I am fortunate enough to get a bite! Fingers crossed.

Every month of the year

 It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes after I posted my effort, yesterday, that a hedgehog turned up at the feeding station. I completely screwed up the photos due to a focussing error that was totally my fault. I quickly discovered this cock-up as soon as I looked at the images on the back of the camera - bollocks!! However luck, it seems, was on my side as a short while later the hedgehog returned for a second course and this time there was no repeat of my school-boy error. With the image captured I was well pleased that another of my, self-imposed, challenges had been achieved. I have photographed hedgehogs at our feeding station in every month of the year. Not something that I would have thought possible before the onset of the pandemic and the "stay at home" messages emanating from our political leadership. If there has been anything positive, as a direct consequence of lockdown, then for me it has to be a heightened awareness of the diversity of wildlife that shares my space. If staying local now becomes the new normal, then I am incredibly fortunate to live where I do. For all the negative press Thanet receives, it is still a superb place to witness the wonders of our natural world. Now for a few photos!

April 2020 and the project gets underway.

August 2020 and action is non-stop. My camera work remains a little bit
"here & there" but with so many hedgehogs coming to the feeding station even 
a clown will have the odd moment of success?

September 2020 and I'm now well into the project. 
With a number of "colour marked" animals now visiting the garden I'm starting
to have doubts about the motives of some other members of "Hedgehog Street"

October 2020 - I'm already expecting a gradual wind down in the numbers of 
individuals visiting the feeding station. Not so, activity remained at a high level, although 
it was noticeable that many of the hedgehogs were youngsters.

November 2020 - still they come. It was becoming obvious that the visitors were getting
ready for hibernation, thus making the most of the banquet on offer in our garden.
Aggression was witnessed on many occasions.

December 25th 2020 - I had been privileged to see hedgehogs on most nights during the month and
had hoped to get an image on Christmas Day. My grandchildren had gifted me this feeding bowl and 
I was overjoyed to get my photo with it being used first time out.

I had managed to photograph a hedgehog 38 minutes after the start of 2021. 
They continued to be recorded on a daily basis up until 12th Jan when the weather took a 
turn for the worse.

The image I so nearly missed? Last night's visitor to the feeding station.

It has been an absolute joy to witness these wonderful animals up close and personal. I have to state that none of this would have happened had it not been for the encouragement of Julie & Gary Pearse, who have been "Hedgehog Champions" for many years. 

Rough ride to the end of the season

 At mid-night on Sunday, 14th March, the "traditional" close season will kick in on the entire drain network of the East Kent marshes just as it always has done. However, due to the travel restrictions, imposed by the current lockdown, I don't have the option to visit other venues which are not subject to this annual break. Therefore, the ability to go fishing will cease for me - short term! I've already promised Bev that I won't fish again, after Sunday, until I retire and I'm okay with that prospect. Six weeks (maximum?) ain't that long to wait. Right back at the start of my angling adventure, close season was just that, everyone had to endure a thirteen week break from the hobby. (March 15th - June 15th inclusive)

No point me complaining, everyone, once again, is in the same boat. My pike fishing was absolutely flying, with this season's target of twenty doubles (three twenties) looking to be a very realistic goal. Even a week before the Christmas break, I was still confident the plans made were sufficient to see me achieve a positive result. I had the venue, the methods and had secured a stock of "alternative" dead baits which would provide the edge I required. Then "BOOM" - no fishing, no travel, no Christmas!!! 

The Angling Trust did a superb job in restoring angling as a legitimate form of "exercise" - you sure? - thus was grateful that I could still get out with the rods as a direct result of their hard work. What I couldn't do, however, is drive the thirty-odd miles down to the Royal Military Canal and claim I was staying local? The wheels came off the pike challenge and I was, once again, at a lose end. Fortunately work dealt the ace card, as unlimited overtime became part of the routine and provided the distraction required.  If I couldn't go fishing then at least I could earn an extra few quid to ensure I'd have choices when the lockdown eventually comes to an end. Yet, as it happens, due to internal politics, bullying and intimidation compounded by management ineptitude, it will be un-employment, not lockdown, that curtails this particular sideshow and so a new chapter in "The Adventures of Dyl & Bev" will begin. Knowing that, although not wealthy, we will be able to pay our way quite comfortably, it is a situation which I am now looking forward to. Setting new benchmarks for what I'd like to achieve with my life, at a very personal level, plus doing my utmost to keep family values at the heart of what I hold most dear. 

So with just five days until the "close season" takes effect the weather has decided to put a major spanner in the plans. High winds, heavy rail, hail and thunderstorms have been forecast right through to Saturday - well "whoopee - do!" I've got Friday off, so I'll be going fishing whatever the bloody forecast, but can't see me enduring a three day effort, with all that it would entail, if conditions are against me. Plenty of other stuff to keep me occupied, so another wet fish isn't of the utmost importance however much I'd like to finish the season on a high note. The BWKm0 project has taken a back seat, of late, although I've managed to add to my tally this evening

No. 48 - Teal - naked noc-mig - heard as I was sorting out the hedgehog feeding station.

Just to add to this; there was a bunch of Greylags calling as they passed over Newlands Farm at 21.00 hrs - very strange? I've seen several hedgehogs at the feeding station during the past few nights, just haven't been able to get a photo. Maybe my inability to go fishing might result in the opportunity I want to capture that March image?

Good to be alive day

 Another trip out onto the flatlands, at silly o'clock, this morning was just what the doctor ordered. I had three baits in the water before 06.00 hrs and sat back, coffee in hand, to watch the sun rise in a red and blue/black horizon.

It hadn't been an hour when a Siren R3 burst into life, heralding a bite on the middle rod. I quickly found myself attached to a modest pike which put up a spirited scrap before I was able to coax it over the draw chord into the waiting landing net. A lovely fish, in fine condition, of around seven pounds was quickly unhooked and returned to the drain. A fresh bait was given the Predator Plus and salmon oil treatment before being cast back on the spot. I spent the next ninety minutes drinking coffee and scanning the surrounding marshland through my binoculars. Nothing to get excited over, the highlight was a sub-adult female Marsh Harrier which came drifting down the drain, hunting the opposite bank. Just before 08.15 hrs the alarm on the left-hand rod signalled a bite which resulted in another, smaller, pike visiting the unhooking mat. On this occasion I got my bait back, so it was very simple to quickly give it a flavour boost before flicking it back into the drain. The bait couldn't have been in the water more than twenty minutes before, having just poured another coffee from the flask, the alarm sounded again. This time it was all together a different battle, this was a much bigger fish. Twice it tail-walked as the Duncan Kay hooped over to cushion the lunges of this powerful pike. Being totally confident in the tackle I use, I was happy to allow the fish to expend as much energy as it wanted, safe in the knowledge that it was going into the landing net. I knew it was a "double" but realised it was a little bit special when I attempted to lift it from the water. Once on the unhooking mat I was clear that this was a good mid-double and so it proved. At 14 lbs 14 oz, it is the heaviest pike I've taken from the marshland drains since February 2012.

I stayed on for another couple of hours, without further action, before heading for home well pleased with my morning's effort. Three pike from three bites, today, what was I doing when missing that take on Friday afternoon? I've always been of the mind that you won't mess up the bite you want. It is the smaller pike which are missed because they lack the body weight to provide resistance to a strike. Quite simply, the force of the strike is enough to spin the fish and pull the hooks/bait clean out of it's mouth. With all the crap going on at work, this was exactly what I needed to get my head back into some type of normality. If this is what retirement will allow? Bring it on!

Signs of change

 No weekend overtime for the first time in ages and, with no plans to get out with the rods, I've spent a very pleasant period, today, in the garden watching the local birdlife. Nothing added to my BWKm0 list, but still a very enjoyable time looking at the regular species I expect at this time of year. The weather was kind, sun shining brightly from a lightly clouded sky, although temperatures were nothing to shout about due to the northerly airflow. 

Not the greatest image of female Greenfinch - but I can cope with that

I felt sure that a Red Kite was a real possibility, although a little early, but had to make do with a trickle of Common Buzzards instead. A female Sparrowhawk, high overhead, might well have been a migrant as it was not behaving like a local bird. Over at the farm compound a Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming frequently whilst a Kestrel was engaged in a vocal exchange with a grounded Peregrine (on prey) out on the newly planted potato field. Greenfinches continue to visit the feeding station, providing a wonderful distraction from the regular House Sparrows, Goldfinches, Blue Tits and Collared Doves. Good numbers of Black-headed Gulls moved high, south, over the Newlands fields and four Rooks flew in the opposite direction. All good stuff within a "patch watching" mentality.

Not much else to get excited about but, I'm fishing tomorrow, will have something to offer when I get home?

Flatland moods

The van was loaded with my pike kit just after 05.00 hrs, prior to me leaving home for the start of my Friday shift. Luckily I had plenty to occupy my time, at the factory, so avoided spending the day "clock watching" and wishing my life away. 12.40 hrs it was over, by 14.00 hrs I had three baits in position on my chosen drain. Let battle commence!

The best laid plans eh? I had one bite which I failed to connect with - hey-ho! It was cold and the stiff NE breeze hastened the thick grey clouds across the sky. I spent a while pointing the camera at various vistas but, I have to admit that it was rather tough going out there today. A decent flock of "Russian" White-fronted Geese (60 +) had a short fly about and I recorded my first Shelduck of the year, so something to be positive about I guess. A Kingfisher zoomed past, my first since Storm Darcy paid us a visit, and as I was driving back down the track, headed for home, a Barn Owl flew through my headlight beam, flushed from an adjacent fence post.

To be perfectly honest, catching a pike would have been a bonus, it was time away from work and all the nonsense associated with my formal grievance application, that I really wanted. Mental health isn't a subject I've given much thought, it's never applied to me! Well it does now and I'm finding it a very stressful situation which, only with the support of Bev, my family and close friends, will I come through, so much wiser for the experience.

I'll end with this image of a flatlands sunset. Big skies and the realisation of how insignificant we are, as individuals. I've reached the end of the road and retirement can't, now, come quick enough. Should I feel like this? How can digital ink be on a par, let alone superior, with the critical care NHS staff, yet I earn twice, at least, that of a low ranking doctor. If, for nothing else, the pandemic remains etched in my soul it will be purely down to the massive inequalities within our society, the realisation that my parents did me so proud and it is their legacy that allows me to walk away without a backward glance. The traditional close season comes into effect, mid-night, next Sunday, thus the local drains will be off limits.  I'm hoping to end with a bit of a flurry? Still got two days holiday that I'd carried over from 2020, so am planning a four day stint (remember that there is still a night fishing ban in force) starting next Thursday.

I have this as a fridge magnet on my bait freezer - says everything required I feel?

March(ing) onwards

 I've not been down to my syndicate fishery for months, certainly three - possibly four? Nothing too surprising from my perspective as the complex is basically a carp fishery and I am not that enthused about the species during these colder months. Membership renewal is due in May, not overly sure if I'll bother, but it is something to worry about on another day. If I'm retired, which is now a very strong possibility, then I might well retain my membership as the location is so close as to allow quick, off the cuff, sessions. Rumblings up in Aston Clinton look likely to result in my youngest brother, Sye, and his wife Yve, relocating to East Kent thus becoming part of the "Wraftie" ganglers. Benno is so confident that his "Uncle & God Father" is moving to Kent that he's already put his name down for a C&DAA ticket. Sye is first, and foremost, a barbel angler and has made mention of his desire to rekindle the golden period that we'd enjoyed during the 2013/15 seasons. If this becomes reality, then a C&DAA membership will also be on my agenda with the Cinque Ports AA membership option also something I (we) will have to consider to ensure a free rein during the pike season.

My time on the bank is always enhanced by any wildlife that crosses my path. During this latest lockdown period, however, I have also realised the significance of the many spontaneous exchanges with other folk I encounter whilst ensconced behind the rods. Real people who, just like me, seek to enrich their lives by spending time outdoors doing whatever they feel is important. Could be walking the dog, riding their bike or having a bit of a ramble, not for me to make a call on how others use their time. The important bit is that we engage and share our mutual enjoyment of the great outdoors.  It would seem that there is a real correlation between the sincerity of any encounter and distance from the nearest car park, the further away it is the more interesting the dialogue. (socially distanced of course) 

It seems incredible but, in under three weeks, the pandemic will have impacted upon our lives for a whole year. Where the f*ck did that time go? I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have remained in full-time employment, only seven weeks furlough. during this period. I've not had to self isolate or, even worse, actually contracted this hideous disease, thus maintained a link with normality which so many others have been unable, through no fault of their own. When I look at the current situation, in this context, I'm gutted that my time at FSIS is going to end on such a downer. My formal grievance is now "in process" with HR and I was quite surprised by the positive vibe generated at the first meeting. I have every intention of seeing this through to its' conclusion before handing in my notice. Either, which way, I'm now fully committed to walking away with 100% support of Bev and my family. What really pisses me off is the fact that I'm able to have a jab to combat the most deadly virus known to mankind yet, have not been able to stay true to my father's wish "work for as long as you can" I've succumbed, had to abandon my promise, purely due to an unwillingness to deal with the bullying and intimidation of a half-witted, middle manager, by the FSIS hierarchy closing ranks, in direct contradiction to the code of conduct of Fujifilm, our parent company. A sign of the times? I feel like I'm pissing in the wind, the guys that have been such an integral part of my enjoyment of life in digital still need to earn a living, pay bills, put food on the table for their families. Quite what post-Covid factory life is going to be like I can but guess, yet if this recent experience is anything to go by, I wouldn't expect to see too many smiling faces. So sad when we all used to get paid to have a laugh whilst producing the "world class" inks which are synonymous with our factory

Have no worries, once un-fettered from the contractual obligations of FSIS I'll have much more freedom to say what I like, offer an alternate opinion for want of a better analogy. HR got a problem?  If push comes to shove, let's see what Tokyo have to say about the situation? The beauty of social media, I can offer alternative opinion, without fear of retribution, purely because "I can!" If I'm retired what possible good will a negative reference be? How much damage can be done, to me, by a system that I've departed? All that I need to do is remain true to myself, not mention individuals, by name, and ensure that nothing I write could be construed as casting a shadow upon the global integrity of the Fuji brand, the world's my oyster!