Am I Becoming A Lighweight?

It was a case of 'what to do this morning?'. The forecast for the weekend was disappointing as at this time of year my priority is to get into the reedbeds ringing, but the forecast was too windy for today (Saturday) and it's forecast to be wet at the critical time tomorrow morning. Nevertheless I still set my alarm this morning and when I got up at 0500 I was not sure what to do.

It was blowing a hoolie and I would normally do some seawatching off the Obs., but it was low tide at this time of day and at the best spot the tide would be a long way out. It is possible to sea watch at low tide at the Obs, but this involves sitting on a shingle beach leaning against a concrete wall or standing up and being buffeted to pieces! Neither inspired me so I decided to head to the estuary.

Where I access the estuary is down a track off the main road adjacent to a few properties and I couldn't believe it when I got there as there was nowhere to park! The track was full of cars with not a single space. In all the decades that I have birded here I have never not been able to park! I have got there some times with just a few spaces left, but today you couldn't have even parked a bike!

Now I must becoming a lightweight as I could have abandoned my car in a dodgy position on the main road, and once upon a time I would have been so desperate to bird at any cost I would have just left my car with no further thought about it. However today I decided that risking my car on the main road wasn't worth it, I couldn't be be bothered getting a numb arse sitting on shingle, nor did I want to be buffeted in the wind as I hate it when my scope and tripod shake and vibrate in the wind! I'm either becoming a lightweight, or maybe I'm just getting older and wiser!

The forecast for first light tomorrow is heavy rain clearing eastwards with a 15-20 mph wind. I'll set my alarm, but I have a feeling I will be turning it off and rolling over.