And I dreamed of an eagle…

That's for those of you who are old enough to remember the Abba song. For mere mortals like me, it was the moment of awe and amazement as we walked through the park and looked up when we heard the sound of a very unhappy group of seagulls who were mobbing not one but TWO white-tailed eagles. Naturally, I didn’t get a good picture, but here they are over at Hengistbury Head, courtesy of the Daily Echo. https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/25814804.two-white-tailed-eagles-spotted-hengistbury-head/

It had been an incredible morning. Yes, it was grey and blowy and trying to rain on us, but we got down to the Harbour and got lots and lots of fresh air! First, we saw The Parks Foundation planting two hundred young native trees on Harbourside, which will give shade, food and shelter for the birds. Then we saw the turnstones walking confidently along by the shore and aren’t they gorgeous?

We kept walking because neither of us wanted to go home, even though we were getting a bit cold and a lot windblown, and saw this beautiful Great Cormorant who’d successfully caught a fish and was proudly holding it up for us to photograph it. He’s in mating plumage and there was a young lady Great Cormorant close at hand, so he tossed it proudly up in the air as he said. ‘Look at me, I’m a good mate.’ Unfortunately, he didn’t catch it and it swam off. So did they, but they were side by side so I hope she gives him a second chance.

That meant that we were already on a high, and then, as I said, we heard the bird mobbing above us and looked up, and there they were, soaring and banking and just incredible. My daughter has always loved birds of prey, so we saw white eagles flying in the Valley of Eagles at The Hawk Conservancy at Andover and the National Bird of Prey centre at Newent, and that was awesome enough. But in the wild? Without costing us a penny? Doing what eagles do? And, which is always fun, giving me the perfect line when I got home to be greeted with a very welcome hot chocolate by my awesome husband. “Sorry, we’re a bit late. We got caught up watching eagles.”

Only in Poole! And aren’t I lucky to live here and to be able to share it with you?

It’s a bit of an anticlimax to tell you about the books on special offer, but here goes.

We have three books from Windy Bay - A Place to Call Home, Between the Sea and the Sky, and The Little School at Windy Bay. My personal favourite is Between the Sea and the Sky because the heroine just happens to have the same form of rheumatoid arthritis as I have. Then we can move over to the market town of Oldcastle, where the first three books are on offer. The first one is the Christmas Sparrow, which has a special place in my heart because it’s based on reality too. My husband and daughter (both wonderful) were trying to persuade the sparrow that the cat had brought in that the top of an artificial Christmas Tree wasn’t where it wanted to roost. Meanwhile, I had the idea and was typing frantically. The sparrow was fine. The cat was cross. I had a new book idea… so two out of three were happy. There’s also A Whole New Life and Having It All, which are set around a farm with a bed and breakfast, and I’m fond of them too. Who am I kidding? My books are my babies and give me freedom and an escape as well as paying the bills so I love them all.

So it’s been a good day, and I’ll see you on Sunday and leave you with this picture of a seagull who looks as if he’s trying to steal a fishing boat. Because they do things like that down here…