LET ME OUT!!!

I am nearing breaking point. It has been AGES since I last got out in to the big outdoors with my Camera and Binoculars. Family engagements and decorating (Grrrr) have meant that I have been locked away for weeks. Sure I can escape at Lunchtime for a quick half an hour by the Thames, or a traipse around the local Nature Reserve, but all this seems to do is make me feel worse. I am desperate to pull on the Hiking boots, load up the rucksack and hit the trails.

This weekend holds the promise of replacing the guttering around the house. Although this will get me out into the open air, I'm not sure this will be enough to satisfy my hunger for the great outdoors. This also means that I will miss out on the Wildlife Expo that I wanted to visit. Although given the choice of the Expo or a walking / Birding / Photography outing The expo would come second. So all I can do is dream, and plan.

A Pied Wagtail in a Car Park that I can not see from where I am!

The return of Autumnwatch adds to my agony, as do the tweets and blogs I read from people doing what I want to do. I think I wouldn't feel too bad if I only had a window so that I could see the Pied Wagtail that I can hear in my works car park. You see I work in a workshop, which sits in a warehouse. I have 2 windows, which look out into the warehouse. This allows people to walk past and stare in at me like a fish in a bowl. Don't get me wrong I love my job (I am one of the fortunate ones who does), but I would love to be sat by a River waiting for a Kingfisher, or walking through a heath in search of a great photo opportunity.

So I need to plan. I need to scheme and hope that one day soon I shall be freed, even if only for one day. I have in fact just one days holiday to take this year (excepting Xmas) and I've been holding on to it. You see this year I want to see a Waxwing, or possibly 2, so I'm holding off taking it as late as I can until these beautiful little chaps come my way. Last year they were everywhere. Wherever I looked there were Photos of Waxwings, Reports of Waxwings, Stories of flocks and flocks of Waxwings, but did I see any? No I bloody didn't. So this year I am determined.

I suppose I'll have to get on with the Guttering, attend the next family lunch, finish glossing the doors, but I won't have my mind on it. I'll be planning my escape. I'll be researching where I'd be most likely to see them, when they'll be there, how to get to them and what to pack with me. This year my Wax winged friends we shall meet, and I for one, am really looking forward to it.