Fiery Dragons!!!

I was a fiery dragon ('dragon' is my chinese birth sign also) last night when I found out I had been blocked in by a car that is not usually parked next to my drive. I can't even begin to explain how difficult it is to get out of my drive normally. I live in a cul-de-sac and have to back out at a 90° angle between two staggered parked cars. Yes, this car was parked legally, but everyone in my street knows that if a wide car is parked in that spot then in order for me to get out, it needs to be parked close to the hedge and the said car was a good foot off being as close as it needed to be. I knocked twice on the neighbours door to move their car and later I found out from someone else, that they had gone away for two weeks!!!! This mean't I had to knock on another neighbour's door to move their car closer to the hedge so I could get in/out of my drive. I knocked on the door and a raised, angry voice said 'whats the matter now' and 'you woke me up' and 'I'm close enough to the hedge already'. Their tone and manner was completely unreasonable. Its not my fault I can't get in the drive because no space has been allowed for me to do so. I am a very sensitive person and being spoken to like this really upsets me and resulted in me going to bed late, having a bad night's sleep and not leaving to go out until late Saturday morning. What annoys me is, that if I was a man or I had a partner/husband then I just simply wouldn't be spoken to like this (its happened before many times). Some (note I say some) men feel they can be as verbally nasty to a woman on her own as they like, as she has no back up. I moved to King's Lynn 10 years ago. It was the only place I could afford to buy a house after my divorce. It was a real culture shock for me living in a town. I still havn't unpacked, because I don't want to stay here! I can't believe I have been here this long! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!! Dreaming: My perfect location would be to walk out of my front door onto a beach with dramatic waves crashing on the shore. Walking out of my back door would be a mountain, so high that I had to look straight up to see the sky! Dream on Penny......

This morning, some other neighbours looking after the house whilst occupants away, kindly found the car keys and moved the car closer to the hedge, so all sorted now!


Roydon Common

I noticed on facebook that Sue Bryan had visited some 'dragonfly pools' at Roydon and emailed her to ask her where they were exactly. Sue kindly emailed me back and this morning (late morning) off I went to find them. I walked miles too far, went through the wrong gate and went seriously off track. After two phone calls to Gary Hibbard (thanks Gary) I finally found them and was disappointed. I did not find Raft Spider which is mean't to be here and most of the pools looked like they had dried up (I am probably still in the wrong place!!!) All I found was one huge long pool and one small one. Emperor Dragonfly, both male and female were here along with Broad bodied Chaser and others I was not able to ID as flying too fast! Photographed some damselflies which I will have check ID of. Also saw meadow brown, comma, small skipper and a fritilliary sp., but it disappeared! I didn't see any adders or grass snakes and the man who lives in the old railway cottage, next to were I parked was shocked I didn't see any. He had an adder in the garden only yesterday he told me! I have now found out from this man where I need to walk to see both of these. Left here late afternoon.

Damselflies mating, Roydon Common.

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella), Roydon Common.

Four-spotted Chaser, Roydon Common.

Spider ?, Roydon Common.

Whirlygig Beetle, Roydon Common.

Broad-bodied Chaser (male), Roydon Common.

Emperor Dragonfly, Roydon Common.

?, Roydon Common.

Small Skipper, Roydon Common.

Hoverfly - Volucella pellucens?, Roydon Common.

Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve

Photographed a comma and a red admiral here. Tons of dragonflies skimming over the water at the wader scrape hide. At least 7 juv. pied wagtails, 3 cute lapwing chicks, a barn owl, swallows, martins and swifts, lots of reed and sedge warblers, a few reed buntings, 5 jays, a grey heron and marsh harriers. A lapwing stood in the pool and its reflection mirrored so perfectly it appeared as two lapwings! Some people had been watching a kingfisher shortly before I walked in the scrape hide. I stayed in that hide until 8.35pm, but the kingfisher did not return for me! Met some really nice people this evening, a father and son who walked in the hide the same time as me and a couple later on, who work on the reserve. I noticed on the sightings list in the centre that an osprey had been seen here from Whitley Hide on the 29th June!

Comma, Sculthorpe Moor.

Deadly Nightshade, Sculthorpe Moor.

Not sure what these flowers are or the insect? - Sculthorpe Moor.

Two of the four Lapwing chicks - Wader Scrape, Sculthorpe Moor.

Lapwing - Wader Scrape, Sculthorpe Moor.

Sedge Warbler, Sculthorpe Moor.

Juv. Pied Wagtails, Sculthorpe Moor.

Barn Owl from the Wader Scrape Hide at Sculthorpe Moor.

Arrived back in King's Lynn and felt too tired to go to Festival Too!