Friday 25th March (The Cadaverous Kid Continues)


Mr. Kite looked out of his bedroom window into the Lime trees over the road. Today the ends of the twigs had grown small bulbous lumps that would soon shoot out into leaves. The sun was rising and the forecast was good; so Mr. Kite was going bird-watching.

Now Mr. Kite was asked if he could pick up an acquaintance, The Cadaverous Kid, if needed from death's door at a nearby hospital. The timing was vague but it gave Mr. Kite a few hours spare. So Mr. Kite's plan was to visit some local pools. Firstly Mr. Kite stopped at Springfield Mere to watch Coots squabble, Moorhens swim across the water with their heads jerking and Mallards being fed by Mothers and Toddlers. In the warm air Mr. Kite sat on a bench in the warm sunshine watching over the busy Mere hoping to find something less common. But he did not, but it was very pleasant.

Mr. Kite then cycled two hundred metres to a swampy region with trees by Weeping Cross Island where The Rookery was a 'hive of activity'. Rooks sat on nest; others were reconstructing nests and other were flying in carrying building material in their beaks. Below them in the water Moorhens swam amongst the tree trunks.

Then Mr. Kite cycled and then walked to Betton Pool for a quiet spot of bird-watching. Mr. Kite planned to look closely around this isolated pool and see what he could spot. Approaching the pool quietly Mr. Kite could hear the screams and shrieks of people having a good time. Soon he saw that students from a local college had commandeered the pool for a session of canoeing and water activity. Mr. Kite was disappointed so he carried on a sat in the sun by a wooded area searching for signs of life. Surprisingly he did not spot anything. But thinking of life Mr. Kite then returned home in case he was needed to transport The Cadaverous Kid home because of a shortage of hospital beds. Fortunately the hospital thought it prudent that he was driven home with medical personnel; just in case he took a turn for the worse.

This left Mr. Kite with the afternoon to himself. To cut a long story short Mr. Kite cycled over the Col du Callow; a thirty one mile ride with a two mile climb. Mr. Kite spotted Buzzards, heard Ravens and nearly ended the life of a Dashing Black Pheasant with a dark black-green plumage. So at the end of a day where life continued, spring progressed, and all was well Mr. Kite returned home very thirsty and content to quaff a tipple of Old Speckled Hen. Cheers from a saddle sore Mr. Kite.