3^rd March 2019

Dear All,

With the unseasonable warm dry weather it has been tempting to get going too early on the garden – indeed Mervyn Howard, who is impatient at the best of times, has planted up his whole area already! We contented ourselves in digging up the border of Arum Lillies which has been in place since we moved here to thin, clean and replace them – it was a serious challenge. The apricot tree in the front garden is absolutely full of blossom this year – maybe to make up for last year?

Apricot Blossom

Our “Wicken Fen” lecture this week covered “Birds”. They have recorded 77 regular breeding species, 16 occasional breeding, 27 winterlings, 34 passing through and 80 vagrants. A Cambridge researcher has spent 23 years studying cuckoos and has come up with some very interesting findings such as they always stick to the species they were born in, female cuckoos can imitate the calls of birds of prey to frighten the host (Reed Warblers) from their nests so they can lay their eggs, Reed Warblers can detect very small differences in egg size to depose of the cuckoos egg and this sense is sharper when they know cuckoos are about and fledgling cuckoo chicks can imitate the sound of a nest of Reed Warblers to encourage feeding.

This week’s Garden Club talk was at Baldock – another large group of about 70. The chairman was an aged, cheerful silver haired fellow – but when I was chatting to him found he was younger than me – I guess you could draw a number of conclusions!

Thursday saw us at Widdington near Saffron Walden for a walk that took in Henham and Debden. It was unbelievably dry underfoot with plenty of catkins and daffodils in evidence.

Near the source of the River Cam,  between Widdington & Henham

Widdington

Prior’s Hall Barn, Widdington

“Augustus Pugin” was the Biography subject this week. He was widowed, shipwrecked and imprisoned all before he was 20 and died at 40 after 3 wives, 8 children and a very busy life as an architect and designer. In 2 years when he was 26 -28 he designed 18, churches, 2 cathedrals, 2 convents and several schools and houses.

In the afternoon we had a chapel outing to Cambridge Zoology museum which was reopened last year after a major refurbishment. And in the evening I watched Over win the “William Cockell Memorial Cup final” 5 v 0 against Gamblingay at Newmarket under floodlights.

 

Zoology Museum

We were in March last night for an Area Association meal.

Love

Mike & Kate