The day started out rather dreary and rainy but then the sun shone around 11:00am so Teddy and I headed out for a day at the seaside (just a quick half hour bus ride to Aldeburgh.) But first a half hour walk through our favorite fields and past the unique trees that each day make me pause and admire their untamed beauty. I also kept my eyes peeled for a hare as yesterday's walk yielded an exciting hare sighting. Although it was really just a blur or brown fur racing through the field it was still so exciting and I'm just thankful Teddy was off playing in the field next door and far enough away to have missed it. But sadly today was a hare-free day.The bus was about 20 minutes late but we amused ourselves with walking along the sidewalk near the duck pond and admiring the pretty foul, especially the gleaming white swans who have, like all swans, that quiet air of superiority.
We got to Aldeburgh around 1:00pm and as we began walking along the marina area toward the water we saw several people getting out of cars and with large cameras, kind of like the ones the paparazzi use when stocking celebrities on a busy NYC or LA street. Strange I thought and then when I saw the huge crowd near the beach wall Teddy and I just had to investigate. I 
kind of figured it was something of a natural origin that caused all these people to come out but one never knew. Alas, it was a something from nature, an Arctic Redpoll ((Carduelis hornemanni.) I found this information online and clearly it is unusual for them to arrive in Britian as I was told by one of the bird enthusiasts at the beach and from what is says below: Identification -There is a tendency amongst travelling
birdwatchers to assume that any pale Redpoll in Arctic Scandinavia must be an
Arctic Redpoll. This is certainly not the case, especially on Varanger Fjord in
north Norway where Arctic Redpolls are far outnumbered by the northern race of
the Redpoll. These so-called 'Mealy Redpolls' can look distinctively paler than
Redpolls from further south but only rarely do they look as white as a true
Arctic Redpolls. The key features to look for before ticking off Arctic Redpoll
are the relative lack of streaking, around the sides of the breast and
especially on the undertail coverts, the pure white unstreaked rump and a bill
that looks as though it has been squashed into its head. Habitat -Breeds in
birch and willow scrub in high Arctic areas, spreading a little further south
in winter. Migration - A short-distance
migrant wintering a little to the south of its circumpolar breeding areas. If
food supplies fail here then the species will move south in large numbers, some
even reaching Britain. "
The Arctic Redpoll (Carduelis hornemanni), known in North
America as the Hoary Redpoll, is a bird species in the finch family
Fringillidae. It breeds in tundra birch forest. It has two subspecies, C. h.
hornemanni (Greenland or Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll) of Greenland and
neighbouring parts of Canada, and C. h. exilipes (Coues's Arctic Redpoll),
which breeds in the tundra of northern North America and Eurasia. Many birds
remain in the far north; some birds migrate short distances south in winter,
sometimes travelling with Common Redpolls."
What struck me most was how the bird let all these people crowd around him for hours an he never bother to fly away, well that was until we arrived and Teddy moved in on him. Fortunately the photographers had clearly been there a long time and it was starting to rain hard at that point so I think they were probably silently thankful Teddy scared it off or goodness only knows what harsh words would have been directed to Teddy and me. Although thinking of it now this is Britain and the British are known for keeping their feelings to themselves. If this has been Italy then we can all agree Teddy and I would have gotten quite a hear full of foul language and some well chosen hand gestures. Although again, I pause to think if Italians are really the bird watcher type? I mean sitting quietly in a wood or, in this case, on a beach and waiting for your pray to just plunk itself down so you can spend hours observing it's behavior, admiring it's splendor and taking lots and lots of beauty shots. Somehow I just don't see that happening.
So with the rain quickly turning to tiny ice pellets Teddy and walked quickly for the shelter of the bus which was conveniently sitting nearby waiting for it's time to depart. The bus driver kindly let us on even though it was too early to leave and he played with teddy as I tried to dry him off with the small towel I'd brought with me. The man is originally from a seaside village in the county of Kent and he said that Aldeburgh seemed really busy with lots of people out and about unlike the other seaside towns that are pretty quiet this time of year. Personally there were only a handful of people walking around the town center area so I was thinking it was incredibly quiet but compared to NYC at Christmas any city, with the exception of London would seem somewhat quiet.We ended up taking that bus home because there didn't seem any point staying in town when we were both socking wet but surprisingly not very cold.
But to go back just a bit. We initially went and saw the bird and then left the photographers to enjoy themselves and Teddy and I went and played on the beach which was so nice. Teddy was really enjoying himself and not listening to me but he seemed fine and wasn't going to far away from me so I just let him do his thing. This beach, as I had mentioned the first time I'd come here a month or so ago, is all rocks and I'm told by locals that these rocks are all imported from Scandinavia as the beach here was all sand at one point and the beach corrosion was so bad each year that they decided that a rocky beach would be more sound and clearly they're right for the beach looks no worse for daily wear and actually seems like it protects the nearby buildings well.
While we enjoyed the beach I just happened to look up and see the most incredible rainbow and after taking a few pictures I happened to glance out toward the water and saw what turned out to be the end of the rainbow which had it's final point directly on a passing ship at one point. You could see, quite clearly the entire arch of the rainbow which spanned from my best guess at least 3 or 4 miles to where that ship was. It was breathtaking and then I looked back to the part I initially saw and there next to it was a second rainbow. Oh, so exciting and I got some really good pictures I think you'll be able to see the rainbow(s) pretty well. But in my enthusiasm for the rainbow I lost track of Teddy but thankfully I caught sight of him just as he was heading toward the parking lots and the cars. Oh, this doggy, he had a whole beach to explore and he head to go where there was the most danger. Needless to say, I got him to come, with considerable effort, and when he got close enough I grabbed him and put the leash back on and that ended his day at the beach. He just can't be trusted so I must always keep my eyes on him.
We got back around 2:30pm to find the kitties relaxing in the warm kitchen and the Sooty Cat sitting in my spot on the sofa all curled up in a cute kitty ball.