Sussex Scrapbook
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Nature walks throughout the year
Sunday 4th January 2009
Burton Mill Pond - Duncton
4 miles
We had to brave some
seriously cold, icy weather on the
bike to get here today. My internet gadget said
"feels like -7oC out there". With
wind chill and an open-face helmet my face may
have been standing up to -13oC at 60 mph. No wonder I'm so ugly!
Anyway, we made it there safely with only cold hands and feet to complain of and
did some fast marching about the place to get our extremities warmed up again.
We knew that we would have to leave early to get home before the sun went down
and the temperature started to plummet, so we planned on being back at the car
park by 3pm. We actually got back there at 4pm just as the resident bitterns
were starting to show themselves and the birders were forming into a small
flock. The first sneaky one (Bittern not birder) was skulking just out of sight
when we really had no alternative but to leave. Apologies if the sound of our
bike upset you and/or the bitterns.
Much of the lake was frozen over today and was being skidded on by Pochard,
Tufted Duck, Teal, Wigeon, Coots and Mallards. We also heard a Water Rail
squealing from the reeds. Lots of very confiding Robins about too, perhaps they
were hungry the poor frozen things.
We only took a short walk through Burton Park and around Duncton but this took
in three churches. The churchyard of The Holy Trinity at Duncton had eighteen
identical gravestones each commemorating 2 priests of the Society of Jesus. The
graves dated from the 1920's until the 1970's and we couldn't help but wonder if
the society had initially bought a job lot of 20 gravestones.
This picture looks very cold don't it?
It was MUCH colder than it looks!
Holy Trinity, Duncton
This is not part of the roof of the church's porch, its actually a funeral bier
The brothers
A leafy footpath back towards Burton