To and fro

My last morning with Dad before heading home on the train. There was a little bit of time in the morning to go in search of a blip. I went to my usual place looking across the top of the Test estuary to the Prince Charles container port. Two days ago the docks were empty, today there were three large ships being unloaded.

I have blipped a few crows recently, and I have remarked on their adaptability and intelligence. I watched a whole gang of crows this morning feeding on the mudflats as the tide receded. It took me a while to work out what was going on. They were flying from one side of the channel to the other. I realised that as they flew back across they were carrying something, and the something was a shellfish, probably a cockle. On the near side of the estuary is a concrete slipway set in a flinty, cobbled shore. The crows were bringing the cockles over to dash on the rocks and the slipway, flying up and dropping them.

This photo is as sharp as I could get in miserable light with a lens that wasn't really long enough. But I like the noisy, blurriness of the crow in flight across the water carrying his prize against the reflections of the coloured containers stacked on the ship.

The to and fro action was symbolic of what I need to do more of. I was sad to say cheerio to my Dad today. He is in good spirits and he is better than he was a couple of months ago, but he has lost a lot of weight. We had a quiet and easy time together, I cooked him a couple of meals and we went out for a pub lunch one day. He came to see me off on the train, but as we waited his hands were going blue with the cold, and we agreed he should go home before the train arrived. I know I need to find the time to make the long journey there and back more often. Time together is precious now.

I have 3 back blips to put on. I may do one tonight and the rest tomorrow. I'm sorry I've not been around to comment on my blip friends' journals, and that I haven't thanked everyone who favourited my night shot of The Plough above the viaduct. Thank you for bearing with me.