Summary (by AI): Despite the heat and lack of bird sightings at Ham Wall, I enjoyed a beautiful, solitary walk that was perfectly capped off by a stranger's unexpected act of kindness.
Blog: Now, I am most definitely not a bird spotter, but I do enjoy a nice-looking bird. I was up in the Isle of Skye recently, and some of the seabirds up there were just stunning. The puffins, the terns, and the oystercatchers were absolutely beautiful.
Anyway, as I was looking at the map for Somerset and thinking about where I might or might not go, I realized there was an RSPB reserve called Ham Wall. It was right in the middle of an area of Somerset that I’d never been to before: the Somerset Flats, which is a large area of natural flat land filled with endless reed beds.
So, I headed over there.
Once again, as I said, I’m not a member of the RSPB. But I have been thinking about joining, not necessarily just for the bird watching, but because these reserves are always situated in the most stunning locations. And this one was absolutely no exception. It was beautiful.
I turned up, but unfortunately, it was probably the wrong time of the day and the wrong time of year to do it. It was boiling hot—around 30 degrees—and it was about three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Now, I'm no expert, but I’d imagine most of these birds get up at four in the morning for their dawn chorus. By the time four o’clock in the afternoon rolls around and it's 30 degrees heat, they’re probably tucked away somewhere having a nice little sleep. There weren't many birds around, but it certainly gave me the inspiration to come back.
If nothing else, it was a lovely walk. From a "zoo category" perspective, I didn’t exactly tick off loads of animals, but in terms of just making me feel alive, it was a beautiful place to wander around. And I had the place virtually to myself.
At the end of the walk, I was so hot. I went to the little cafe there and saw they had some Magnum ice creams. I looked at the price and thought, flipping heck, three pound sixty!
But I was desperate, so I decided to get one anyway. I went up to the counter and said, "Can I have a Magnum, please?"
The guy behind the counter looked at me and joked, "Oh, we don't get many millionaires here." He said they were so expensive that nobody ever buys them.
I laughed and said, "Yeah, I know, but I'm just so hot."
I started eating it and tried to pay, but it turned out his card system was down and he couldn't take the payment.
He looked at me and said, "You know what, mate? You can just have it."
I turned to him and said, "Brilliant. I really do feel like a millionaire now!"
It was a lovely, kind thing for him to have done, and it rounded off a great afternoon.
The Map: