Fitness for the over 80s

 Saturday, March 27

Having been very active for most of my life, the present sedentary option does not sit well. Unable to walk more than 25 metres unaided - further with my rollator - how does one keep the muscles going? I am known to chair dance whilst listening to music, that's mainly limited to legs.

I recently bought a DVD entitled 'Gentle, Sitting Tai Chi' which Pam and I have managed twice this week. 

 The recommended start time is 17 minutes, the full programme takes an hour. We timed the second session,  we lasted 40 minutes, the first was 28. Not bad. 

Pam finds the shoulder and arms part difficult, being unable to raise her arms above shoulder height. The knees are a challenge for me. But.....it's not too difficult and does succeed in working muscles I'd forgotten I had.  I shall continue.

I once sat alone at dawn in the wooded glade of a Beidehe hotel, looking for migrants. I was soon joined by a Chinese woman who crept silently in, before beginning her silent, early morning Tai Chi exercises. It was elegant and mystical.

Mine is neither.

It's so tempting to go to the coast. Reports of Wheatears at Cley and Holme, Lapland Bunting at Sidestrand, White-tailed Eagle at Horsey. I'm looking forward to March 29th, when we can legally drive further again. 

In the meantime, the garden is still  full of Siskin chat, Pam counted nine at once yesterday, there will be more than that visiting.

My camera and I coincided with two visiting male Brambling at last. Never landing in view on a scenic branch, I had to make do with them feeding on the seed scattered ground, never together. One was more brightly coloured than the other.

 

We also had a good moth this week, a Dotted Chestnut. 

 

Norfolk status
Formerly scarce, spreading rapidly in recent years.

Woodland, wooded heathland, pastoral farmland and thick hedgerows.
Noted as being a very local species, occurring mainly in the south and south-east of England, this species has been spreading rapidly across Norfolk in recent years.

Overwinters as an adult, flying again in the spring.

First Norfolk record of a female taken at Hockwold in 2013 (K. Puttick, 24/04/13).
Norfolk Moths website