rachel.blog

Pine martens, red squirrels, and aurora borealis

The Northern Lights were on display across British skies last night but I didn’t see them. I looked out many times before bed, I woke at 3am to have another look, and then again at 5:30am but there was nothing. Only clouds 😦 Here’s what I might have seen:

I have never seen the Northern Lights. Nor have I seen a red squirrel or a pine marten despite my many attempts to catch a glimpse of one of these things. What’s life all about if not to tick these experiences off our list? I can’t even say I’ve swum in the North Sea in winter since, although I did swim in a chilly 6°C in the North Sea on Sunday, it’s technically not winter anymore! This means I’m going to have to do it again.

Maybe one day I’ll look out the window to see a pine marten having sex with a red squirrel under the aurora borealis. Imagine that! Did anyone else see the show last night?

Posted

in

by

Rachel M

Tags:

, , , ,

Comments

19 responses to “Pine martens, red squirrels, and aurora borealis”

  1. ladysighs Avatar
    ladysighs

    She looked out of her window
    ‘Twas the dark of night
    But the aurora borealis
    Made it seem that it was light

    And there in her backyard
    She glimpsed two tiny specks
    A red squirrel and pine marten
    Busy at it having sex

    You can tick this off your list now. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Rachel M Avatar
      Rachel M

      Oh, you’re fantastic! That’s great 🙂

      Reply
      1. ladysighs Avatar
        ladysighs

        🙂

  2. scifihammy Avatar
    scifihammy

    haha Would be weird to look out of your window and see that! 🙂
    You’re still young – gotta have something to strive for! Maybe next time, when there are no clouds, you’ll see the lights 🙂 The thing is not to stop trying. And then how wonderful when you do finally see these spectacles. 🙂
    Took me a few goes to find Halley’s comet in the sky in 1986. I was walking down the road at 2am searching!!

    Reply
    1. Rachel M Avatar
      Rachel M

      I might get another chance to see them tonight – http://blog.metoffice.gov.uk/2015/03/18/northern-lights-continue-for-the-uk/. Fingers crossed!!

      Great that you saw Halley’s comet. I can remember that but I can’t remember whether I saw it. I was young and not particularly interested 🙂

      Reply
      1. scifihammy Avatar
        scifihammy

        Good Luck for tonight 🙂
        My one daughter also saw Halley’s comet. I woke her up and stood on the stoep with her in the wee hours; so like you, she won’t remember – but her eyes saw it! It’ll be back in 2062!!

  3. Muddy mum Avatar
    Muddy mum

    Ooh I’m desperate to see aurora borealis, I’m not far from norfolk so potentially isn’t impossible but last night was stupidly foggy. 😔
    I too have never seen a red squirrel and would also love to see an otter in the wild.

    Reply
    1. Rachel M Avatar
      Rachel M

      Ah, an otter. That’s another one to add to my list! The aurora borealis is going to be visible again tonight although maybe not as far south as Norfolk.

      Reply
  4. TanGental Avatar
    TanGental

    You’ll see them all soon enough, probably when you least expect it! As for interspecies sex, all you need to do is leave out a cinnabun….

    Reply
    1. Rachel M Avatar
      Rachel M

      I’m not going to waste a cinnamon bun like that! I’ll feed it to my husband instead 😉

      Reply
      1. TanGental Avatar
        TanGental

        Too much information, R!!

  5. fossilcyclist Avatar
    fossilcyclist

    Too misty down here as well, though have seem them several times. Had an amazing encounter with them one time, I’ll maybe blog about. Seen the others, except for the pine martin, and white squirrels, another strange encounter. Looks like I’ll have to keep a lookout tonight as well.

    Reply
    1. Rachel M Avatar
      Rachel M

      Foggy again last night 😦 I guess I’ll have to wait until next time. I never knew there were white squirrels. I bet they’re hard to spot in the snow.

      Reply
      1. fossilcyclist Avatar
        fossilcyclist

        The white squirrels were in a local wood – albinos. Cleanish here but no aurora. A local roadhouse is called the Pine Martin, would that do?

  6. lassy Avatar
    lassy

    Reblogged this on Will the real reality please stand up!.

    Reply
  7. Graham With Hats Avatar
    Graham With Hats

    If you wake up to see a pine marten having sex with a red squirrel under the aurora borealis, best not tell anyone.

    I thought you might like this:-
    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2015/mar/16/keep-it-in-the-ground-guardian-climate-change-campaign

    Reply
    1. Rachel M Avatar
      Rachel M

      Thanks so much Graham. I had sort of heard that the Guardian was ramping up its efforts to report climate change. I’ve added my signature 🙂

      Reply
  8. luciledegodoy Avatar
    luciledegodoy

    Wicked! Love your wish to see a pine marten having sex with a red squirrel under the aurora borealis!

    Reply
    1. Rachel M Avatar
      Rachel M

      I’ll definitely blog about it if it ever happens 🙂

      Reply

Leave a reply to Muddy mum Cancel reply