Mix 96 Balloon

If you were out walking your dog, or perhaps going for an early morning jog this morning, in Upton at 7:25am, you may have found yourself looking up into the sky to see the Mix 96 balloon. What a peaceful way to see Buckinghamshire? The puff of the burner hardly registered much louder then the bird song below, (at least from the ground) as it gently passed over the houses in Upton Road.

I was looking at the various sites that advertise balloon flights in the area, and I've concluded it was likely from the company Champagne Flights I could be completely wrong, (I usually am) but I base this detective work on the following criteria;

1) Their launch site is near Hardwick, which is of course North of Upton, and according to the BBC weather page for Aylesbury there was a North North Westerly wind this morning, which presumably would have directed the balloon Southerly towards Upton.
2) On their website, it says they can travel up to 10 miles, which puts Upton easily within their travelling radius.
3) The balloons take off just before 7am, which also puts it within the right time slot as well...

Zooming in on the picture I counted a total of three people in the box, with a possible fourth on the other side of the burner, out of view. According to the Champagne flights website, with this number of people involved, (obviously excluding the pilot) this would cost £125 for each person-in case you were wondering...

Grey Squirrel vs Scary Cat

This is a photograph of a grey squirrel that had just been chased up a pole by a cat in Upton this morning-just outside Homestead Close. The squirrel waited a full five minutes until it was safe enough, before running along the cable to the next pole...where it's believed he then did a dance, and stuck his tongue out at the feline predator below.

Grey Heron

The Grey Heron or Ardea cinerea (if you speak Latin) shown in the picture, was seen today standing motionless for what seemed like hours on top of a house rooftop in Upton Road, trying his best not to be noticed.
Herons can usually be found in School Lane, Dinton, where you can see them patiently and expertly stalking their prey before proceeding to empty the fishing lake of all the fish-much to the owners displeasure.

One of the more curious things about a heron, is that despite being one of our largest common birds, surprisingly many still nest in trees! Watching the branches of a tree nearly buckle in on itself, under the weight of a large heron that thinks of itself, as actually being quite light, is one of natures more amusing sights.