HAPPY NEW WEEK!!!
Here's a link to last week's Weekly Chat thread. The code for this week's Weekly Chat is WC250813 (in case you ever want to search for it from the search box).
I was away most of last week, and I think it's too late for me to get caught up on replies. I have read all of your news and have loved all the photos! I enjoyed the report and pics from AQ's most recent trip (yay, ducks! And loved that pelican, also the big trees). Wonderful photos from Mulberry and NiteOwl (lilies are one of my very, very favorite flowers; yours are super lovely!). Beautiful dragonfly from Alicat. I really loved the very majestic photos from Lindy -- ducks and deer! Woo hoo! That's an especially beautiful species of deer. Beautiful hibiscus from Alan. Love your increasingly subversive signatures, Alan. LOL! Glad that Mulberry saw an osprey! Happy belated birthday to Jess.Glad that Cerist at Dyfi has been found! Nice to see Mike posting here. Brenda: Are you glad or relieved to say good-bye to the puppy? LOL OG: Hope your sparrow hawk was okay after the window strike! Thanks for posting the excellent photos of handsome Diesel, handsome George, and your own beautiful self!Nice to see Lynette. I hope you have a grand holiday in Austria.I hope that Limpy is feeling better!I'm so very glad that Margo has had good results from the chemo. Sending good energy to you, Margo.Everyone have a great week! It's Indian Summer here and the temperatures this week will be 90 - 100 F (32.2 - 37.7 C) with very high humidity. Yuck.
It sure is a wobbly looking house, Lindybird. The floors must be up and down all over the place. I bet there isn't a snooker room in it!
That's a very beautiful house, Lindy, even if it is wobbly.
My Minsmere pictures are here.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
I'm now looking out of the window and two collared doves are on our fence, preening each other! I daren't try for a photo as it'll spook them.
Have looked at Minsmere photos and "liked" but couldn't find a reply button on there to comment! Cormorant remains my favourite!
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
3 cormorants on the bund last tuesday. Taken from a distance when I was trying to locate a marsh harrier:
I like cormorants - the way they hang their wings out to dry is reminiscent of men in raincoats flashing!
I've been snapping a few of our garden birds today:
I don't care if you're bigger - I'm still going to eat some of that!
What do you mean, peek-a-boo?
I find the patchwork appearance of young starlings so adorable!
A young goldfinch looking thoughtfully at me. Gorgeous!
This blue tit looks very happy with life!
I love long tailed tits and this one was particularly fearless!
not long back from swimming 60 lengths, a bit daft staying indoors on a day like this, but I did get plenty of sun yesterday. Taking a break now from speeding up the freezer defrosting, a job I just hate!!!!
Is it just me or does that seem an awfully big pup? I thought that at a few weeks old it would be really tiny, considering the adult version is only small.
CLARE love the cormorant pics and your description of them as "Flashers"!!!!
LINDY what an amazing house.
I don't envy you that job, Dibnlib - I assume you're got the hairdrier to hand?
Morning all: Went to bed at 9 last night and got up at 8:30 this morning! Did fortify myself with a small bowl of granola around 3 a.m., but then right back to sleep again. Amazing! Lightning (fat white cat) is due for her shots this morning so OH is taking her as I'm clearly not organized yet.
Lindybird: Love the racoon shot; also the poor pug in the ice puddle. Little Moreton Hall is gorgeous and begs the question: What would Great Moreton Hall look like? Little Moreton looks not so much like Fawlty Towers as Wonky Corners (a name I use to call my former little house that wasn't entirely straight). Interesting about the paint jobs they did. I remember being in St Alban's Cathedral(?) once and seeing traces of the bright colors they used to paint the insides of those old churches.
Alan: How nice to see the hedgehog; my niece puts out feed for hers, also has provided a little house for it. I see the police are being sent to Gloucestershire to "provide reassurance" pending a pilot badger cull, but reassurance for whom ask - probably not the badgers.
OG: Good that son of neighbors is being reasonable; he probably is only too aware of their inherent grumpiness having been raised by them and is trying to compensate! I was going to say that I hoped OH connected the dots re lying down and coughing, but sounds like you had to hold the pencil for him! Smiled at the image of you following red herrings up a cul-de-sac.
Diane: Did you see the Farmer's Almanac is forecasting a bitterly cold winter? Odd about the bats; do they lay low when the owl's about? No whales at either cam right now, though they must be there coz the focus is on a specific area. UPDATE: I lie! There they are (on the "Gallery" cam).
Mulberry: More lovely pix! And history of the railroad line too. I love it, having never been to that part of the "old" country.
NiteOwl: Re the bees, we're told to report unusual numbers of them and yes, pesticides are likely one of the causes of colony collapse. A shame your neighbor uses them.
dibnlib: That pup really is adorable. 60 lengths!! I'm impressed. Our gym is closed this week for its annual scrub down and clean up - well, that's my excuse for lolling anyway. Good luck with the freezer - aren't they frost-free these days?
Clare: The cormorant on the stick reminds me of "I'm the king of the castle and you're the dirty rascal." The heron looks like it needs a haircut (but not sure which end I was looking at!). Gosh, trying to imagine a pondful of men in raincoats......but maybe not! :-) Lovely pix of your garden visitors.
OK. Had really better start the day; after all it's past 10 a.m. and I'm still in my nightie!!
Hugs to all and especially Margo.