It is that time for a new thread again. We continue from Weekly Chat, Sunday, October 17, 2010 Last week had so many fascinating topics I am not sure what should be carried forward.
It was such an eclectic mix, my memory is of birthdays, bears, steam engines, hedgehogs, hummingbirds, osprey pictures, computers, relativity, quantum mechanics and cats of all types. No doubt it will be repeated in the week to come.
Oh I forgot. Outlaws and inlaws! :)
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Afternoon all ... it has been a lovely morning, but clouding over now with a threat of rain. We went out early this morning as OH had to take his car for a service ... I followed and picked him up. His garage is about 20 miles away on the road to Wooler, so we had a trip north to the Ford area where he is tracing his ancestors! The tree colours were beautiful ... took this photo from Ford churchyard ... looking to the west.
Gary - looking forward to some 'puppy pics' from next door!
OG - as Gary said ... your OH should do 'arty' more often ... a lovely photograph! Enjoy your weekend trip.
Diane - so glad you and your Dad escaped the storm ok. I enjoy watching the seal cam and seem to be quite lucky catching them ... they are on just now as I am typing this!
Alicat - great pic of the egg size comparison - I enjoy watching Phoebe too ... if it is indeed her!
Heron - entertaining post as usual ... shame about your different varieties of 'wet stuff'.
Annette - how interesting to be on the jury ... I've never been called :-(( Wow ... 36 otters in one go ... and I was excited about one!!
margobird - glad to hear your OH is recovering from his ordeal ... a weekend relaxing sounds just right for him ... and you!
ChloeB - lovely photographs of the springer spaniel and his log.
Thanks to all for chat, links etc
Take care
Joan - avid bird and nature watcher in Northumberland!
Index Thread
Afternoon DjoanS great photo and lovely views. After I had been thnking that the trees round us were never going to start changing colour, went out this morning and it has all started to happen. Some gorgeous colourrs all round.
Margobird
Well what a week so far. Thank you for the news and wonderful photos.
Diane I was so pleased to see that you escaped damage following the tornadoes. I cannot imagine what it must be like. I well remember our Great Storm of 1987 when hurricane-force winds caused havoc and destruction throughout south east England and killed 23 people. Sevenoaks in Kent was left with just one oak tree and it left huge trails of fallen trees, tiles from roofs, hoardings blown down etc etc. That was bad enough. I tried the seal link but failed to hear them singing, or indeed any live action. I did hear the sound this year on the Isle of Mull. A number of seals were were lying on rocks off shore basking in the sun as the tide came in. We lay on the ground watching. The sound was lovely. Never heard it before. You can understand the myths of mermaid calling, luring sailors at night!!
Thank you Chloe for repeating your link to Countdown! I had saved the earlier one on my desktop, but it opens blank - so your link is now copied onto my 'things to check out' document'.
Patricia your walk at Strangford Lough sounded wonderful. OH and I went to RSPB Fowlmere on Monday under pure blue sky and sunshine. Although our most local RSPB site we don't go very often, possibly as we never seem to see anything of note. Perhaps because the management has changed or improved I don't know, but we really enjoyed ourselves. Three hides, all of which reported sightings of kingfisher (we didn't see) and otter (which we did see!!) so I can share Joan's excitement in the experience too. I have occasionally seen them in Scotland, usually on the west coast, so it was a treat to see one in south Cambridgeshire!. We also watched a heron standing in a lagoon patiently waiting for his lunch, and was rewarded. There was a lot of singing which I am sure a lot of you would recognise, but I an no good at that, nor at recognising the LBJs!! I most certainly will be returning now I am confident of the route there and the route around the reserve!
On birding issues, one of you experts may be able to help me. This morning, hovering over the fields and enjoying the wind, I watched a large bird of prey, buzzard-size or possibly a bit bigger. My immediate reaction was 'buzzard' but it loooked wrong. The tail may have been a bit longer, its neck was stretched out and downwards searching the ground for prey. More important I thought was the edges of the wings, the finger tips. They were very 'fingery' and a bit 'lose', if you see what I mean. And there could have been a light patch under the rump, but difficult to tell. Possibly a goshawk??
Oh Annette, Paul the octopus having an inkling...!!! I was somewhat miffed just a couple of months after voluntary redundancy and four weeks before Christmas to have been called for jury service. I was dreading it, but looking back it was really interesting. Hope your laptop is soon 'mended' and back with you. I have checked out your gray whale count page - are you in the photo?
Margo I am so sorry for your OH and indeed the friend's family. A very hard time for you all.
Gary, I love the pumpkin art by your neice. They look very intricate. OH grew two this year and at the moment they are just sitting! I guess I will have to do something with them, even if it is just a wonderful soup!
OG I hope you enjoy your trip to Vane Farm at the weekend and see plenty of geese.
Alan thank you for the link to Martin Mere. It looks as though there is plenty going on there just now!
Alicat I just love the comparison of egg size photo! Amazing.
Margobird the gorilla link is wonderful. I saw a small piece about it on the news this morning. It is amazing to think he will grow into the huge silver back!
One last small think I am bursting to tell you. After three and half years of fighting off a proposed wind farm, having been through the application process which despite being turned (by two District Councils) down the developer decided to Appeal. This was held at a Public Inquiry for four weeks in February and again resumed for two weeks in September this year. We heard yesterday that the Inspector dismissed the appeal. He decision was so resounding it is inconceivable the developer will come back for another attempt or another one will start the process again. There was an interesting article on the front of The Independent today which suggests that people power is preventing the development of wind farms anywhere.
This has turned into a bit of an epic again. Apologies - one little smile. Local farmer had a shoot today - I have 14 partridge at the ground feeder!! Do you think they knew something?
Bye all.
Birdie's DU Summaries 2018 https://www.imagicat.com/
Quick g'morning all.
Chloe: Wow. Some trophy for that spaniel. OG: Have image of you whizzing of in your mobility scooter! :-) Lovely photo of autumn colors.
Everyone have a good day/evening.
Can you tell that I am getting bored? Can’t really do much packing till cleaner has finished!
Joan – lovely pic from Ford churchyard – love that area around there – visited Ford, Etal and Hetherslaw a few years back when we stayed at a farm on the River Coquet.
Sheila – so pleased you saw and heard wonderful birds and animals at your local RSPB. I’ve been in contact with Vane Farm re access – I emailed and they phoned back and were so wonderfully helpful. So glad the Partridges found a haven from the guns – and provided with food supplies too – a bit like an air-raid shelter!
Rain has stopped so OH is loading my chariot into the car for the weekend. Must go and make a list of stuff to fetch in from the freezer for dinner.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Have a lovely time OG and look forward to hearing all about it idc.
Rain came back - and looks like a dreich day driving tomorrow, but not too bad through weekend where we are going. OH is doing his packing right now. Don't like the look of Phoebe's nest - front edge looks very unstable - maybe she'll tidy it a bit and strengthen the rim. I bet , while I am away, Poebe will lay an egg, Lily will stay put in the Cedar swamp den, and BRS will get a really picturesque trip to Minnesota, the Dakotas or somewhere! "See" you all Sunday night, or maybe Monday.
Well done, Sheila, for fighting off those proposed wind turbines, I wonder how much it cost to go through all that... and how much more it will cost when each application has to be dealt with separately and all those wild and not-so-windy locations have to raise the manpower and funds to fight against big businesses which are making their money from the rest of us via heavy subsidies. i'm sure they wouldn't be doing it if they weren't receiving huge subsidies. I like the idea of harnessing some form of natural energy, but when you see countries in Europe covered with the things and now some of those countries are realising that nowhere near enough power is produced by that method, well, we have to try something else. (Apologies to those who think they look beautiful, I think they are scars on our natural landscapes.)
Terry in Cumbria
And now for something completely different!
Thanks for all the fantastic pics and news this week, sorry I haven't been able to join in much but I have read and enjoyed it all. Hope Lindy is having a good time on hol and OG has a good weekend. Glad Diane is safe.
Hi everyone, am now back in circulation having got back from Manchester today. Will try and catch up a bit tomorrow as there is quite a backlog to look at.
Everything went well, lovely service, and so grateful she is now at peace.
Speak again tomorrow when I've tried to catch up on all your news etc.
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/
RSPB Giving Nature a Home