Weekly Chat, Sunday November 14, 2010

Afternoon all ... just back from two expeditions to see Ark Royal! First was abandoned ... couldn't find anywhere to park, there were so many people trying to do the same! Did a tour along the riverside and managed to see her from the car, going up the river ... then got stuck in a huge traffic jam :-(( However, after lunch, OH and I decided to go along to Royal Quays where she is berthed and see if we could get anywhere near. Normally the roads are closed off and there is no parking .... but today we hit lucky and got parked right down by the quay. As we were leaving, they were closing the roads and putting traffic cones everywhere. Here are a couple of photographs, if anyone is interested!!

She is on the Tyne until Tuesday, so maybe I will see her 'saying farewell'

There is another webcam on the Tyne ... normally showing the mouth of the river and the Passenger Ferry Terminal ... sometimes they swing it left to show Ark Royal when she is in ... showing the 'Princess of Norway' at the moment. It might be worth keeping an eye on it:

http://www.tynecams.co.uk/index.htm?cam=both

liked "the boy and his dog"  what a wonderfully patient Lab

Was based at leuchars in 1974/5 when 892 sqn were there. Their ship was "the Ark Royale" think probably the predecessor to this one!

 Wheelie at South Kessok this aft, Dillon had a great time and so did we. Beautiful day, blue sky and sunshine and not too cold. 

jsb said:

I just noticed a parakeet on one of the feeders, for the third time in the past week. It flew off when I went to the window, but I got some photos, from a distance. I shall put up the best later on, if they are any good. Last year I had one sitting in the Robinia tree above my head, for all of two seconds, so this is an improvement. I intend to put out more feeders this winter, as the varieties of birds is increasing over time. Recently I have had a green and a great spotted woodpecker, a jay and assorted finches, but the most numerous, the greenfinches have been gone now for months, leaving the goldfinches as the most numerous. I am on the edge of town, in a leafy area about 200 yards from the start of the green belt.

There used to be a few thousand parakeets a few miles away, living at the grounds of Esher Rugby Club, in the willow trees. But the club had to take all the trees down as there had been a number of accidents, due to the trees falling. Whether it had anything to do with the birds, weakening the trees or not, I am not sure, but anyway they all had to find new homes, so they must have dispersed, throughout north Surrey. Usually they are seen flying overhead and they are heard first of all, as they can be a bit noisy.

jsb I assume you mean Ring Necked Parakeets?  You might be interested to read this link and keep an eye open for dropped feathers!  http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=2407

The only time I have seen one was at Kew Gardens, but a neighbour had one on his feeders 8-10 years ago.

Grrrr.  Just written responses to many of you, hit an unknown key and lost the lost!  Hey ho.  I wonder what I said!!

I am sure I started by saying we had thick fog here first thing, but as I drove down the lane to the main road it was dissolving into mist and by the time we got to Cambridge we had blue sky and sunshine.  We went to pick up my new car!!  But left behind my old one, with a slight tear in the eye.  It has served me well for over 11 years, but things were beginning to go wrong, and it needed four new tyres and an exhaust!  We did a bit of shopping before I braved the M11.  Of course nothing is in quite the same position: how do I put the demister on? The back window is steaming up. Oh, it's getting foggy again, where are the lights, but they are on auto and supposed to come on, but are they? ....!!!!  And of course the biggest difference is that it no longer needs petrol, it's a diesel!  Back home the fog has come down again even thicker.

Wendy I do hope OH has managed to get a flight back home from Southampton.

I am sure you must be on tenterhooks Lindybird!  I know my sister-i-l was when her grand-daughter was due.  She is a little poppet and her mum & dad are getting married on New Year's Eve.

Margobird thanks for the starling link.  Did you watch last night's AutumnWatch?  There was a wonderful piece from the pier at Aberystwyth as they came in to roost on the structure.  Another of nature's wonderful spectacles is the knot at Snettisham in North Norfolk/The Wash.  http://news.bbc.co.uk /local/norfolk/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8329000/8329856.stm   This piece dates from October 2009.

Joan how great to be able to get to the Ark Royal!  It was obviously enormously popular given your holdups!  It is such a piece of recent history too.  I was surprised to see (Wiki!) that there have been five vessels of the same name.

George I have no doubt you keep an eye open for Sea Eagles/White Tailed Eagles when you visit Vane Farm, Loch Leven!  You might be interested to read this:  http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=2387

AQ thank you for the brain teaser.  I have the first one.

Lynette 'nostalgia' is good!  It means you have lived and had a lot to look back on!  Watching the programme I am amazed that I was relatively with the times in my dresses!  Lots of dressmaking was done, patterns and material bought and put together!!  I haven't done any for years, but I think it was a case of 'needs must' at the time.

Hello Annette, don't be too busy!  Don't forget to have 'time to stand and stare' occasionally!

Enjoy your Friday evenings/days one and all.

ShielaFE, Yes, Ring Necked, but this one, visiting solo, has no red ring, nor black chin, a female or juvenile. It seems, quite at home, although I have only seen it the three times and is not bothered by the other birds or squirrels. The RSPB book states the female has a plain green head, as you will know.

EDIT: Also with about 30 gardens in my Neighbourhood Watch, together, we should have a good chance of collecting some feathers. I shall put it in my newsletter. Also the Kew birds are not that far away and they do seem to get around the area looking for nuts etc., beech mast and so on.

Oooh JSB, I'm certainly no expert!!!  But how lovely to have one popping in, although I understand they are becoming rather a pest in some gardens.  The ones at Kew are certainly noisey!

Brilliant pics of the Ark Royal DjoanS and thanks for the other cams. Great that you managed to park so close. She must look really massive from the quayside.

Many years ago my dad used to take us to Navy Days in Portsmouth which was on the August Bank Holiday. I thi nk it was a cheap way of spending my birthday and I do remember going up and down of the flight deck of something enormous....probably one of the Arks....so much fun though. A bit like Concord going so so sad.  

Hello, all.  I am here and have been reading - particularly enjoyed Joan's Ark Royal pics.  Had a couple of hols in Portsmouth and Southsea when young - saw a lot of big shipping then including original(?) Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth sailing through the Solent to S'hampton.

Been busy today - not least trying to complete a DLA claim form (third session on that - still to do more).  Went to a talk on the Archaeology of Beer and Brewing - not a good speaker for a very interesting topic.

Will join in Gretna Green wedding topic when I get around to it!

Goodnight from me.