Weekly Chat, Sunday November 14, 2010

Good morning SheilaFE  and yes I did see Autumn Watch and so enjoyed the starlings.  I particularly liked the nightime views where they were roosing under the pier.  I love starlings because they are such characters.  Messy but provide me with lots of fun when I watch them in our garden.  We get loads in the garden when they have their families in late Spring but they do start to thin out a bit by September. 

jsb I had one parakeet in my garden a couple of years ago.  Was having a drink from the bird bath and could hardly believe my eyes.  I believe there is a small colony of them somewhere in Poole but as yet have not seen one again.

DjoanS thanks for the pics of the Ark Royal and pleased you eventually got near enough to take them.

Lindybird thinking of you this weekend.  Bet you are on tenterhooks.  Hopefully you won't have to wait long for Sweet Pea's appearance.

Had a bit if a surprise this morning about 9.15 as I had a fox in my back garden eating the worms that I put out for my birds.  It didn't look particularly healthy poor thing.  Of course as soon as it saw me it tried to jump over a very high wall but made a complete hash of it and exited through my back gate.  We had a beautiful dog fox in the garden a couple of months ago and know they are around from the calling cards they leave.  Can only think it is desperate for food.

Cold dull day here in Poole and we had heavy rain again overnight so my lawns are saturated again and the bird patio is under a couple of inches of wather.  If we get a dry day it will drain away but this is how it is when we have a lot of rain which we certainly have had recently.  Believe it is now going to get colder again.

Have a good weekend all and take care.

Good Morning All. It was raining last night when we went to bed and have awoken to a very dark, dismal looking morning.

I see that the £18 million they received for 'Children in Need' last night was on par with last years total and they now expect that the final total could at least equal last year's £40 million. So sad to see those chldren, who still live in poverty and those bereaved, disabled, learning difficulties etc. and how this charity helps.

jsb, I have often seen the RN parakeets but how fantastic to see one in your own garden. I look forward to seeing your photographs. I noticed a photograph on a community thread of a RN parakeet and a jackdaw on a feeder with a squirrel on the fence, all wih an eye on the peanuts.

Joan, lovely to see your Ark Royal photographs. What a battle you had to try and see her.

Margo, I hope your LG letter arrives soon. I find that when I am watching the weather forecast now, that I look further along the South coast to see if you are forecast any heavy rain. It didn't look very good for you last night. Hope all is fine. Loved the video of ' the boy and his dog'. It brings back memories of our children and labrador.

Linda, I hope your DiL gives birth this weekend and all is fine for her and the baby. She must be longing for the birth now.  

I have had to answer two phonecalls whilst trying to write this, so will post now and return later.

The parakeet, just recognisable....a blow-up of a photo taken from about 50 feet away, from inside the house. If I can manage a better one next time, I will share it with you. Incidentally I had to move the feeders away from the house because of greenfinch chick casualties, striking the windows.

jsb said:

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.

jsb  I will look forward to your further news on the parakeet feathers!!  It will be interesting to see whether you are able to gather a few feathers and to learn more from the research project!

Afternoon all.

Djoans: Thanks for the pics of the Ark Royal.

Annette : Like your avatar, very apt.

Margo : You were lucky to see a fox in your garden, I hope you get the volunteering news soon from LG. Spurs have just beaten Arsenal 3-2 so I expect your OH is ecstatic.

Jsb : Nice picture of the parakeet. It wasnt saying  'pieces of eight' by any chance. I just get this picture of Long John Silver in the bushes trying to tempt it back on his shoulder. LOL

Weather is dreich and all the d words you can imagine today. It is also foggy. Temp around 4c. We went to Stamford  earlier today and had a walk around the shops which were busy with Christmas shoppers. Then we went to Elton for a spot of lunch at The Walled Garden centre. We had home made Leek and potato soup. It was excellent on such a cold day.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and keep warm.

Interesting report over at Birdforum of an osprey taking a blue crab. Some really good pictures. See  osprey takes blue crab.

Morning All, I was watching bullfinches eating from our Pheasant berry this morning, haven’t seen them for ages.  Sparrows and tits are begging me to put out fat balls.

I don’t know, don’t visit these pages for a week and half of you are changing avatars (including Annette, well done!) or adding “moving thingies”.  You’re just trying to confuse!

Glad the wedding went well AQ, lovely pics and menu, thanks for letting us join in.

Nice to see you Lz LFW.

Lucky you, patriciat, to have a red squirrel nearly in your garden.  Not sure if we have them near us, but I do live between the Lake District and D&G (not Dolce and Gabbana!) so they are probably not too far away.

Good to read your film review Lindy, and look forward to the Harry Potter one.  Hope to see HP myself next week (or maybe later when all the children have been). Have read all the books as they got into paperback except the last one which I had to buy straight away.  Reminded myself what happened in the previous film a few weeks ago.

Thanks for the Ark Royal pics, Joan, lucky you, getting to see it, I’m sure the quays were very crowded, people are always interested.

Glorious evening sky, all sorts of pinks. Be gone in a few mins I guess. Hope it heralds a good day tomorrow!

Quick, dibnlib, take a photograph. It is a long time since we have seen a lovely sunset here. Today has been dark and grey all day. 

Watching the rugby and it is pouring with rain at Murrayfield.