Welcome to a new week. Check back to last week's chat for news. Linda is spending weekend with Tomasz. Annette has been told to slow down . . . by Brenda who sounds just as busy! Alan has been wandering shops again.
TIGER: THat link you gave me to page 10 actually took me to the new Daily Update!! No matter; I'd already bookmarked page 10 the last time you mentioned it.
G'night all.
ALAN 5 mins is 5 mins too long
AQ love flying in helicopters. My first many years ago was a RN Wasp, which considering my fear was some feat. Did some dry winching that day. Since then flew sitting in the open door of a Whirlwind (attached to a line) and night flying in a Gazelle. Also some civvy helicopters.
Annette So sorry. I must have made a mistake with what was in my clipboard and then commited the cardinal error of "NOT TESTING MY LINK"
Anyway it is fixed now. To be sure here is the link again.
Tiger Signature
dibnlib Oh I would love to fly in a helicopter. I have flown in various commercial airliners, a few light aircraft, a hot air baloon and parachutes...but never a helicopter.
Morning, Everyone: Dry and sunny here, and a Happy 4th July to all across the Pond! (It was my Mother-in-laws birthday, so we always remembered it clearly, and had some happy family celebrations with her enormous extended family, over the years - happy memories ;-) )
Not been in a helicopter but would like to try it sometime..... (just read the above bit, but not caught up on everyones news yet - too busy!) We've had a super weekend in the sunshine with our Son & Family - little Tomasz has been cuddled and passed around, and spoilt generally. More about that later. Here are your Monday Smiles for the week - more animals, and more smiles!:
ARE YOU SMILING ??? here's how to do it !!!
Good morning all still trying to keep up with all the posts but this week should be a bit easier as I do not have to go out anywhere and also I feel well again at long last. Still a coughing fit now and again but feeling much less tired and appetite has come back. Hope everyone had a good weekend and that Lindybird enjoyed time with Sweet Pea.
Had a good day with all the family on Isle of Wight yesterday. There were 18 of us and so nice for all the family to be together. My sister is still upbeat but has told us that there are lumps appearing all over her body. Found it quite hard trying not be too emotioal for her. One of her hands is in a terrible state and she is going to have this seen to when she returns from this holiday. She gets very tired and is not able to walk very far so I walked with her and we had a good chat about things. She said she thinks chemotherapy will not be an option for her now as her body seem to be being attacked from every angle. Despite this she and her OH are now making plans to have a short break In Jersey as her consultant has told her it will be OK to fly after her brain operation now as long as it is not too long a flight. I know her daughter wants to take her and all the family to Disneyland in Paris but don't know if this will happen. I just admire her so much for coping as well as she does. Took lots of photos of all the family as we don't usually manage to get everyone together like this so it was a very special day. Weather was perfect, children had a great time on the beach at Ryde but the sea temperature was very chilly. Only had a paddle but it was still very cold. We managed to find a child friendly pub and all 18 of us descended on them for lunch and I must say they were most accommodating. Just a chain pub but food excellent and it was very clean and the staff couldn't do enough for us. Tennis was on so managed to see a bit of the men's final and thouhgt it was the right result. Maybe Nadal needs to take some time out as the constant round of tournaments seems to be taking it's foll on him at the moment.
I am off now to start the first part of my diary for my week at LG at long last.
Margobird
Hello Lindybird thanks for the Monday Smiles and glad you have had a lovely weekend.
The Dream That Came True
Saturday 11 June 2011
Left for Southampton Airport stopping for breakfast on the way. Feeling so very excited that at long last I was going to see the ospreys who have captivated me for the past 3 years. Good flight to Inverness where I met with Wendy who had so kindly offered to transport me to LG. Wendy took me via the scenic route and even though it was raining the scenery was just magnificent. Collected keys for accommodation and got my first view of the magnificent Odin. He is just stunning, it took my breath away to see this magnificent bird. Could only see EJ's head at this stage. Back to accommodation to dump luggage and back to Centre for induction and to meet the Osprey Team. Back to accommodation again to unpack a few things, grab a bit to eat and then returning to do my first shift at the forward hide from 6pm to 10pm. Rained most of the evening but when there was a bit of break Odin delivered a fish. I was very lucky as the person I shared shifts with was the Group RSPB leader from Oxford so he could indentify just about every bird that we could see from the hide. Rained most of the time durig this shift and Odin sat through it all on the camera tree while EJ sheltered Tore and Bynack as best as she could as they were getting to large to both fit underneath her so there were bums stuck out. By the end of the shift the rain had just about stopped as we walked back to the car. Back at accomodation at 10.15 and upacked a few more things and then off to bed, had been quite a long day and all the excitement had certainly taken it's toll on me. Not a great night's sleep as mind was so full of what I had seen.
Sunday 12 June
Very foggy start to the day but sun did cone out eventually. rosiemac and Heather B arrived to take me out. Was so good to see faces at long last. Went up to Osprey Centre so Heather B could see the ospreys. Odin had delivered a fish but at the time we were there he was nowhere to be seen so probably away fishing again. Good views of EJ sitting on the edge of the nest. Seeing it live so to speak you realise just how big that nest is. We ten went to Revack for lunch passing through wonderful scenery again. Heather B very kindly treated us to lunch and what a treat it was. A huge table loaded with dressed salmon, ham, beef, pork pies, every type of salad you could think of and the best bread I have ever tasted. For sweet I had meringue not realising how big it was, managed to eat most of it anyway. We all had a good chat about all things osprey and other things and it was hard to believe how freely the chat flowed seeing as we had only met for the first time earlier that morning. Came back to the accommodation so I could grab a snooze before I went on the night shift. 10pm to 8am quite a long shift. When we arrived at the hide temperature down to 9 degrees so feeling fairly chilly. There is another room in the hide where you can catch some sleep but I was so cold and only dozed on and off. Had a sleeping bag but even that failed to keep me as warm as I would have liked. Therte is a heater in the actual hide but obviously the wind blows staight through even though we had most of the hatches closed. Remember thinking that this was what I had come to do and nothing was going to get me down though. Obviously very quite through the night and did not see a fish delivery before we left to go back to get a couple of hours sleep after having a hot shower and something to eat.
Monday 13 June
Another wet day rain on and off for most of the day and not very warm with it. On shift 1pm to 6pm. EJ left nest at 14.52 and returned at 15.04 with large stick. 3pm Richard visited the hide so was nice to meet him and he managed to sort the lack of sound out. Some had been fiddling with the leads in the hide. Know who it was but won't say but that is the reason there was no sound for a couple of days. 15.40 Odin delivers a fish then left again at 15.47. 3.55 EJ calling for more fish. No further fish delivered on that shift but so far there had been 7.
Tuesday 14 June
Shifts 8am to 1pm. 8.58 EJ mantling as there is an intruder around. 9.12 intruder makes a further appearance. 9.30 Fish delivery from magnificent Odin. Both Tore and Bynack feeding well and Odi on nest for a short time before he flew off to makie sure intruder had gone. 10.27 another intruder alert, EJ mantling,. 10.33 all quiet on nest ad 2 well fed chicks sleeping. 10.40 another intruder alert. 10.47 another fish delivery from Odin. He stays for a minute and then leaves. 4 fish deliveries so far today. Of the 4 deliveries was lucky enough to have seen 3 of these. Shift ends and walked back to the Osprey Centre where I was meeting with dibnlib and her OH. While watching saw the badger which has a sett under the Osprey Centre, most strange to see it wandering around at that time of the day. Lots of excitement in the Osprey centre as visitors saw the intruder and also the badger. Saw it 3 or 4 more times through the week. At 1pm met up with dibnlib and OH who then took me to Loch An Eilein one of their favourite places. Such wonderful scenery with a castle in the middle of the Loch. They hade very kindly prepared a picnic which was so enjoyable. The weather this day was wonderful, sunny and very warm and I at long last started to thaw out, actually reacheed 24 degrees... Spent a delightful 4 hours with them and once again conversation flowed and I just loved to see Dillon having a good swim in the Loch. I thought once again how nice to meet people from this forum. Then back to a nice gift shop and gallery and cafe to have a cup of tea. Saw Cairngorms today, still some snow on the top. Returned to accommodation after a very nice meet with dibnlib and OH ot get ready for my next shift 6pm to 10pm. 6.10 intruder again, has certainly been a bit trying for Odin and EJ today. 17.07 fish delivery and both chicks feeding well. Odin perched on nearby camera tree taking a well earned rest after all his deliveries to the nest. Cuckoo and mate flew across the front of the hide so I got a good view. All quite for the rest of the shift with EJ dozing off now and again and Odin perched in camera tree.
To be continued...
TIGER Heli trip over the Alaskan Mountains was quite something. I have never parachuted or flown in hot air balloon so envy you that. Ihad intended to get a hot air balloon trip for OHs' 40th but we were then living in Shetland and there aren't too many balloon trips from there!!! Maybe for his next biggie!!!! He now tells me his ideal would be in a Tiger Moth on a warm Summers evening. He has been lucky enough to fly in a Lightning, Jaguar and Phantom. The Phantom trip pilot was the display pilot, flying over St Andrews he asked OH if he wanted to see the town from another angle and yes you have guessed, they inverted. Next they did a supersonic run and went into the full aerobatic display , finishing off with landing using the arrester cable. That was some trip.