Add your "Odds & Sods" here thread ... 2020

gaynorsl said:

Blimey Hazy, what other creatures do they have around!!!

They have a whole full size menagerie like a zoo of animals although some are difficult to see behind hedges !    tiger, elephant, deer, bear,  gorilla,  collie dog with flock, cows, sheep, plus real animals like horses, llamas etc     It's the real helicopter/s I can't get over in the garden  LOL      Guess it's hard to know what to spend you money on when you are that wealthy  !    And all I want are some carpets  (says she who's ROFL - rolling on the concrete floors laughing   …… or should that be sobbing ? )   !

You never know, Hazy, they might be able to start making your carpet from Wednesday!! While I appreciate there are still concerns over a return to work, I, for one, will be glad I can at least begin to explore a little more widely when I venture out, as maintaining distance has never been a problem for me.

Meanwhile (while waiting for a man to come and service the boiler), here are a couple of long-distance shots of some Little-ringed Plovers from a late evening walk in the local park on Sunday - there's at least one pair and possibly more in other pools, but they keep moving so you can't keep track of how many there really are! I don't claim the photos are brill as they are quite shy but it's nice to have them in the park and they might add a little variety here.

Lovely little ringed plover Nige

Not good enough Nige!!
Only joking!!. Better than any of my close up pics!
Keep up the good work

That's a pretty special park if you get LRP's there, Nigel. Cracking photos especially the first one where you've caught its eye perfectly.

Unknown said:

I can't even visit Gaynor without getting arrested

Why, what on earth do you two get up to????

Thanks all
Hazy, I dare say that will cause confusion that the various parts of the UK are behaving differently. We'll have to give time for the NT and other parks to decide how to handle re-opening.
Tony, this is a new park to compensate for the industrial complex next door and some areas are still to be developed, but it is being landscaped more like a nature reserve than a formal garden. It's also large, maybe 4sq km. They've put in several scrapes and ponds and even small reed beds so it attracts a good variety of birds from Skylarks and Wheatears to Lapwings and LRPs and at least five different warblers. Somewhere, there's rumoured to be a Little and a Barn Owl but I've not seen them yet. They also purchased a farmers wet field as it was home to Great Crested Newts. Currently, it's a patchwork and not much to look at and you could easily miss the birds if you didn't know they were there, but when the trees grow a bit and the grass becomes filled with wildflowers it could rival many nature reserves if they keep up the good work.

Unknown said:

Tony, this is a new park to compensate for the industrial complex next door

Hi Nige,   Is the park M.G.  ? !     There's so many areas we have yet to explore not only around the our own area but the rest of the UK but for now I better stick to England and not cross any borders;   talk about confusion   lol 

That sounds fabulous, and unusually forward thinking!