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Post by murphthesurf on Jul 25, 2018 10:54:47 GMT
This time it's 'Summer Feeding'Words of wisdom, including: Don’t forget to help ground feeders too, warm, dry summers can make earthworms and other natural food super-hard to find for Blackbirds and Song Thrushes, a few soaked Mealworms or suet pellets can help. Putting out fruit such as apples and pears or ripe bananas will also attract birds but keep an eye out for butterflies and moths too, it’s possible to have several different species attracted to ripe fruit in the garden and some of the moths can be spectacular. voice.gardenbird.co.uk/a-garden-birders-diary-summer-feeding/?utm_source=GardenBird+%28Main%29&utm_campaign
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Post by harryburrows on Jul 25, 2018 21:09:02 GMT
Watch your cards lads and lasses
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Post by felonious on Jul 25, 2018 21:29:04 GMT
Watch your cards lads and lasses I would never have given that a second thought Harry although I keep my card in a front pocket.
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Post by Northy on Jul 26, 2018 8:24:37 GMT
Watch your cards lads and lasses I would never have given that a second thought Harry although I keep my card in a front pocket. Theyd have to be a bulge tapper to get it then
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Post by felonious on Jul 28, 2018 13:45:18 GMT
I walked the Cheddleton station canal path to Consall Forge this morning and was treated with a fantastic view of a Kingfisher flying for about 50 yards. Took the very steep path up the back of the Black Lion and met up with the Cheddleton/ Ipstones road and back to the station. Glorious scenery
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Post by potterinleeds on Aug 1, 2018 11:11:51 GMT
Out running yesterday evening, spotted (and ate!) my first ripe blackberries of the year. They were properly ripe too, no need to screw your face up after tasting. I'm sure this is a good 2-3 weeks earlier than I found any last year. Up here, there are bushes with ripe fruit on and still some flowers at the same time. I got back to the house about 9.30pm, by which time the light was fading quickly. Hopefully a good month of summery weather still to come, but we have definitely passed the summit and are looking downwards towards Autumn now . You can smell it and feel it all around.
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Post by Northy on Aug 2, 2018 6:52:01 GMT
Out running yesterday evening, spotted (and ate!) my first ripe blackberries of the year. They were properly ripe too, no need to screw your face up after tasting. I'm sure this is a good 2-3 weeks earlier than I found any last year. Up here, there are bushes with ripe fruit on and still some flowers at the same time. I got back to the house about 9.30pm, by which time the light was fading quickly. Hopefully a good month of summery weather still to come, but we have definitely passed the summit and are looking downwards towards Autumn now . You can smell it and feel it all around. All the mountain ash are in fruit already and winds knocking them off, there won't be any left for the birds in winter. What will the waxwings eat when they arrive?
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Post by Northy on Aug 2, 2018 6:55:17 GMT
My eldest finishes with the RSPB on his island off Anglesey in a couple of weeks time, he's managed to get a 6 month contract over winter in .......
Mauritius, well just off it on round island, working with giant tortoise and re- establishing local flora and fauna.
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Post by potterinleeds on Aug 2, 2018 7:23:31 GMT
Out running yesterday evening, spotted (and ate!) my first ripe blackberries of the year. They were properly ripe too, no need to screw your face up after tasting. I'm sure this is a good 2-3 weeks earlier than I found any last year. Up here, there are bushes with ripe fruit on and still some flowers at the same time. I got back to the house about 9.30pm, by which time the light was fading quickly. Hopefully a good month of summery weather still to come, but we have definitely passed the summit and are looking downwards towards Autumn now . You can smell it and feel it all around. All the mountain ash are in fruit already and winds knocking them off, there won't be any left for the birds in winter. What will the waxwings eat when they arrive? Yes, I was working in Swaledale yesterday afternoon and even there I noticed that all the mountain ash tree berries are turning bright orange - again, I'm sure this is significantly earlier than last year. Lots of big horse chestnuts and sycamores in Wensleydale really beginning to suffer now due to lack of any significant rain.
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Post by felonious on Aug 3, 2018 22:25:07 GMT
I was heading back from Leek last night just before midnight through Baddiley Green coming up the rise to the double set of lights, Milton left/ Norton right when I had to slow down for a badger. He went through a gate on the Milton side.... on a mission
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Post by Northy on Aug 8, 2018 18:34:21 GMT
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Post by felonious on Aug 11, 2018 7:02:59 GMT
I was over at the Ramblers Retreat at Dimmingsdale last week sitting in the outdoor garden. They have a series of 10 of those stone lions with water coming out of their mouths into an open trough. Three crows came down and they were drinking directly out of the flow and not the trough
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Post by murphthesurf on Aug 11, 2018 8:03:20 GMT
Tried it twice, Northy. It says 'page not found'.
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Post by Northy on Aug 11, 2018 16:52:41 GMT
Tried it twice, Northy. It says 'page not found'. It was only available for 24 hours My lad was on it and his name appear on the screen
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Post by felonious on Aug 30, 2018 17:55:50 GMT
I was over on the bridge at Dimmingsdale yesterday afternoon just along from the Ramblers retreat. A couple of visits back a guy I was talking to said you only had to wait 5 minutes there and you'd see a Kingfisher. Nothing over a couple of visits and the yesterday two came flying down about 100 yards then came back and did a full circle right in front of me before going under the bridge
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Post by chuffedstokie on Aug 30, 2018 18:59:09 GMT
I was over on the bridge at Dimmingsdale yesterday afternoon just along from the Ramblers retreat. A couple of visits back a guy I was talking to said you only had to wait 5 minutes there and you'd see a Kingfisher. Nothing over a couple of visits and the yesterday two came flying down about 100 yards then came back and did a full circle right in front of me before going under the bridge Only had the privilege of seeing them on one occasion. Incredible experience. A pair of silver flashes skimming the river bank. Wonderful birds.
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Post by thequietman on Aug 31, 2018 11:34:10 GMT
I was over on the bridge at Dimmingsdale yesterday afternoon just along from the Ramblers retreat. A couple of visits back a guy I was talking to said you only had to wait 5 minutes there and you'd see a Kingfisher. Nothing over a couple of visits and the yesterday two came flying down about 100 yards then came back and did a full circle right in front of me before going under the bridge Only had the privilege of seeing them on one occasion. Incredible experience. A pair of silver flashes skimming the river bank. Wonderful birds. I second this. I used to have one come & perch on the end of my rod occasionally when I was fishing my winter spot on the Shroppy Cut. Absolutely stunning creature. If I threw a few bits of chopped worm near him, he'd flit off the rod & catch them, but wouldn't come closer than about 10 feet away. Spent many a happy hour feeding him.
Seen some small flying creatures in the garden of an evening recently. A little bigger than the largest moths & too quick in flight for them anyway. My eyesight's rubbish in twilight so I've not been able to make out yet if they're small (baby?) bats or this year's swallows / swifts / house martins.
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Post by felonious on Sept 1, 2018 18:41:43 GMT
I went over to Rudyard this afternoon to the hotel for lunch with the kids and went for a short walk along the lake. We had a nice treat coming back there were several Newfoundlands being trained to rescue people in the water down on the corner by the dam overflow. There was quite a crowd watching. Proper heartwarming stuff. I remember seeing them in action on TV in the docks at Bristol a few years back but seeing them in the flesh was brilliant.
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Post by chuffedstokie on Sept 1, 2018 19:35:28 GMT
I went over to Rudyard this afternoon to the hotel for lunch with the kids and went for a short walk along the lake. We had a nice treat coming back there were several Newfoundlands being trained to rescue people in the water down on the corner by the dam overflow. There was quite a crowd watching. Proper heartwarming stuff. I remember seeing them in action on TV in the docks at Bristol a few years back but seeing them in the flesh was brilliant. Just a few feet from where you were is the Dam railway station. I was sitting waiting for the train some weeks ago, it was fairly quiet and out of nowhere there arrived three Robins, one on the sign and the others digging around underneath in the leaves. I've seen two together before but three!. I was led to believe that they are fiercely territorial little things. Lovely place, I do a bit of volunteering on the railway. They're extending it next year.
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Post by felonious on Sept 1, 2018 19:42:49 GMT
I went over to Rudyard this afternoon to the hotel for lunch with the kids and went for a short walk along the lake. We had a nice treat coming back there were several Newfoundlands being trained to rescue people in the water down on the corner by the dam overflow. There was quite a crowd watching. Proper heartwarming stuff. I remember seeing them in action on TV in the docks at Bristol a few years back but seeing them in the flesh was brilliant. Just a few feet from where you were is the Dam railway station. I was sitting waiting for the train some weeks ago, it was fairly quiet and out of nowhere there arrived three Robins, one on the sign and the others digging around underneath in the leaves. I've seen two together before but three!. I was led to believe that they are fiercely territorial little things. Lovely place, I do a bit of volunteering on the railway. They're extending it next year. It went past us today I asked the kids if they wanted a go just to see the raised eyebrows and the scowls
They loved it when they were little though.
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Post by Northy on Sept 4, 2018 19:49:57 GMT
I was running up and around the great orme on Sunday and just near to the top on the cliff road near to the lighthouse B&B I spotted a Peregrin Falcon sitting on the edge of a rock overlooking a big drop to the sea about 5 yards away. I stopped and watched it for a while and it was looking at me and scanning the birds below, I moved on after a minute hoping to see it fly off but it just sat there scanning the skies.
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Post by cheeesfreeex on Sept 4, 2018 20:52:32 GMT
I was running up and around the great orme on Sunday and just near to the top on the cliff road near to the lighthouse I spotted a Peregrin Falcon sitting on the edge of a rock overlooking a big drop to the sea about 5 yards away. I stopped and watched it for a while and it was looking at me and scanning the birds below, I moved on after a minute hoping to see it fly off but it just sat there scanning the skies. Nice. Stood outside Mart's Brew & Tap Piccadilly the other aft and heard a distinctive raptor cry. Too shrill for a sparrowhawk, didn't get a proper view in the gaps between buildings but someone confirmed peregrines are still frequenting the honeycomb building. There was a bird of prey above my house the other day, again with a distinctive{unfamiliar} call being tracked by jackdaws {bigger than them}, and two buzzards {smaller than them}, my instinct was a kite, but it was too high for any of us to make out the tail properly. Other folk have seen kites locally. A different, but seaside note, the local golf course has been home to quite a few young Black Headed Gulls, there was a troop circling high overhead in the heat a couple of weeks ago, very different to your regular shitehawk. Almost like slow motion white swifts. Spotted a water shrew in me pond this week, frogs gone in hiding. Fascinating creature, like some kind of pocket otter.
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Post by Northy on Sept 4, 2018 21:38:35 GMT
Flock of black headed gulls on the village footy pitch tonight, although they are light grey headed gulls now.
Now they have fledged it can be told, my lad had a pair of Roseate terns nesting on the skerries this summer, first in 10 years
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Post by thequietman on Sept 4, 2018 22:14:34 GMT
I was running up and around the great orme on Sunday and just near to the top on the cliff road near to the lighthouse I spotted a Peregrin Falcon sitting on the edge of a rock overlooking a big drop to the sea about 5 yards away. I stopped and watched it for a while and it was looking at me and scanning the birds below, I moved on after a minute hoping to see it fly off but it just sat there scanning the skies. Wow. My favourite bird since I was a nipper. Never had the joy of seeing one in the wild. Maggenpies seem abundant this year. They're everywhere in larger numbers than I've ever seen. Regularly see double figures of them around the gardens causing havoc with other birds, cats, dogs. Really can't decide if I think they look amazing or if I hate them. Luckily not our garden, they don't come close when our 2 greyhounds are outside. As a result we get a decent gathering of smaller birds. For some reason the dogs don't bother them + vice versa.
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Post by cheeesfreeex on Sept 5, 2018 0:12:04 GMT
Kehaar as a character struck me as a kid, one of the first drawings I did I recall being proud of was of a BHG. Looked a bit more Tern as I recall, but it was imagined from the description and a picture from an illustrated 'Wild Birds', or a Typhoo Tea Card, probably. Might have to read/watch 'The Down' again.
'Kehaar: A black-headed gull who is forced, by an injured wing, to take refuge on Watership Down. He is characterized by his frequent impatience, guttural accent and unusual phrasing. Eventually, after Hazel and the others befriend him, he flies over the countryside in an attempt to discover other warrens where the rabbits might find does to mate with. He discovers the Efrafa warren, and after helping the rabbits he flies back to the sea to rejoin his colony, though he frequently returns for a visit. According to Richard Adams, Kehaar was based on a fighter from the Norwegian Resistance in the World War II.[3] In the film adaptation, Kehaar was supplied with a memorably pompous East-European accent by Zero Mostel. In the television series, Kehaar is voiced by English comedian Rik Mayall for series 1 and 2.' wiki.
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Post by felonious on Sept 5, 2018 18:41:59 GMT
I did the circular walk around Dimmingsdale this afternoon from the Ramblers Retreat car park. I got back to the bridge with 5 minutes spare time to clock the Kingfishers and as I got there and looked down there was a real treat, a Dipper. Diving in to and from some small rocks. I've only seen them at Dovedale before.
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billc
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Post by billc on Sept 6, 2018 8:18:37 GMT
Nature Notes – the Kingfisher
Have you seen a kingfisher? I have had the good fortune to see this wonderful bird once. The flash of electric blue was enough to confirm its presence on an early spring day some years ago by a river in Warwickshire.
My wife has been far luckier and has seen the bird 4 times. Once in Snowdonia where she spent many a weekend as a child and the remaining 3 occasions beside the River Churnet in Leek . The most recent was when she was at work at a factory beside the river last week. She heard a bird’s distress call and looked out of a window to see an avian triangle of drama. A pair of yellow wagtails ere calling with the greatest agitation as a magpie was getting too close to its nest and just a few inches away from them sat a kingfisher on a branch. As my wife watched the kingfisher escaped the hullaballoo by diving into the river in search of a meal.
There was a time in the not too distance past when such a scene would have been unconceivable as the River Churnet from the late 19th century was terribly polluted. Reports from 1868 referred to thousands of dead fish have been taken from the river due to large amounts of chemicals being released into the river from a dye works in Leek. A newspaper account from 1925 describes the river as one of the worst polluted tributaries of the River Trent and even as late as 1973 local MP David Knox asked a Government minister about progress on cleaning up the river he described as one of the most polluted rivers in Europe. Whether that is an exaggeration or not the Churnet was used by industrialists as a dumping ground, not only in Leek, but further downstream at Oakamoor and Froghall with toxic copper waste being fed into the river. Without fish living in the river it would have been impossible for kingfishers to thrive near the Churnet.
A writer to a local paper in 1890 mourns their disappearance
“In an area where the kingfisher was common and the linnet abundant I have found that there are none to be seen. Industry has developed to an unprecedented extent and repeated visits to favourite haunts have failed to reveal their presence. The invasion of these quiet spots by marauders has had the effect of driving away all the former inhabitants who have not been destroyed.
Water quality is a key factor in the kingfisher's survival. It feeds on tadpoles, aquatic insects and small fish such as minnows and sticklebacks - so the water needs to be clean enough for the bird to see its tiny prey as it skims across the surface so its increase in numbers is a sign of improvement in water quality. Those lovers of this colourful bird will be grateful.
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billc
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Post by billc on Sept 6, 2018 8:20:10 GMT
Nature Notes- House Spider
It was a few years ago, but I remember the blood curdling scream from the direction of the Fruit and Vegetable department in the supermarket. It was soon clear what the cause of the yell was. One of my fellow shop workers had found a spider in a bunch of bananas. It could not harm her as it was dead. It was not even large but that experience suggests that I am going to have a hard job in this column convincing people to love arachnids. Spiders at this time of year are the subject of scare stories about the arrival of some unwanted immigrant who can paralyse just by a glance.
I am of the opinion that you should, if not applaud them, at least admire spiders. What a wonderful piece of biochemical engineering the creature is! What an excellent and intricate the designs of the web can be especially with dew of an early morning settling on the web! What a massively successful species the spider is having been around for over 300 million years! Spiders range in size from the Columbian Patu at 0.37mm to the Tarantula that can have a body length of 99 mm. The largest British spider is the Cardinal at 22 mm a critter my brother- a BT engineer- had an encounter in a box at the top of a telephone pole in rural Staffordshire . By the way the Cardinal got its name because one frightened Cardinal Wolsey in his palace at Hampton Court. However all these pale into insignificance against the Megarachne a spider that existed in the Carboniferous period in Latin America and according to fossil remains was the size of a Labrador- try getting that out of a bath!
I suppose that the one that we most encounter is the House Spider. They can live for a couple of years and build nests of greyish silk in the corner of cellars waiting for prey that becomes entangled in their webs. House spiders move very quickly, one expert calculated that a female could cover 300 times her own body length (16 mm) in ten seconds, but only in short bursts. Rather than stamping on them the general view is that they should be left alone as they provide a valuable service in the home getting rid of flies and other insects that could be harmful.
But still, like that young shop worker at Morrisons, the human response to the spider is one of revulsion. It is probably something deep in the human psyche. When I was about 12 and a scout one lad recounted the terrifying tale of the giant ghost spider of Spout Lane. The image kept us all awake in the tent that night.
Who knows perhaps Megarchane did after all stalk the byways of Bagnall?
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billc
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Post by billc on Sept 6, 2018 8:21:56 GMT
Nature Notes- the ox- eyed daisy
Many years ago I remember a recording of the Radio 4 programme “Desert Island Discs “when the Conservative politician the rather flamboyant Norman St John Stevas remarked that on his death he would like to rest in an English country churchyard. He would. I think, have liked Blore Church in the heart of the Staffordshire Peak District. It is a beautiful setting
Were we there on a scorching hot day. It was easy to see the impact of the lack of rain, the surrounding hills were a tan colour from the lack of rainfall and looked arid. My family took shelter from the heat in the welcomed coolness of the church. The grounds of the well maintained church yard were awash with colour and by the hedgerows grew willow – herb, ragged robin and cow parsley. However my eyes were drawn to a profusion of ox eyed daisies scattered beside the ancient grave stones themselves covered with lichen. The flowers were large and brilliantly white while the foliage scanty and meagre. This sturdy plant is perennial; it has little value as fodder and it is an indicator of poor soil. Its leaves can be used for salads although you would have to collect quite a few to fill a plate
The daisy enlivens the meadow as the grass is growing for the hay crop. It is ordinary seen in blossom by June although it visible for most of the summer and into the autumn. A rather charming custom existed in Eastern England of collecting the flowers of June and July and to festoon rural dwellings to add a dash of colour to drab cottages calling them “midsummer cushions” as a celebration of nature.
Blore Church has always intrigued me and stands in isolation beside what must have been the Hall. It stands on high ground above the Manifold and is mainly a medieval structure, It is well worth a diversion on the way back from Ilam Much of the interior of church is Jacobean with box pews and pulpit. The glory of the church is the magnificent alabaster tomb of Sir William Bassett who was MP for Staffordshire for much of Elizabeth 1st reign until he fell foul of the repellent Richard Topcliffe a fellow MP and the Queen’s torturer in chief of Catholic priests. A claim to being the most odious person in English history has been made. He accused Bassett of “necromancy, treason and Catholicism”. Topcliffe was not a man to trifle with and Bassett resigned his seat and now he lies surrounded by his family in marmoreal splendour.
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billc
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Post by billc on Sept 6, 2018 8:23:16 GMT
Nature notes – the Hare
The Hare ambled nonchalantly off as the car passed. It was sitting beside the back road between Monyash and Bakewell as we approached.It stopped and let us drive past I have been closer to them before. One March day in fields near Foxt I came across them “boxing” and so unconcerned by my presence that I got close to them as the fur literally flew.I had always assumed that it was the males who boxed but it seems that it is the female seeing off the amorous intentions of a male. With Lepus europaeus it seems that the sisters are doing it by themselves
Throughout the world, there are legends concerning Hares from the Americas to the Far East, from Africa to Europe- few animals have such a body of myths attached to them . The animal is embedded deeply in the folk lore of our ancestors. It is associated in mythology with the Moon, cunning and bravery. There is evidence of Hare mythology in ancient pottery, coins, seals, and cuneiform writings and in oral history.
The most striking thing about the mythology of hares is the degree of commonality across the globe. Similar to the fact that most ancient cultures have a flood myth, most also seem to have hare mythology
To the Celts the Hare was sacred to the White Goddess - the Earth Mother - and as such was considered to be a royal animal. Boudicca released a Hare as a good omen before each battle divining the outcome of battle by the animals movements.
Hares have a place in British folklore although ironically they are not native to these islands and were bought over during the Iron Age from Europe . The suggestion that the animal is unworldly is an ancient one. Gerald Cambrensis writing in the 12th century tells of a belief that witches in Wales can change themselves in Hares. One such story closer to home was collected by a Catholic priest in Leek during the 1950s. WP Witcutt’s account concerns Hag Farm near Swythamley and a 17th century witch who turned herself into a Hare to be coursed by a farmer called Wood in return for a gratuity given by her husband. The husband of the witch would watch the event with interest and often money was exchanged. Witcutt mentions that Wood was a friend of the Quaker William Penn the founder of Pennsylvania. The Priest speculated what the local Society of Friends in Leek must have felt of this bizarre carrying-on, as it is very unquakerly behaviour, is unknown
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