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Post by murphthesurf on Feb 25, 2019 20:56:19 GMT
Old problem playin' up again, Fel? Shrapnel on the move? I'm walking 8 to 10 miles a day on average but when I run after 4 or 5 weeks the knee starts to swell up. I've had loads of sports physio across two different practitioners and they're both saying it's nothing mechanical. That rules out the shrapnel then. Oh….. poppet……. D'you want to borrow my spare car? Ooooo, just had a brilliant idea - if it's a really good sports physio you want, I'll put you in touch with my good friend Alex, the Kiwi chef + sports physio - y'know - the one I met in Budapest - he'll sort you out. And in more ways than one if you're not careful......
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Post by cheeesfreeex on Feb 27, 2019 0:01:34 GMT
Had the pleasure of an overhead Jackdaw mob vs three Buzzards aerial display today. Thermals rising, Buzzards wheeling, Jackdaws swarming, coming in from all quarters to join the cacophonous fray. Buzzards like cats with wings. Mew. Jackdaws sent the Buzzards corkscrewing up and then off. They'll be back. Brilliant.
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Post by cheeesfreeex on Mar 1, 2019 19:38:52 GMT
A bit of pondering and mooching and de-netting and tidying up the pools this aft. Warming up, shit spritting and such. Preparations for the {fingers, crossed, touch wood} amphibian activity. Not ph-ed them yet, but a good amount of Daphnia and living things in pond 1. Clear water in both, nice weed in 2, but not much life {it is a green plastic turtle ex-sandpit, and a bit young}. A wren very interested in what I was up to.
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Post by murphthesurf on Mar 1, 2019 19:56:28 GMT
A bit of pondering and mooching and de-netting and tidying up the pools this aft. Warming up, shit spritting and such. Preparations for the {fingers, crossed, touch wood} amphibian activity. Not ph-ed them yet, but a good amount of Daphnia and living things in pond 1. Clear water in both, nice weed in 2, but not much life {it is a green plastic turtle ex-sandpit, and a bit young}. A wren very interested in what I was up to. Sounds brilliant. How deep are they, Cheesy?
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Post by felonious on Mar 3, 2019 16:16:40 GMT
The White Egret was down on the Trent yesterday morning. Took off into a tree while I went past and then back into the water after I'd gone past. Wonder if we're going to see an Egretry at the back of the Mitch this summer?
Another Kingfisher appearance as well.
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Post by cheeesfreeex on Mar 3, 2019 18:05:23 GMT
A bit of pondering and mooching and de-netting and tidying up the pools this aft. Warming up, shit spritting and such. Preparations for the {fingers, crossed, touch wood} amphibian activity. Not ph-ed them yet, but a good amount of Daphnia and living things in pond 1. Clear water in both, nice weed in 2, but not much life {it is a green plastic turtle ex-sandpit, and a bit young}. A wren very interested in what I was up to. Sounds brilliant. How deep are they, Cheesy? The original pond which I put in twenty years or so ago was about three feett deep {with a shelf}. It still is in places, but there's reeds and iris and lily roors that lessen it in places.. It's not huge. Six by ten feet with a boggy area extending beyond the ten feet a few yards. To create some overlow/movement. A bit too shaded under a sycamore {hence winter netting}. I've largely let Nature take it's way. It's been surprisingly leak free. It could do with a bit of taming. Next winter maybe. I've cut back some ivy, titivated it a bit this time. As mentioned before it's been the home for a family of water shrews, the downside being a dirth of amphibians. Hence as a bit of an experiment I set up {temporary} pond 2 in an old plastic sandpit. Plenty of weed etc. It's great seeing the water shrew, just seeing if I can have both. I've seen newts under bricks but not many frogs about. Hoping the second pond experiment will help. Good to have a few frogs and toads about, gardeners friends. Thinking about it, I was considering getting a few Runner Ducks, but they'd be carnage for frogs etc. I'll put that on hold. See how this goes.
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Post by Northy on Mar 3, 2019 19:40:25 GMT
Walking back from running this morning saw quite a few magpie feathers on the ground, wondering if a female sparrowhawk would take a magpie
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Post by napperwainwright on Mar 4, 2019 5:23:18 GMT
Queens Park Longton. Quite a few Nuthatch climbing up and along the branches of the trees.
Can even hear some of them pecking at the bark searching out insects.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2019 7:16:19 GMT
It's been lovely to see all the birds in the garden over the winter as they've been hunting for food. We've got lots of plants with winter berries (holly, pyracanatha, cotoneaster, callicarpa, ivy (hate the stuff but it's beneficial for the birds), viburnum, and sorbus) and there's been a constant stream of birds coming in to feed. My wife also puts lots of those fatty seed and grain blocks and balls out in the garden and there's been a constant flurry of birds feeding on them.
We can see the cotoneaster hedge getting greener by the day as the new leaves are developing, what was just bare branches last week is almost totally covered with small leaves now - spring is well on the way !
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Post by felonious on Mar 4, 2019 7:35:23 GMT
Queens Park Longton. Quite a few Nuthatch climbing up and along the branches of the trees. Can even hear some of them pecking at the bark searching out insects. I remember a few years back quietly slowing down to look for a woodpecker only to find it was an enthusiastic Nuthatch.
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Post by lawrieleslie on Mar 4, 2019 7:49:46 GMT
I heard the woodpecker in the tree copse down our road on Friday morning. Always a good sign down here that spring is just round the corner. Mind you we’ve had daffodils since late November last year.
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Post by Northy on Mar 4, 2019 8:45:06 GMT
Queens Park Longton. Quite a few Nuthatch climbing up and along the branches of the trees. Can even hear some of them pecking at the bark searching out insects. I remember a few years back quietly slowing down to look for a woodpecker only to find it was an enthusiastic Nuthatch. Heard a few woodpeckers in Marbury park on Sunday, couldnt see any though, spotted a couple of cormorants diving underwater in the weaver as well
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Post by felonious on Mar 4, 2019 9:41:46 GMT
I remember a few years back quietly slowing down to look for a woodpecker only to find it was an enthusiastic Nuthatch. Heard a few woodpeckers in Marbury park on Sunday, couldnt see any though, spotted a couple of cormorants diving underwater in the weaver as well They might have been nuthatches or as the ex said on one occasion, look there's a kingfisher on the bird table
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Post by murphthesurf on Mar 4, 2019 20:49:00 GMT
I heard the woodpecker in the tree copse down our road on Friday morning. Always a good sign down here that spring is just round the corner. Mind you we’ve had daffodils since late November last year.
Yeah, but your weather all the way down there is practically TROPICAL, innit, Lozza???!!! Not like us up 'ere in the frozen north!!!!!! xxxx
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Post by murphthesurf on Mar 4, 2019 20:59:35 GMT
Coo - what about it, then! Storm Freya, yesterday. A bit worse than 'rough'. Snow in Scotland & Cumbria + 80 mph winds in Wales. Well, I don't know about Wales, but they were certainly whippin' round 'ere like veritable buggery (comme on dit) yesterday evening - it was borderin' on terrifying to listen to, and at one point I almost thought the famous Château Murph battlements were going to end up in the moat All stayed intact though, thank krice. Anyone get anything nasty occurring?
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Post by murphthesurf on Mar 4, 2019 21:55:57 GMT
It's been lovely to see all the birds in the garden over the winter as they've been hunting for food. We've got lots of plants with winter berries (holly, pyracanatha, cotoneaster, callicarpa, ivy (hate the stuff but it's beneficial for the birds), viburnum, and sorbus) and there's been a constant stream of birds coming in to feed. My wife also puts lots of those fatty seed and grain blocks and balls out in the garden and there's been a constant flurry of birds feeding on them.We can see the cotoneaster hedge getting greener by the day as the new leaves are developing, what was just bare branches last week is almost totally covered with small leaves now - spring is well on the way ! I think she must be my long-lost twin! Where d'you get the goodies from, Dees? I get mine from Garden Wildlife Direct. Can't fault them. I order 25 kg sunflower hearts + 25 kg peanuts + 12 kg suet pellets with mealworms at a time + fatballs as and when. www.gardenwildlifedirect.co.uk/
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2019 22:26:00 GMT
It's been lovely to see all the birds in the garden over the winter as they've been hunting for food. We've got lots of plants with winter berries (holly, pyracanatha, cotoneaster, callicarpa, ivy (hate the stuff but it's beneficial for the birds), viburnum, and sorbus) and there's been a constant stream of birds coming in to feed. My wife also puts lots of those fatty seed and grain blocks and balls out in the garden and there's been a constant flurry of birds feeding on them.We can see the cotoneaster hedge getting greener by the day as the new leaves are developing, what was just bare branches last week is almost totally covered with small leaves now - spring is well on the way ! I think she must be my long-lost twin! Where d'you get the goodies from, Dees? I get mine from Garden Wildlife Direct. Can't fault them. I order 25 kg sunflower hearts + 25 kg peanuts + 12 kg suet pellets with mealworms at a time + fatballs as and when. www.gardenwildlifedirect.co.uk/That's spooky murph - my missus says she orders from the same place ! She also get's some of the fatty seed and grain blocks from a local garden centre - she say's it's "to give the birds some variety" ! Wherever and whatever she get's, the birds absolutely love it. Next door have got one of those multi-arm feed stations in their garden and put out the meal worms, peanuts and fat balls, but the birds just seem to ignore it all and come straight for our stuff. They have a good peck at all the berries on the bushes as well.
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Post by murphthesurf on Mar 4, 2019 22:41:02 GMT
I think she must be my long-lost twin! Where d'you get the goodies from, Dees? I get mine from Garden Wildlife Direct. Can't fault them. I order 25 kg sunflower hearts + 25 kg peanuts + 12 kg suet pellets with mealworms at a time + fatballs as and when. www.gardenwildlifedirect.co.uk/That's spooky murph - my missus says she orders from the same place ! She also get's some of the fatty seed and grain blocks from a local garden centre - she say's it's "to give the birds some variety" ! Wherever and whatever she get's, the birds absolutely love it. Next door have got one of those multi-arm feed stations in their garden and put out the meal worms, peanuts and fat balls, but the birds just seem to ignore it all and come straight for our stuff. They have a good peck at all the berries on the bushes as well. Have you ever bought LIVE mealworms, Dees? You sign up & they (not the above people - somewhere else) post them to you every week. You keep them in the fridge, in their heavy-ish paper bag, and upon receipt you drop a cut-up apple or carrot in it for them to eat. When you open the bag you can hear them all moving - it's a sort of 'ccchhhhhrrrrr......' sound and quite freaked me out! Apparently they have quite strong sort-of little fangs and the birds know this - it's fascinating to watch a bird take one, hold it in their beak and smash it against the side of the bird table to break its little jaw/neck so it can't bite when it gets eaten! Lovely jubbly!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2019 23:37:21 GMT
That's spooky murph - my missus says she orders from the same place ! She also get's some of the fatty seed and grain blocks from a local garden centre - she say's it's "to give the birds some variety" ! Wherever and whatever she get's, the birds absolutely love it. Next door have got one of those multi-arm feed stations in their garden and put out the meal worms, peanuts and fat balls, but the birds just seem to ignore it all and come straight for our stuff. They have a good peck at all the berries on the bushes as well. Have you ever bought LIVE mealworms, Dees? You sign up & they (not the above people - somewhere else) post them to you every week. You keep them in the fridge, in their heavy-ish paper bag, and upon receipt you drop a cut-up apple or carrot in it for them to eat. When you open the bag you can hear them all moving - it's a sort of 'ccchhhhhrrrrr......' sound and quite freaked me out! Apparently they have quite strong sort-of little fangs and the birds know this - it's fascinating to watch a bird take one, hold it in their beak and smash it against the side of the bird table to break its little jaw/neck so it can't bite when it gets eaten! Lovely jubbly! Errrr........no murph. It sounds bluddy horrible to be honest, and just a teeny bit too grotesque for my wife to watch. She wouldn't have them anywhere near the fridge either. She buys the dried (dead) ones. I'll mention this to her but I don't think she'll be buying the live ones anytime soon
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Post by felonious on Mar 5, 2019 7:43:07 GMT
At the beamback yesterday halfway through the service two Sparrowhawks? were getting it on directly above on the roof to the most deafening racket. They then proceeded to fly off acrobatically across the pitch and eventually over the opposite stand. Unfortunately by the time I spotted them too far away to accurately identify them.
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Post by murphthesurf on Mar 5, 2019 11:31:25 GMT
At the beamback yesterday halfway through the service two Sparrowhawks? were getting it on directly above on the roof to the most deafening racket. They then proceeded to fly off acrobatically across the pitch and eventually over the opposite stand. Unfortunately by the time I spotted them too far away to accurately identify them. D'you mean you give them all names??? (Y'know - like pets.) Bluddy 'ell, Fel, you've really impressed me now.
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Post by murphthesurf on Mar 5, 2019 11:43:02 GMT
Have you ever bought LIVE mealworms, Dees? You sign up & they (not the above people - somewhere else) post them to you every week. Errrr........no murph. It sounds bluddy horrible to be honest, and just a teeny bit too grotesque for my wife to watch. She wouldn't have them anywhere near the fridge either. She buys the dried (dead) ones. I'll mention this to her but I don't think she'll be buying the live ones anytime soon Oh, sorry, I should've explained - - I keep a fridge in the conservatory just for the big tubs of fish flake-food and I used to keep the mealies in it too. No, I'd never put them in the kitchen fridge either! What I used to do was shake out about the equivalent of a teacupful of mealies every day, directly into little bowls, and put the bowls on the bird tables. You have to put them in something like a bowl, b/c if you put them on sth flat they'd clear off. The bowls were those smallish chunky earthenware ones, and I use them for all the bird food on the tables because it's far more hygienic & you can just remove & wash them frequently. For that reason I'd never put food directly on to a bird table as it would be horrendously unhygienic (and can easily turn toxic) for the birds. I use one category of food per bowl between sunflower hearts, crumbled fatballs, mixed grain, niger seeds, suet pellets with mixed-in mealies plus the actual live mealies, etc., when I used to use them. The peanuts go in the hanging feeders. We've talked about mealies on 'ere before & I'm sure I would have said that it was the wonderful ornithologist David Tideswell (from Uttoxeter) who told me about their vicious little jaws & the birds clobbering them to break them & remove the danger of getting injured when eating them. The live mealies gave me the creeps when I first opened the first delivery's bag and heard the sort-of rustling noise they make, as I wasn't expecting any sort of noise, but you easily get used to it and they don't make any actual noise themselves, nor do they really move much. And the birds love them - a real juicy treat! Yum! Does Mrs D put the dried ones out dry or rehydrate them??? These are the bowls I use on the bird tables - they're ideal. I got mine from Nisbets, and they do mail-order: www.nisbets.co.uk/olympia-stoneware-oval-pie-bowls-161-x-116mm/c108
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Post by thequietman on Mar 5, 2019 12:36:56 GMT
I heard the woodpecker in the tree copse down our road on Friday morning. Always a good sign down here that spring is just round the corner. Mind you we’ve had daffodils since late November last year.
Yeah, but your weather all the way down there is practically TROPICAL, innit, Lozza???!!! Not like us up 'ere in the frozen north!!!!!! xxxx Frozen north, Murph? Yer semi-tropical yourself. It's taters in Leeds. Had to scrape ice off the car this morning. Cherry tree in blossom in February (!) followed quickly by high winds & then frost. Don't expect too many cherries on it this year, I think.
Wildlife a bit confused up here, unsurprisingly. Birds doing mating dances & building nests last week, all disappeared into hiding the last couple of days. But I guess that's the norm for West Yorkshire lasses after a Friday night on the prosecco.
Garden was devoid of wildlife this morning but I'm an expectant father again. At least two of the tropical fish are likely give birth any day now. People go on about families of 7 or 8 living off the welfare state. Hmph. These little beggars have anything up 80 babies at a time and I don't get a penny off the goverment for them.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2019 13:13:45 GMT
Errrr........no murph. It sounds bluddy horrible to be honest, and just a teeny bit too grotesque for my wife to watch. She wouldn't have them anywhere near the fridge either. She buys the dried (dead) ones. I'll mention this to her but I don't think she'll be buying the live ones anytime soon Oh, sorry, I should've explained - - I keep a fridge in the conservatory just for the big tubs of fish flake-food and I used to keep the mealies in it too. No, I'd never put them in the kitchen fridge either! What I used to do was shake out about the equivalent of a teacupful of mealies every day, directly into little bowls, and put the bowls on the bird tables. You have to put them in something like a bowl, b/c if you put them on sth flat they'd clear off. The bowls were those smallish chunky earthenware ones, and I use them for all the bird food on the tables because it's far more hygienic & you can just remove & wash them frequently. For that reason I'd never put food directly on to a bird table as it would be horrendously unhygienic (and can easily turn toxic) for the birds. I use one category of food per bowl between sunflower hearts, crumbled fatballs, mixed grain, niger seeds, suet pellets with mixed-in mealies plus the actual live mealies, etc., when I used to use them. The peanuts go in the hanging feeders. We've talked about mealies on 'ere before & I'm sure I would have said that it was the wonderful ornithologist David Tideswell (from Uttoxeter) who told me about their vicious little jaws & the birds clobbering them to break them & remove the danger of getting injured when eating them. The live mealies gave me the creeps when I first opened the first delivery's bag and heard the sort-of rustling noise they make, as I wasn't expecting any sort of noise, but you easily get used to it and they don't make any actual noise themselves, nor do they really move much. And the birds love them - a real juicy treat! Yum! Does Mrs D put the dried ones out dry or rehydrate them??? These are the bowls I use on the bird tables - they're ideal. I got mine from Nisbets, and they do mail-order: www.nisbets.co.uk/olympia-stoneware-oval-pie-bowls-161-x-116mm/c108
Blimey murph, the birds in your garden must feel like they're going to the Ritz every time they come for their food - luxurious treatment. Our's have to make do with old terracotta type "bowls" that fit under plant pots. Mrs D does a sort of half and half with some dry mealworms in one bowl, some rehydrated ones in another bowl and so on. Next door used to have live meal worms but didn't put them in any sort of container and just like you said, they scarpered pretty damned quick. So they just use the dried ones now.
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Post by potterinleeds on Mar 6, 2019 15:26:02 GMT
Saw and heard my first curlew of the season today in Wharfedale - couple of weeks later than last year, I think. Small groups of peewits about too.
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Post by felonious on Mar 10, 2019 14:48:33 GMT
Saw and heard my first curlew of the season today in Wharfedale - couple of weeks later than last year, I think. Small groups of peewits about too. About thirty or so were flying over Tittesworth on Thursday no doubt gathering in preparation for the nesting sites on the slopes by the Roaches. Wonderful, wonderful noise.
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Post by felonious on Mar 10, 2019 14:51:13 GMT
I tried to have a closer look at the ravens nesting over near to Cheddleton today but couldn't get near enough without disturbing them. An hour later one of them dropped down to the bird table at my friend's house so I got a close look until it realised it was being watched.
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Post by Northy on Mar 10, 2019 15:26:06 GMT
Not much out this morning apart from lots of seabirds inland, saw a buzzard scattering a lot of gulls in a field and lots of lapwings in murmuration mode
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Post by Northy on Mar 10, 2019 16:36:33 GMT
Just been out for a walk, a few fieldfare still about, stood under a tree and watched a song thrush singing away. Never seen the canal overflow so high before
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Post by felonious on Mar 22, 2019 19:09:49 GMT
I drove through Astbury village earlier this week. The view of from the church of the daffodils on the green is fantastic. I don't know who's in charge but take a bow because at Christmas the lights on the tree in the middle of said green were outstanding
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