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Post by chuffedstokie on Feb 20, 2021 8:36:02 GMT
My new commute since relocating is a colossal 3½ miles along the coast road. I don't think there's been a day yet that I haven't seen the kites circling in one particular spot. I'll make the effort one day when it's not raining and take the camera, they've got to be nesting near that location.
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Post by felonious on Feb 20, 2021 8:58:58 GMT
Me and Gnasher are having a tough time at the moment since some inconsiderate farmer has put over wintering sheep in our field I'd seen the turnip crop growing with dismay over the Autumn so I knew what was coming. Having been forced on to the bridal path and alternate fields the neighbouring farmer has decided that this is the moment to use his manure mountain however the only ray of light was last week when a dozen Lapwings turned up to sample the fresh manure during spraying The joys of country living
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Post by chuffedstokie on Feb 20, 2021 10:05:52 GMT
Me and Gnasher are having a tough time at the moment since some inconsiderate farmer has put over wintering sheep in our field I'd seen the turnip crop growing with dismay over the Autumn so I knew what was coming. Having been forced on to the bridal path and alternate fields the neighbouring farmer has decided that this is the moment to use his manure mountain however the only ray of light was last week when a dozen Lapwings turned up to sample the fresh manure during spraying The joys of country living Infamy, Infamy....etc. 😳🙂
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Post by murphthesurf on Feb 20, 2021 11:04:13 GMT
Me and Gnasher are having a tough time at the moment since some inconsiderate farmer has put over wintering sheep in our field I'd seen the turnip crop growing with dismay over the Autumn so I knew what was coming. Having been forced on to the bridal path and alternate fields the neighbouring farmer has decided that this is the moment to use his manure mountain however the only ray of light was last week when a dozen Lapwings turned up to sample the fresh manure during spraying The joys of country living "Splash it on all over......"
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Post by felonious on Feb 20, 2021 11:26:27 GMT
Me and Gnasher are having a tough time at the moment since some inconsiderate farmer has put over wintering sheep in our field I'd seen the turnip crop growing with dismay over the Autumn so I knew what was coming. Having been forced on to the bridal path and alternate fields the neighbouring farmer has decided that this is the moment to use his manure mountain however the only ray of light was last week when a dozen Lapwings turned up to sample the fresh manure during spraying The joys of country living "Splash it on all over......" Fortunately this one doesn't roll in fresh cow manure like one of his predecessors. He has been known, on the sly, to roll in what I can only presume to be fox shit on the odd occasion. I heard an expert talking about why dogs do this and he said if they found a pool of Channel 5 they'd also roll in it so it's not just the smelly stuff
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Post by felonious on Feb 28, 2021 5:44:59 GMT
Nice treat yesterday morning I was walking up the bridle path at 7:30 with the old dog trailing behind me and I spotted a hare grazing about a 100 metres ahead just on the other side of the fence. Managed to get with 20 metres before he heard me and shot gracefully across the field. Such a fine sight.
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Post by potterinleeds on Mar 18, 2021 17:25:12 GMT
Out running just after 6am this morning, and saw and heard three different pairs of curlews on the hill tops. I am sure that their numbers have increased locally over the past 2-3 years - we have always had a few, but there are definitely more about currently.
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Post by Northy on Mar 18, 2021 17:33:40 GMT
Me and Gnasher are having a tough time at the moment since some inconsiderate farmer has put over wintering sheep in our field I'd seen the turnip crop growing with dismay over the Autumn so I knew what was coming. Having been forced on to the bridal path and alternate fields the neighbouring farmer has decided that this is the moment to use his manure mountain however the only ray of light was last week when a dozen Lapwings turned up to sample the fresh manure during spraying The joys of country living I was watching a couple of weeks ago on an esrly Sunday morning run a flock of lapwings were murmurating with a predator flying around them. And yesterday they were behind the tractor ploughing his field on spud hill little leigh
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Post by felonious on Mar 18, 2021 20:32:12 GMT
Me and Gnasher are having a tough time at the moment since some inconsiderate farmer has put over wintering sheep in our field I'd seen the turnip crop growing with dismay over the Autumn so I knew what was coming. Having been forced on to the bridal path and alternate fields the neighbouring farmer has decided that this is the moment to use his manure mountain however the only ray of light was last week when a dozen Lapwings turned up to sample the fresh manure during spraying The joys of country living I was watching a couple of weeks ago on an esrly Sunday morning run a flock of lapwings were murmurating with a predator flying around them. And yesterday they were behind the tractor ploughing his field on spud hill little leigh I spotted half a dozen of them last week while out on a run. They were chasing crows off the field. Makes a change from the crows chasing buzzards I had a treat on Tuesday night as I pulled on to the drive I spotted an owl on the walnut tree. Managed to get out of the car and fairly close before it cleared off.
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Post by chuffedstokie on Mar 18, 2021 21:32:05 GMT
We've been furloughed today and tomorrow so as the weather was half decent I went walking up the hill above the estuary behind my place. It's great being above the buzzards when they're circling. I took the camera but unfortunately when the ground is the backdrop rather than the sky they tend to blend in, I'll try again tomorrow.
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Post by murphthesurf on Mar 19, 2021 21:59:46 GMT
Woo-hoo, woo-hoo, the hour changes next weekend & clocks will go forward. I always think the extra hour of light at night immediately cheers everyone up. This year more than ever I'm sure this and the promise of better weather soon on the way + the fantastic success with the Covid vaccine uptake and subsequent falling illness figures + the approaching release of lockdown will give the whole country a big boost.
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Post by felonious on Mar 20, 2021 6:38:20 GMT
Woo-hoo, woo-hoo, the hour changes next weekend & clocks will go forward. I always think the extra hour of light at night immediately cheers everyone up. This year more than ever I'm sure this and the promise of better weather soon on the way + the fantastic success with the Covid vaccine uptake and subsequent falling illness figures + the approaching release of lockdown will give the whole country a big boost. It's a great time of the year with the increasing daylight hours and next weekend means the start of evening running proper. It's lovely to see everything growing again although that means the weekly battle to get the lawns done amidst the raindrops I spotted a Robin nest building in the ivy last week.
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Post by felonious on Mar 21, 2021 7:06:37 GMT
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Post by felonious on Mar 22, 2021 8:10:01 GMT
Think I've seen it all now a dove dive bombing a buzzard sitting happily on a telegraph pole
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Post by felonious on Mar 22, 2021 15:50:16 GMT
Just spotted a Ladybird. It well and truly feels like Spring out there.
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Post by felonious on Mar 25, 2021 14:20:39 GMT
Just followed a weasel out hunting rabbits for about 100 yards up a bridal path. Not sure whether it dived down a rabbit hole after a rabbit or whether it had become aware of my presence. Love their movement.
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Post by chuffedstokie on Mar 25, 2021 15:53:38 GMT
First ladybird here at the seaside this morning!. There HAS to be an old wives tale about that somewhere. 🤔
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Post by felonious on Mar 25, 2021 20:35:08 GMT
First ladybird here at the seaside this morning!. There HAS to be an old wives tale about that somewhere. 🤔 It's lovely being on the cusp of some good weather and a bit of daylight. Starts with the Spring flowers and then the odd glimpse of a ladybird and as I turned into the drive today a butterfly came flying down past me.
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Post by murphthesurf on Mar 25, 2021 22:09:04 GMT
First ladybird here at the seaside this morning!. There HAS to be an old wives tale about that somewhere. 🤔 It's lovely being on the cusp of some good weather and a bit of daylight. Starts with the Spring flowers and then the odd glimpse of a ladybird and as I turned into the drive today a butterfly came flying down past me. Have you got any Buddleias in your garden, Fel? Simplicity itself to grow - just cut them down to half their height around mid-April to stop them getting too tall & straggly. Butterflies love them. 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2021 6:38:11 GMT
We grow as many different plants that provide nectar as possible to encourage butterflies and insects into our garden - buddleias ( we've got 2, 1 purple and 1 white), verbena bonariensis, lavendar, Bowles Mauve (purple perennial wallflower), asters, sedum spectabile (now called hylotelephium for some unknown reason), cosmos, and also some herbs, the best of which is marjoram. We've planted a "nectar bar" in part of our garden and most summers it's inundated with butterflies and other beneficial creepy crawlies. I was scraping some weeds out of our garden path yesterday and came across a ladybird which appeared to be sunning itself in the afternoon sunshine. Looking forward to the extra hour from Sunday, we really need to make the most of the extra light as it only seems a short time till the longest day in June and then it's all downhill to the dark days of winter again !
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Post by chuffedstokie on Mar 26, 2021 7:13:59 GMT
It's lovely being on the cusp of some good weather and a bit of daylight. Starts with the Spring flowers and then the odd glimpse of a ladybird and as I turned into the drive today a butterfly came flying down past me. Have you got any Buddleias in your garden, Fel? Simplicity itself to grow - just cut them down to half their height around mid-April to stop them getting too tall & straggly. Butterflies love them. 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 When the patch of ground around the old primary school (which was demolished) was cleared up to build my new place murph a small jungle of Buddleia was cut back. It's all growing again now so hopefully I'll get the accompanying butterflies to compliment the woodpecker and other associated wildlife that has turned up.🙂👍
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Post by felonious on Mar 26, 2021 7:47:03 GMT
It's lovely being on the cusp of some good weather and a bit of daylight. Starts with the Spring flowers and then the odd glimpse of a ladybird and as I turned into the drive today a butterfly came flying down past me. Have you got any Buddleias in your garden, Fel? Simplicity itself to grow - just cut them down to half their height around mid-April to stop them getting too tall & straggly. Butterflies love them. 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 Certainly have Murph it's huge. I took some phots at end of last year when it was absolutely awash with butterflies
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Post by Northy on Apr 4, 2021 14:26:13 GMT
Had a walk around tatton park yesterday, estimated 800-1000 migrating sand martins flying over the main lake, and other people reported similar over Budworth mere as well.
Walked down the river weaver today, heard a sedge warbler and a couple of reed warblers, last weeks warm southerly's must have given them a push along, they are in for a mighty shock tomorrow !
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Post by murphthesurf on Apr 4, 2021 22:09:45 GMT
Have you got any Buddleias in your garden, Fel? Simplicity itself to grow - just cut them down to half their height around mid-April to stop them getting too tall & straggly. Butterflies love them. 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 When the patch of ground around the old primary school (which was demolished) was cleared up to build my new place murph a small jungle of Buddleia was cut back. It's all growing again now so hopefully I'll get the accompanying butterflies to compliment the woodpecker and other associated wildlife that has turned up.🙂👍 If I were you, Chuff, around the middle of this month I'd pick out two or three of the Buddleias and clip them to about half-height --- then you will be able to monitor them over the summer and see if they get less straggly than the ones you haven't pruned - theoretically they should do, which means there'll be more flowers for the insects (and you!) to enjoy. If it works, you'll be able to clip them all next year and be justified in feeling very proud of yourself. Their scent is gorgeous. The ones in my garden love to self-seed. As they're on common ground, if anybody tries to question you about why you're pruning them, say you've got permission from Head Office! I'd also get a packet of 'Pot Marjoram' seeds, rough a few bits of the patch of ground up a bit and sprinkle the seeds around - they should grow easily and then self-seed for years, and in summer will be covered in masses of little flowers which the little fliers of all sorts will love.
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Post by murphthesurf on Apr 4, 2021 22:18:12 GMT
Have you got any Buddleias in your garden, Fel? Simplicity itself to grow - just cut them down to half their height around mid-April to stop them getting too tall & straggly. Butterflies love them. 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 ❤ 🦋 Certainly have Murph it's huge. I took some phots at end of last year when it was absolutely awash with butterflies Good man, Fel. Two or three years ago I took a few pics of a buddleia - not a terribly big one, only about 4' high x 3' wide - in our garden b/c I couldn't believe how many butterflies were on it at one time - there must have been 20, all Peacock butterflies, and they all kept fluttering round and changing places with each other on the plant. Fascinating & a real thrill to see.
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Post by harryburrows on Apr 5, 2021 4:31:50 GMT
"Splash it on all over......" Fortunately this one doesn't roll in fresh cow manure like one of his predecessors. He has been known, on the sly, to roll in what I can only presume to be fox shit on the odd occasion. I heard an expert talking about why dogs do this and he said if they found a pool of Channel 5 they'd also roll in it so it's not just the smelly stuff When I lived in a national trust area the neighbours would advise the only way to keep deer out of your garden was to get lion manure from nearby Whipsnade zoo to put on the roses
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Post by heworksardtho on Apr 5, 2021 6:24:14 GMT
Be checking the mole traps this morning
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Post by felonious on Apr 9, 2021 18:04:01 GMT
I had a very pleasant walk around Tittesworth this afternoon the first for several months because of these bloody lockdown and tiers. So I was sitting afterwards having a mug of tea and there it appeared directly overhead, the first Swallow of the year on it's tod Last night's run was along the Trent path into Stoke and the White Egrets are back. I'd just got over the small bridge and one was flying directly overhead then a kilometre further on one was just landing in the river. Beautiful birds.
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Post by Northy on Apr 9, 2021 18:08:51 GMT
Was just going to post, seen swallows and maybe house Martins (a bit high to confirm) flying around the last few days
All the sand martins have moved on.
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Post by felonious on Apr 9, 2021 18:13:48 GMT
Was just going to post, seen swallows and maybe house Martins (a bit high to confirm) flying around the last few days All the sand martins have moved on. Meant to ask are they heading for the banks of the Dee?
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