Final Festive Fling

 

Carsington Christmas

18th September 2016

Sorry Pam - we are all much too

busy eating to look at the camera!

  

10am saw us gathered at Carsington for a final fling before Christmas making it a December double - Pam could obviously smell the bacon from Wirksworth and arrived in time to join us and take on the role of official photographer. Alison is off skiing and sadly Lynn couldn't join us but she is very much in our thoughts, hopefully we will all be able to get together in January.

 

All set for a quick stint of birding - someone is sporting full twitching gear!

 

After testing our brains with a game of spot and name the ex-student and fuelled by our full English breakfasts and lashings of tea and coffee we donned our boots and binoculars and set off to see what we could spot.

 

Excitement is building as we approach

90 feathered friends!

 

It's over there, no it's over there!

 

Pam discovered that the main reason that she was getting her birds in a muddle was due to incorrect binocular operation, so a quick tutorial from Helen J soon had her spotting like a pro.

 

Looking Ruff!

 

Make sure you spell it correctly Jo!

 

We headed to the hide where we joined the professionals and were able to warm up a bit. Maggie used her charms on the twitches but it turned out that we had spotted more than them - even with one member of our group looking through the wrong end of her binoculars!(I won't make any mention of tit of the year here!)

We all fell in love with the willow tits which gave us a  lovely performance flitting between the bushes and the bird table.

 

Drongo?? - if the cap fits.......

 

Lovely Lapwings

 

So here is the list:

barnacle geese

black headed gull

blackbird

blue tit

bullfinch

bullfinch

buzzard

canada goose

chaffinch

chiffchaff

coal tit

collared dove

common gull

common tern

coot

cormorant

crow

dipper

dunlin*

dunnock

egyptian geese

fieldfare

gadwall

golden-eye

goldfinch

goosander

great crested grebe

great northern diver*

great tit

greater black backed gull*

greater spotted woodpecker

greenfinch

grey heron

grey wagtail

greylag geese

hawfinch*

herring gull

house martin

house sparrow

jackdaw

jay

kestrel

kingfisher*

lapwing

little egret

little grebe

long tailed tit

magpie

mallard

mandarin duck*

mistle thrush*

moorhen

mute swan

nuthatch

oystercatcher

pheasant

pied flycatcher*

pied wagtail

pintail

pochard

raven

red crested pochard

redshank

redstart

redwing

reed bunting

robin

rook

ruff*

shelduck

shoveler

siskin*

snipe*

song thrush

sparrowhawk*

starling

swallow

swift*

tawny owl

teal

tree sparrow

treecreeper*

tufted duck

whitethroat

whooper swan

wigeon

willow tit*

woodpigeon

wren

yellow legged gull

 

90 birds running total (target was 85!)

This year 65, including 15 new*

Italics = birds recorded 2014 and 2015 but not 2016

Birds of the year : Great Northern Diver and Hawfinch

Tit of the year: Willow tit

 

 



December dodgems

5th December 2016

Splashing about in Stretton

 

 

Despite attempts at a full babe meet for a well-earned spa day, we had to blow kisses and hugs to Helen M and Lynn, but we still ended up with a good turn out.

 

Events at Stretton Manor made for an interesting day.  Charlotte’s attempts at early morning mud surfing did not go to plan and underlines her driving directions about why we really shouldn’t use the lane ‘not for nervous drivers’.  Why the wealthiest milkman in the west had to pull into the exact spot where her land rover halted is a once-in-a-30 year mystery. Damaged pockets, but thankfully no one hurt … not at this end of the day, anyway.

Having taken the safe route,  Alison, Maggie and Helen J were chilled out ready for a relaxing day.  Whilst warming up over coffee we soon got down to important things such as:

Induckting our spa babe…

 

before turning our thoughts to problematic neighbours: Alison’s neighbourly cow showing signs of bullish behaviour, possible frosting over of relations with (aforesaid) man at top o’hill and Wayne and Waynetta’s ability to swear in iambic pentameter. With conversations over wedding fights, topless gardeners and nightclub kittens, we soon retired ‘next door’ for a little less steaminess.

 

Unwrapping a real present

 

Whilst Charlotte set off to sort out lunch, the rest of us slipped into

something more comfortable

 

Babes in de tub…

 

..where we floated about discussing the global economy. Fact: the new £5 note is not acceptable to banks after it has been through the tumble dryer. We also discussed a lot of other important world issues, such as how to get free flights to Madiera, behaviour on naturist beaches and the best home computer systems, but that bit didn’t take long to decide that we really didn’t know what we were talking about.  An hour and a half later, sporting our new eau-de-chlorine..

 

Wrinkly babes, all bubbled out

 

A good cue for Jo and Pam to arrive.

 

 

Obviously lunch time….

 

The tree is up, random generator presents given and Danish breakfast for all:  Christmas is reinstated at Gell.  No more bah, humbug! However, this isn’t enough to entice those embracing the third age….but freebie cookery days, plus a free pasta meal and a London show might have done the trick once upon a time.

 

After a luscious lunch of vegetable soup, spicy vegetable rolls and pates, (thank you Charlotte) it was time to inspect the estate.

 

Hurry up.. it’s playtime.

 

Leaving the warmth behind

 

Waggy teacher fingers work… well, on one dog anyway

 

 

Ready, steady, go…..Maggie.. don’t just stand there… go!

 

Enjoying the cooler December air, we learned a little bit about land clearance (get Ian to do it) environmental protections and inspections, deer problems and the desire to have as much energy as the dogs! And, if one goes down to the woods today, one may discover squishy mud, a stream and Charlotte’s second home

 

 

Or, Pam’s perfect pulley-van..

 

 

Aww.. love is on the log….

 

We rounded off a superb day with yet more treats.... tea and rum-drenched mince pies.  It was lovely to see Ian, but his Santa audition did not go as well as planned and he has discovered that it is a basic requirement to go down the chimney; not fall off the roof.. perhaps he needs to take a little advice from these fellas

 

The wise ones looking on… ho! Ho! Ho!

 

So with a bit of present exchanging, we all thanked Charlotte for a super day and wished her a rather large G&T on her train journey to London.