January 2017

Bubbles goes to Sri Lanka

Bubbles, the babes’ new mascot, is very excited about the task set: to have proof that she has been travelling, by having an iconic photo taken in each country visited.  First destination, Sri Lanka.  Let’s see what Bubbles gets up to.

 

Bubbles has never been on holiday before, but knows that she needs to be prepared come rain or shine. She has also heard that some parts of Sri Lanka are ‘dry’ so brings along a little something to ...

…Whet the appetite.

 

Bubbles’ first few days are unexpectedly rainy and warm but she welcomes bit of cloud-bathing on Jungle Beach

Awkward pose.. ants around

So, whilst waiting for the sun to properly come out, Bubbles is surprised to meet her all-time favourite hero..

"it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring”

 

(The quote most likely to be said by Bubbles’ photographer).

 

Although ‘some like it hot’ Bubbles  prefers the dappled shade of the garden

Feeling a little peckish, Bubbles is keen to try all the local delicacies:

Hmm.. perhaps the rice needs cooking first...

maybe perhaps the coconuts are a bit high up….

So, she settles for something more her size

Getting fruity with rambuttan

 Fully nourished, Bubbles discovers that the wildlife might be a bit scarey

Evidence that pythons might be lurking around

So Bubbles takes refuge but has a  close encounter with a lizard..

Bubbles' hat hiding..

Feeling a little braver, Bubbles decides that a bit of bird-spotting is quite good fun

Friendly guinea-fowl

and discovers a new species…

The Sri Lankan Swimming Pool Heron

This gives Bubbles a new idea and she finds her own sized tub

Trying out the lotus position

It is lucky that Bubbles is practising her swimming and doesn’t see the

Snake in the grass

Although Bubbles has done many things, she hasn’t yet achieved the goal set: to be photographed with an iconic image in the visited country.   And what better image, than that of an orphaned baby elephant or two…

Or three.. or….

 

Bubbles has had a lovely time, and although the photographer’s husband has disowned her, Bubbles is looking forward to her next venture .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brierley Birds and Butties

10th January 2017

Brierley Forest Park

 

The day dawned grey and uninspiring but undaunted three babes, two Helens and Alison, and one excited dog, met at Brierley Forest Park for the first gathering of the New Year. We had hoped for an early showing from Pam but with no sign of her we set off for a short exploratory walk.

 

There's one up there somewhere

 

Having convinced Helen J that we weren't going to get savaged by Rottweiler's or Bull Terriers or their owners we walked up to Hardwick view, with some bird spotting on the way.

The water birds were a little but disappointing but Betty didn't seem to mind.

 

Betty choosing her lunch

 

Bess certainly chose a good spot to build her house...

 

....she would probably have knocked this down too and redeveloped the land!

 

 No Betty, I am not wading across, you will have to come back the way you went!

 

Back at the Visitor Centre we settled down with a nice cup of tea (having decided that the coffee might not be of our preferred quality) ready for the arrival of Lynn and hopefully Pam.

 

Who's for a cup of oxo?

First outing for our new mascot - next stop Sri Lanka

 

Pam and Lynn arrived for lunch and we were soon tucking into variations of egg and bacon butties and beans on toast.

We were able to establish that most of us were not able to 'fold ourselves calm' and are going to need a lot more practice in the ancient art of origami - Alison proved her expertise with a quick demonstration. We all sent out love to Maggie.

 

Another bargain lunch

 

After lunch we set off for a walk, stopping first to spare a thought for the poor old miners who would no doubt be amazed at what their old workplace has become. Alison and Lynn also added their tales of their days down the pit.

 

 

Don't fancy yours much Helen J!

 

We followed the path round the park and the golf course admiring a bit of hedge laying along the way and trying to avoid the worst of the mud apart from Betty who was determined to make the most of it! and adding to the bird list.

 

 We were all on the look out for this missing much loved family pet turkey, so sad to think that it went missing around Christmas time - the children must have been heartbroken - let us just hope that it has been found and safely returned to its home in Norfolk.

 

Finally we headed back to the visitor centre for another cup of tea and a discussion about the benefits of owning a pet - especially a rescue dog! 

 

Lynn always knows the way back for a nice cuppa

 

If only they were all so easy to spot

 

Bird list for the day:

black headed gull
blackbird
blue tit
bullfinch
coot

crow
goldfinch
great tit
grey heron
kestrel
long tailed tit
magpie
mallard
moorhen
pied wagtail
robin
tree sparrow
wood pigeon

wren
19 birds, all firsts of the year!

Long tailed tit is tit of the day. Bullfinch, bird of the day.

 

Amazing  find in a sheltered spot - could  be in for a shock soon though

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.