Snowdrops and Raindrops

Snowdrops and Raindrops

Carsington and Hopton Hall

9th February 2019

 

 

Despite my best efforts to undermine the carefully laid plans of Helen J we managed to assemble at the Sheepwash car park at Carsington at 9.30am.

We were missing Pam who chose a days supply work over a rainy day with her chums! Julia was having fun in France and Bob and Betty were not allowed to join us today.

 

The brave and hardy few searching for the elusive goldcrest

 

The weather was definitely not on our side and we soon took refuge in the bird hide with our flasks

 

Despite the grim outlook there were quite a few birds to be spotted although only the very hardy were prepared to open the windows to get a clear view. The pretty little reed buntings were a delight and have to be bird of the day - closely followed by the flock of lapwings apparently the collective name for them is a deceit of lapwings but surely they deserve better!

 

The second hide we visited was a bit like being in a ship - there were waves on the reservoir but thankfully the tide was out so no danger of seasickness.

 

Back out into the elements and the search for the goldcrest continued - a greenpost was about as close as we got to spotting one even though we were on our best bird spotting behaviour  - well most of the time.

 

Feeling somewhat wet and bedraggled we made our way back to the car park and headed off to Hopton Hall to rendezvous with Charlotte. We were greeted by some very jolly chaps who were probably amazed to have so many customers on such a grim day. Lynn had to curb her large equipment envy and we  dragged her away from the temptations of the very big shed and headed to the sanctuary of the café for coffee and warmth. Charlotte arrived to join us trying very hard to hide her relief at having missed the wet bird hunt.

 

Revived by coffee we set off...

 

Always on the look out for a good angle

 

The rain stopped - temporarily!

 

The stars of the show

 

 

 

Thankfully they were animal graves!

 

Well, well, well - how many retired teachers does it take to work out how deep a well is - the answer seemed to be something between not as deep as Alison is tall and 3000 feet - perhaps a more scientific approach is needed than dropping a stone and counting!

 

The rose garden will be lovely come the summer but we used our imaginations and admired the lovely wall.

 

We were very impressed with the moss eyelash extensions.....

 

........and the moss hair extensions

 

By this point we couldn't have been much better if we had thrown ourselves in the lake!

 

If only all the birds we spotted were as well behaved as this one.

 

Not the sort of gardening equipment that Lynn lusts after.

 

Finally back to the café for lunch and we were sent to sit in the 'bar' in case we were too rowdy for the handful of other brave souls having a civilised lunch - we did mange to terrify a very nice young man who came to chat with Charlotte though and we did finally manage to dry out. The soup was jolly good and look out for the two soups soup bowl idea on Dragons Den - the perfect solution to soup envy!

 

A bit of history

 

A jolly good warning sign

 

Having all warmed up the idea of heading off to look for more birds seemed like a good idea until we got outside and put our sooty waterproofs back on so we decided to call it a day and despite the awful weather it had been a very good one.

 

Bird List for today

 

Considering the weather, it was a good haul today of 33.  New for this year are marked *.  Bird of the day has to be the reed bunting.  Flock of the day is the lapwing. Still at 98 for our running total since records began.

 

black headed gull

blackbird

blue tit

canada goose*

chaffinch

common gull*

coot

cormorant

crow

gadwall*

great crested grebe*

great tit

great black-backed gull*

great spotted woodpecker*

jackdaw

jay

lapwing*

lesser black backed gull*

little grebe*

long tailed tit*

mallard

mute swan*

pheasant*

pied wagtail*

redshank*

reed bunting*

robin

teal*

treecreeper*

tufted duck

wigeon*

willow tit*

wood pigeon

 

And there he is!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

The ABC starterpack for 2019

 

Allestree, Birds and Croots

or

Action, Babes, Camera!

 

Friday 11th January 2019

 

A cool, watery sun greeted Jo, Maggie, Julia and the Helens in the round car park at Allestree Nature Reserve.   Over a flask of coffee, mini-stollen  and a brief chat about Christmas presents already opened, wearing, eaten or drinking from, we heard a familiar tweet from up on high. Blue tits are welcome to be first on our 2019 bird list.  But, will we add to our rolling bird count and come closer to our target of the magical one hundred?

 

Shadows prove the sun is out. 

 

We think about Pam skiing in Pamporovo and wonder if Alison is skiing in the Ali-pines. We talk about setting up a WhatsApp group which might be useful in the future when the right word won't come to mind, but a picture or emoji might say it all. It might also help those who don't read their emails properly!

 

Bob and Betty have clearly escaped!

 

We plough on up the hill, waiting patiently for the golfers to do their bit before crossing the green, stop to catch our breath and admire the rather extensive views. The golfers may look small but...

 

.. we didn't wish to be their target for the day!

 

And looking the other way, we spend a bit of time discussing the brick chimney in the far distance and all agreed with Helen M that it must be another...

 

Strutt creation at Milford.

 

Although this may start to sound like an A.A. Milne story, we continue into Big Wood, where, yet again, Helen M's close observation correctly identifies presence of a quarry: Sand Quarry, a Regionally Important Geological Site. In fact, there is a lot of very interesting information on the 'inderby' page about the long-term management of Allestree Nature Park, including lots on flora and fauna, but at over 150 pages long, is a bit much for the blog. Some of us start to see a few more birds, including a cheeky robin, a pair of jays and five magpies...

 

Five for silver.

 

Walking up and down quarry paths is tiring work and worthy of a sit-down ...

 

and a treat...

 

Betty: Quick Bob, swap places and we might get another treat!

 

A gentle downhill walk through mixed trees brings us to a rather impressive tree.  It is time to see if we can find a bird or two.  This pair of ring-necked parakeets capture everyone's attention and are possibly the only birds everyone sees at the same time! Fairly new incomers to the park, whilst looking exotic and colourful, it probably won't be long before there are far more....

 

This old woodpecker hole in the tree looks perfect for a nest.

 

We drift down to the pond, where, courtesy of other dogs and children, we do a quick count and manage a pair of overwintering beauties...

 

Goosander

 

And a pair of regulars

 

Tufted duck

 

Just as we are heading for the car park, a dog-walker, with whom we had chatted whilst talking about chimneys, offers to take a photograph.  Never missing an opportunity for a bit of a pose, we line up.  When she starts to remove all the orange cones and bits of debris, it becomes pretty clear that she knows what she is doing.... 

 

A favour is then asked and without thinking what this might be, we agree. Laura from AF1 Photography then lines us up, repositions us and  snaps away.

 

Result!

 

We finish off our walk, quite excited by the prospect of appearing in Laura's display window in Allestree.  But, what are we promoting?  A wedding,? A family portrait? Or, are we ... an Event!

 

We turn up at Croots, where Lynn has been waiting quite patiently for us.  Once six-soups-a-slurping have been downed, we cover a range of topics.  Amongst these, we do talk..

 

well, Lynn, mostly!!..

 

We talk about seeing, but make no actual plans to see Jane, where apart from seeing Jane, we would have a wonderful opportunity to develop our bird skills and may even see a manx shearwater (and not pretend this time!). We chat about the wonders of cauliflower, soup made from Christmas leftovers and marmite vs brussel sprouts, but not together!  The usual other topics arise: being guardians of family heirlooms (posh for 'stuff', and 'no' Alison, she hasn't!) and Bubbles' next adventures where she's not going to be a jet-setter for all of them!

 

And so, we come to the end of a wonderful day and count up our birds. 

 

black-headed gull

blackbird

blue tit

coot

cormorant

crow

dunnock

goldfinch

goosander

great tit

grey heron

jackdaw

jay

kingfisher (but only by Jo... hmm, was she excited?)

magpie

mallard

moorhen

ring-necked parakeet (new for the record!) Bird of the day.

robin

tufted duck

woodpigeon

wren

 

22 for the day, which is good considering all the talking we were doing.  If only Pam had been with us, we could have added Raven to the list. Courtesy of the ring-necked parakeet we are now on 98 for our running total. We have plenty of birds we wish to see make the first 100 and hope that Bittern and Goldcrest may be there.  But which ones make it,is anyone's guess!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bubbles in the USA (mark 2)

Falls, ponds and trees

 

A Truly Tree-delicious Tansley

14th December 2018

 

We were off to a good start with Maggie, Alison, Jo and the Helens all meeting up according to Jo's very precise timetable of activities.  A good wintry sunshiney day ordered by yours truly. Plus, Betty and Bob promised their very best behaviour too.  Pam would arrive later but Charlotte and Julia were lighting up London, so a bit too far to come.

 

Proof of progress.

 

Clearly, today was going to be...

..a barrel load of fun.

 

The last time the babes had attempted this trip, it were raining a fair bit, with rumours of lashings of water tumbling down the street and from above, drenching the wenches.  So much so, that Lynn (with an alleged soggy bottom) declared an about turn and headed back to the pub.  She made sure this was not going to happen again, so joined us later in the dry. This was as far as some babes got last time.

 

Maggie does a rain-check and declares we can continue.

 

We tootled along with wonderful views of the long and winding road through Tansley.

 

Bob is allowed to take the lead

 

 

Betty: Fancy a luxury holiday, Bob?

Bob:  Nah.  Julia's offered to take us in!

 

We found a path which led us into the woods towards the waterfall.  To liven up our walk we had a little practice of how to watch kiwis in the dark, which involved a lot of very precise military style manoeuvres.  Needless to say, we didn't see any. Perhaps it was because dogs aren't allowed in kiwi areas. We did however see a couple of alpaca which are allowed to live in kiwi land.

 

Versatile alpaca, available for nativities.  Speciality: doubling up as sheep or camel.

 

You've been framed!

 

Babes a bit lost in the wood

 

About turn... it's this way!

 

Whilst trying to get back to the proper path, we try a bit of cloud spotting

 

Success!

 

And we eventually find a bit of a waterfall, but it isn't the right bit. 

 

Good for a tree-creeper though.

 

We do another about turn and end up going in the right direction. 

 

Jo cleaning up the poster.

 

Middle pond reflections

 

Lower pond reflection.

 

And finally, we arrive at exactly the right place, a little further down the way than originally thought. It is a beautiful waterfall and definitely worth the wait.

 

 

 

 

But perhaps it is a  bit too much for one person...

 

Ahhh.. not another one!

 

The ruins of the old, now not working multi-purpose mills: lead smelting, bleaching, saw mills,   of Lumsdale are still quite impressive. A pity the ground is still polluted with little growing on it.  History suggests we should learn from this, but.....

 

 

 

Two ruins for the price of one!

 

We can't linger.  Gotta meet Lynn.  But we do stop to admire the local countryside.  There is a bit of a bark off with a field of sheep.  And despite some very sturdy stares, Betty succeeded in frightening the whole flock away.

 

Up the Rams!

 

We make it in time to the Gate Inn, espying Lynn with her coffee and Pam joins us just intime for lunch.  There is quite a lot of catch up to be had and a lot of advice given.  Stop storing and get rid of stuff!  Just incase you get peckish later, take a doggy box-bag when travelling in the States and NZ. If you've done three morning paper rounds on a round of toast, you are entitled to lunch.  Cook all things at 200 degrees c.  When in Marrakech, check out Yves St Laurent's garden and clothing department... much better than the souks! 

 

Maggie with a man on her head!

 

Further treats awaited us, in of all places the car park!

 

Yep.. seasonal exchanges.  Anyone left out?

 

In convoy, we then tootled down the road to the local church for our next surprise.  A delightful collection of locally decorated Christmas trees.

 

We all agreed with Alison's favourite.

 

Further treats were instore at the local Garden Centre for most babes, but no photos to prove it. The Helens drove off down the somewhat busy A38 in a blaze of a blindingly good setting sun. I passed you Helen, did you see me?

 

A small bird list of 12 for the day, but a rather festive count:

 

Blackbird

Coal tit (bird of the day)

Great tit

Crow

Magpie

Mallard

Mistle thrush

Sparrow

Starling

Tree creeper

Wood pigeon

Wren

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bubbles goes cruising (again) again!