Marvellous March

 Hardwick

 23.03.15

 

 

With both Helens called away on family duties and Maggie preoccupied, three intrepid Babes met at Hardwick Hall on a chilly, cloudy morning.

 

The sweetly huddling lambs we passed on the meandering way to the car park were too cold even to contemplate gambolling!

 

However the early frost ensured that the bird and squirrel tables outside visitor reception were seething with acrobatic tits – great, coal and blue – and, as Jo went to fetch the binoculars she’d left in the car, a lesser spotted woodpecker, bold as you like, swooped in too. The robins, nuthatch, chaffinches and hedge sparrows cleared off temporarily, giving way. The friendly volunteer mentioned that raven and red kite had recently been spotted on the estate – Lynn became very excited! Sadly the woodpecker did not show himself when Jo and Pam reappeared, so we settled for delicious preparatory coffee and sharing photos of recent events.

 

 

 

 

Fortified, we ambled towards the magnificent Hall, agreeing that Bess must’ve been quite a girl! But we eschewed the built environment and headed down the very steep hill.

 

 We picked up speed as Jo bravely guarded us past some fierce-looking rare breed cows, and we approached the ponds. Synchronised Canada Geese performed balletically – although with their honking it was more like comic opera – and Pam attempted to capture the impressive sight in moving pictures.

 

 

 

The largest pond – why isn’t it a “lake”? – yielded great crested grebes, tufted duck, mallards and beautiful brown ducks with grey bills whose name none of us could remember, thereby identifying a further training opportunity for Helen J. We walked through a scrubby marshy area obviously in the process of being cleared, spotting goldfinches, and a pair of long-tailed tits ambitiously attempting to mate on a precarious branch. We hurried on, discreetly averting our eyes, one of us, can’t remember who, confessing that Springtime does have a rather unsettling effect ----

 

 

We had to make good time back up that same hill for Jo to leave for work, but managed to find the breath to catch up with news, spot song thrush and blackbird, appreciate the little buildings, nicely kept and well-used. Pam assured us this kind of walking (steeply uphill) is far easier with Nordic poles, and we resolved to test this at the earliest opportunity – more training necessary. It warmed us up tho’!

 

We acknowledged our needs in several areas today! We were definitely noisier than we would have been with HJ’s calming influence. Together Pam and Lynn cobbled together words and pictures, hoping that Helen M will sort the blog. Jo did the bird list – we were encouraged at the final count but we needed confirmation of identification from Helen J. And tricky terrain will be easier to negotiate for those with poles to wield.

 

 

Our timekeeping, however, was exemplary! At midday, Jo departed for work, Pam and Lynn had lunch together, the woodpecker did not reappear, and we hadn’t seen red kite or raven (although we got quite excited about what was probably a carrion crow). Pam finally headed off towards the Leabrooks Gallery to check out Helen’s exhibit, and Lynn went back to resume domestic duties.

 

 

Bird List:

Robin

pied Wagtail
Jay
Magpie
Buzzard
great tit

 chaffinch

 blue tit

 nuthatch

  canada geese

 Mallards
Thrush
Coots
wood pigeon

 dunnock

 teal

 Wren
great crested grebes

 swans

 goosander

 tufted ducks

 moorhen

 gold finch

 blackbird

 long tailed tit

 coal tit

 great spotted woodpecker

 Bird of the day – Great Spotted Woodpecker – but we only have Lynn’s word for that---------

 

 

February Foray

 ATTENBOROUGH ANTICS - THE RETURN

February 23rd 2015

 

 

This months outing sees the Babes returning to Attenborough - our birding skills are going to be tested to see if we have made the required levels of progress over the year. Unfortunately Maggie hasn't been able to join us this time so she will have to be tested next time.

Despite the dire weather forecast the outlook was quite good when we gathered at the visitor centre for coffee. We had plenty of time for a good gossip whilst we waited for Pam to arrive - the folly of following the satnav and ignoring the road signs!

 

These ones come to meet us!

 

Egyptian Goose - enjoying the sun 

 

 

These ones were  bit harder to spot!
 

Lynn has built in binocular vision

no artificial aids for her!

 

The wind was extremely cold so we were very grateful for the shelter of the hides, thankfully there was nothing untoward happening in them just other mad birders. The oystercatchers were a highlight although I think they were probably a little bit disappointed by the lack of oysters.

 

Spot the Goldeneye

 

Now you see it.......

Now you don't!

 

Such a pro!

 

Jo had to leave us at this point to go to work - I think she probably knew what the weather had in store for us later. We walked on along the river, still in he sunshine and thankfully out of the worst of the wind.

 



 Come on girls - time for lunch!

 

We headed back to the café at the visitor centre for lunch - it was extremely busy - why aren't all these people at work? But we finally got served and found a sheltered spot on the veranda outside to sit. The food was very good - broccoli soup was very tasty - and warming!

And if we weren't feeling chilly enough Helen J taunted us with tales of Tobago!

 

Scarlet Ibis - a very rare site at Attenborough

 

After lunch we gathered in the visitor centre to plan the afternoon activity but the weather took a very dramatic turn with rain, snow, sleet and hail blowing in.

The weather!

 

It was decided that coffee and cake was called for as none of us intended venturing outside - even Helen J wasn't tempted by talk of the elusive bittern!

 

The cake!

 

Bird  List for the day:

 

Black-headed gull

Blue tit

Buzzard*

Canada geese*

Chaffinch

Cormorant (‘spotting’ the one in full breeding plumage; also renamed a ‘Liver bird’ and confusing all non-GBs in the hide!!)

Crow*

Dunnock

Egyptian goose (escapee)

Feral pigeon

Great crested grebe (flirting a bit)

Great tit

Grey heron

Goldeneye (duck of the day; a dipping and a diving and being somewhat elusive )

Goosander*

House sparrow

Little grebe*

Long tailed tit*

Magpie

Mallard (scrapping quite a lot)

Moorhen*

Mute swan

Oystercatcher* (noisy bird of the day)

Pied wagtail

Red crested Pochard (escapee)

Robin

Shoveler*

Teal

Tufted ducks

Whooper swan (GB first)

Wood pigeon

Wren*

(32 birds in total for the day (including a feral pigeon which doesn’t appear on our spreadsheet)

45 for the year and it is only February!

Those marked * are new this year. 

 

This one gets my vote for duck of the decade!

 

All in all a lovely day and we all seem to be achieving our targets!  

 

 

 

 

Carsington Carry On

15^th  January 2015

January Japes in Maggie’s kitchen and Carsington

WHAT A ‘CARRY-ON’ AT CARSINGTON

When shall we three meet again

In snowstorm, hailstones or in rain?

When the Nordic walking’s conquered

And the birdies are all numbered.

 

Oh no! Our resident blogger is all blogged out and has to leave it to an amateur!  No Helen M!  Also, sadly Jo and Lynn are otherwise occupied.  So, the true tale of today is left up to Maggie, Pam and Helen J.

With concerns about wintry weather, the three ‘not-so-old’ biddies met at Maggie’s for brunch.  Mouth-watering toasted cheesy bread with garlicky hummous and seeded bread with marmalade all washed down with lashings of coffee, tea and home squished red-berry smoothie.  De-lish!

 A quick catch –up on some particularly interesting news (it’s all a go-go-go), before the serious settling down to birding through the kitchen window.  We kick-started our annual bird list with the following:   

Birds at breakfast in Maggie’s Garden

Blackbird (male, female and young impersonating a thrush)

(one demented head-banging) blue tit

chaffinch

collared dove

dunnock

(more than a pair of) great tits

goldfinch

greater spotted woodpecker(not spotted by M and P.. too busy chatting!)

jackdaw

robin

sparrow

wood pigeon

plus one grey squirrel

 

A stunning start.

 

 

‘through the kitchen window’

 Pam desperately wanted to try out one of her birthday presents, so started pole-dancing around the kitchen table.

 

Bag-of-the-year!

 So, with the sun shining, we negotiated the pop-up-roadworks from outside Maggie’s drive and headed up to Carsington. 

Plan A went into action.  Helen J and Pam got ready for Pam’s first proper lesson with her Nordic walking poles.  Getting them on the correct hand being the first obstacle.
                            

L for the left hand, R for the right.

 

And, she’s ready

 

With expert tuition from Helen J, and Maggie following behind with great amusement, Pam managed one circuit of the carpark before we got battered  by huge hailstones.   So, we beat a hasty retreat to the car for shelter and to catch our breath …Nordic walking done properly is tiring.  Having missed the opportunity to get snowed in around Wirksworth over all those years, Helen J was not going to start now!  Offers for a room for the night were soon ‘put to bed’ as a watery sun sneaked a peak under the clouds in the distance

‘through the car window’

 

Plan B:  We ditched the poles and headed off down to the nearest bird-hide; a discovery for Pam; well intrepid explorers are always finding something new.

‘Look… a gull with yellow legs… what’s that called then? ‘

 

Initially we had the place to ourselves then three men cloaked in green holding high their camouflaged telescopes arrived.  Methinks has Birnham Wood to Carsington come hither?  Alas no!  Just, classic twitcher behaviour – ignoring the regular birds, going straight for the yellow-legged gull (which stood up especially for them, just to prove that it really did have yellow legs)… an admiring ‘tick’ for Helen J. 

Feeling humbled, and not wishing anything untoward to happen, we headed off to the next hide, complete with recently upholstered seats, and thoroughly enjoyed this all to ourselves.

With growing confidence, Pam discovers a new species: Pigeon wigeon

Once we had satisfied ourselves that no new birds, or indeed, no new species would be arriving, we reported our findings in the bird log book and headed off back to the car for practice number two!

Maggie being thoughtful, closing the gate after her

 

Pam quickly got into the swing of things, making fabulous progress with each step.  Once she had disappeared into the distance, Maggie too had a go and realised it wasn’t quite so easy as Pam had made it out to be.  But with encouragement from Helen J both made superb progress.

Come on Maggie, it goes something like this. 

A quick stop by another bird hide, thoughtfully laid out with premium bird food,  brought us some more woodland birds.

 

Carsington bird list

Black-headed gull

Bullfinch

Coal tit

Coot

Cormorant

Goldeneye

Lapwing

Kestrel

Magpie

Mallard

Nuthatch (GB first)

Pheasant

Pied wagtail

Pochard (GB first)

Teal

Tufted duck

Wigeon (re-named by Pam as Pigeon wigeon and became duck-of-the-day)

Yellow-legged gull (GB first)

 

Total for the day and year so far is 30 with a few GB firsts as well! 

A sign that spring is on its way

 So, back to Maggie’s to finish off with more cheesy bread and beetroot sarnies, (with guest appearance from Lizzie, an expert at chopping beetroot without staining her hands; marvellous what they teach them at uni these days) cups of tea and biscuits before the light started to fade and it was time to go wend our way from Wirksworth (well for one of us anyway).

 

 

 

 

 

 

December Diva-ation

December Diva-ation

to Derby Cathedral

Wednesday 17th December

 

The December gathering proved to be rather problematic as everyone is so very busy, even Helen J's organisational skills were tested to breaking point! However an email from Jo about the Dale Diva performance at Derby Cathedral did bring three of us together to join in the Carol singing.

 

The two Helens met at the Brewery Tap for a light bite of very delicious mushrooms on toast and a good gossip before making our way to the Cathedral in what we thought was plenty of time. We spotted Gina waiting for us at the head of the queue and quickly joined her only to be told that the Cathedral was full! Not o be defeated we held our ground and when it was announced that there were three more seats we quickly made our move with elbows at he ready to deter any other claimants!

 

After thinking that we were going to end up standing at the back we were soon escorted to seats very near the front. We had a jolly good sing and thoroughly enjoyed the event - especially the Diva's two performances.

 

The very sparkly Dale Diva

.

 

 

There was also a very moving and lovely performance by The Open Road called "An Old Solider's Dream of Home" written by Phil Baguley (pictured far right with guitar). Inspired by Phil's Great Uncle Alfred who was killed during WW1.

 

And even a surprise performance from Russell Watson! All in all a very lovely evening and the concert can be heard on BBC Radio Derby on Christmas Eve and Christmas day ( the person you will hear singing out of tune will be me!

 







. 



December Ditty

Six Gelly Babes in search of December

Composed by Gelly Helen J

(sing to the tune of 10 Green Bottles, with occasional repetition of a line in order to make it work)  Happy singing!

There were six Gelly Babies planning what to do

Six Gelly Babies planning what to do

December trips not easy, daylight hours are short

There were six Gelly Babies planning in the dark.

 

There were six Gelly Babies suggesting what to do

Six Gelly Babies suggesting what to do

Possible jaunts in south Derbyshire, Notts or Derby too,

There were six Gelly Babies confused as to what to do.

 

There were six Gelly Babies deciding what to do

Six Gelly Babies deciding what to do

A nature walk in Elvaston, then drinking in a pub

There were six Gelly Babies agreeing what to do

 

There were six Gelly Babies excited about meeting up

Six Gelly Babies excited about meeting up

Then one Lynn baby found something else to do

Grandparenting duties  too hard to refuse

Leaving five Gelly Babies still keen on meeting up.

 

There were five Gelly Babies re-jigging all the plans

Five Gelly Babies re-jigging all the plans

Then one Pam baby had now run out of time

Marking seemed more preferable to watching all the coots

Leaving four Gelly Babies querying what to do

 

There were four Gelly Babies struggling now what to do

Four Gelly Babies struggling now what to do

With Maggie’s back now painful, walking hard to do

A trip round the nature park a silly thing to do

Leaving three Gelly Babies questioning what to do

 

There were three Gelly Babies slightly now bemused

Three Gelly Babies slightly now bemused

Then Helen M baby had lots of stuff do,

Selling her Art on ebay; money to accrue

Leaving two Gelly babies not sure what to do

 

 

 

There were two Gelly Babies wondering  what to do

Two Gelly Babies wondering what to do

Then Jo made a decision, to give this one a miss

Leaving one Gelly Baby thinking ‘what a to-do’.

 

There was Helen J baby with time now on her hands

Helen J baby with time now on her hands

To write this silly ditty, maybe bringing smiles all around

Trying to be creative and hoping you all agree

 

So Helen J baby is planning now for Jan

Helen J baby is planning now for Jan

Agreeable dates most welcome, ideas for our next jaunt

Wishing you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too!