January Murmurs

Murmurs at Attenborough

January 19th

 

On a perfect sunny but cold January morning five babes met at  Attenborough full of anticipation about what we might spot. Two Helens and Jo arrived early(eager to comply with the schedule so carefully arranged by Helen J)with Maggie and Pam not far behind.

 

Aye up me duck

 

 Sadly Alison had to go to the vets followed by a trip to watch Derby County fail to score against the mighty Bristol City so wasn't able to join us and Lynn also had a busy day but we all sent her virtual hugs.

 

Equipment check

 

All in working order

 

If you look through the telescope Jo you might be able to see a swan!

 

Yes - it's a swan with a goose on its head!

 

After checking out the birds around the visitor centre and a lesson on the difference between a stock dove and a pigeon, the next stop was the café for a warming bowl of soup and a good catch up.

After checking with the centre staff Helen J's carefully laid plans were thrown into disarray when we discovered that the main car park gates are closed at 5pm and as the main aim of our afternoon was to try and catch the starling murmuration we had to have a quick rethink as we didn't fancy getting locked in for the night.

 

                       They're behind you...

 

Fuelled by soup and coffee and having made full use of the facilities we set off to see what we could see.

 

Look - it's over there.....

 

Oh - there it is....

 

Oh - they are flying away - perhaps we are too noisy...

 

A much needed rest after all that spotting

 

What a beauty - definitely next years Christmas card!

 

On entering the bird hide there was much excitement - not for the reasons some of us might anticipate - but the elusive and secretive water rail had been spotted

 

Can you spot the water rail?

 

Is this him?

....or this?

 

We all kept unnaturally quiet so as not to disturb the serious twitchers and the water rail and we did all manage to spot him in the end, if only he was a bit more flamboyant he would be easier to identify.

 

You can always rely on a heron to pose for a photograph

 

The red hatted Kenworthy also poses very nicely.

 

For a moment it was just like James Norton was there with us!

 

Not up to Pam's photographic standard but I think the bullfinch was bird of the day.

 

With a good haul of birds spotted we made our way back to the car park and drove down to Beeston Marina to get ourselves in prime position for the much anticipated murmuration.

 

Best foot forwards...

 

 

Quick look - a new teashop - lets get in there before it closes!

 

Just checking that it really was a water rail...

 

The sun was just starting to set as we got to the marina but we decided that there is always time for a quick cup of tea. Pam replaced her batteries and was soon powered up for the next stage and we headed down to where we hoped to be able to get a good view of the starlings coming in to roost.

 

It took us a while to find our spot but we were reassured by the presence of other slightly mad people.

 

It got darker and darker.....

 

and darker.....

 

but eventually they did arrive

 

It seems that we weren't in quite the right place after all and that the show was much better over near the visitor centre  you would think those pesky starlings would have realised all the planning that we had put in but at least we did see a bit of a murmur so were able to head home happy after a lovely day.

 

This is what we had hoped to see:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPN9JXS-Odg

 

And finally our bird list for the day:

 

blackbird

blackheaded gull (raft of 107ish!)

blue tit

bullfinch

canada goose

collared dove

coot

cormorant

crow

dunnock

water rail (GB first and our target bird for the last two years!)

eygyptian goose

gadwall

goldeneye

goosander

great crested grebe

great tit

grey heron

greylag goose

jackdaw

kestrel

lapwing

lesser black backed gull (apparently a GB first??!, clearly seen, but not recorded)

little grebe

magpie

mallard

moorhen

mute swan

robin

house sparrow ( or a new species.. a ‘bush sparrow’!)

starling

stock dove (GB first)

teal

tufted duck

wigeon

wood pigeon

 

36 in total, a good start to the year.  Our running total since records began is now 96.. getting close to our century! 

Unfortunately Jo, whilst you may have seen a gull with yellow legs, it was a lesser black backed gull, which does have yellow legs, so, sort of right. 

A practice murmuration it was, so will have to try again for the full starling monty!

Our new target bird has been set by Maggie: a bittern, but that will probably be too boring for one of our gelly birders 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



(Post) Christmas Cheer at Carsington

Babes do Breakfast 

27th December 2017

 

Dashing through the snow a bevy of babes (including the elusive Pam!) arrived at a very grey and chilly Visitors Centre at Carsington. Thankfully the snow stopped as soon as Helen J got the car handbook out to find out how to operate  the snow mode function. Sadly Jo doesn't have a snow mode function and found herself snowed in in the wilds of Market Harborough but it was good to hear later that the intrepid travellers were safely returned.

 

After some time spent doing battle with the car park payment machine, which seemed determined to baffle all of us in turn, we finally made it to the warmth and safety of the café and settled down with a warming drink looking out over the grey waters, enlivened only by a couple of circling crows. We were a little bit worried by the absence of Alison who is normally very prompt but she soon appeared, a little out of breath after her four paper rounds.

 

 

Full English breakfasts soon arrived and very fine they were too, for a while there was a pause in the chatter - lots of catching up to do - especially with Pam who we hadn't seen for some time, there was a resounding chorus of 'we told you so' when she admitted that retirement was rather good - although there was an equally resounding groan when we were told of her supply work plans!

 

Not sure if Alison is enjoying hers - should have had a sausage!

 

 

Once the our plates had been scraped clean and Lynn had cleared up for us it was in to present swapping.

 

Every Babe needs a duck and every duck needs a babe!

 

 

What wonderful thoughtfully chosen gifts - here are mine in situ:

 

Ready for the next trip

The perfect colour

 

This one is my favourite Pam! guess who it reminds me of...

Ready for a dip

 

We didn't get to do much bird watching but we did manage a bit of retail therapy in the shop - everyone needs a beautiful tin to keep their bird food in.

 

The birds were probably watching us and laughing at our feeble efforts at identifying Lynne's very pretty Cromford duck

 

Later identified by Helen J as a young female Wood Duck

 

 We might even manage a walk next time and Helen J might get her binoculars bout of the car! But sometimes it is just too chilly even for the most hardy babes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strutting our stuff in Belper

Industrial Belper

20th November 2017

 

 

 

 

A 1030 meet at CafeG in Belper certainly hit the right spot with Alison, Maggie, Jo, Lynn and the Helens.  Having missed Helen M at the last meeting, we were now able to catch up on her wonderful two holidays: cruising around on the Hurtigruten in Norway (did she mention the sea-eagles?) and sterner Stalin stuff in Warsaw. This led to some rather interesting stories about border controls, e:passports and illegal importation of wine onto above mentioned ferry (a wine box, no less!).  A slightly more watery tale from Venice has led Alison to check the ‘acqua alta’ for her impending trip. She’s now checking what H&S say about walking on water and wonders whether she will manage it with as much grace as Helen J.

 

As the sun was beckoning, we set off to discover Belper.  And, what an interesting  tour it turned out to be! So, we started with a long-distant view of De Bradelei Mill and learned that Queen Victoria’s Brettle stockings were made here, as was Admiral Nelson’s vest, (you know, the one he wears in Trafalgar Square)

 

Battling on, we headed back from whence we had just come, and took a peek at a rather dilapidated building which turned out to have previously been a blouse factory, the former Thorntons’s toffee factory and a theatre where Gracie Fields once performed and without any encouragement at all (once we’d ruled out “We’ll meet again”), we burst into spontaneous song:

 

“Sally, Sally, pride of our alley”

Well, no wonder she only performed there once, because there are no alleyways, snickets or ginnels in Belper… only channels.

 

And at the old corn mill, built by James Webster and enlarged by guess who…. 

 

A seasonal tableaux from Acorn Antiques….

 

With voices thoroughly warmed up, underneath the arch, we posed for another photo to discover that Will Hay, star of Ealing film comedies stayed nearby in Wellington House

 

 

“Oh Mr, Porter what shall we do?”

 

With Helen J very much, not in charge of her group, she showed them where he had stayed, but has apparently mis-led them. As the group were far too busy chatting, the correction is best left to another time. 

And so to Belper station of 1878 where Lynn burst into another song and we viewed George Stephenson’s five bridges over the railway line

 

Cutting edge designs, eh?

 

Following a footpath, not a channel, and an old ropewalk we then checked out the tarmac surface on Joseph Street:

 

I’m sure this bit is the original

 

 

We then walked through varies channels, past lots of cluster houses and admired the pig-stys and wonky windows.

 

 

Wonder why this is called Long Row?

 

There was a lot of ‘pointing’ as we noticed the ’continuous roofline’, as opposed to the ‘stepped roof line’ and  a place to park your horse, but not your car. We also pointed to a lot of Strutt provisions: the school, the church, the houses  and oh, so much more, including …

 

An early beauticians

 

But it was now time to hit CafeG again..

 

Spot on with different kind of long row!

 

 

With the weather looking decidedly dodgy, Lynn decided to head back home, but not before a group hug with local lass Anne Gibbon!  The white hornbeam trees temporarily stumped our knowledge, but have at least been saved by sensible Belper folk. 

 

A rather atmospheric shot!

 

Somewhere ….
 

We and our …..

 

 

So,  with raindrops a-falling on our heads, we decided to call it a day and save the parts we hadn’t seen for another time .