Garden Safari – The Annual Expedition Begins.

It felt like spring was in the air this morning.  So, late this afternoon I took my camera into the garden to do a ‘bug hunt’.   Not quite as warm as it was this morning as there was a bit of a chill to the wind.

Never mind, I went to the usual favourite hunting spots and I was not disappointed.

This 7 spot Ladybird was my first target:

This Hover Fly was taking in the last rays of the evening sun:

The Primulas were giving a nice display:

I then found these three 7 spot ladybirds in a group:

Our Labunham tree is in flower:

I have never seen so many Ladybirds in our garden before.  We must have something that attracts them but I don’t know what it can be.  Seeing the Hoverfly surprised me but it does mean the weather is warming up, at last!

I am looking forward to another year of  ‘garden safaris’

I trust you, my loyal readers, do so as well.

What’s in the garden next door?

A quiet week so far.

We have a decorator in.  I was going to paint our dining room and living room myself but Mae said it would be better if I didn’t (how am I supposed to take that?).   I agree with her though, it is certainly better for me not to do it!

All the cupboards etc have had to be emptied and the contents are upstairs in a bedroom.  We have a new suite of furniture on order but the delivery date has slipped back by a month.  It is no good getting a new carpet laid until we get the new suite.  One of Mae’s brothers is staying with us for a week inbetween all of this so the bedroom has to be cleared of the aforementioned contents.  So I am now faced with the prospect of putting everything back into the cupboards and then removing it all to allow the carpet fitters to shift the furniture – and then replace it all!  I would have just painted round it all and no-one would have known the difference – I think!!

Anyway, enough of my woes.

I haven’t been out taking photographs but I thought I would tease you with these two images taken while sitting in the hide waiting for something living to appear.

Can you tell me what these are?

These two objects are things that you might find in a garden with children.  These are not to be found in our garden but things I can see in the gardens of our neighbours while in the hide.

No prizes but answers in a future post.

An Afternoon at Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve

I spent Thursday afternoon at the Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve near Canterbury.   I was shown around by my friend Keith who is a volunteer helper at the reserve.

We walked around the reserve from the Grove Ferry end and stopped at several vantage points and in the hides that are strategically placed around the reserve.  It was a cloudy day with a bit of a breeze but there was plenty of wildlife to see on the lakes and in the trees and sky.

I took my Canon 350D camera and 600mm mirror lens but the birds were along way away but I was still able to get some nice images.

Here are my best ones:

Little Rabbit watching us watching it:

Coot passing by:

Great Crested Grebe:

Great Crested Grebe with a hair-do problem!:

The Great Crested Grebes are fascinating to watch. They spend a lot of time diving and when they do they stay under water a long time and  re-appear much further away from the dive spot.

One of the wild horses that help keep the grass under control:

These are two other images I took:

We saw many varieties of ducks, swans, geese, wood pigeons, collared doves, rabbits. I think we saw a Harrier Hawk but I may have mis-heard Keith but it certainly was a  bird of prey.

We walked back along the bank of the Great River Stour. Keith is hoping to see a Kingfisher but he was not in luck this time.

Just as we were about to leave the car park we were told that a Barn Owl had been seen in the area over the past few days so we watched and waited but all we saw were Wood Pigeons roosting for the night.

We returned home as night was falling.

A pleasant and informative afternoon thanks to Keith and his knowledge.

Thanks Keith.  When are you going again?

Skull in the Garden

This post is for our Grandson Henry.

Mae (Nana) was tidying up the borders in our garden yesterday and she found this:

This looks like a skull from a rodent type animal. It is 2.5inches (6cm) long.

We think it might be from this animal:

I spotted this creature in the borders of our garden beneath the bird table last year.  It appears to be a rat of some description and might be some-one’s pet that has escaped as it looks well cared for and not the brown of a wild rat.

A close up shows these fangs:

We could find no more bones.

So, Henry. What do you think of this find?

And yes, we have saved it for your collection.

I should explain.

Henry loves collecting ‘dead things’.  He has a dead bug jar, collects fossils and on his last visit to us found a skull on the beach at Ramsgate Undercliff

We think it comes from a bird but have not confirmed it as such.

If any-one can help us identify these skulls it would be most appreciated.

Early Blossom and Ladybirds

Pruning today!

Mae was keen to get into the garden this morning and wanted some over-hanging branches pruned, so, that was me ocupied also (well, an hour or so).  Mae busied herself tidying up the borders while pointing out the branches to be pruned.

I have brought one of those tree loper thingies, you know, they extend so that the branches high up can be pruned making life much easier.  The job was done in a jiffy leaving me time to do what I wanted to do.   So, having cleaned the pump and filter tank for the fish pond, out came the camera.

This little 7-spot Ladybird was basking in the sun:

Seven spot Ladybird basking in the spring sunshine

We have quite a few Ladybirds in the garden this year and it good to see that they survived the long, cold winter.

The blossom is, well, blossoming:

Early Blossom

I wanted to take photographs of the Snowdrops but the wind was too much and I only got blurred images.

Mae has found something in the garden that our Grandson Henry will find really interesting but this will be for my next post.

So, return tomorrow and find out what it was.

Blue Sea and Sky in Broadstairs

Today was such a nice day that we decided to take a walk along the seafront in Broadstairs.  We started at Dumpton Gap and strolled along the promenade towards Broadstairs. It was lovely hearing the sea lap against the sea wall and feel the warmth of the sun on our faces. There was a bit of chill to the wind but we had fleeces on so it didn’t bother us.

Viking Bay and Broadstairs Harbour looked really nice and there were lots of workers painting and tidying up the ammenities.

We had a cup of tea at the Pavilion on the Sands and enjoyed the sunshine.

It was so nice to be able to do this, and in March!

We walked back to Dumpton Gap on the cliff top.

We think there has been a bit of a ‘chalk slide’ at Dumpton Gap as this looks fairly recent to us (at least since we last walked this way).

Chalk Fall at Dumpton Gap, Broadstairs

Spring appears to have arrived.

Feline Visitors

There are times when, sitting in the hide, the garden goes quiet and the birds make themselves scarce. I then have to look around to see the cause.  It is usually a cat.

We have three regular visitors

‘Tim’s Friend’ is my favourite visitor.

Tim's Friend

She is called Tim’s friend because as a youngster she took a shine to our cat Tim.

Tim was cat who lived next door and was an ‘outdoors’ cat fending for itself but looked very thin and unwell and would sneak into our house and eat Pheobe’s food so we, with permission of her owner, took over his care and he became ‘our cat’.   In the winter he would spend the day in the house, usually sharing the same bed as Pheobe, and out at night.  We let him stay in one night but were awoken in the early hours to find him scratching the carpet to make a toilet (he wouldn’t use the cat litter tray).  He didn’t stay in at night after that!  He died last year.

Tim’s friend would follow him round the garden and sit by the back door waiting for him, and not knowing her name, she became known as ‘Tim’s friend’.  She will always approach me purring when in  our garden and is so gentle and slow I find it difficult to chase her way.    I don’t think she is a danger to the birds. But the birds don’t know that!

Our next visitor is this cat:

More of a ‘just passing through’ cat.  Doesn’t linger in our garden. A she, we think, as it appears to be expecting.

There are two black cats that are seen in our garden.

One of the black cats who visit our garden

I found this cat high up in one of our trees recently.  There is also another, larger, black cat that is often in our garden. The collar tells us which one. Both will stalk and chase the birds and they have been succcessful in killing birds, mainly feral pigeons, in our garden. It is not unusual to see them both having a ‘stand-off’.  Lately it has been seen running across the lawn looking very waryingly towards the house as I have repeatedly gone out and ‘shoo’d’ it away. It sits in the shrubbery awaiting an opportunity to pounce.  It, and the other black cat, are not welcome visitors.

When our cat Pheobe was alive (I was not ‘into’ bird watching back then) there were no other feline visitors but as she got older and more frail other cats would push their luck. Unfortunately in later years she lost the show-downs and spent the last year or so indoors and that allowed the other cats to dominate. Tim was useless!! (a lovely cat though).

Now, what do I do about these visitors?

I am not in favour of putting out deterents such as pepper or the like.  If I try to scare them off while in the hide they just look in my direction and stay put.  Showing myself would defeat the object of the hide.

Oh, what to do!!

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

If you own one of these cats and want a photograph let me know!

Knyghtryders and St Patrick’s Night

Knyghtryders, the Folk Group I play with, are preparing for our biggest engagement since we formed.

St. Patricks Day Dance Poster

We are playing at the Pfizer Sport Centre St. Patrick’s Night Dance on Saturday 20th March 2010. We start playing at 8.30pm.

The evening will be full of Irish Folk tunes and songs, all suitable for a Ceilidh (pronounced kaylee).  We hope to get everyone’s feet tapping and on to the dance floor for the ‘set dances’ and joining in with choruses to your favourite Irish songs such as leaving of Liverpool, Black Velvet Band, Whiskey in the jar and Rare Oul’  Mountain Dew.

Tickets cost £5.00

Also on offer is a home-cooked Steak and Guiness Pie with mashed potatoes and vegetables for £5.95 (this must be ordered at time of booking).

To book your tickets  call 01304 645675.

A lively evening is in prospect. We hope to see you there.

North Foreland Lighthouse and Wind Turbines

Today, while Mae was visiting a nearby house, I took some photographs of  North Foreland Light House.

I had hoped for a bright sunny day. Instead I got grey clouds and a bitterly cold wind.

This is the second time I have been in this area all geared up ready to take that ‘defining’ photograph of the lighthouse, you know the sort, blue skies as a backdrop to a brilliant white building.  This was the best I could manage.

I then went to Joss Bay to look at the construction of the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm.

The Thanet project is located approximately 11 km to the east of Margate, Kent.

The Thanet project will comprise 100 Vestas V90 wind turbines and have a total capacity of 300 MW which is sufficient to supply approximately 240,000 homes per year with green energy.

I didn’t linger long taking photographs as it was freezing and my eyes were watering trying to focus on the vessel. It was then back into the warmth of the car to wait outside the house where Mae was to continue reading the last book in the ‘Flashman’ series. (A good read).

When will we get some warmth?

Musical & Statues

We had early start on Saturday as we were off to spend a day in London and see the Massed Bands of the Royal Marines at the Mountbatten Festival at the Royal Albert Hall.

On our arrival in London, having been dropped off outside the Royal Albert Hall, we walked to the Natural History Museum for a cup of coffee and a Blueberry Muffin in their cafe.  Mae and I decided to stay in the Natural History Museum while others from the coach party went off to Harrods.

Giant Sloth skeleton

We looked around the exhibits and saw the dinosaurs.

The statue of Charles Robert Darwin dominates the main hall.

Statue of Charles Robert Darwin

I did take more photographs of some of the exhibits but they are not very good (I only had my Canon Powershot) so you won’t be seeing them!

We had lunch (Ham, Egg and Chips and Cider) in a nearby pub, the Bunch of Grapes.  I recommend it if you are in the area (Brompton Road).

The afternoon saw us in Harrods. We didn’t buy anything.

We then decided to pop into the Victoria and Albert Museum, mainly to rest our weary bones and use their free facilities.  We didn’t look around but I saw this statue of Eurydice by Joseph Boehm on the way to the ‘facilites’.

Eurydice at the Victoria and Albert Museum

We met up with the rest of our party and returned to the Bunch of Grapes for a meal (Prawn Curry and a pint of Abbotts Ale) before going to the Royal Albert Hall

View inside the Royal Albert Hall from the West Choir Stalls

As a flute player this position was ideal as we could watch the musicians and see the conductor. Very informative as well as a brilliant concert.

We didn’t get home until 1am in the morning.

It was a brilliant day out and already plans are being made to return for the Mountbatten Festival Concert in April next year.