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Post by rowanberry on Mar 29, 2019 18:13:18 GMT
Today we went to Stanmore Country Park in North London... it's up high enough that (according to a board they have there) on a clear day it's possible to see the telecommunication towers at Crystal Palace- from the top of the hill it overlooks the whole of London.
We have a favourite bench where we sit and have our sandwiches and wait for the birds of prey to come, (it's now been christened the Bop Bench) and usually it's buzzards, although last autumn there were red kites as well. Today the buzzards were too high to get a decent photo, (I saw one sitting in a distant tree, but too far away to get a very good shot) but a kestrel kept us occupied with our cameras for most of the time we were there.
We couldn't have asked for better weather. Perfect blue skies, but still cool enough for a jacket... butterflies dancing about, and the May blossoms out everywhere. A great day.
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Post by rowanberry on Apr 13, 2019 20:17:41 GMT
We're just back from a short city-break in Norwich... visited the cathedral, (and several pubs- thank goodness for Wetherspoons. About the only one we can afford!) and saw a peregrine perched on the spire. We stopped at Lakenheath Fen RSPB reserve on the way back, which is on the Suffolk/Norfolk border.
This is the least embarrassingly bad photo I got of the peregrine... just to prove I actually saw one. It was so windswept it looked more like a chicken- it must be pretty gusty up there.
Also saw a jay in a garden of one of the houses near the cathedral. Snowlynx is convinced they follow me about- I'm always seeing jays, no matter where we go!
Easter bunnies, seen from our hotel window...
Two views of the reserve:
...and some of the birds we saw. Marsh harriers were spotted earlier that day, but we weren't fortunate enough to see one... several buzzards, though. Lots of swans, geese, and plenty of reed buntings... a first for me.
The rook was technically (I think) in Suffolk- seen in a service station car park trying to drink out of a puddle.
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Post by rowanberry on Apr 20, 2019 19:52:48 GMT
The bluebell woods yesterday in Wanstead Park, Essex.
It's become an annual outing, and this year we've managed to make it there before the flowers were past their best. A lovely day out.
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Post by Tringa on May 16, 2019 20:40:10 GMT
Not today but yesterday. It is a good few years since I have done a decent hill so I wanted one I knew, was a fairly short walk and close to Gairloch. Beinn Eighe fitted the bill perfectly. The only drawbacks were my lack of fitness, the 100m+ of scree just before the ridge and that the highest temperature recorded so far this year in the UK was about two miles away. However, despite the few aches today it was a good walk. Dave
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Post by rowanberry on May 17, 2019 19:44:28 GMT
That is an impressive landscape, Dave. Any wildlife about has got to be tough to survive there!
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Post by Tringa on May 19, 2019 19:09:14 GMT
Thanks Ian and Rb.
There wasn't very much wildlife that day - a few pipits all the way up, a cuckoo calling lower in the glen, a few deer on the tops of adjacent hills(I think Beinn Eighe was too busy for them), a wheatear on the ridge to the right and the seemingly ever present, in spring and summer, a bumble bee.
Dave
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Post by NellyDee on May 20, 2019 11:44:45 GMT
You are making me jealous Dave I so miss taking to the hill tops and wandering the glens. Still at least I am amid our glourious scenery and am blessed that the wildlife does visit me, and of course, daughter does take me on holiday to places we can drive at extreme slow pace to view the flora and wildlife and provided the slope is not too bad I can take a wander.
I missed the chance of say Rowanberry your photos are beautiful I loved them.
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Post by Tringa on Jul 17, 2019 12:54:47 GMT
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Post by Tringa on Sept 22, 2019 17:04:52 GMT
After four superb days in Gairloch(yesterday was, for me, too hot to sit outside at around 3pm) today wasn't quite as good, but still warm. This was taken earlier this afternoon on a grey day, but still good to be out. I did not see much animal life apart from the being scared witless a few time by grouse exploding out of the ground in front of me. Dave www.flickr.com/photos/182372725@N08/shares/odRV71
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Post by ianr on Oct 3, 2019 10:30:31 GMT
Trip out to the beach yesterday really high tide just got there as it was turning making for some real good waves but not much on the strand line, usual shells and bits these were the two most interesting, a little urchin 10p size and this vertebrae touching 3in at it's widest I'd go with seal? ian sea urchin by ian robinson, on Flickr vertebrae by ian robinson, on Flickr
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Post by Tringa on Dec 2, 2019 16:40:27 GMT
Like the shots, Ian, especially the vertebra. This wasn't today - it has been far too wet to be outside - but from yesterday. Meall Fruaraidh reflected in Loch a Mhuilinn loch& by Dave Marley, on Flickr Dave
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Post by rowanberry on Dec 2, 2019 22:16:35 GMT
Dave, that is beautiful... but it looks cold! Is that a slight coating of ice on top of the water?
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Post by Tringa on Dec 3, 2019 16:17:17 GMT
Thanks Rb. Yes, there was some ice on the surface. It was cold but also dry, which at this time of the year is welcome.
Apart from not getting wet, partially frozen bogs are a delight to walk over. I did however, misjudged it once and went knee deep in one of the inlets to the loch, but being able to walk in a T shirt on 1st December was a bonus.
Unfortunately there was very little wildlife, only a couple of ravens cronking in the distance.
Dave
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Post by ianr on Feb 22, 2020 7:38:25 GMT
Drive out to the beach yesterday, it was fresh to say the least not much of anything about just a few gulls not even a lot on the strand line. Did come across 2 full size nitrous oxide bottles stacked at the back of the parking area don't know if they fell overboard or some tea leaf nicked them just for a laugh ian
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Post by rowanberry on Jun 1, 2020 20:38:31 GMT
We went to the north end of Trent Park, in an effort to avoid the crowds... a lot of people about, but it was still nice just to get out and about. Trent Park Fields May 2020 by Wabi Gallery, on Flickr
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