Hobbies and Crafts

Oh Tsk Tsk. My post didn't appear :-(

I said......It's chuckin' buckets in London but it's now that sort of persistant drizzle that says "we think it's November so we'e hanging around for a good while yet" :-( Oh I could be a weather reporter you know - on the Bee Bee Cee :-D

I agree Jude, Magpies do have a beautiful irridescense to their plumage.

We don't seem to have many magpies this year, I wonder if they favour sites where there are more nests? I say this because when we had GS woodpeckers nesting nearby the maggies made their presence felt by their early morning rattling. Likewise with a family of blackbirds.

I think our local dickie birds are staying home today, snuggled down under leafy brollies.

I thought my last post got through yesterday,but see it didn't.I think I was saying Jude I don't think I have seen a Stock Dove before.I saw the pictures and they look quite pretty with the markings.
I will keep my eyes open for them but we just have the normal Wood Pidgeons and Collared Doves.
I'm finding a few empty egg shells on my lawn.I reckon it's those pesky Magpies :-( :-(

I did see the interview a week or so ago with a man who disagreed with culling magpies because it was interfering with nature and would upset the balance. We have a few round here but I am sure in this area it tends to be cats rather than magpies who raid nests!!!

I am hoping I have some good photos for your blog Jude when i sort the holiday photos out.

Ann ,we only have 1 cat as far as I know in our stretch of houses.He is called Sid.A year or so back I did spot him shining up the tree trunk to get at the Blue Tits box,but I think he is getting a bit long in the tooth now.It is the Magpies here that are just a blooming nuisance .
I have noticed this afternoon those little black and white ( I think maybe Wagtails) hopping about the lawn.

I spent last week in Norfolk visiting my friends and neighbour as well as enjoying the fresh air ( I lived there for over 20 years) every year when I lived there I would go to Great Yarmouth to see the " Little Turns nesting on the beach ) it was always blocked off with wire mesh to stop people treading on them and for people removing the eggs.
This year they have moved along the coast to Caister where I had lived and they are now nesting at the bottom of the road on the sand dunes fenced in for protection and the RSPB were on guard
It appears they have had enough of Yarmouth and wanted a change of scenery.
The Little Terns are an endangered bird. they are the smallest of the sea birds.

Rita

Did you manage to see anything of them Rita, I did see them on a prrobramme on TV a week or so ago.

When in the Lake District, our apartment is right by the River Leven. We had a good view of a Grey wagtail that visited regularly, also a couple of Tufted grebes and a Grey heron. The Heron was right outside our window yesterday and today.

Just caught a glimps of them AnninGlos. they hatch in August.
they are so small .
they made an awful lot of noise lol.

Rita

Be lovely to see them though Rita.

Hello folks
Hope you are all enjoying this hot weather.(Bit hot for me)
We have lots of Swifts or Swallows(not sure which) flying above the house at the moment.Making lots of noise.
My poor Chester is feeling the heat today and is crashed out under the fan.The cows in the field are all trying to get some shade from the few trees.
My daughter is at Glastonbury hopefully enjoying the good weather at last.She says she is Mentally and Physically exhausted!!

Phewww abit hot for me too...not complaining mind!!

Rita..can you get a photo of them??

Jane..have you seen the Deer on the blog from Jules:o)) He's a beauty:o)

jude :-D

Edited....just altered the word BLOG...l missed the 'l' out...lol

No Jude ,haven't seen it ,but am off now to have a look.

Just looked now.What a lovely pic.I have just caught up on the other pics.I just love them and love the blog Jude.
I am awake at 3.30 these mornings with the dawn chorus!It is wonderful ,but I just wish they had a bit of respect for peoples sleep lolol.I lie in bed and try to work out the different bird songs,then they go quiet and I can't get back to sleep ! :-S :-S

Jane....thats way too early to stay awake, you must be crimbo'd??
l often hear them too but generally go back to sleep, or play on here for a while...lol

Thank you Jane...l loveit too:o
Have you looked at Ann's blog lately??

jude

Jane the swallows have very long tails the swift tails are more blunt.

Just looked at the deer he is beautiful isn't he?

I think these are maybe Swifts Ann,but they are so quick it is difficult to tell lol

Well I could have got a brilliant pic of a Heron this morning as it was perched on a ridiculously small branch of a tree at the bottom of the garden.i was already to snap..........then Chester barked :-( :-( and it took off over the hedge.I can't tell you cross i was with him.
Do any of you know what this bird might be? I have seen it for the last few days .It has a very high trilling song seems to hover above the field fluttering it's wings very fast so it stays in the same place and then all of a sudden in seems to plummet head first back down into the field.It does go up very high.There seems to be only one.I have never seen or heard one like this before.

Jane is it a Nightingale??

check this rspb link and press listen at the top left....

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/n/nightingale/index.aspx

jude x

Hi Jane
It'll be either a skylark or a meadow pipit. One sings as it rises then silently plummets to earth, the other sings as it comes down. I'm off to the RSPB site :-)

Herons look so incongruous perched in trees don't they! There's a colony at our local reservoirs out of breeding season and cormorants which look just as daft perched high up drying their wings.
Naughty Chester! I can imagine how cross you were :-(

Jude I don't know.It could be.But I haven't seen it close enough The song sounds similar.It would be interesting to see if the Nightingale hovers .It doesn't say on that link.We are just in the right area by the look of things.