High days and holidays...

Last week Lynda and I took a few days off work. We had nothing really planned and just went with the flow. On Monday, after a couple of much needed extra hours in bed we headed into Derby. This was the only part of the break that was planned; we wanted to take a ride on the big wheel in Derby Market Place. Okay, so it’s not the London Eye but it was still well worth it! The wheel is 60 meters in height and gave us views much like the ones we had from the top of Derby Cathedral last summer. The information at the ticket office states that the ride lasts for around 15 minutes, we were on the first ride of the morning and it lasted for at least 25 minutes.

The Derby big wheel.

Lynda.

The Guildhall.

The Cathedral and the new Jury's Inn.

Me, with a load of steel work.

The new Cathedral Green.

The Guildhall tower and clock.

The Market Hall.

The Market Place.

After our big wheel adventure we spent the rest of the morning in Derby, shopping. The pain of this was eased, for me, by a stop at Muffin Break for elevenses - a slice of bacon and onion quiche and a mug of Cappuccino soon had me smiling again! I’m not a shopping fan but I do like coffee shops! Actually, that’s not quite true... Lynda took me to Costco on the way home and treated me to a mixed case of Wychwood Brewery beers. Now that IS my kind of shopping!

After stopping off at home to unload the shopping, and for me to change into my cycling clothes, we headed off to the bike shop to collect my Cannondale which had been in for it’s free 6-month check-up. All was pretty much as I expected with the bike, it had had a new chain fitted due to the original one having stretched but nothing else was needed - or so I thought. Before the chain was fitted the shop had told me that I really should be fitting a new gear cassette and front chain rings. Okay, so I’ve covered almost 1,000 miles on the bike but there was no way I was paying out almost a 3rd of the price of the bike after only 6 months! I told them to fit the chain and I’d see how things went. Needless to say, on the ride home a couple of the gears were skipping.

First thing Tuesday morning - well, okay, about 10:0AM - I went shopping for a new rear gear cassette for the bike. A little bit of internet research the night before had turned up a cassette that had a slightly wider set of gear ratios that would give me an extra 2 or 3 MPH for the same pedal effort. These were soon in my possession and, after a quick stop off at work to borrow a torque wrench, fitted to the Cannondale. After a short test ride to make sure everything was working as it should it was time to think about lunch - off to the pub we went! Lynda and I decided that we’d give The Bonnie Prince at Chellaston a try as we’d never been before. It turned out that the pub had only re-opened that day due to a complete refit. The pub was very nice, the food excellent - we’ll be back at some point in the future.

Wednesday, and it was shopping time again. This time it was a couple of garden centres that we visited. At the first we picked up a load of winter bedding plants that are now safely in the garden and at the second Lynda found a couple of Camellias that she instantly fell in love with and just HAD to have! The fact that they were priced as “two for one” just added to their appeal. The Camellias are also safely planted in the garden where we eagerly await them bursting into flower next spring! With all the plants we needed safely stowed away in the car there was nothing left to do but retire to the pub for lunch again. This time we finished up in another new to us hostelry, The Seven Wells at Etwall. The Seven Wells is part of the same chain as The Bonnie Prince so the menu was almost identical. Once again the food was excellent and we were left feeling full but not quite bursting - the Ruddles County ale was also very much to my liking! I can’t wait for our next time off work!

Thetford Forest...

The trip to Thetford Forest yesterday produced the goods once again - some great birds and also some reasonably good weather too. The day also started off a lot more relaxed than last month’s RSPB trip; we remembered to set the alarm on Saturday night and didn’t have to rush to catch the coach! The rain that had been forecast for much of the morning started to fall just as we left the house, but had stopped by the time we reached Derby. From then on it was a dry and bright day. Once again, whilst waiting for the coach, we had good views of the Derby Cathedral Peregrines.

Derby Cathedral.

Santon Downham was our first stop of the day and provided us with a total of 33 species, which, spookily enough, is exactly the same as last year’s trip! Woodlark is always the main target bird for us at this location and, after a bit of searching, we struck it lucky once again. At least two larks were seen and in the end they gave great views to everyone on the trip. Whilst watching the Woodlark, and making sure everyone else got to see them, I also picked up Buzzard, Green Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Yellowhammer, numerous Siskin and a Jay. March 14 and this is the first Jay I’ve seen all year! Where are they all?

A little further along the path from the Woodlark Lynda and I caught up with a small group of our party that said they had found something of interest - it turned out to be an Adder! They said it was a way of thanking me for finding the Woodlark. Little did they know, if there’s one thing I HATE its snakes! I did manage to build up enough nerve to get a quick photo but came out in a cold sweat in the process! I was not a happy bunny at this point and moved swiftly on!

Want a better photo? Take your own!

The walk back to the coach, along the river path, was a little quieter than usual but we did manage to see a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a pair of Grey Wagtail, a small flock of Redwing and a Goldcrest. A Water Rail provided many of us with outstanding views as it fed on the riverbank. The bird spent long periods of time out in the open and was not in the least worried about people passing by on the path, most unusual for this species.

Our second site of the day was Lynford Arboretum, just a short drive away. The arboretum, and nearby lakes, were rather quiet compared with previous visits with just 32 species being seen by Lynda and I. We have no complaints about the quality of birding here though as we got to see Hawfinch, a site speciality, and also a group of 12 Crossbill. The Crossbill gave themselves away by calling loudly as they approached us through the woods and then settled in the top of a tree right in front of us. We got great views of the birds but unfortunately only one other member of our group was close by at the time, the other 45 or so missed out! Maybe in future they’ll not be so keen to show me snakes in return for Woodlarks!

Other birds here included Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted and also Green Woodpecker, Song and Mistle Thrush, Treecreeper and Siskin. Two albino Pheasants were also seen. As we walked back to the coach at the end of the afternoon we came across a rather nice carving that had been created on a broken tree trunk - I don’t think I’d fancy meeting this guy in the dark!

The trip to church...

Okay, maybe church wasn’t quite the right word to use - cathedral would have been more accurate. Derby Cathedral to be precise. Today, as part of BBC TV's Springwatch/Breathing Places project there was a number of guided tours to the top of the cathedral tower and Lynda and I joined in.

We started the day by calling at Starbucks for coffee. That’s not quite true either, we actually had Frappuccinos. It was the first time I’d tried Frappuccino but it certainly won’t be the last! I had the Dark Mocha, topped with whipped cream, and it was delicious! Lynda chose the Caramel version, again with the whipped cream. At 428 calories for the Mocha it’s not ideal for your diet though!

From Starbucks we drove into Derby, parked the car and made our way to the cathedral, after trying to find a bag for Lynda’s new camera. We looked at quite a few different bags, in different shops, but nothing was quite right.

The tour of the tower started with a brief overview of the history of the cathedral and then it was time to start the climb up the very steep, and winding, 189 steps that took us to the top. We did get to take a breather at around half distance when we stopped off at the room used by the bell ringers. This room also houses all the equipment that is used to beam the live webcam pictures of the Peregrines and their chicks.

Once at the top of the tower we were treated to some far-reaching views of both the city and also the surrounding countryside. Crich Stand was easy to pick out to the north, as was Radcliffe on Soar power station away to the east in Nottinghamshire. Willington power station was also visible, just, but I couldn’t quite see onto the gravel pits - I hope I didn’t miss any good birds!

Below are some of the photos Lynda and I took. I’ve tried to arrange them so that you get a clockwise view from the top of the tower starting with the view north and then going east, south and west. There are also some photos taken inside the cathedral after we made it back down to ground level, which was easier said than done from almost 65 meters up! As usual, if you click on a photo it will open a larger image.

Ravens stage takeover bid!

Just a very quick "extra" posting...

Today, a pair of Ravens tried to move in on the Derby Cathedral Peregrines! Yes, that’s right... Ravens in the centre of Derby!

I wasn’t fortunate enough to witness this but, having read the Peregrine blog, it sounds like they were pretty serious in their attempt to set up home on the tower.

Full details, complete with "eye witness accounts", at... Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project - 2008