Starting 2013...

Well, here we go once again. A new year and a new start. If I can find the time/the enthusiasm/the subject matter, and if the weather allows, then I'd like to post a lot more updates here this year. And, if all goes well many of them will be based around photos that I take.

Photography is something that I have enjoyed for many many years, I even studied it at school back in the dark ages of my youth. But, like many things in life, trying to find the time to really give it a go has always been a problem - most of the shots I take are either when away on holiday or on the occasional local walk. In 2013 I want to try and change that by taking more photos and in the process improve my, very mediocre, skills.

Today may not have been the best day to pick up the camera - beer, Buck's Fizz (the drink, not the '80s pop group!) and whisky last night - but the weather was fine and so Lynda and I headed off for a walk and then a pub lunch this morning. The camera came along too...

Alvaston Park lake. 

Lynda and friends. 

Mute Swan and Coot. 

Teasel heads. 

 Winter trees.

Tree bark. 

Fungi - around 15 feet up a tree! 

Fungi - around 15 feet up a tree! 

No football this week!

There, I've taken the first step. Not the most awe inspiring set of photos but having just the local park to work with did at least make me look around a little more in the hope of finding things to point the camera at. 

Now, where to go next time...

Thirty second photo blog...

Very little to report this week. The weather still isn't very Spring-like but we've decided that it's time to take the plunge and kick-start the garden.

The summer bedding plants have started to go in!

The first car load of plants...

...awaiting Lynda and her green fingers.

Now, GROW!

My home-grown Aquilegia are, once again, coming into flower too.





Ice, snow, bikes and birds...

I don’t know about you but I’m getting just a little bored with the weather so far in 2010. Ice, snow, sleet, slush and even a touch of rain today, I’ve put up with it all over the past week and I’m ready for a change! Problem is, it looks like we’ve got at least another week of it to come. Great!

Cycling.

My cycling year started off steadily and then got even more steady. The roads and cycle paths on Monday, and again on Tuesday, morning were very icy. By Tuesday evening I was cycling home in snow. On Wednesday morning things had deteriorated to such an extent that Lynda didn’t like the idea of driving to work - we both chose to walk.

The walk to work.

Lynda, enjoying the snow!

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday I was back on the bike and actually starting to enjoy the adrenalin rush from riding on packed snow and ice. The minor roads were not so good but the cycle paths were not only smooth but offered a surprising amount of grip from the packed snow. By the end of the week I’d clocked up 60 miles. It’s not my best mileage for a week's commuting but at least I’ve been able to get a few miles under my belt.

Birding.

This morning I was faced with a decision - get out birding for a couple of hours or stay in the warmth of the house watching the snow fall and the freezing cold wind batter the trees, and anything else in it’s path. I rather enjoyed my walk, even if it was cold and a little thin on the ground bird wise!

As pretty much all still water is now frozen solid in the Trent Valley I decided to spend a little time in search of woodland species. With the roads still not fully free of ice in places I chose to head to Elvaston Castle - it’s close to home and I could reach it easily on roads that had been gritted. In a little over 2 hours of birding I managed to locate a total of 31 species, five of which were new for the year.

Elvaston Castle, and the frozen lake.

With the two lakes being almost completely frozen over, as expected, waterfowl were very thin on the ground with just Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Teal and Mallard being recorded. Sparrowhawk, Buzzard and Kestrel each gave brief views but didn’t hang around for long and the only gulls were a group of 36 Black-heads that were roosting on the ice of the main lake. Robins were much in evidence with at least 12 being noted; no doubt making the most of the food that people put out around the woodland paths here. A number of Redwings also showed well as they feed in small groups around the woods and allowed much closer views than usual. Three Treecreeper were busy searching for food until they all met up on the same tree. They then seemed more interested in the territorial battle that ensued than finding food to help them survive though yet another freezing cold day and night.

On reaching the bridge over the main lake I set up my own mini feeding station for the birds and put out a mix of seed and crushed peanuts. Within moments the birds were queuing up in the trees waiting for me to retreat to a safe distance. In total, 11 species came for food - Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Jay and Magpie. A single Goldcrest was flitting around in the trees here and a small flock of Long-tailed Tits moved through without stopping. The nature reserve within the park was a little quiet but it did hold 2 Grey Heron, 6 Teal, a single Kestrel, a pair of Pheasant and 3 Bullfinch.

The nature reserve.

The addition of Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Jay and Nuthatch takes the “10-Mile List” onto 69 species.

Something's out there!

November in a nutshell...

It doesn’t take much to work out that things have been very quiet here for the past month - no news means no blogs. But, as the end of yet another month is just around the corner I guess I should make a bit of an effort to keep the page up to date. So, here goes...

Lynda and I were both off work for the first week of November and, although we didn’t have too much planned, the poor weather meant we spent much of the time indoors. Monday was spent over in Nottingham walking around the shops. I can’t really say we went shopping, as the only things we purchased were chocolates! Admittedly it was very nice (and slightly expensive) chocolate but that was the sum total of our purchasing! Hotel Chocolat does, however, come highly recommended in this house!

Nottingham Council House.

Nottingham Market Square.

Whilst in Nottingham I managed to get my cycling fix by spending a little time looking around the Evans Cycles shop. Somehow I got out of the store without spending money, a rare event indeed these days! We would have looked around Nottingham Castle too, if it had not been closed. I guess Monday would be a good day to try and storm the castle if the need arose - nobody would be home!

Robin Hood - the only one left at the castle!

Whilst on our way back to the train station we passed Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, England’s oldest inn. I’d have loved to have stopped off here for a pint or two but as time was running short we had to make do with a quick photo of the outside. At least I now have a reason to go back to Nottingham.

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem.

The rest of the week was spent relaxing at home and eating out at lunch times. We visited three different pubs for lunch; The Bonnie Prince at Chellaston on Tuesday, The Dog and Duck at Shardlow on Thursday and The Newdigate Arms at West Hallam on the Friday. Wednesday was a healthy day - we stayed out of the pub and went for a walk around Elvaston Castle instead! After all the recent rain I had hoped to be able to photograph lots of different fungi but there was very little showing. We did manage to stay dry for the whole of the walk so that was something at least.

Elvaston Castle.

Much of November has provided a feeling of déjà vu on most days - I’ve ridden the bike to work, often in the rain, and almost always on wet roads. I’ve ridden home again in the dark and often in the rain or on wet roads. I’ve also picked up yet more punctures, two in the space of four days! The first left me pushing the bike the last half a mile home, the second was a slow puncture that saw me ride home, in the pouring rain, at near record speed so that I could get back before the tyre deflated fully. The rain was falling so heavily on that occasion that the air leaking from the tyre was actually blowing bubbles in the water! The bike was thrown in the back of the garage in disgust that evening and I didn’t go near it for another two days. Despite the weather, and also my bike, I have managed to keep adding a few miles to my total each day and have now covered a total of 3,331 miles this year.

That just about brings things up to date other than a few photos taken yesterday at the latest round of the Notts & Derby Cyclo-cross League. The racing took place at Sinfin Moor Park, which is just a short cycle ride of around 3 miles from home. Even after all the rain we’ve had in the past few weeks the course looked to have stood up to it very well and, from my view as a spectator, rode pretty fast. In true cyclo-cross style there was a fair amount of mud around but it tended to be the sort of stuff that didn’t clog up the bikes to any great extent. I’m still waiting for the official results to be posted on the league website but I’m pretty sure that Geoff Giddings, of the Raleigh Avanti team, managed to snatch victory on the line after a very fast sprint finish that saw the first two riders cross the line almost as one.

The charge away from the start line.

Steady on the down hill.

"Scream if you want to go faster!" But maybe take your road reflectors off!

Working together.

Team Raleigh on a charge!

The 1, 2 and nearly 3.

A week in Wales...

Around 20 years or so ago Lynda and I discovered a little holiday hideaway on the Welsh coast, the village of Aberporth. Since that first visit we’ve returned many times - we’ve lost count but it must be about 12 or 13 times. Last week, we spent yet another week relaxing at The Penrallt Hotel, this time in one of their self-catering cottages.

Our holiday cottage.

The weather wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t all that bad either. We hadn’t planned on doing much other than relaxing, eating, drinking and also going to a gig on the Thursday night. No break would be complete for me without a small amount of birding at some point so we spent a few hours at the Teifi Marshes Nature Reserve, Mwnt beach and also Aberporth beach. By the end of the week I’d recorded a total of 67 bird species. Most of these I could easily see here within my 10-mile zone but one or two were birds that would be considered as scare or unheard of in Derbyshire.

Sighting of the week was without doubt the two Chough that we saw at Mwnt, closely followed by the numerous Red Kites that we came across. Cetti’s Warblers were singing and showing well, for Cetti’s, at Teifi Marshes. Fulmar, Gannet, Shag, Kittiwake and Guillemot were the pick of the sea birds but waders were very thin on the ground with only Oystercatcher and Curlew being found. A couple of Wheatear were on Mwnt along with a Rock Pipit and a single Grey Wagtail was spotted in Cardigan town centre. Swift, Swallow and House Martin could all be seen from our cottage whilst Sand Martin were present at Teifi Marshes. As well as the Red Kites we also saw plenty of Buzzard, a couple of Kestrel and a Peregrine that was hunting over Aberporth village.

The indoor swimming pool, and also spa pool, at the hotel was put to good use on a couple of occasions but nothing like as often as we used the hotel's catering facilities! The Penrallt has always been very good when it comes to food but the standard was higher than ever this year. Even though we were in a self-catering cottage we found ourselves eating in the hotel every day - and also enjoying the delicious cappuccino coffee that they make too. The bar met with my approval the moment I spotted a bottle of Talisker whisky! The free WiFi connection available in the hotel lounge came in handy too - just how did we ever survive without the internet?

Before we set off on our holiday Lynda had been checking the internet for events in the Aberporth area, her searching came up with a gig in Cardigan by the Michael McGoldrick Band. I have to admit I wasn’t aware of this band before Lynda found them but I’ll now be keeping a look out for them in the future - the gig was great! Michael McGoldrick is a superb Uillean pipe player and also an amazing flute player. Checking out his past work on the internet revealed a huge list of names that he has performed with in the past - Kate Rusby, Eddi Reader, Sharon Shannon, John McCusker and also bands such as Capercaillie and Shooglenifty all appear. There was also an awesome Bodhran player in the band - John Joe Kelly - who kept me spellbound throughout the whole gig. His Bodhran solo was one of the highlights of the evening! The gig left me on such a high that it wasn’t until we set off back to the cottage that I realised just how hungry I was - a quick stop off at the local supermarket for supplies soon sorted that out. I was cooking myself a Chicken Jalfrazi a short while later!

As we spent much of the week doing very little I don’t have too many photos but here are a few of my favourites...

Aberporth.

Teifi Marshes.

Water Buffalo, in Wales?!

Poppit Sands.

Mwnt.

We almost always see Dolphins whilst in the Aberporth area, this year this was as close as we came!