Easter Weekend...

Yes, I know, it’s been ages since I updated this but I’ve not really had anything worth posting.

Last week was pretty quiet both at home and at work with little or nothing of note happening. The weather has been slowly but surely getting warmer and we’ve even had to water the garden a couple of times, as the ground is so dry.

The Autograss season is now fully underway but, as yet, I’ve not been to any meetings. Gary has not finished the work needed to bring his car up to 2007 spec. rules yet so it will be another few weeks before his car hits the track.

Biggest laugh of the week came at work… One of the salesmen tried to take the top down on a cabriolet we have for sale and got the electronic mechanism totally messed up! The end result was the roof stuck down and the boot lid stuck four feet up in the air! We sent him off back to his desk whilst we sorted everything out.

The jammed boot lid!

The Easter weekend was a quiet one for us. On Good Friday and Saturday, I had to work. On Sunday, I raked all the dead moss and grass from the lawns, and then mowed them; I dug the flower borders over and then washed the car. Lunch was a delicious roast turkey with all the trimmings - just like Christmas all over again! We even had a Christmas Pudding! Needless to say, we didn’t move far in the afternoon.

Yesterday, Bank Holiday Monday, I went out birding for a few hours at Willington Gravel Pits with Paul. We didn’t come across anything out of the ordinary bird wise - Sand Martin, Chiffchaff, Little Ringed Plover, Ruddy Duck, Wigeon and Common Buzzard being the highlights - but did get to watch a great fight for a nest hole between two male Great Spotted Woodpeckers! One of the birds had obviously laid claim to the hole and was quite happily going about removing debris from inside when along came another woodpecker that decided he would try to evict the first one. The fight that followed got to be quite nasty at times and also rather noisy; we left them to it with the bird that had first claimed the hole having the upper hand.

This weekend’s warm weather has seen quite a few butterflies taking to the wing. On Sunday, we had numerous Peacock and Small Whites in the garden and also a single Brimstone. On Monday, we came across more Peacocks at Willington along with two Orange Tips and one or two Speckled Woods. Later in the afternoon, we had another Speckled Wood in the garden at home. At last, some real signs of summer!

Today, I’ve been off work - time owed for working Good Friday - and I’ve spent much of the day sorting through well over 1000 photos on my PC! I’ve still not got them all in order, or transferred onto disk, but I’m getting there!

Is it the weekend yet?

Chiffchaff at Willington Gravel Pits.

Peacock butterfly at Willington Gravel pits.

Speckled Wood butterfly at Willington Gravel Pits.

The next photos show the second of the two male woodpeckers advancing on the nest hole.

This last photo is as far as the intruder got into the hole!

Not much going on but...

Here’s a quick run down of the week and it will be quick because not much has happened and I’m not really in the mood for sitting here typing loads of stuff tonight!

We hit the gym twice in the week and at last I’m fully back in the swing of things there - I’m actually enjoying it again and now look forward to going! Not felt like that for around 8 months or so! I’ve also managed to dump around 6 or 7 pounds of excess weight just by cutting out some of the rubbish I was eating. Not sure how long it will stay off though.

On Wednesday, I once again gave the neighbours good reason to think I have gone totally mad - I spent almost ¾ of an hour watering the lawns! Yes, I know it was still March and yes, I know it’s not been very hot but I wanted to roll the lawns to try and get rid of some of the humps and hollows that have developed over the past few years. When I tried rolling them last Saturday the ground was already too hard hence the watering!

The second part of the week had me watching my purchase figures at work like a hawk - it was the end of the first quarter this weekend and I needed to hit 100% of target so that we got a rebate back from Kia. We hit 100% on Thursday and, with a little bit of extra work and a very small piece of luck, we managed 105.3% by the month end. That last little push means that the rebate will now be more than double what it would have been.

Yesterday Lynda and I went into Derby in the morning. I needed a haircut, again, and we needed to do a little bit of shopping. All went off fine, Derby was pretty quiet, the weather was pleasant, if a little chilly, and I came home in one piece - just a pity I forgot half the stuff I went for! I hate shopping!

This morning I spent a few hours out and about birding. I checked three sites, all local to home and managed to add a few good birds to my year list - Sand Martin, Swallow, White-fronted Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover and Green Sandpiper. All common enough birds but good to see all the same.

So, that was last week. Now for a few photos from today.

Looking over the main pool at Willington

The newly created wader area at Willington.

A very friendly Robin that came to say hello!

There is plenty of Blackthorn in flower now.

A Dog Violet - I think!

Just a Dandelion, but from a bugs view!

Lesser Celandine - I hope!

A nice start to the week...

So, the week has started rather well, and yes, I am surprised by that!

This morning dawned dry, bright and sunny so I used the bike to go into work. I stopped off at Alvaston Park on the way, to feed the ducks, swans and geese - it’s always a nice way to start the working day!

By 8:30am all thoughts of an easy day had gone out of the window - we had no internet access and no way of getting any invoices etc downloaded! Oh well, not my problem, leave it to the boss! I had a coffee, a walk out onto the sales forecourt and enjoyed the sun for a while! After that, I carried on with whatever I could and let the whole thing wash over me. Today, I was chilling!

The second chill out session of the day started at 11:20am. Lynda had phoned me not long after I arrived at work to tell me that the new Airbus A380 was due to do a fly-past over the Rolls Royce engine works, here in Derby, today at around 11:30am. After standing outside with some of the other staff at work for a short while, we suddenly heard the sound of jet engines. Boy, that A380 is one BIG plane!

The first fly-past saw the plane turn away from us around a mile or so in the distance and we didn’t get too good a view through the hazy cloud. The second pass saw the A380 come straight over us at about 2000ft before banking steeply and quickly climbing up out of view. The plane was in a plain white livery, with no airline logos or wording at all, and it made the airbus look almost ghost-like in the hazy blue and white sky.

The rest of the day passed without too much trauma; the internet is sort of working, the sun came out even more and nobody was too stressed out by the issues caused by the errors in the new computer programmes. The ride home - along the long route - was very pleasant with the birds singing away as though there wasn't a care in the world!

Tomorrow, is another day though…

Photos from "This Is Derbyshire", the Derby Evening Telegraph web site.

Nothing much going on at the moment so this will be a very brief Blog! Yes, I can be brief!

We’ve been having an updated computer programme installed at work over the past week… it’s all going wrong! This coming week could well be rather interesting, even if it is only to see who gets involved in the biggest arguments!

After the slight glitch with my new glasses last week I now have them safely in my possession; so it’s out with the Giorgio Armani and in with the Dolce & Gabbana! Ooh, name dropper! I am rather pleased with them though - just so long as they last as well as the old ones did!

Today, I spent a fair amount of the day out in the garden; I mowed the lawns, then rolled them, dug the flower boarders over and gave the mountain bike a bit of a clean. The weather first thing wasn’t too clever - cloudy, dull and rather cool - but by early afternoon it felt quite warm and turned into a rather nice day.

So, that just about covers things. Told you I can be brief!

Derby Cathedral Peregrines

I’ve just been watching a video clip of the Derby Cathedral Peregrines and I must say that I found it just a little bit funny!

It shows the male arriving at the nest platform with a small amount of food, and then the female arrives and steals his dinner!

The look on the poor little male birds face is priceless!




For more updates on the Peregrines check out….

http://derbyperegrines.blogspot.com/

A long story, not cut short!

It has been a busy few days with quite a lot happening but I will try to condense it down into as short a Blog as I can!

Friday… Lynda and I went into Derby to pick up our new glasses. We spent ages getting them “fitted” - I thought they were going to chop off one of my ears and re-fix it lower down my head at one point! - only to discover a fault in one of the lenses on my pair when I got home! The glasses have now gone back!

We drove up to Rowarth in the afternoon for The Silver Dogs gig. We didn’t get to have a walk up on the moors due to the weather, it rained! Finding the Little Mill Inn proved to be just as hard as I had imagined - we missed at least two turnings off the main road, and then finished up having to reverse down a single-track dead end road! Finding the inn was not only a relief but also a pleasure. It’s a great pub, in a great location and serves some very good food. It was worth the drive out just for that.

The Little Mill Inn, Rowarth.

You can stay the night, in an old Pullman railway coach!

The working water wheel next to the inn.

The Silver Dogs gig was excellent; this band need to be playing much bigger venues to much larger audiences. We sat chatting to our old friend Mark “The Madfiddler” Knight for a while before the band played and also got to know the rest of the band members a little - a good bunch of people they are too. As for Mark, he is still as mad as a hatter! He went walkabout at one point during the set and finished up out on the road playing his fiddle. Luckily, Mark still uses a radio mic setup on stage so, even though the crowd lost sight of him, we could still hear him play! Great stuff!

Mark (The Madfiddler) Knight!

The Silver Dogs!

The Madfiddler!

Saturday… Not surprisingly, we had a rather late start to the day, well it was around 2:30AM when we got to bed! I think it was somewhere around 11:30AM when we finally surfaced! I spent what was left of the morning, and some of the early afternoon, sorting through the photos I had taken the night before whilst Lynda went into Derby to do a bit of shopping and to take my glasses back.

After watching some of the rugby on TV - I fell asleep through most of it - it was time to head off to The Flowerpot, venue for the second gig of the weekend. This time it was Thee na Shee we were off to see. This was another new band to me although a couple of the band members were people I knew from other bands; Mick Doyle also plays with Neverland; John Adams plays with The Rattlers.

As it was St. Patrick’s Day The Flowerpot was packed out for this gig; everyone was in party mood and the place was really buzzing. The atmosphere was helped even more by the fact that quite a few of Mick’s family and friends were over from Ireland for the gig. The evening kicked off with a couple of Mick’s family or friends (I can’t remember which) playing for around ¾ of an hour as a warm up. They played a great set of traditional Irish music and really got everyone in the mood for the rest of the evening.

As for Thee na Shee; it’s something like 11 years since they last played regularly, apart from one comeback gig last year, but it didn’t show at all, they played a superb set. There was everything from slow, haunting, tracks featuring Celtic Harp to full-blown Celtic rock n’ roll. With luck, this band will now start and play a few more live gigs again and I’ll be there as and when they do.

Robin Launder - Thee na Shee

Robin Launder and Mick Doyle - Thee na Shee

Jeff Davenport - Thee na Shee

Sunday… A day of rest! We went up to see my mum this morning to take her Mothers Day card and present. On the way back I called in at PC World and purchased a new anti-virus programme for the PC. We then came home, had lunch, watched some TV and I fell asleep! I did wake up in time to watch the F1 Grand Prix re-run though. Not a bad race I suppose but I missed Schumacher! And, if you watched the race… What on earth was David Coulthard doing? I’m sure there must be something in the rules about trying to decapitate the opposition using your own car!

So, that’s the weekend covered - trying to condense it didn’t work too well, did it?

More photos from The Little Mill Inn gig HERE!

More photos from The Flowerpot gig HERE!

Okay, I know it’s just a little bit early but…

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

I had to post that now because we are going to be a little bit busy over the next couple of days! Tomorrow Lynda and I are off work and have quite a bit to do one way or another. In the morning, we are both going to be picking up new glasses, doing a little bit of shopping in Derby, then heading off into the wilds of north Derbyshire for a gig. We are off to see The Silver Dogs play at the Little Mill Inn at Rowarth, near Glossop.

If the weather isn’t too bad then I hope to be able to take in a bit of a walk up on the moors… if the weather doesn’t play ball, we’ll just have to spend more time in the pub! Either way I’ll try and get photos of something!

On Saturday, after what I imagine will be a late start to the day, we have another gig, Thee na Shee at The Flowerpot in Derby. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a long while now and, with it being St. Patrick’s Night, I’m sure it’s going to be a bit of a party!

* edited photo courtesy of my friend Sarah, in Indiana!

NO SMOKING!!!

Last night we had a little taste of the future…

July 1 2007 sees the introduction of the ban on smoking in all enclosed public places in England and, after visiting the Bulls Head in Denby last night, it cannot come soon enough! Since the Bulls Head re-opened a week ago, after a massive fire last year, it has become a no smoking pub and it is great! To be able to go out, enjoy a meal, a drink, and not go home smelling of stale cigarette smoke was, quite literally, a refreshing change!

As for the rest of the evening, it was superb - great food, plenty of it, friendly and efficient service and a very relaxing feel to the place with an excellent job having been done of the refit. There was also live music in the bar area from a three-piece jazz group playing bass and lead guitar and clarinet. I wasn’t too sure about the music when we first walked in - not my usual style! - but, I have to admit it did add to the evening and I actually enjoyed it in the end. I’m NOT converted though!

Just for the record we ate…

Starters
Golden Breaded Mushrooms - Lynda
Parcels of Brie Cheese with Mango - for me

Main Course
Chicken Napolean - Lynda
Chicken Jalfrazi - for me

Dessert
Crunchie Bailey Boo - one each!

The weekend.

My morning at work yesterday was nice and easy - I spent most of it cleaning the fish tank in the showroom! Apart from that, there was little else to do. I did sort out one or two orders ready for Monday and also ran off a couple of reports but that’s about all.

Today I have been out birding again with Paul; we stayed local again, very local for me, and spent a pleasant four hours in and around the grounds of Elvaston Castle. We didn’t come across anything too exciting but even so, it was nice to be out and about in the sunshine.

The highlights, such as they were, included numerous drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker, at least 6 Jay, 3 or 4 Goldcrest, a pair of Bullfinch and a singing Chiffchaff. This little Chiffchaff may not have been the most colourful of things but to me it meant the start of spring! I always think that we are finally over winter when the first summer migrants arrive back. One other bird that would have been a highlight, if we could have found it, was a Tawny Owl. On two separate occasions we heard the owl calling close to us but we failed to see it!

I didn’t try for any bird photos whilst we were out, I played around with one or two different camera angles instead. I didn’t take too many photos but these are some of the better ones.

One last little bit of “news”… Lynda and I are off up to Scotland again later in the year. We will be going back to the Loch Lomond area, in July, for the music festival and the Callander World Highland Games.

Age; it’s just a number!

So, just when do little boys grown up and become men?

On the way into work this morning - on the mountain bike - I came across a minor problem, the track alongside the river was flooded underneath one of the road bridges. It wasn’t too deep, around a foot or so of water I guess, but it was just enough for it to come up onto my shoes as I rode through it.

Now, on the way to work I took it very slowly and managed to get through without getting wet apart from a little water on my shoes, which didn’t come through. Tonight, I could quite easily have taken the much sorter and drier route home - oh no, that wouldn’t have been half as much fun!

By the time I reached the “water splash” a fair amount of it had drained away which meant that it was now much easier to ride through quickly! Yep, I got wet! Even though I still have the winter mudguards on the bike, I still managed to get mud and water right up my back, over my rucksack and all over the bike! I also had quite a large smile on my face!

Boys, they NEVER grow up!

Yet more rain...

Here’s a thing… listen to the weather reports but DO NOT trust them!

According to three websites, and a weather forecast on the TV, it was not going to rain here until early afternoon today. Well, to me, early afternoon is not 11:00AM!

Even though I am still close to death from the attack of Man Flu, I kept my promise to Paul that we would go out birding this morning. We met at 8:00AM in the car park at Carsington Water and had a good run of luck with the birds we found for the first three hours, and then it rained! In true Carsington style, we were just about as far from the car as we could have been when the heavens opened - as is always the case when it rains up there! By 11:30AM, we were heading for home, very wet!

We did have a few rather good birds though… Tawny Owl was one of the first things we came across, followed later in the morning by Barn Owl and also Great Northern Diver (Common Loon, for my friends in America), numerous Bullfinch, a few Redwing, a single Curlew (heading for breeding grounds up on the moors I’d guess), around 20 Ruddy Duck and four very noisy Oystercatchers! Why do those things have to be so damn loud???

In the end, apart from getting a good soaking, it wasn’t too bad a morning. The plan is to make local trips like this one a regular thing so, Ali, expect Paul to be running off on Sunday mornings a little more often from now on!

A couple of little extra bits from yesterday… as well as getting my new printer/scanner whilst in Derby we also picked up tickets to see Thee na Shee at The Flowerpot on St. Patrick’s night, March 17. This is the evening after we will have seen The Silver Dogs play so it’s another two-gig weekend! Things are starting to come together nicely on the music front.

As we walked across Derby market place yesterday we were met by around a dozen Autograss cars - the Pennine club were holding a PR day to promote the forthcoming season. It was nice to catch up with a few people that I had not seen since last season finished and to see some race cars again -it’s been a long winter!

A brand new, rear engined, Class 7 from the Pennine club.

Don’t worry, I don’t take my camera with me when I go shopping - these were taken on my phone!

Lunar Eclipse…

Last night we witnessed a total lunar eclipse - and pretty damn good it was too!

For once, the British weather played along with us and didn’t spoil the occasion at all, well, not too much! It could have been 10 or 15 degrees warmer but hey, you can’t have everything!

I tried to get as many good photos as I could - taken through my birding ‘scope - but the more the shadow covered the moon, the harder it got to get my camera to focus. Below are some of the better shots - not great shots, just better than the real bad ones! If you click on a photo, it will open into a bigger window.

21:52

22:02

22:14

22:15

22:18

22:23

22:25

22:35

Want to know more about lunar eclipses, and also when the next one will be visible to you, then click HERE!

A new toy!

Evening! Just a quick post to try out a new toy!

I was off work today and, seeing as how I’m feeling a bit down due to the Man Flu, I decided to treat myself to a new toy - an all in one printer/scanner/copier for the PC.

I have been wanting to scan a load of old photos and birding notes for some while, so, now I can, and it didn’t even cost me a penny as I had a bunch of Argos shopping vouchers to use from work!

So, here is my first scanned and uploaded photo…

Yes, that is me sat on the side of the car! Its back in either 1977 or ‘78 at the old Flagg Moor grass track. My dad is the one driving the car and it had been a great day's racing. We had won all of our heats, the final and also an all-comers race, which saw us given a full lap's handicap from the start - it still wasn’t enough to stop my dad winning!

Right, I must run as we are in the middle of watching the total lunar eclipse!

Today, I can confirm that I have been hit by that most deadly of viruses - MAN FLU! Quite how I managed to get through the night I will never know, but I did and I soldiered on through the day at work.

I have just about lived on Lemsip and orange juice today but I must admit that the 12-inch “dustbin lid” sandwich that Lynda delivered to work for me this lunchtime did help! Ham salad with chicken and stuffing - it was great!

Lynda and I both booked March 16 off work today, so we will be going to see The Silver Dogs play at The Little Mill Inn. Having the day off work means that we will be able to head up to north Derbyshire during the morning and spend the day having a look around before the gig.

It got me!

Today I started with what could well be MAN FLU! Friends, look out, I may soon be in great need of sympathy! This could turn out to be life threatening! I even sneezed earlier!

Everything else has been pretty quiet so far this week, nothing out of the ordinary going wrong at work, nothing out of the ordinary happening at home.

We are starting to look at more gigs that we would like to attend and the next one looks like being a band called The Silver Dogs. This is a band that we have not seen before, playing at a venue we have never visited before, but I am keen to catch up with them and especially their violin player Mark “The Mad Fiddler” Knight! Mark used to play with the Bluehorses a few years ago and it has been way too long since we met up with him!

Lynda and I are also looking at trips to Cumbria and Scotland later in the year but they both depend on finding places to stay and also things fitting into place with gigs / The Whitehaven International Maritime Festival / Highland Games / work and money!

So, that’s about it for the week so far.

Was it you?

If you checked this Blog at 7:30PM, UK time, today and use NTL then you were my 2500th visitor!

Thank you!

After The Rain...

It’s the end of another weekend and it’s been a good one!

On Friday evening, we went to see Last Night’s Fun play at the Derby Assembly Rooms and it was a great night of music and laughter! This band has to be seen playing live to fully appreciate just how entertaining they are.

Right from the word go it was a display of musical brilliance, coupled with a never-ending supply of humour. It they cut out all the interaction between themselves, and also the audience, they may well fit in another three or four songs but that is not what Last Night’s Fun are about, they are out and out entertainment and that is what we got on Friday!

The newest band member, Ciaran Boyle, is going to prove to be a great asset to the band; his bodhran playing is just awesome! I’ve seen a fair few people play bodhran over the years but this guy is something else; the range of sound that he can produce is just unbelievable. I suppose we should have expected something a bit special after watching him tune up before the gig. He took twice as long as the rest of the band making sure everything was just perfect - it shows! Roll on the next Last Night’s Fun gig we can attend.

On Saturday, I was in work in the morning. Nothing special, just another day at the office… things went to plan, others didn’t, and it rained on the way home. Well, more like it poured down! The short trip home in the car meant that the weather wasn’t too much of a problem, if you happened to be the one in the car! Lynda was that one; she had been into Derby shopping! I was the fool on the mountain bike that looked like a drowned rat!

Saturday evening was much better - we were at our second gig of the year and of the weekend. This time it was The Flowerpot in Derby to see Karnataka. After the big change in line up, since the last time I saw this band, I was a little unsure as to what they would sound like. I needn't have worried, they were amazing.

The set they played lasted for the best part of two hours and was made up of around 18 tracks. State of Grace kicked things off, quickly followed by After The Rain (quite fitting after the weather on Saturday!). A little later in the set came the stunning Delicate Flame of Desire, one of my favourite Karnataka tracks.

After a short interval, we were treated to more classic numbers… Time Stands Still; Dreamer; I Should Have Known and, the eagerly awaited, The Storm. This may well have been the first night of the new tour but it didn’t show at all - the band played superbly. Now, I just need to work out how I can catch up with them again later in the tour.

Today, I was hoping to be out birding in the county for the first time this year - it didn’t happen! The weather report was for heavy rain all day, so I stayed in bed. In the end, it was dry all morning so I could have gone out after all - sorry Paul, we’ll try again for next weekend!

Random bits of nothing…

I’m starting to think that spring is slowly creeping in; I rode in to work on the bike this morning without having to use my lights, the birds were singing their heads off all along my route and this evening the song was even louder as the Blackbirds claimed their roosting territory. The lights on the bike were on this evening but only as an extra safety feature, I didn’t really need them as it was still quite light.

On Friday, we will be at our first gig of the year - Last Night’s Fun at the Derby Assembly Rooms. Then, just like busses arriving one after another, we should be at our second gig of the year on Saturday. I say should because I haven’t had time to purchase tickets for this one yet! So, if we can get in, we will be seeing Karnataka at The Flowerpot, Derby, on Saturday evening. After that, there is a few weeks break before the next gig that will be Thee na Shee, at The Flowerpot, on St. Patrick’s Night, March 17.

I received an events diary from the British Heart Foundation earlier in the week that lists many of the forthcoming fund raising events. Apart from the High Peak Trail walk in November, that I have taken part in for the past couple of years, another event has grabbed my attention - a bike ride in the Derbyshire Peak District, in April.

Participants can choose two distances, either 30 miles or 57 miles. Right now, I am feeling as though I may just fancy a go at the 57 miles! The only reservation I have is that my old timer of a bike may not be quite up to the terrain! I have requested more information on the route and location of this ride so I should be in a position to make a decision soon. Yes, I WILL be chasing sponsorship!

One final little bit of news; I have been made aware of a new Blog site today, the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project. In 2006 a pair of Peregrine nested on the cathedral tower and for this year a Blog site has been created to follow the fortunes of the birds. The site is still in the early stages of development but over the coming weeks there may well be web-cam coverage available. Add the link to your favourites and follow the story as it unfolds.

Yesterday was Lynda’s birthday, I’d have loved to have been able to take the day off work so that we could have spent the day out and about somewhere but staff levels at work dictated otherwise - the boss booked time off before I could! Strange how he only told me he was going to be off work after I asked for the day off!

We did go out for a meal last night though, we went over to The Boar's Head at Sudbury again. I’m starting to rather like the place after these first two visits. The food has been superb on both occasions and the service excellent.

We started the evening with drinks in the lounge before moving through to the restaurant to eat. Lynda had melon and oranges in Cointreau to start, followed by venison with mushrooms and onion in a Port and wild berry sauce. I chose roast tomato and basil soup, again followed by the venison.

For the sweets, Lynda had crystallised pineapple with a ginger and chilli dressing - it sounded like a strange combination to me, but Lynda said that it was very nice! - whilst I chose lattice pancakes with mixed summer berries and ice cream.

We finished with coffees, served back in the lounge area, and then, before we left, we spent a while chatting with the owner about my family history! It certainly is a small world - he knew more about many of my relations than I did!

The past two days...

Yesterday, Lynda and I joined up with the Derby RSPB Local Group for a birding trip to Pennington Flash and Martin Mere, both in Lancashire. This was the first proper birding that we had done since the trip to Far Ings back on December 9th and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day.

As we left Derby, the weather was dry but it was very overcast and dull but at least it was not raining, I hate birding in the rain! As we travelled north, the skies slowly started to clear and, by the time we reached Pennington, the sun started to come out. By 10:30AM we had blue skies and very little in the way of cloud - much more to my liking.

Blue skies over Pennington.

Birds seen at Pennington included Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Pochard, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, a single Skylark in rather early song flight, Willow Tit, a couple of Jay and some superb male Bullfinch. The light during the morning was perfect for birding and allowed me to get some of the better photos I’ve taken through my birding ‘scope.

Male Bullfinch at the feeding station - taken through my 'scope.

By 12:30PM, it was time for us to move on to Martin Mere. This was the part of the day that I was really looking forward to - Martin Mere in winter is one of my favourite reserves in the country. It has superb facilities, a large number of hides spread around the reserve that give great views of the mere and surrounding countryside and it also has the added attraction of a large captive collection of waterfowl to look around. Add to that the huge numbers of swans, geese and ducks that are attracted to the reserve and you can easily spend a whole day there.

On arrival at Martin Mere, the first stop was at the visitor centre to purchase a couple of bags of corn. Then it was out into the captive area in search of Nene. When visiting a Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust reserve we ALWAYS have to feed the Nene. These geese have to be some of the friendliest, and nicest looking, geese in the world. They're also one of the most endangered!

Nene or Hawaiian Geese.

From the Nene, we moved on to the wild part of the reserve and the birding proper. The numerous hides gave us very good views of the 1400+ Whooper Swan as well as the thousands of Pink-footed Geese that also over winter in the area. We also saw birds that included Barnacle Geese, Wigeon, Pintail, Common Buzzard, Peregrine, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Lapwing - in their thousands, Ruff and Black-tailed Godwit. Smaller birds included Stonechat, Tree Sparrow and a single male Brambling - bird of the day for me.

Some of the many wild swans on the mere.

Once again, the light was near to perfect here and that, coupled with the closeness of many of the birds, let me play around with the camera and ‘scope again. My favourite shot being of a group of Lapwing roosting in the sunset. So, all in all a great day's birding. Hopefully that will now kick start my local patch watching and I’ll be back out with the binoculars again next weekend.

Lapwing as the sun set over Martin Mere.

More photos from the birding trip HERE!

Today, I had a bit of a lie in, uploaded some photos onto Shutterfly and then did a little bit of gardening. After that, I made sure that all the bird feeders were topped up and then checked my bike over ready for work tomorrow. There is no way that I’m getting caught up in the nightmare traffic on Pride Park again unless I really have to!

Monday to Friday

As you may guess from the lack of updates on here this week, it has been a quiet few days. It went something like…

Monday - Work was a pain as we had no internet access for much of the day! No internet means no contact with our parts supplier and no way of requesting parts returns etc! Lynda and I were at the gym in the evening.

Tuesday - I was on the internet at home at 6:45AM doing all the things that I couldn’t do at work on Monday! When I got into work, the internet was fine! I could have stayed in bed a little longer! Rode to work and back on the mountain bike.

Wednesday - Valentines Day! A dozen red roses for Lynda and then we had pizza and a rather nice bottle of red wine in the evening.

Thursday - Derby came to a halt from late afternoon onwards. Seven weeks of road works started on the A52 heading out of town and all the surrounding roads, including Pride Park, were gridlocked! I walked to the gym after work - around ¾ of a mile - and I arrived at the same time as Lynda who had driven less than half a mile to get there. Some of the people at work took almost an hour to drive the mile or so off Pride Park!

Friday - It was damp and drizzly in the morning so I didn’t bother with the bike - big mistake! By 3:00PM, all the roads on Pride Park were at a standstill again. By 5:30PM, it was gridlock. Lynda left work at the same time that I did and drove home; I chose to walk the 2 or 3 miles and arrived just five minutes after she did!

I'll update you on the weekend a little later!

So, the snow came - around two or three inches of it here I guess. It arrived just as the forecast had predicted, smack in the middle of the morning rush hour on Thursday! The drive into work was okay for us; all the main roads had been well gritted so it was just a case of taking it easy on the side roads.

The drive down to my meeting on Thursday was pretty routine too - the dual carriageways were clear of snow and, even though it was snowing quite heavily, visibility was not too bad. I even arrived a good 15 or 20 minutes early. Best to make a good impression.

The meeting itself went off without any real drama, now it’s just a case of waiting to see if we notice any improvement in service from the supplier. The birding was quite good from the meeting too - I had good views of a Common Snipe as it flew past the window, numerous Redwing and Fieldfare were feeding across the road from the building and a Common Buzzard was perched in a tree in direct line of sight from where I was sat!

On Thursday, around 30 of us from work went to Frankie & Benny’s for the evening - the boss was paying as a treat to us all for winning the UK Dealer of the Year Award. We started off by having six of their big Sampler Platters between us - there were chicken strips, BBQ wings, loaded potato skins, deep fried onion rings and garlic bread etc on those - and it would have been quite easy to have eaten too much as a starter! After that, everyone chose his or her own main course. I didn’t even have to open the menu; it just had to be Meatballs on Penne Pasta for me! I love ‘em!

Last night was yet more food - we went out with our good friends Mark and Sheila for a Cantonese buffet at the Jasmine Garden. The choice of dishes were as good as ever and we all made numerous trips back to restock our plates. The chicken and sweet corn soup was particularly good as was the sweet and sour chicken, the roast pork and the sesame toast! In fact, it was ALL good stuff!

Today, I have been back up at the farm helping my dad put up the final 12 nest boxes that he had. Most were small Blue Tit type boxes but there were also one or two larger ones, another two owl boxes and a single Woodpecker box. Hopefully they will all have residents in them this spring.

The Colts won the Super Bowl, so the weekend ended on a high for me! The final score of 29-17 made the win look a little easier than it was. The whole game was played in the pouring rain and this resulted in one or two more errors than could normally be expected but it did make for an exciting game.

The new week did not start quite so well though. Getting to bed at almost 3:30AM took its toll on me as the day went on and by early evening, I was beat! I don’t think going to the gym after work helped either! By the time it came to riding into work this morning - in temperatures below freezing - I was back to normal again, must have been all the coffee I drank on Monday that was starting to kick-in.

We’ll be back at the gym again tomorrow, if the weather doesn’t stop us. Well, it is a different excuse to normal. The weather forecast is for between 4 and 5 inches of snow over the next 24/48 hours. Whether we actually get ANY snow remains to be seen! For once, I’d be rather pleased if we didn’t get any - I have to drive to a meeting on Thursday morning, just when the forecasters say we will get the heaviest falls!

Finally, and most importantly, congratulations to Paul and Ali on the arrival of Bethany Grace today. Hello to you, Bethany!

It's all going good...

So far, so good! The weekend is panning out exactly as planned!

Derby County won yet again yesterday, a 1-0 victory over Southampton. Derby are now 6 points clear at the top of the table, although they have played two games more than fourth place Birmingham City, who are on 54 points.

England took Scotland apart in the 6 Nations Rugby yesterday afternoon, winning 42-20. Star of the game had to be the returning Johnny Wilkinson. In his first England game since 2003 - when he scored that last gasp drop goal to win the World Cup - Wilkinson scored 27 of England’s 42 points. He even managed a rather contentious “flying try” that many think should not have been awarded!

Today, Lynda and I met up with my mum and dad for lunch. We went over to The Boar’s Head Hotel at Sudbury. This was the first time Lynda and I had been there but it is a regular haunt of my parents - they have been going there for Christmas Day dinner for a few years now. I think we will be going back! The food was gorgeous - especially my Venison and Partridge Casserole! Oh, and there can’t be too many restaurants in Derbyshire that had six rather nice Corvette Stingrays in the car park today!

So, that just leaves tonight. After I post this, I will be shutting the PC down for a while and going in search of TV food. Tonight, it’s the American Football Super Bowl! Kick off is at 11:25PM UK time so it looks like it will be a very late night for me, or should that be an early morning? One way or an other I can’t see me doing too much at work tomorrow! The coffee machine may well be in for a hard time in the morning - “I’ll have a 76 please - Cappuccino with no extra sugar!”

One last little thing. Would anyone care to sponsor me to £10’000? The novelty of the new TV and DVD is starting to wear a little thin and I’ve found a new “toy” that I’d like please! And it's road legal!

Firstly, I have to say sorry to Sheila! On Tuesday’s Blog post I said that we would be at the gym on Wednesday evening - we weren’t! Sorry! We had planned on going, and even had our gym kits in the car, but I didn’t feel too good during Wednesday afternoon so I chose to give the gym a miss! We SHOULD be there on Monday, Wednesday and Friday next week with luck - best to check first though!

On Thursday evening, we collected the new video/DVD recorder. Disconnecting the old video and separate DVD player only took a couple of minutes and the new unit went straight into its “auto set-up” programme as soon as I turned on the power. “Great” I thought, “this is a piece of cake”.

Only problem was I couldn’t get any picture on the TV at all! After about another 10 minutes of trying the tuning on the TV again and checking all the connections and leads I found I was one Scart short of a signal - I had not connected one of the leads. In fact, it was still at the far end of the room with the old DVD player! Everything is working a treat now though.

Shortly after we got in from the gym last night, we received a phone call from Paul, a friend of ours, to tell us that Saturn was visible just below the moon if we fancied a look. So, it was out with the birding ‘scope, on with a sweatshirt and out into the back garden. Yep, he was right; sure enough, there was Saturn, complete with its rings! Okay, through a birding ‘scope it wasn’t the best view but it was still worth a look, especially as the sky was so clear. The moon looked much more impressive to me though!

Taken through my birding 'scope.

As Lynda needed the car this morning, to go into Derby for an eye test, I went to work on the mountain bike again even though it was still -2°C at 8:00AM. Apart from having to watch out for the odd icy patch along the riverside path it was one of the nicest rides I have had for a while. The sun was coming up in a clear blue sky, the birds were singing and there was a light mist over the water. It was one of those mornings when I could have just kept on riding - or at least just sat and watched the river and the birds pass by.

The River Derwent this morning - taken with phone camera.