Four more species...

Sunrise from Swarkestone Bridge.

Another early start to the day today, up at 5:45AM and out the door by 6:15AM to go birding again. The early start didn’t quite pay off this time though as I missed the bird I was after. A female Ring Ouzel had been reported near Ticknall, South Derbyshire, yesterday but by this morning it had moved on. It’s a year tick missed but it’s my own fault, I should have gone for it yesterday as passage Ring Ouzel tend not to hang around too long in Spring!

The morning wasn’t a total loss though as I still managed to locate four new birds for my “10-Mile List”. The first was a superb male Northern Wheatear that was in the same field as the Ring Ouzel should have been. I would imagine that the bird had arrived overnight as there had been no reports of it yesterday and it was also looking somewhat subdued for much of the time. It wasn’t until the sun had been on its back for almost an hour that the bird started to move around the field and began to feed.

The second tick of the day also came whilst looking for the Ring Ouzel, a male Yellowhammer that was singing from the top of a nearby hedge. The “Little-bit-of bread-and-no-cheese” call of the bird gave its location away; the stunningly bright yellow plumage made it impossible to miss. At 8:00AM I gave up on the Ouzel and decided to move on. Species number 90 and 91 were on my list so I wasn’t too concerned about dipping out on the moorland blackbird. At least that’s what I kept telling myself!

Having already visited Willington Gravel Pits five times this Spring I decided that today I would give it a miss and go for a walk around Barrow-upon-Trent pits instead. So far, there have been no reports of anything “interesting” at Willington today so I’m hoping that I made the right choice.

Looking back towards Barrow-upon-Trent Church.

Of the 45 species seen at Barrow two were new for the year, Red-legged Partridge and White Wagtail. Now, before everyone bombards me with e-mails I know that White Wagtail is the nominate race of our Pied Wagtail and is NOT on the BOU list of British Species but, this is my game and I’ll play it by MY rules! The bird recording programme I use has White Wagtail on it, so I tick it! I see it as compensation for missing the Ring Ouzel.

Other birds of note at Barrow included 12 Mute Swan, 6 Greylag Geese, a pair of Gadwall, 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Swallow, 1 Northern Wheatear, a male Blackcap and a male Yellowhammer.

At 10:30AM I made the decision to call it a day and head for home. I could quite easily have driven a few miles down the road to Willington but, no doubt, the place will still be there next week!

My “10-Mile List” has now reached 93 species.

Spa day...

I want a Japanese Salt Steam Bath here at home! Heated seats and walls, a room temperature of 45°c (113°f) and humidity between 90 and 100%. This was, once again, my favourite “treatment” at the Nottingham Aqua Sana Spa. The other spa rooms are all very good too but, for me, they don’t quite match the Japanese salt.

We arrived at Center Parcs at just before 9:00AM, managed to park right opposite the entrance to the spa and checked in at reception. After a brief and very friendly explanation of our day over a cup of coffee from one of the staff, we headed off into the spa. Some 5 hours later we re-emerged, feeling very much relaxed and, a little disturbing for me, smelling of a wonderful mix of the aromas used in the various steam rooms! Lemon, Camomile, Sage, Rosemary and Eucalyptus are all used at some point. I may suggest a new spa room... the Whisky Steam Bath!

Lunch in the Conservatory Café- included in the price - was very tasty, and healthy too. Lynda had a Jacket Potato with a Coriander Chicken Salad; I had a potato with a Rice & Mushroom Salad. We then undid all the good of the first course by having dessert - Carrot Cake for Lynda, Lemon Drizzle Cake for me! Well, too much healthy food in one day isn’t good for you, is it?

After lunch we spent a while sat outside on the balcony of the spa, wrapped in two huge great big fluffy blankets to keep warm! I can imagine this to be a great spot to be on a snowy winter’s evening. Having let our lunch go down a little we returned to the spa rooms for another hour or so before heading off into the main village.

As the weather wasn’t too good, lots of heavy rain showers, we didn’t spend too much time looking around the village square but there have been one or two changes since we last visited back in October 2006. Starbucks now have a coffee shop there, the Country Club is now a “contemporary gastro pub” (their words, not mine!) and a couple of new shops have opened. Other than that it’s business as usual.

The swimming dome is much the same... we both came back with bruises from the water slides and rapids so things can’t have changed too much! One small step forward was that Lynda managed to go down both the Raft Ride and one of the water slides without screaming! Now that is progress!

Having enjoyed around 3 hours in the pool area we headed back out into the village again. We walked to the far end of the park and had a drink in the gastro pub before returning to Luciano’s, the Italian restaurant. Once again, nothing much changes here; the food was great, the service spot on. The Nottingham Center Parcs is still the best as far as we are concerned. The staff are always great, the swimming dome is, we reckon, the best and the park layout is superb.

At just after 10:00PM we decided it was time to make tracks for home. By 11:30PM we were tucked up in day, relaxed and very happy. This morning we didn’t drag ourselves out of bed until after 11:00AM so, I guess, it must have been a tiring day out too! Roll on November when we return to Sherwood Forest!

IT'S THE WEEKEND!!!

Yeah, that’s right... it’s the weekend! Lynda and I have now finished work for the week and have a three-day weekend to look forward to.

The week so far...

I’ve managed to use the bike to get to and from work for three days, today I had to take the car so that I could get petrol for the weekend. The weather has been cold and wet at times but the only time it caught me out was on the journey home on Tuesday. The rain had stopped by the time I left work but, foolishly, I chose the long, riverside, route home so that I could get an extra bit of a “workout” and also do a little birding at the same time. In the end all I managed to do was get myself, my clothes and my bike caked in mud! It was fun ploughing through all the puddles though! Sorry for all the extra washing Lynda!

The birding-by-bike hasn’t turned up anything too surprising over the past few days with only Monday evening turning up anything of note... 2 Great Crested Grebe on the river in Alvaston Park; 2 Greylag in a field between the river and the Alvaston by-pass; a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming in the grounds of Elvaston Castle; numerous Sand Martin (tricky getting a count when cycling!); 5 Chiffchaff along the river path and a single Blackcap in Alvaston Park.

So, onto the weekend. In a little under 12 hours Lynda and I will be in the Aqua Sana Spa at Center Parcs, Nottingham, and we can’t wait! We’ll spend the morning in the spa, have lunch in the Conservatory Café and then, if it isn’t raining, we’ll have a quick look around the village to see what’s new. The rest of the afternoon will be spent messing around in the swimming dome. In the evening we’ll replace all the energy used up on the water slides and rapids by having a meal in one of the restaurants on site.

At some point over the weekend I’d like to get out and do a few hours birding but, if the weather isn’t too good, I may well just have two days of doing very little apart from chilling out. This weekend will be all about unwinding before what looks like being an even more stressful week at work next week - but that’s another story!

Willington, in the snow...

I woke this morning (at 5:45AM) to find the garden covered in snow, and a male Blackbird outside the kitchen window complaining that he was cold and that there was no fruit on the bird table for breakfast. The Blackbird and three of his mates were served breakfast before I was - it was quieter that way! At times, I think the birds eat better than I do here, and they cost more to feed too.

After my own, rushed, breakfast I loaded by binoculars, ‘scope, two coats and my Wellingtons into the car and set off for my second home, Willington Gravel Pits. Since 9th March I’ve put in more than 20hrs of birding at Willington and it’s starting to pay off. Today’s visit gave me four more new ticks for my “10-Mile List”... Blackcap, Yellow Wagtail (my earliest Derbyshire record by 3 days), Willow Warbler and Swallow.

Sunrise at Willington.

Birding in the snow isn’t something I do too often, and it’s certainly the first time I’ve visited Willington when it’s been white over, but this morning’s visit was one of those memorable times that stay with you for a long while. Waiting for the sun to rise, listening to the birds singing, whilst stood ankle deep in snow was a rather pleasant way to start a day! Quite what the recently arrived summer migrants thought I can only guess at, but it was cold, very cold!

As well as the four new birds, other notable sightings included... 6 Shelduck, 20 Gadwall, 4 Goosander, Sparrowhawk, 4 Buzzard, Peregrine, 3 Oystercatcher, 7 Redshank, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 10 Chiffchaff, 20 Linnet and 4 Bullfinch.

The sight of over 300 Sand Martin descending upon the canal scrape proved quite a spectacle but also had me wondering just how many of them would survive the coming days and weeks. Many of the birds looked to be trying to rest-up, and also warm up, in the early morning sun by landing on an area of mud that had been exposed as the snow melted. Once on the ground the birds formed into a close knit group and remained almost motionless for long periods of time.

By 10:00AM the sun was starting to burn off the early morning chill and the martins seemed to be coping better with the conditions as they could be seen flying around over much of the reserve. No doubt they’d be even happier if the temperature was to rise by another few degrees and a few insects started to appear for them to eat.

This Chaffinch may have been cold but it was singing it's head off!

Reflections in the canal.

The species count for my “10-Mile List” now stands at 89.

Patience is needed for number 85...

The ride into work this morning was once again somewhat lacking in birds; a couple of Chiffchaff, a single Great Crested Grebe, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a few Blackbirds singing their heads off were the only things that stood out.

Work was very quiet, for a change, and the day was really starting to drag when, out of the blue, I received a text message... “two Garganey at Willington!” Now, I couldn’t get away from work soon enough. By 5:15PM I was on my bike and heading for home, quarter of an hour earlier than I should have been!

At 6:00PM I was at Willington and hurrying down the lane towards the viewing platforms. For once there was no time to take note of the birds in the lane, I needed to be at the far end of the reserve!

For almost two hours I, along with five other birders, scanned the pits with telescope and binoculars without finding anything. As the sun went down it started to look like we were out of luck, the Garganey were nowhere to be found.

Some of the birds we did locate included 21 Goosander (my best ever count for Willington), 9 Shelduck, 6 Goldeneye and 2 Oystercatcher. A single Curlew dropped in on one of the pits for a short while and a Green Sandpiper flew over. In the distance, over 100 Sand Martin were noted in flight.

At 7:55PM, after moving around to a different part of the reserve, our luck changed. We had the Garganey in sight. At first the view wasn’t too good; we were looking through some reeds and the birds were still a little distant. A slow, and very quiet, move a little further along the path and we had the views we wanted, a pair of Garganey out in the middle of the water.

It had taken longer than I had hoped, and the light was fading fast, but I had species number 85 on my tick list, I was happy!

Biking again...

I woke up this morning with the full use of both legs so it was out with the bike again and another traffic free journey into work.

The ride along the river path was pleasant enough but it was a little short of bird life. One or two Chiffchaff were calling, a couple of Great Crested Grebe drifted slowly down river and the Canada Geese were being as noisy as usual in Alvaston Park. Other than that, I didn’t see much else.

On the ride home this evening Chiffchaff were more noticeable than yesterday with nine birds singing, almost double the number I came across on the same ride last night. No doubt more and more of these warblers, and other species, will appear over the coming days as the spring migration continues.

Tomorrow I’ll be back on the bike once again and looking to add species number 85 to my “10-Mile List”. All I need is for a Willow Warbler, or Blackcap, to arrive overnight, or for a Swallow to fly along the river! Then again, maybe number 85 will have to wait just a little while longer!

Birding by bike...

I managed to cycle to and from work today, for the first time in 5 weeks. Whether it proves to have been a sensible thing to do remains to be seen! So far, my knee isn’t hurting me too much so maybe whatever was wrong with it, and giving me so much pain, a while back has now sorted itself out. I plan on cycling again tomorrow too, if I don’t wake up in the morning crippled that is!

One of the benefits of cycling, other than missing all the rush hour traffic that I hate, was being able to stop off at Alvaston Park on the way to work this morning. Stopping for just a short time to feed the ducks, swans and geese on the lake, and also having a steady ride around the park, was a great way to start the morning, and delay the start of my working day.

This evening I chose to ride an extra long route home, taking the riverside path out of Derby to Elvaston Castle, through the castle grounds and then turning back towards home. By riding at a lot slower pace than I would normally, so as not to stress my knee too much, I was able to see, or hear, some of the birds that I would normally miss whilst cycling. By the time I reached home I’d noted 17 species, of which a pair of Goosander on the river and a journey total of five Chiffchaff were the most notable.

No: 84 is a good one...

My quest to add new birds to my "10-Mile List" once again took me to Willington Gravel Pits this morning. As I expected, all the goodies that had been reported over the past week were notable by their absence. The old birding adage of "You should have been here yesterday!" had struck once again!

Although the passage birds may have been missing there was still plenty to see. In the six hours I spent at Willington I recorded a total of 63 species, two more than my previous high count just six days ago. With many of the summer visitors still to arrive I’m confident that the species count will continue to rise.

The more notable birds seen included Shelduck, Goldeneye, Buzzard, Oystercatcher, both Ringed and Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Kingfisher, Chiffchaff and Willow Tit. Two Greylag Geese flew low over one of the pits and gave me my first new bird of the day for my "10-Mile List", species No: 83. A female Wood Duck was also seen - no doubt an escape from somewhere!

After a very pleasant 3½ hours of birding - the sun was out and the sky was almost cloud free - I was starting to think that I wasn’t going to add any more new birds to my list. The Wood Duck will not count due to its extremely dubious origin! Then, at 10:25AM, it happened. A raptor was calling somewhere. For a couple of seconds I couldn’t place the call, or locate its source. I wasn’t exactly panicked but I was a little edgy shall we say! Where was the bird, and what was it?

Again, the call came and this time I spotted the bird, high overhead, and recognised the call. Just as I was about to alert my friend Mike to the bird he was on it too. We had an Osprey! All thoughts of the birds I had missed during the week were forgotten in an instant. One Osprey at Willington was worth more than a bunch of waders to me. Species 84 was on my list and it was a good one!

Missing out, but getting published!

It’s been one of those weeks when work really has been the one place I would rather not have been. The workload has been bad enough but it has been the bird sightings these past few days that have been the real problem! There have been too many good birds on my local patch at a time when I haven’t been able to get out to see them!

On Wednesday I went back to work, just as an adult Kittiwake, a Swallow and a Bar Tailed Godwit turned up at Willington. On Thursday, three Black Tailed Godwits appeared, again at Willington. Today, just to really rub salt in the wound, Willington played host to three Avocets! It’s been possibly the best three day run at this site ever and I’ve been at work through all of it! Great, just great!

Time for some good news... the Peregrines on Derby Cathedral have their first egg! At around 12:30PM today the web-cam at the nest platform picked up the first sighting of an egg; over the next few days there should, hopefully, be one or two more appearing.

Photo taken from the Derby Peregrine blog site.

The Peregrine blog can be found at http://derbyperegrines.blogspot.com/ with a link there to the web-cam site.

One last little piece of news... the photo I posted here, on March 9th, of Allestree lake has been printed in the local paper today! The Derby Evening Telegraph publish a photo, taken by a reader, each day that has been taken in and around the county and today it was mine. It’s the first time I’ve ever submitted any of my photos to a paper or magazine so it was nice to see it appear, and to get a few phone calls from people that had seen my name in the paper! Signed copies will be available, at a price!

The Allestree Park lake photo.

Third time lucky...

Today saw the end of the Easter break and a return to work, for some! After I had dropped Lynda at work I headed off, once again, to Allestree Park in search of the elusive Mandarin. This time it proved to be third time lucky and I managed to find a solitary bird hiding amongst some branches that dipped down into the lake. Species number 82 was now on my “10-Mile List”!

The two lakes at Allestree Park.

The only other highlight amongst the 28 species seen at Allestree was a group of three Goldcrests that were displaying to each other less than 10 feet from where I stood. The orange crown feathers of one male bird were by far the brightest I’ve ever seen.

My favourite part of the reserve at Elvaston.

After Allestree I had a short visit to Elvaston Castle Country Park, a visit made all the shorter due to the amount of kids and dogs running about! I had planned on having a walk around the whole of the grounds but, because of all the noise, I went straight into the small nature reserve that is tucked away in a quiet corner of the park. I didn’t manage to add any extra birds to my year list but did get some good views of Buzzard, Goldcrest (again), Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Siskin, Bullfinch and Jay.

A recently felled tree on the reserve.

Six more...

The singing Blackbirds woke me at 4:25AM today! I was not happy! I was even less happy when I couldn’t get back to sleep properly. At 5:45AM I gave in and got up, had breakfast and headed out birding.

First stop was another, unsuccessful, visit to Aston in search of the Smew. I am now of the feeling that they may well have left so I’ll not be going after them again, unless I get news of a confirmed sighting. It wasn’t a total waste of time though as I did manage to pick up a single Green Sandpiper, my first of the year. By the end of my 90-minute visit I had seen 42 species, three more than yesterday.

From Aston I took a very steady drive along the back roads to Willington Gravel Pits. This route gave me my second year tick of the day, Fieldfare. A mixed flock of Redwing and Fieldfare were feeding in a roadside field just outside Weston-on-Trent.

Once at Willington the birding started to hot up a little, even though the temperature had started to fall somewhat! The wind-chill must have taken the temperature well below freezing. I spent four hours around the gravel pits and was rewarded with a total of 61 species, possibly my highest ever count at this reserve.

New birds for the year were Little Ringed Plover, Curlew, Great Black-backed Gull and Chiffchaff. Having found my first Green Sandpiper of the year only an hour or so earlier, I located two more at Willington! Just like buses, you wait ages for one then three come along!

Other notable sightings at Willington included 17 Shelduck, 3 Goosander, 4 Buzzard, 4 Dunlin, a single Kingfisher, both Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, 30 Sand Martin and a single Willow Tit.

So, after a better day than I had expected, my “10-Mile List” has now reached 81 species. I think it will be another week or two before the next batch of summer migrants start to arrive so it’s going to be difficult to increase my total for a while, but I may well try tomorrow!

The reluctant birder...

5:15AM, the Blackbirds are singing, I bury my head in my pillow and go back to sleep. 6:00AM, more Blackbirds, a distant Dunnock, a Robin somewhere and a Collard Dove all think it’s time I got out of bed and started the morning. One look out of the bedroom window and once again I’m heading back to bed - it’s snowing!

I did finally get out and do some birding this morning, after the snow had melted. I spent 2¼ hours looking for Smew at Aston-on-Trent. I drew a blank on the Smew - another small duck that has given me the slip - but I did manage to see a total of 39 species.

Two Sand Martin were the best birds of the morning and, even though the temperature was only just above freezing, they somehow managed to confirm that Spring really is upon us. Quite what these delicate little hirundines thought of a cold English Easter Sunday I can only wonder at but I’m pretty sure that they were finding it a lot colder than Africa.

Other birds seen included Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Goldeneye, Kestrel, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Goldfinch and Bullfinch. Highest single count was of 32 Mute Swan feeding together by the canal just outside the village of Aston-on-Trent.

One other bird that I noted was Rook. These were the first that I have recorded in my 10-mile zone but I’m sure that I must have seen plenty before today during the past three months. Lesson learnt... keep a look out at all times, even for the common birds!

I’m now up to 75 species seen within 10 miles of home. Tomorrow, I hope to add Chiffchaff and Little Ringed Plover to my total and I may well go in search of the two little ducks again! Then again...

Birding before work...

I made my second visit to Allestree Park in search of Mandarin this morning - once again, I drew a blank! So far I’ve only put 135 minutes of birding into chasing this scarce little duck but, I’m starting to get the feeling that it’s going to prove tricky to add this species to my “10-Mile Radius List”. If I don’t come across one at Allestree in the next week or two I may well give up on them until they return, hopefully, later in the year.

Getting out of bed at 6:00AM and then facing high winds and scattered rain showers wasn’t a total waste of time though as I did pick up a couple of new birds for my list, Lesser Redpoll and Goldcrest. In ¾hr at the park I saw a total of 25 species and heard another two.

The Lesser Redpoll was the best bird I found, the rest were common woodland or water birds. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming for a short while, and showing well, a Song Thrush was singing for just about the whole of the time I was there and two Redwing were skulking around in the woodland by the lake.

The number of species I have seen within 10 miles of home this year now stands at 73.

The Sanctuary...

For the first time since I chased the Cedar Waxwing around Nottingham, back in 1996, I went birding during work today! This time I wasn’t after a “mega” like I was back then, I just fancied a bit of a breather from work.

In a 25 minute late lunch break, between 3:15PM and 3:40PM, I saw 10 species at The Sanctuary on Pride Park. The birds seen were... Little Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Grey Wagtail, Magpie and Carrion Crow.

I had hoped that I may pick up the odd migrant bird, such as Sand Martin, or maybe a plover of some sort but it wasn’t to be. Maybe next time...

Thetford trip...

Weather forecasts... I’m sure they were invented just to confuse me! The rain that should have made a mess of yesterday's birding trip never materialised - well, not until we were safely back on the coach and on the way home - and we enjoyed a pleasant, but overcast, day

The bird list for the day got underway whilst we waited for the coach to arrive at the pickup point, in Derby. The pair of Peregrine that are resident on Derby Cathedral gave good views with one bird perched on the cathedral whilst the other did repeated "flyovers" for the crowd below. Other birds seen on the way to Thetford included Wigeon, Fieldfare and Red-Legged Partridge.

Looking for Woodlark - two landed behind me as I took this photo!

Our first stop of the day was Santon Downham, a regular venue for our RSPB outings. Bird highlights here were, for me, Woodlark (two birds giving very good views), Brambling, Siskin, Marsh Tit and a single Chiffchaff. The Chiffchaff was a welcome find as it was my first spring migrant of the year.

A couple of the lambs out grazing the heath.

Another sign of the arrival of spring was the number of lambs out grazing the heath. The 2½ hours spent walking the heath and woodland of Santon Downham gave us a total of 33 species.

All Saints Church, Santon.

Lynford Arboretum was our second site of the day, another favourite with our RSPB group. The arboretum is one of the more reliable sites in the country to see Hawfinch and we were not to be disappointed as Lynda and I were able to see a group of four of these very shy finches. Other woodland species located here included Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Coal Tit and more Siskin.

Have you ever looked REALLY close at the colours of a Mallard?

Out on the water of the, now restored, gravel pit lakes the birds included Greylag Goose, Great Crested Grebe, Goosander, Pochard, Shelduck, Egyptian Goose, Kingfisher and Oystercatcher.

Two and a half hours in the arboretum saw Lynda and I pick up a total of 40 species. More importantly, we returned to the coach after a very pleasant day birding without getting wet! The rain started to fall a very short time after we left the car park!

Spring in Lynford Arboretum.

Including the Peregrine seen in Derby, and a few birds seen from the coach on the way to Thetford, we located a total of 54 species. It is not the biggest day count we have ever had but then again it's not every day we get to see Woodlark, Brambling AND Hawfinch!

Today, I awoke to the sound of heavy rain and strong wind. I stayed in bed for an extra couple of hours! By early afternoon the rain had stopped but the wind was still very strong so I decided against any local birding.

Next weekend I have 3½ days off work so if the weather is okay I’ll have plenty of time to chase after birds for my local "10-Mile List". I’ll not be trusting the weather forecast though!

If I tell you that the highlight of the week, so far, has been buying a new paper shredder you can start to get a feel for how the past five days have been for me! All that I’ve done is work, sleep and work some more... I need a good weekend.

On paper, I should have a pleasant couple of days to look forward to. I have two days off work. Lynda and I are on an RSPB birding trip tomorrow, to Thetford Forest on the Suffolk/Norfolk border. On Sunday I should be able to chase more birds for my local list. There is just one problem... the weather!

If the weather forecasts are correct I could well be getting wet at some point tomorrow, and the weather on Sunday may well mean I don’t get to do any birding at all.

The one glimmer of hope is that maybe, just maybe, the weather forecasters have got it all wrong, again, and we’ll get two dry days and lots of migrant birds moving in! I wish!

Off to a flying start!

Just how long it will last I don’t know, but at the moment I have the birding bug again! I set the alarm to wake me at 7:00AM this morning, at 5:50AM I lay in bed listening to the first Blackbird start to sing outside. At 6:00AM, I could hear a Robin singing too, it was time I was out of bed. As I ate my breakfast a few minutes later a Collard Dove joined the early morning songsters - the birds were out there, I just needed to go and find them!

Allestree Park lake.

Allestree Park was my first port of call, not an area that would give me a big bird list but one that would hopefully give me a species that will prove tricky within my 10-mile radius, Mandarin Duck. Although there have been reports of up to 30 Mandarin there so far this year, I drew a blank. My first real outing within my new “zone” and I had dipped out! What to do next? Should I hang around and hope the ducks might turn up or should I move on to another site? Thankfully, I chose to check the wooded area near the lake for woodpeckers and anything else that may be there.

There’s a Lesser ’pecker in there, somewhere!

Of the three woodpeckers that are resident in the UK the Lesser Spotted is by far the most difficult to locate and see. The last time I saw a Lesser was two years ago, today I saw two! And, from exactly the same spot in the wood I also saw a Green Woodpecker and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers - who cares about Mandarin?!

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

After watching the ‘peckers for a while I decided to head for Willington Gravel Pits, and a change of habitat. The 1½ hrs I spent at Allestree saw me leave with a list of 34 species. The Lesser ‘peckers may prove to be the only ones I see this year. Three Siskin were good birds to get on my list and a single Treecreeper means I don’t have to suffer the embarrassment of going six months without seeing one, like I did a few years ago!

Willington Gravel Pits

At Willington I met up with my good friend Mike and we set about covering as much of the area as we could over the next three hours. The better mix of habitat here gave us a wider range of species than Allestree, 58 in total. For me, the best finds had to be two Dunlin and a pair of Raven (saves me going looking for them in Derby city centre). All the other birds were ones that I would expect to see again without any problems over the coming months.

Some of the other species seen included Goldeneye, Goosander, Common Buzzard, Ringed Plover, Skylark, Willow Tit and Linnet.

After returning home and washing the car, I checked off all the birds seen on my new 10-Mile List. I have a total of 71 species in the bag. With the spring migration about to start at any time I should be over the 100 species barrier within the next month or so.

Choosing to chase a local list may not give me the biggest number of species I’ve seen in a single year but it does look like it will make me work harder for each and every bird. As I said to Mike this morning, after he swore at me for finding the Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers... “Watch out, the boy is back!”

A fresh approach...

For a while now my bird watching has been somewhat infrequent. In fact, it’s been more or less nonexistent! A quick check of my records a short while ago revealed just how much I have let things slip... just 11 birding days in the past 12 months! Okay, so I’m no longer the “twitcher” that I once was but 11 birding outings in a year is not good enough! I need a fresh approach, a new challenge.

For the past few weeks I’ve been reading a book called The Big Year, by Mark Obmascik. In short, it tells the story of the race to see as many birds as possible in a single year, in North America. The year was 1998 and three birders found themselves going head to head against each other, and the birds! By the year's end Sandy Komito had not only beaten his own Big Year record, and in the process beaten the other two birders, but he had set what many people believe is a record that might never be bettered. During his 1998 Big Year Sandy Komito managed to locate an amazing 745 species!

As I neared the end of the book I started to feel the challenge of bird listing creeping back into my veins. Once I’d finished reading, I knew I needed that fresh birding challenge. That left me thinking about just what list to start or concentrate on.

A UK List? Done it in the past - now, it would be too time consuming, and the petrol bill too expensive!

A County List? Again, done it before - it is also one of the favourite lists for birders to try.

A Single Site List? Never tried that. It would be good to get to know a single area well over a 12-month period but, if things got a little quiet, I may well lose interest.

After a beer or two, and a look around a few web sites, I came up with my new approach to my birding... A 10-Mile List!

By using Free Map Tools I have set out my recording area, a 10-mile radius of home. The reasoning behind this is that I’ll (hopefully) not run up too much of a fuel bill, I’ll have a reasonable choice of habitat and with a bit of luck and commitment a good sized list by the end of the year. By restricting myself to just a 10-mile radius I’m also hoping to find a few new birding areas that I’ve never considered before.

Tomorrow, I’ll start working my new 10-mile patch, if the weather is okay that is!

I’ll be back tomorrow evening to post an update on how I get on.

So, what's next?

So far this year we’ve had heavy rain and flooding, we’ve had a couple of snow days, we’ve had two weeks of freezing temperatures and we’ve had a day or two of gales. There have even been days when the sun came out and it really did feel as though spring had arrived, it was that warm.

After such a mixed start to the year you’d think that nature would have just about run out of things to throw at us but oh no, Mother Nature played her ace card in the early hours of this morning... an earthquake! Not just any old earthquake either, it was the strongest to hit the UK for almost 25 years measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale.

I can’t help but wonder just what may be next... a hurricane; a tornado; an ice storm or blizzard perhaps? How about a tidal wave on the River Derwent? Or a Tsunami on Alvaston Lake? Another three or four days of dry weather will do for me, so that I don’t get wet on my bike!

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

This week...

Derby has finally come out of its mini ice age; the temperatures are now back above freezing, even at night. The downside to this is that warmer, wetter weather has now set in. For over two weeks I have been able to use the bike to get to and from work each day but it looks like I’ll have to keep more of an eye on the weather forecast now. It does mean I may get to drive the new car for a change though!

A somewhat stressful few days at work took its toll on my diet this week. Since Christmas I had been managing to lose a little weight each week, nothing too much but I hadn't put any on. This week a bit too much comfort eating saw me put on 4lbs!

Looking back, I think 4lbs is quite a reasonable price to pay for the amount of rubbish I ate! The latter part of the week was the worst... four Muffins in the space of about as many hours on Thursday; a sausage, bacon, egg, cheese and hash brown sandwich on Friday and then another very large sausage and bacon sandwich yesterday morning! Add to that one or two cans of beer and the odd whisky during the week, plus half a bottle of red wine last night, and the calories soon add up!

What should have been a nice easy morning at work yesterday turned into a real headache when I discovered a problem with the fish tank in the showroom. Whilst undertaking a routine water change and filter clean I found that one of the water pumps was not working. This meant that not only was the filter system not working correctly but also, more worryingly, the warm water was not being circulated fast enough. Some of the larger fish were getting rather stressed by the cool water and didn’t look too healthy at all for a while.

Thankfully, after sending another member of staff out for a new pump, and then spending a couple of hours extra at work myself, I managed to get the new pump in place and the whole system up and running again. I quick visit to work this morning saw all the fish looking happy with everything again. I’m not sure who was the most relieved to have everything back to normal, the fish or me! Due to the money the company has invested in the tank, it may well be me!

Please, someone, pass me a beer!

Same old, same old...

Another very quiet week this week, but the weekend has been a little busier...

The weather has continued pretty much as it was last weekend - very clear, bright days with temperatures then falling below freezing each night. This has meant that I have been able to use the bike to get to work every day - something I haven't managed since the middle of last year. With luck, and a few more clear days, I should be able to start and use the longer, riverside route home in the evenings soon as the early evening light improves.

Thursday was, of course, Valentine's Day. I had arranged for a dozen red roses to be delivered to Lynda's work for her - I didn't think that they'd fair too well if I brought them home in my rucksack on the bike!

On Saturday, we had a trip into Derby. After a bit of shopping, and me getting a haircut, we retired to the Standing Order for lunch! After a very nice rump steak each, a bottle of wine, two coffees and also two muffins we headed for home! It was the first time I'd been in the Standing Order and I must say I can think of a lot worse ways to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon! Luckily, we left the car at home and travelled on the bus... as Lynda said "It's not good is it, this drinking at lunchtime!"

This morning I was successful in talking Lynda into coming out on her bike with me. I wasn't all that convinced she would come out as the weather wasn't exactly warm! Overnight the temperature had dropped to minus 7c and as we set off at 10:00AM it was still minus 2c! Being as Lynda hadn't used her bike in a long, long time I chose a nice easy route, with nothing that could be called a "hill".

A frosted tree in Elvaston Castle Park.

We rode through Alvaston to Elvaston Castle, out to the river at Borrowash and then back towards Derby. We stopped off at Alvaston Lake to have a quick check on the birds there but, due to most of the lake being covered with ice, there wasn't too much to see.

Lynda riding through the grounds of Elvaston Castle.

Riding past Alvaston Park lake.

From there we headed on to Pride Park for a refreshment stop. The newly opened Starbucks could well prove to be a regular stop off in future!

Coffee break!

After our coffee break, we retraced our tracks back to Alvaston Lake before joining the cycle path back home.

Lynda, happy to be heading home!

Very little to report tonight...

The weather has turned on its head again since last weekend. From Tuesday afternoon onwards there has been a distinct feeling of Spring in the air! The birds have started to sing much more - we have a Blackbird and a Robin that are even singing in the middle of the night! - the sun has been out for long periods of time and is starting to have a lot more warmth to it, trees and bushes are starting to bud. On Wednesday and Thursday evening I even saw a couple of bats flying around as I cycled home!

Yesterday afternoon the new car was given its second wash - the novelty obviously hasn't worn off just yet! If the weather stays as it is I may well go for three washes in three weeks next weekend! A trip over to Nottingham in the evening gave the car its first out of town run and also gave me the chance to play with the trip computer. Its surprising just how carefully you can drive when trying - successfully - to get an average of over 45 MPG! I'm not so sure I'll be keeping an eye on the MPG reading on a motorway trip to Scotland though!

This morning started rather early for a Sunday. I was up, dressed and eating breakfast by 7:00AM. By 7:40AM I was on my bike and heading off into the now rising sun on a two hour, 26 mile, cycle ride around South Derbyshire. The first few miles were a little tricky due to the overnight frost leaving some of the roads and paths icy and also because I was riding straight into a very bright, and very low sunrise!

Sunrise over the Trent & Mersey Canal near Swarkestone.

My route took me out to Swarkestone, then Kings Newton, on to Melbourne, along side Staunton Harold Reservoir and then into Ticknall. From there I rode through Calke Park, which looked beautiful covered in a heavy frost, over to Breedon on the Hill and finally joined the Cloud Trail at Worthington in Leicestershire. From there it was a quick 10 mile sprint back home!

Route of the ride - plotted on Google Earth!

Wildlife highlights along the route included 8 Hares chasing each other around a frost covered field, 3 Jays, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Green Woodpecker, a male Yellowhammer, numerous Fieldfare and Redwing, and dozens of Blackbirds, Robins and Song Thrush singing their hearts out. It may well have been cold (minus 2c when I set off) but it was one of the best mornings I've spent locally in a long time.

Out with the old; in with the new...

Yesterday lunchtime, Lynda picked up our new car - a shiny black Fiesta Zetec - and said goodbye to our old red Zetec.

Unfortunately, yesterday afternoon also saw the return of Winter, luckily it was only a "one day special" - or at least it has been so far! At just after 3:00PM the skies over Derby suddenly started to darken, the wind picked up and the next thing I knew we had near blizzard conditions for almost half an hour, not the best of weather to take delivery of a "new" car. Still, the snow didn't last too long and by the time Lynda and I left work all trace of the afternoon's snow had gone again.

By the time we arrived home and had then driven into Derby and back for the Battlefield Band gig, the car was no longer quite so shiny! It had turned a horrible grey sort of colour due to all the salt that had been put down on the roads. So, this morning we treated our new little baby to a new sponge and leather and it's first bath. This is the first black car we've had and I can see that keeping it clean is going to be a bit of a challenge!

It cost me a few layers of skin from one of my knuckles but I also fitted mud flaps to the front and back of the car this afternoon so maybe, just maybe, they will help to keep the road dirt away from all that black paint. Black privacy glass isn't the easiest to clean either! Luckily, the blood from my knuckle washed off the alloy wheel, tyre and rear bumper okay! I'm getting to old to work on my own cars now!

Clean again; mud flaps fitted; all traces of blood removed!

Battlefield Band

The Battlefield Band gig last night was a real treat. The band played for just over two hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. The music they played ranged from slow, traditional folk to fast, upbeat tracks more in keeping with bands such as the Peatbog Faeries or Shooglenifty.

Highlight of the night for me had to be watching, and hearing, the Highland Pipes being played by Mike Katz - the man is simply amazing! The speed at which Mike's fingers were working was mesmerizing - without doubt the finest piper I've seen play so far.

My favourite track was The Road Of Tears, a song about the displacement of people over the centuries. The Highland Clearances, the famine in Ireland, the move away from their sacred tribal lands that was forced on the Native Americans, all are covered in The Road Of Tears.

The next time the Battlefield Band are in the area, I'll be there!

It's not that often that I find myself Blogging during the week but here we go, again...

The weather, and light, had me starting to think that Spring was just a little closer than it actually is for a few days this week. It didn't last!

For three days I rode to and from work on the bike; the mornings were light enough for me to see, and be seen, without using lights, the birds were singing their hearts out at first light each day and I even heard two Great Spotted Woodpeckers "drumming" yesterday morning. The ride home in an evening was also rather pleasant, even if it is still dark when I leave work.

Today saw things turned on their head somewhat. The rain was pouring down, the wind was blowing a gale - literally - and the temperature had taken a dive again. Add to that the very heavy cloud, that meant it was much darker on the way to work, and the Winter Blues had certainly returned. I chose the cowards way out and left the bike at home! Tonight, and tomorrow, we may be in for a few scattered snow showers. Depending on how Friday dawns I may give the bike another outing - maybe!

Tomorrow evening Lynda and I are going to see The Battlefield Band play at the Derby Assembly Rooms. This is the first time I will have seen this band, and they will certainly be something different from the bands I've seen so far this year, but I've read some very good reviews about them and I'm looking forward to what should be a great evening. I'll report back over the weekend!

One last little snippet... Derby came to a standstill today for a "bomb alert"! In the end, everything turned out to be okay but it did close parts of the city off for much of the day.

BBC News report on the bomb scare.

Dare you look up?

I heard an interesting story on the news this evening - an out of control American satellite could be heading our way, meaning Earth! Now, wouldn't that get your day off to a bad start if it landed in your breakfast cereal? I can't even start to imagine just how far the milk would splash, and as for the muesli, well, it doesn't bear thinking about!

Anyway, if you haven't heard about how we are going to be squashed to a pulp by this latest piece of space debris, take a look at... Satellite could plummet to Earth!

Once upon a time, all we had to worry about was being hit by a bus as we crossed the road, now we have to be aware that that "bus" may well fall on us from above, at warp speed!

Oh, how times change!

It’s been a busy old weekend, for saying I’ve not really done much!

Our Burns Night Supper on Friday was delicious. We had Haggis, of course, mashed potato and Sweet Chestnuts. Add to that a couple of rather large measures of Glenmorangie and the night was enjoyable to say the least!

Whisky and Haggis!

Saturday morning was spent at work, which wasn’t too busy, so I managed to catch up on a lot of paperwork. Straight after work I went off to get my hair cut - bit of a mistake that as it took me almost an hour and a half to get it done. The shop was packed and everyone was working flat out.

On Saturday evening, Lynda and I met up with our friend Mike for a few drinks. We started in the Rose & Crown in Chellaston but after a pint of cider and a very nice, and rather large, bacon, lettuce, and tomato baguette, I started to feel that maybe this wasn’t the best of places for us to spend the evening. The food was great and the cider was fine but we had chosen Karaoke Night! The final straw for me was when a young boy started to murder a Kate Nash song (Foundations)… time for us to make a quick exit!

The rest of the evening was spent in the much more pleasant surroundings of The Coopers Arms, in Weston on Trent. This pub used to be a regular haunt for Lynda and I, while she still lived in the village, and it was good to see that the place hasn’t lost any of its character over the years. The place also had a good “buzz” about it but without being so loud that you couldn’t hold a conversation without shouting. The drinks continued to flow until last orders were called at around 11:15PM. At that point double measure of Talisker whisky finished off my evening rather well! Needless to say… Lynda was doing the driving last night and spent the evening enjoying soft drinks!

This morning I was out of bed at just after 8:00AM so that I could take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. This annual survey of the UK’s garden birds sees participants counting the number of birds that land in their garden, or local park, at any one time in a single hour. Our tiny patch of garden didn’t come up with any surprises in terms of species or numbers but it was good to be able to sit and see just what would turn up. My bird count for the hour between 8:30AM and 9:30AM was…

House Sparrow 10
Starling 8
Blackbird 4
Collared Dove 4
Wood Pigeon 3
Carrion Crow 2
Dunnock 2
Blue Tit 1
Robin 1

After a late breakfast, Lynda and I headed off in search of a new car. We’ve been looking at changing ours for a good few months now but have struggled to find just the right one. Today, we came close enough to ticking all the right boxes to finally make a purchase. The car we’ve chosen is a four-month-old Ford Fiesta Zetec. It has everything we wanted and a couple of things that I didn’t really want, namely two extra doors!

I’ve never been a fan of five door cars but I’m sure I’ll come around to the idea quickly enough. At least everything else on my shopping list is there… alloy wheels, air con, ABS brakes, heated front screen, CD player (with MP3 player connection), rear spoiler and low mileage. It even has black privacy glass that looks pretty smart seeing as the car has metallic black paint. As Lynda put it “it’s proper pimped up”! Photos of the new “toy” will appear here sometime after we pick it up next Friday.

Burns Night

January 25th – a night I look forward to almost as much as Christmas Day! No, it’s not my birthday and no I don’t get gifts like at Christmas! What I do get is Haggis and Whisky! You knew there had to be food involved, didn’t you?!

I can’t claim to be a big Burns fan; I can’t claim to be a big fan of any of the classic writers, but as far as Scottish cultural history goes then Burns is one of the most famous and important characters.

Tonight, one of his most famous works, Address To A Haggis, will be read at Burns Night Suppers around the world.

If you are joining in the celebrations then have a great night – and enjoy the whisky!

Slainte!


Address To A Haggis

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn,
they stretch an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve,
Are bent lyke drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
"Bethankit!" 'hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him ower his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle;
An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a haggis!

The Translation

Fair is your honest happy face
Great chieftain of the pudding race
Above them all you take your place
Stomach, tripe or guts
Well are you worthy of a grace
As long as my arm

The groaning platter there you fill
Your buttocks like a distant hill
Your skewer would help to repair a mill
In time of need
While through your pores the juices emerge
Like amber beads

His knife having seen hard labour wipes
And cuts you up with great skill
Digging into your gushing insides bright
Like any ditch
And then oh what a glorious sight
Warm steaming, rich

Then spoon for spoon
They stretch and strive
Devil take the last man, on they drive
Until all their well swollen bellies
Are bent like drums
Then, the old gent most likely to rift (burp)
Be thanked, mumbles

Is there that over his French Ragout
Or olio that would sicken a pig
Or fricassee would make her vomit
With perfect disgust
Looks down with a sneering scornful opinion
On such a dinner

Poor devil, see him over his trash
As week as a withered rush (reed)
His spindle-shank a good whiplash
His clenched fist.the size of a nut.
Through a bloody flood and battle field to dash
Oh how unfit

But take note of the strong haggis fed Scot
The trembling earth resounds his tread
Clasped in his large fist a blade
He'll make it whistle
And legs and arms and heads he will cut off
Like the tops of thistles

You powers who make mankind your care
And dish them out their meals
Old Scotland wants no watery food
That splashes in dishes
But if you wish her grateful prayer
Give her a haggis!

Sunday at The Robin...

Sunday at The Robin turned out to be a great gig, as I expected, and I was also very pleased to be joined by my good friend Mike, who was attending his first gig in something like 10 years! If I hadn't been to a gig in that long then I'd have been more than happy with Sunday's two bands - Breathing Space and The Reasoning.

It was the first time I'd seen Breathing Space play but it will not be the last. They played a great set of tracks and had the large crowd on their side from the moment they took to the stage. I guess having names such as Ian Jennings and Olivia Sparnenn (who is also rather pleasing on the eye) in the line-up does help a little when it comes to creating good music and also pulling in a crowd.

Straight after they had finished their support slot I went and purchased their latest CD - Coming Up For Air - but as yet I haven't had time to give it a listen. If Sunday night is anything to go by then it's going to be a great album.

The Reasoning played an outstanding set - more or less the same as at Crewe but with a couple of changes to the running order, which made things flow even better. The full track listing was...

Within Cold Glass (Intro)
Talk To Me
Fallen Angels
Aching Hunger
Playing The Game
Chasing Rainbows - Part 1
Billie Jean
Chasing Rainbows - Part 2
Breaking The 4th Wall
Awakening
Sacred Shape
Sharp Sea
Shadows Of The Mind

Encores were...

Dark Angel
Stormbringer

The sound at The Robin was excellent, as usual, and the light show was the best I've seen at a club venue for a number of years. Even the use of a smoke machine got my seal of approval for a change - I hate the things usually - as it wasn't used to the point of the crowd, and band, not being able to breath! Well done to everyone involved at The Robin.

Looking back at the two shows last week I think that The Robin was an even better gig than the one at The Limelight. Breathing Space just got the edge over Mr So & So as the best support band and on Sunday The Reasoning played another brilliant gig to a larger crowd, so the atmosphere was great.

2008 is up and running...

All of a sudden, 2008 has kicked into action for me. I’ve been to my first gig of the year - The Reasoning, at The Limelight Club, Crewe - I’ve been on my first birding trip of the year - Martin Mere in Lancashire, yesterday - and tonight I’m off to see The Reasoning again, this time at The Robin in Bilston. A little too much travelling in just four days but that’s the way it’s worked out!

The Reasoning.

The Reasoning gig on Thursday was without doubt the best I’ve seen them play so far. The set they played was made up of seven tracks off the Awakening album, another five “new” tracks plus a little bit of Billy Jean, by Michael Jackson, thrown in halfway through Chasing Rainbows. If you think that sounds a strange cover to do then you are probably right, but it worked great. The final encore track was an amazing cover of Deep Purple's Stormbringer.

The Reasoning - Billy Jean/Chasing Rainbows

The support band on Thursday was Mr So & So, a band I’d never seen or heard before. At the time, I didn’t really take to them but, looking back, I think that was more down to the fact that I’d had a terrible journey to the gig - lots of traffic, heavy rain and standing water on the roads - rather than their music. I’ve played some of their stuff again, a time or two since, and am starting to enjoy it. If nothing else, they got me in the right mood for The Reasoning!

Mr So & So.

Yesterday saw Lynda and I on our first birding trip of the year; we went to Martin Mere WWT reserve with the Derby RSPB Group. We should have been going to Slimbridge WWT but, due to the heavy rain and flooding in that part of the country, a change of venue was forced upon us. For me, this was by far the best choice - I love Martin Mere in winter!

The sight, and sound, of the thousands of geese and swans that over-winter around this reserve is one of the best wildlife spectacles this country has to offer, in my opinion. Add to that the chance of seeing owls, harriers and other birds of prey and you have the perfect day out. Just to make it even better; the rain didn’t arrive until we were back on the coach and about to set off for home.

Whooper Swans feeding near one of the hides.

Birds seen during the day included Whooper Swan, Pink-footed Goose, Barnacle Goose, Wigeon (Lynda’s favourite), Pintail, Hen Harrier (my favourite), Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Red-legged Partridge, Water Rail, Barn Owl, Little Owl, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail and Brambling. In total, we saw 57 species.

Two Peregrine. (photo taken through my birding 'scope. These birds were a long way off!)

Lynda and I also took some time out to walk around the captive collection so that we could feed the Hawaiian Geese or Nene as they are known. These friendly little geese are always happy to come and take feed from your hand and will often come running to meet you as you approach.

Lynda with a Nene!

So, that’s the past few days. All that is left of the weekend is a trip down to Bilston to see The Reasoning again later this evening.

Just a quick fly-by posting...

The home workout sessions have started okay (that means I've actually been doing them) and I feel as though the move away from gym sessions has kick started my enthusiasm again.

Today saw a break in the weather - no rain all day - so I was able to use the mountain bike to get to work again. I'm not a fair weather biker but the amount of rain we've had over the past few days was just too much for me! The route I took to work this morning meant that I avoided the flooded underpass that saw me waterlog my shoes on Saturday - I didn't fancy facing the now much deeper water!

Tomorrow evening, I'm off to Crewe straight after work to see The Reasoning play. It's only a matter of a few weeks since the last gig I went to but it feels like months. I'm so looking forward to this gig!

I've said before that I'm not a big fan of mid-week gigs but the venue tomorrow - The Limelight Club - is a good one and The Reasoning are one of my favourite bands. Getting home in the early hours of Friday morning, and then having to get up for work, is a small price to pay I suppose!

Another week passes; another week that I haven’t been in the gym. I did manage to get two rides to work on the bike though and then an hour’s ride yesterday afternoon.

Friday saw a lot of rain fall during the day and as a result, the River Derwent reached flood levels again in places. I found one of those places on Saturday morning. My route into work on the bike takes me alongside the river, as it passes under one of the main roads around Derby, and the river had flooded the underpass I use. This left me with a choice… around a mile diversion or try to ride through the floodwater - I chose the latter. Looking back, the extra mile may have been wiser! I managed to waterlog both of my shoes as I rode through the water, which was just a little deeper than I thought!

The ride yesterday afternoon was somewhat rain affected too. Although the weather was fine and dry, the route I took was rather muddy - I managed to get both myself and the bike covered! The bike needed hosing down, all my clothes needed the washing machine, my shoes still need something but I’m not sure just what!

My route for the ride took me out of Derby to Swarkestone, along the canal to Weston-on-Trent, into Aston-on-Trent, through to Thulston, Elvaston Castle and then back home. I’ve not worked out the mileage yet but it took me exactly an hour.

The flooded River Trent, near Weston-on-Trent.

Weston Church, where Lynda and I were married!

This coming week will see me start my home workout to try to shift a little more of the Christmas excess. Since January 1, I’ve managed to lose 4lb just by keeping an eye on my eating so hopefully I’m moving in the right direction.

A bug... and a parting of the ways!

Yesterday I hit the first problem with the new laptop... a problematic little bug known as Lynda! Lynda has taken a liking to one of the pre-loaded games on the laptop called Mahjong Titans and last night took control of my new toy! The laptop was even taken to bed with her so that she could try and finish the game off! So, if you have Windows Vista, and a game called Mahjong Titans, watch out... the bug may just get you!

Today - and this has nothing to do with last night's game issue - Lynda and I finally decided to end a long, and often painful, relationship. After months of soul searching, discussion and repeated attempts to get things back on track we have chosen to part company with our gym membership! Much as I enjoy going to the gym I just wasn't going enough to justify the cost, so we have cancelled the membership. We do have to give 3 months notice so I can at least work off my Christmas and New Year food binge - if I actually get to the gym that is!

Over the next few days I will be working out some form of exercise plan that I can do at home so, fingers crossed, I shouldn't turn into a big fat lard ball just yet! Tomorrow, the plan is to ride to work on the bike again; the home work-out regime starts here.

And another year begins...

So, this is 2008 then - not all that different to 2007 is it really? We still have to go to work; we still haven’t had that big lottery win (though I did win £5 last night) and we still keep getting another year older. Hey ho! Life goes on!

New Year’s Eve was okay. We ate way too much, had a few drinks, ate a little more and then had a drink or two. The midnight firework displays around us were good again - if you weren’t trying to sleep - but the live footage on TV of the London display was amazing. Not sure I’d have been waiting on the banks of the River Thames from 5:00PM like some people though.

New Year’s Day started rather late in our house - we got out of bed just before 11:00AM. My excuse is that the weather forecast for the day had been for rain so we had decided that we would not go on the walk we have done for the past two years. In the end, the day was mainly dry and bright so we could well have gone out after all. I just hope the ducks at Alvaston Park didn’t miss their feed too much.

The quest to try and get fit has started again this week. It’s been a very slow and gentle start, but I have at least thought about shifting some of the weight I’ve put on over the past few weeks - around 8lbs to be exact! I’ve used the mountain bike to get to and from work for three days and will be back at the gym tomorrow night. The cycling wasn’t too bad and I quite enjoyed the cold, frosty mornings. The ride home in the pouring rain on Friday night wasn’t so good though.

On Friday evening, Lynda and I went to visit Paul, Ali and their two daughters Rachel and Bethany. The past 11 months since Bethany was born have just flown by and she is already turning into quite a little character. I’m not sure but I think she must get it from her sister because Rachel was giving me some wicked looks every time I teased her or made some stupid comment about the DVD she was watching! Then again, maybe they get it from mum! Sorry Ali! Paul… see how I didn’t mention the red wine incident?

After work yesterday afternoon I went into Derby shopping yet again. This is becoming too much of a habit now, I usually hate shops. The search for cheap CD’s drew a blank - nothing that caught my eye - but I did splash put on a laptop PC and a Wi-Fi router. I can now sit and surf the web and send out my e-mails from anywhere in the house, or outside when summer arrives.

The whole Wi-Fi thing turned out to be almost painless and the only little outburst from me was a rather pronounced “GREAT!” when nothing worked at the first attempt. Being the technological master that I am, I did the one thing guaranteed to solve 99.9% of all electrical problems… turned everything off and then back on again! Problem solved! I wonder if Bill Gates knows of that little trick?