Can barely remember how to post on here, having made zero effort to do so in over a year. I have been more active on my Bluesky account (@whetstoneskev.bsky.social) and have completely ditched my Twitter/X account. I should endeavour to post stuff on here for posterity too, though no idea if anyone really uses blogger so much these days.
Anyway, been getting some respite from yet more chemo with a trip to the sunny North Norfolk coast over the last couple of days, enjoying the sea air and watching some birds. We went to Hunstanton and Snettisham yesterday, and Titchwell today. I managed to point the camera at a few cracking birds, though numerous others were either too distant, too aerial or both. That includes many Marsh Harriers, and stunning swirling flocks of Knot. A partially hidden Tawny Owl was too shaded. I have a load of scenic shots on my phone that I haven't got time to sort now, but here's a selection of the better bird shots.
Gadwall, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Teal, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Pintail, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Bearded Tit, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Brent Goose, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Brent Goose, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Fulmar, Hunstanton 02/03/2025
Fulmar, Hunstanton 02/03/2025
And here's a selection of 'record shots' ....
Mediterranean Gull, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Curlew, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Sanderling, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Grey Plover, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Golden Plover, Titchwell 03/03/2025
Also saw more Muntjac in the two days than I think I've seen in my entirely life previously. Loads of them openly feeding on the roadside between Snettisham and Sandringham, and a couple feeding close to the main patch at Titchwell.
Yesterday late afternoon I dropped into Jubilee Park on my way back from
shopping at Fosse Park. I hoped that arriving later in the day might throw up
some movement of birds in/out of the area, and I was not far off right although nothing spectacular. Whilst mooching about a redhead Goosander
dropped in, Wigeon were constantly milling about between feeding on the grassy
area and dropping into the pool, and several large gulls and cormorants
arrived. The pair of Oystercatchers were still around, the Tufteds were up
to five, and a number of Greylag Geese were 5MR yearticks. A quick walk
around didn't throw up much else, and after a last scan of the pool I was
about to head off when local birder Pete Asher popped up. We had a good
natter, during the course of which the pair of Oystercatchers departed, a
Chiffchaff flew across and into bushes behind us and - at last - two
Kingfishers flew past over the field, short-cutting the path of the
river.
I also had a quick look at the balancing pool at Grove Park which was almost
literally devoid of wildfowl save for four pairs of Mallards and a pair each of
Coot and Moorhen. On Friday a quick scan over the flooded fields off of the Guthlaxton
Trail yielded some Teal for another patch yeartick.
Today I've had Goldcrest calling and moving through the embankment
adjacent to the garden, and a few more spring insects have popped up including
Tree Bumblebee, Peacock butterfly and Common Wasp.
Moths over the last couple of nights have included both Chestnut and Dark
Chestnut - nether in their finest livery ....
This afternoon I headed for a quick walk along the lane and carried onto
Whetstone Gorse Lane. I just had my bins, sadly, as once I'd got to the area
that is (mis)managed for Pheasant shoots I could hear someone yelling at their
dogs. Sure enough, after loitering for a while, a pair of typical Cuntry folk
appeared some way behind their trio of small terriers: one of which was
completely loose and two were tethered together but free to drag each other
along. They appeared to be being used illegally, as evidenced by a Muntjac
bounding away from the tethered pair only to be chased avidly by the lone dog.
As far as I understand, a single terrier may be used by gamekeepers on
shooting estates to eg force a fox out of a hole to enable it to be shot; the
Hunting Act 2004 doesn't allow anyone to run their trio of terriers through
gamebird cover and leave them free to chase and get whatever they can.
Neither of the folk were carrying a gun, so no legal shooting of 'pests'
disturbed by a lone terrier, let alone three of them. When it was clear that they had little control, I
shouted that the dogs seemed more interested in hunting. I expected some sort
of comment that there was no hunting going on etc, but the response was bold
as brass "that's their job". Cuntry folk eh.
I managed to head out for a bit of a walk this afternoon after a GP Surgery
appointment, and I decided I'd head up to the northern stretch of Aylestone
Meadows within my 5MR. One thing I realised quite a while ago is that I should
have made an effort to sort out some sort of route-tracking app. on my phone
that would trace my steps and calc. the distances this year during my square
and 5MR walks. I remember this every time I'm out, when it's too late to
bother, and I guess there's not much point starting now. Today's walk was only
c2.5miles in any case.
Here's an aerial map showing the route:
The red dot is the starting point at the car park; I followed the River
Soar/Grand Union Canal along the cyan dots up to the King Power stadium;
retraced my steps to the green dots following the River Biam and a boardwalk
pathway, then back to the car park along the yellow dots.
I had my bins and camera, and set out in what were mainly bright and sunny
conditions albeit still very cold. By the time I turned my back on the KP and
headed back it was clouding over, and by the time I was on the yellow dots it
had just started snowing again. We've had snow flurries every day since Sunday
night, albeit mainly light.
The first stretch followed the tow path along the converged River Soar/Grand
Union Canal. As you'd expect from an inner-city waterway, there are more
graffiti-laden buildings, bridges and locks than scenic views ....
The melt evident on this bridge may be short-lived given the forecast -5C
tonight!
Before long the glorious vista that is the KP came into view opposite Freemens
Meadow Lock and the weir.
Up until this point, the bird interest was limited to say the least. Nothing
but the odd Mallard, Moorhen and Mute Swan along the canal, and no sniff of a
dashing iridescent blue streak. But, just whilst I was fannying about between
phone and camera, a Raven was briefly in view soaring over the KP, the
first new 5MR bird of the day. A quick scan on the water below the weir
revealed another couple of yearticks, 15 Teal and 5
Little Grebes - albeit requiring full zoom on the camera.
A fourth year tick was a bit nearer, though perhaps less photogenic in the
great scheme of things ....
I was a little bemused at the antics of one of the Moorhens, which was
hopping along a row of large orange buoys that act as some sort of barrier in
front of the weir - a bit like that shite TV programme Ninja Warrior. It only
stopped hopping when it got to what must have been a particularly appealing
pile of gull shite to peck at ....
I also felt obliged to point the camera at these majestic beasts, clearly a
cold-weather movement from the fields of East Anglia ....
The walk back was a little precarious in places, as the rivers had clearly
flooded big sections of the meadows previously, but there is a long stretch of
boardwalk that made for better walking once on it. The scenery was better on
this route, but with the cloud cover increasing and snow starting to fall
there was not much chance of adding anything else new.
When I got back to the car park, one of the clumps of Mistletoe (actually not
that common in Leics. but there is a fair bit here) showed expected movement.
During the time I've been constructing this image-heavy post, the delivery man
has brought the TG-6 I ordered on Monday. I've got plenty of time to not read
the manual (I've never read any camera manual), plug it in and see what's what
before I'll have a chance to poke it in front of some small invert or other.
Tonight though, fittingly given the walk today, I'll be watching LCFC
(hopefully) making their way to the FA Cup quarter finals. I can't believe
that it is almost a year since I last sat in my seat at the KP (Man City,
22/02/2020). I did not go to the last home game where fans were present, Aston
Villa on 09/03/2020 - it was a Monday night, I'd been busy and the writing was
on the wall about impending closures and lockdowns - I just didn't fancy it
and watched at home. Since then I've seen more LCFC games on TV than would
normally be feasible as every game home and away has been televised. Whilst I
want my team to succeed, in a weird way I will be massively disappointed if we
were to win the FA Cup (the only top level domestic trophy LCFC have never
won) in a season when no fans can experience and enjoy the spectacle.
The canals and the bridges, the embankments and cuts
They blasted and dug with their sweat and their guts
They never drank water but whiskey by pints
And the shanty towns rang with their songs and their fights
