Heavy Petting

Our household is currently pet-less. Over the last few years we have seen off a rabbit and two guinea pigs. A longer while ago, we used to have two cats: one was a typical stay-away tom until we had his trollies off and then he was a useless timid bag of fur cluttering the settee; the other was a young female that was more active despite having been spade, but neither were much of a threat to the local bird population (as at the time we had virtually no garden birds on the then new estate). We had them re-homed with a willing friend once Isabelle was old enough to chase them around the house and terrorise them by pulling their tails.

Recently the kids have been badgering us for a new pet of some sort. I really don't want a dog, a cat would be daft cause we have a nicer settee and more garden birds now, we've done (to death) rabbits and guinea pigs, I don't want caged birds, Nichola doesn't want any small rodents, none of us can be arsed with keeping reptiles. That pretty much leaves just one option - fish.

Before we moved here, we had a largish fish tank with just coldwater fish. Maybe I'm a bit fishist, but goldfish are a bit lame. I'd really love a decent marine tank, but that would be a lot of expense and I'm not sure we could look after them properly yet. So after looking around various outlets today we've opted for a simple tank which will take a modest selection of typical tropical fish. Even a smallish tank full of water is heavy, so we had to get a stand for it as well.

We went for one of these:

Bi-Orb 30litre, with in built filtration and lighting with an add-on heating element

Obviously nothing in it as yet - we'll leave it to stabilise for a week and gradually introduce fish over the next couple of months. No real thoughts about what sort of fish (other than smallish ones), though ever since I saw the excellent film Rumble Fish I have fancied having a Siamese Fighting Fish.

Miserable

What a shite day. Nichola was working, leaving me with the boys on a day when even pseudo-birding was not an option. I then had a call to go into work briefly to resolve an issue, and we had a few mundane things to sort out. By the lack of blog updates over there on the right early this evening, seems everyone had a rubbish day.

The only glimmer of hope was that despite the forecast impending weather doom, the latter part of the afternoon was actually quite still, dry and mild with a good cloud covering. I decided that even if it was only for a few hours, I'd get the actinic out .....

2 x 40W actinic U-tubes - a great trap in the right conditions/location.

Within an hour of darkness, it started raining .......

Super Snipe

Managed to leave work at a reasonable 16:30ish today and dropped into Jubilee Park for a nose around. The pool was very full again after the snow/thaw/snow/thaw/snow/thaw/rain conditions since last weekend. The River Soar was also in full flow and very high, and a fair swathe of the grassy park was under water.

The Wigeon flock was back up in numbers, and split into two groups with c100 on/around the water and another c60 a couple of hundred meters away on the damp grass. Also 10 Tufteds diving actively (five drakes, 5 females) and c130 Canadian shit-machines. Also really pleased to see the Goosander presence - four drakes and five redheads on the water + three drakes and two redheads over heading north.

Best off all though was the smallest, brownest and most inconspicuous bird around the pool - a patch tick Snipe tucked up against the bank. Very nice too!

Classic Branch Track

Here's a much more synth-poppy track from 1989 that we used to play when the band was called The Red Branch.

Mothing Memories - Getting the Goat

After the photos I uploaded a few days ago, I've been looking for a batch from a follow-up visit to Wicken Fen in May 2003. Finally found them tonight, and in particular one species that literally had us exclaiming expletives. Sitting on the deck next to one of the traps was a massive, unexpected and fecking awesome Goat Moth - superb moth and one that I would love to see again.

Patch Tick at Narborough Bog ..

.. of all places. Just over a week ago, I mentioned how this site should be much better for birds than it actually seems to be. This afternoon, in nice bright sunshine after a couple of days of snow, I decided to go back for another walk around. To be honest, for the vast majority of the two hours I was there it was the same-old birdless wander, aside from a Buzzard overhead, a flyover Stock Dove, a panic-stricken Grey Heron and a few Blue and Great Tits. The only exception was a brief moment when I picked up a very welcome patch tick, but it was a bit of déjà vu after last weeks Jack Snipery.

The damp woodland was exceptionally damp and boggy today. I veered off of the main pathway through the wood and made my way through to an area that is normally inaccessible with nettles etc later in the season. I was intending to get close to the River Soar bank and look across to the opposite field. After a couple of minutes scanning, I turned to head back but took a different route. Then it happened - completely unexpected and previously unseen, I'd inadvertently flushed a bird that rapidly shot off from the deck through the trees with very audible whirring wings. Feck - Woodcock! I was instantly elated and disappointed - yet another good bird being seen only as it departed from virtually underneath my foot. Unsurprisingly, there is no photo!