Post your thoughts (2021 Edition)

[Insidious]

A bit random but a woodpecker has been spotted and photographed at our local park .

You're in NI aren't you Ian? I could give you quite the rundown on our Woodpeckers here - it's an interesting change to our Biodiversity.

[Insidious]

What did you see? I've been watching our local bird population a little since starting the treatment - I find it uplifting watching even the sparrows.
Some birds can be quite noisy, the little bleeders!

I saw my first Barn Owl. In England and Scotland they are relatively easy to see but in Northern Ireland they are exceptionally rare and anyone who knows where they are (Bird ringers, conservationists) don't give out info - which is understandable.

A few factors make them difficult to see here. One is the rarity (could be between just 8-15 pairs for the entirety of Northern Ireland) but they are also renowned for being extremely nocturnal here, whereas in England they are quite Crepuscular - loads of photographers get them at Dawn and Dusk.

In England about 80% of the diet would be the Field Vole and those aren't present in Northern Ireland. We also don't have Tawny Owls, which bully the Barn Owl, so a theory I have is that the Barn Owl might be more nocturnal here as they don't have to avoid the Tawny - but it's just a theory. It could be that Field Voles are active at Dawn and Dusk - hard to say.

What made it especially lovely is I got a Barn Owl print for a good friend recently and she had sent me a picture literally as I was looking at the Owl of the print at the top of her stairs - extremely serendipitous timing.

I have been trying to see a Barn Owl in NI for years - countless attempts at night time on various bits of farmland, endless false leads, discussions with farmers and land owners, boxes I have built to encourage them and freezing cold all-nighters in uncomfortable terrain.

Tuesday I got my first and there ended up being a second one. Went again last night and got reasonable pictures and video as I was in my bag hide (think of the invisibility cloak in Harry Potter films draped over me, thin camouflaged mesh) and thus unlikely to disturb the Bird.

Genuinely burst into tears on the Tuesday which I can expect many wouldn't understand but it was just a brilliant moment for me after so many years of trying - and yet if I went to somewhere like Norfolk I could probably see one in about half an hour! It's the sheer rarity/challenge of getting one here that upped the experience a lot.

[faridtoxteth]

Sid, have you ever read a book called The Peregrine, by J A baker. If you know it already then you will totally understand why i am recommending it. If you don't know it already..get on to Amazon. You will thank me afterwards.
Utterly fantastic account of watching and following for days a Peregrine falcon. It is a classic.

[Insidious]

Sid, have you ever read a book called The Peregrine, by J A baker. If you know it already then you will totally understand why i am recommending it. If you don't know it already..get on to Amazon. You will thank me afterwards.
Utterly fantastic account of watching and following for days a Peregrine falcon. It is a classic.

I do own that book and it is beautifully written - or at least what I managed of it. One of the side effects of one of my mental breakdowns was a real difficulty in having my attention held by the written word. I would get a few paragraphs into something and the best way I could describe what was happening was I was just staring at the words, like when you had revised for too many hours at school.

This was particularly frustrating for me as I was the sort of kid/teen who would absolutely fly through books, so to "lose" that was very upsetting. I had a breakthrough a few years ago though where I read 200 or so pages of the first Wheel of Time book en route to Dublin to meet a lass who I had chatted to for years online - she was late so between the Train and sitting in a quiet pub on my own I got into a little rhythm.

I have been working at doing little stints at books again since and am keen to re-attempt The Peregrine some time if there is a really wet weekend. With the dry Weather, it being breeding season and me having a few Raptor nests to keep an eye on and a possible Pine Marten spot I just haven't had a minute.

[redebreck]

I saw my first Barn Owl. In England and Scotland they are relatively easy to see but in Northern Ireland they are exceptionally rare and anyone who knows where they are (Bird ringers, conservationists) don't give out info - which is understandable.

A few factors make them difficult to see here. One is the rarity (could be between just 8-15 pairs for the entirety of Northern Ireland) but they are also renowned for being extremely nocturnal here, whereas in England they are quite Crepuscular - loads of photographers get them at Dawn and Dusk.

In England about 80% of the diet would be the Field Vole and those aren't present in Northern Ireland. We also don't have Tawny Owls, which bully the Barn Owl, so a theory I have is that the Barn Owl might be more nocturnal here as they don't have to avoid the Tawny - but it's just a theory. It could be that Field Voles are active at Dawn and Dusk - hard to say.

What made it especially lovely is I got a Barn Owl print for a good friend recently and she had sent me a picture literally as I was looking at the Owl of the print at the top of her stairs - extremely serendipitous timing.

I have been trying to see a Barn Owl in NI for years - countless attempts at night time on various bits of farmland, endless false leads, discussions with farmers and land owners, boxes I have built to encourage them and freezing cold all-nighters in uncomfortable terrain.

Tuesday I got my first and there ended up being a second one. Went again last night and got reasonable pictures and video as I was in my bag hide (think of the invisibility cloak in Harry Potter films draped over me, thin camouflaged mesh) and thus unlikely to disturb the Bird.

Genuinely burst into tears on the Tuesday which I can expect many wouldn't understand but it was just a brilliant moment for me after so many years of trying - and yet if I went to somewhere like Norfolk I could probably see one in about half an hour! It's the sheer rarity/challenge of getting one here that upped the experience a lot.

Interesting/funny true story -
20 or so years ago we were driving back home from Aberystwyth. Just past a small town/village near Brecon, we came upon something very strange at the side of the road. This was farming country.
It was around ten o'clock at night and dark.
Looking from the driver's side of the car there was a five-bar gate. On top of the gate was sat an owl. Possibly a barn owl, I'm not sure. Just the other side of the gate, inside the field, was one sheep. The sheep seemed to be looking at the owl, and the owl looking at the sheep. Our immediate thought was "they're having a chat". Never seen anything like it before or since.
Hope you start to enjoy your reading again!

[redebreck]

We bought a water feature two to three weeks ago - water pump
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Smart-Garden-Family-Umbrella-Fountain/dp/B00SRJH21G/ref=asc_df_B00SRJH21G/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=256069126230&hvpos=&hvnetw= g&hvrand=13831415117588068493&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqm t=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045375&hv targid=pla-356473374467&psc=1

Couple of days ago, I happened to look out the window and saw a male blackbird bouncing around the garden (as they do - you know how they 'walk'). Eventually the bird jumped up on the water feature and had a drink. Next minute it was bathing in the water.
This morning, looked out the window to see two sparrows having a bath.
Cheeky buggers, all of them!

[Insidious]

Interesting/funny true story -
20 or so years ago we were driving back home from Aberystwyth. Just past a small town/village near Brecon, we came upon something very strange at the side of the road. This was farming country.
It was around ten o'clock at night and dark.
Looking from the driver's side of the car there was a five-bar gate. On top of the gate was sat an owl. Possibly a barn owl, I'm not sure. Just the other side of the gate, inside the field, was one sheep. The sheep seemed to be looking at the owl, and the owl looking at the sheep. Our immediate thought was "they're having a chat". Never seen anything like it before or since.
Hope you start to enjoy your reading again!

That's brilliant mate!

Barn Owl would be very pale in appearance, black eyes. Tawny (in England, Wales, Scotland but not Ireland) are brown with black eyes, Long-Eared Owl (brown, orange eyes) and the wintering Short-Eared Owl (yellow eyes) is pale, but not so much as Barn Owl. Also the Owl most likely to be seen during daytime.

[Insidious]

We bought a water feature two to three weeks ago - water pump
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Smart-Garden-Family-Umbrella-Fountain/dp/B00SRJH21G/ref=asc_df_B00SRJH21G/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=256069126230&hvpos=&hvnetw= g&hvrand=13831415117588068493&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqm t=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045375&hv targid=pla-356473374467&psc=1

Couple of days ago, I happened to look out the window and saw a male blackbird bouncing around the garden (as they do - you know how they 'walk'). Eventually the bird jumped up on the water feature and had a drink. Next minute it was bathing in the water.
This morning, looked out the window to see two sparrows having a bath.
Cheeky buggers, all of them!

Bathing Birds are such a treat. I would love to have a Bird bath but I worry about Trichomoniasis a lot so have stuck to the feeders, which get cleaned once a week. To be fair if the Birds need water it tends to collect on my garage roof.

[redebreck]

Not sure if this is strictly off-topic, but Ryan Reynolds and the other guy who've bought Wrexham, are now investing in F1 - Renault/Alpine.
One of the other partners is RedBird.
Where have I heard that name before?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/66016904

[redebreck]

Travelled from our home in South Wales to Brentwood in Essex on Monday, and returned today Friday. By car.
Journeys were challenging to say the least.
1 so many vehicles on the road
2 the standard of driving
3 service stations near London were charging 30 pence per litre for petrol MORE than filling stations away from the motorways, and away from London.

The number of cars on the road is ridiculous. One thing I noticed is there are so many gas guzzlers with only one one person aboard. Crazy.

I started driving, sticking to the Highway Code, many years ago.
Today, people driving just don't seem to even know about the Highway Code. Drive and see what you can get away with, seems to be the new way.

Capitalism seems to have instilled greed into so many people in the UK.
Petrol prices at the filling stations near London have been increased purely because the companies seem to think they can get away with charging whatever they want.

[redebreck]

Congratulations to Leigh Leopards, winning the English Rugby League Challenge Cup at Wembley today.
The club has had a chequered history..
https://leighleopards.co.uk/club-history/

[ianlfc]

Go on your Google maps and type in Amazon rain forest. Then go on street view.

[CCTV]

Go on your Google maps and type in Amazon rain forest. Then go on street view.

Eh ? Did they fix it ?

[ianlfc]

Eh ? Did they fix it ?

Did you have a look at it ?

[redebreck]

Go on your Google maps and type in Amazon rain forest. Then go on street view.

How do you get into "Street view"?