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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Aye Aye frae Derby !! (1 Viewer)

P

PaulMunro

Active member
Aye Aye Folks !

What a breath of fresh air to find a site so friendly and welcoming to birders of any level.......the net has waited a long time for something this.......well.......I suppose tolerant !!
Well thats the rant (first and final one!!) over with, let me introduce myself......................
I have been birding since I was a 10 year old 'wee loony' in Aberdeen, but have carried on the obsession for the last 20 years whilst living in Holland, London and now Derby working in the Airline Industry.
My best birding moment has to be as a 13 yr old at my first ever seawatch at Colleston just outside Aberdeen, we got Arctic, Pomeraine, Great, and Lond Tailed Skua all within a 30 minute period, extremely close up, and from there on it was a seawatchers life for me !!!
I still go seawatching, but am more of a patch birder at Attenborough NR in Notts as it is close to work, but am always looking to hook up with birders of any level for Seawatching marathons that normally end up in local watering establishments !
We have just moved to Derby, so am interested in any clubs that exist up here, or better still folks that just like a good day's birding without getting too technical.

Thats all from me



Paul :eat: :eat: :eat:
 
Paul,

From one new person on this forum to another, glad to have you here. Afraid I can't help you with Derby clubs as I live in Utah, USA. But come here, and I'll be glad to help you out!
 
Hi Paul,

Welcome to Bird Forum! I can't help you out with Derby Clubs either, but I just want to say that we're glad that you're here. Hope that we'll be getting many posts from you in the future.
 
Hi Paul,

Welcome to Birdforum :t:

You have answered my query that I posted in 'What started you birding' as to how you ended up in Burton on Trent !

I'm glad that you like the site and hopefully you will find plenty of interesting threads to read and participate in. The site has only been on the go a few months and so is still very much evolving, so don't be too surprised if one or two features suddenly vanish and others appear.

There is a Members Noticeboard, so if there is any feature you think would be of benefit to the site, then don't just keep it to yourself. We're open to suggestions. Likewise if something is naff, then let us know. You won't get jumped on (without good reason 3:) ) You can always do it privately through contacting a Moderator.

I look forward to reading your posts.
 
Welcome to the Forum Paul. You live quite close by to me as I live in Birmingham.

Around Burton you have many good sites to visit. there are plenty of gravel pits, lakes, rivers and canals to keep your interest going for ages. I must admit that I have never visited Attenborough pits but as good as it must be you should try south of Burton.

I would recommend buying some ordinance survey maps for your close areas and single out anywhere where there is water.

Regarding sea-watching. I enjoy it on the odd occasion but me and gulls are not that compatible. I have trouble with them at best never mind at some of the distances that some of the seasoned watchers pick them out.

There are a few of us living relatively close to each other now so I suppose there may be a chance that a meet could be made at some time in the near future to go around some of the Midland sites.

I look forward to seeing if you extend your birdwatching boundaries near to you so keep the reports coming.
 
Thanks guys
Yes I certainly will be exploring Burton sites, I actually went over to Branston Resevoir (I think there are other local names for it)this morning and poled the following -
3 x Cormorant
Female Sparrowhawk
2 x Grey Wagtail
50 + Fieldfare (but unusually no Redwing) -
6 x Lesser Black Back Gulls
A few Teal, Tufties and GCG were amongst the 'feral' population, and frustratingly a possible Iceland Gull could not be identified as my flippin work pager went off !


Paul

----------------------------
 
Paul

I'm up for trying my hand at seawatching. Plenty of water around me but never got round to trying it!

paj:t:
 
Hi Paul

What is it about you Scots? Most of you seem to end up in the Midlands. Monkeyman is in Walsall (he's a case), and thousands of your countrymen are still in Corby, even though British Steel closed down years ago. You must be mad. Great place, Scotland. And that's an Englishman talking. Well, Mother's Australian and some Irish background, but you know what I mean. Sort of mongrel. Anyway, you've discovered how friendly the site is. Lots of people seem to come here after trying out other sites. I was lucky and happened on this shortly after I started birdwatching, which was only weeks ago. So welcome on board, and I hope to meet you one day on one of our outings. Don't forget to get your Bird Forum hat!

Peter
 
Yes Peter, everone tells me that Scotland is a great place - I agree, well for Wildlife it is almost second to none, just wish that there were a few more jobs !!
Out of my Graduating class of 31, 25 of us have made the move 'doon sooth' or abroad - pretty sad really, but the choices were limited for me in Aberdeen, and the bright lights beckoned.
I still go home a few times a year for family visits and of course Birding, but would not move back now for good for all the Warblers in Sardinia !!


PM

---------------------------------------------------------------
 
Hi Brian

You obviously took the other route - The Americas. We do hear from time to time about great clan gatherings in your country of people who can trace their Scottish ancestry back many years.

What we English find amusing is how the Scots become MORE Scots when it suits them. They can turn on the accent for effect. We have a Scot in our office who now has bagpipes playing Christmas tunes out of his computer all day!

Have fun this Hogmanay!

Peter
 
I have a theory that the Scots now outnumber the Chinese on this planet. Well, wherever you go these days, you're bound to run into McDonalds!

>>>>
There were the Scots
Who kept the Sabbath
And everything else
they could lay their hands on

Then there were the Welsh
Who prayed on their knees
and their neighbours

Thirdly there were the Irish
Who never knew what they wanted
But were willing to fight for it anyway

Lastly there were the English
Who considered themselves a self-made nation
Thus relieving the Almighty
of a dreadful responsibility

>>>>> :)
 
Hi Peter,

I actually have two lines of Scots on my Dad's side, the Currie's and the Bain's. I can trace the Bain's back to Scotland (i.e., the actual dates and people), but not yet the Currie's. According to my dad, he is sure the Currie's came over on the Mayflower, thus raising the total number of passengers on the Mayflower to only about 10,000. 3:) ;) . That is funny about the accent because around here we frequently do that, but just because it is a fun accent, not to impress anyone.
 
Brian

Thanks for that explanation - I never doubted you! As you say, the number of people claiming ancestors who came over on the Mayflower grows each year........

I prefer the soft, posh type Scots accent - not like that rough Monkeyman, who you notice has been up to his old tricks of insulting the English!

I wonder how far back you trace your ancestry? I only ask because we have a famous Currie in the UK called Edwina Currie. She was a Conservative MP and Minister, and famously had an affair with John Major before he became Prime Minister, a fact that only came out a few weeks ago. I wonder if by any chance you are related? She came from Liverpool but was MP in the Midlands area of Britain, a place called Derbyshire. She also writes what we call here bonkbusters. That is, cheap style soft erotic political novels, talking of the heroine putting strawberry juice on her lovers 'Bobbet tip' and other such stuff. They sold well, she made a fortune, yet no one - of course - will ever admit to buying the trash!

Pip! Pip!

Peter
 
Since the UK Government is full of Scotsmen, I was thinking of moving to New Zealand, but that's also full of Scots and sheep to boot.

Pause for thought and reflection.

Sorry to upset our North of the border chums but what else is there to do down south in frosty Surrey!

Apologises

Paul
 
Absolutely Camberley Red, couldn't agree with you more !
Having infiltrated Darkest Chobham for the past few years, the domination and eventual take over of the english speaking world is closer than they think................................hmmm


PM

-------------------------------------------
 
Peter,

With the Currie's I can only trace back my ancestry about 100 years, and they are still in the USA. This is partly due to a great, great grandmother of mine seemed to have a child out of wedlock in an oh so unfortunate time in history when it was a huge no-no. Even today, my great aunts consider it a forbidden topic. There had been the suspicion by us younger folk, and one of my great aunts accidentally slipped one time. Given this, I'll bet that we are related to Edwina!

BTW, I am not sure I have ever heard a "soft, posh type Scots accent ". Yet I would not know the difference. Is the soft accent one more akin to Sean Connery? About 40 years ago when he wasn't so Americanized in accent?
 
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