brianfm
Botanical Birder
4th Oct. After being out with a group in the winds yesterday it was rather pleasant to be out on patch alone this afternoon where calm had returned and the sun continued to shine, at least most of the time! I took a photo of the Rowan opposite my house.
The first thing I noticed as I walked through the church grounds was that there were a number of Red Admiral Butterflies about. On my return walk I found more in the small park area. What I have read so far suggests that this has been a good year for butterflies, blip or not. I did read somewhere that it had not necessarily been a good year for Red Admirals although I’ve seen lots. The second most important thing on my walk was a horse. Anyone who reads this blog, and I hope someone does, will remember I fancied getting myself a horse to ride around the patch and further a field. I have decided against the racehorse I recently spotted at ..... and my heart has been well and truly drawn to one I saw today. Tis in the photograph. This one I think would do me nicely. As you’ll note it is a little tubby and small. The tubbiness will I feel slow it down a bit on gallops and over jumps and this will be good until I get more riding experience. Its back is not to far off the ground either and this will save me the cost of any mechanical aids to lift me on it. I think I could manage a Frankie Dettori jump onto and from this one. I’m so taken with this horse I’m already thinking of suitable names for my equine companion.
The Grey Heron was in its usual place next to the smaller lake. There was no sign of the Great Crested Grebes. At least one adult and two juvenile birds remain on the larger lake however. The numbers of Common Gull are beginning to increase and as usual there was large numbers of Black Headed Gulls. Other birds seen were Mute Swans (the numbers seem to increase every time I visit!), Greylag Geese (2), Canada Geese, Mallard, Tufted Duck (numbers increasing), Coot and Moorhen. I noticed a different Grey Heron fly over and a Grey Wagtail flew across the lake. I also noticed the Brown Rats were around in number. As I walked past the small patch of reed one was startled by me and appeared to jump slightly into the air and scurry of at some speed. There were people sitting on the bench nearby so I had to appear ‘cool’ about this. Thank God it didn’t run towards me! They can certainly shift when need be. I passed some guys playing cricket and from the style of one or two of the players I think I have hope left yet as to my fitness! Perhaps they had been to the pub prior to the game.
As I walked home I thought I was going to get a smashing photo of a rainbow across ....., but it faded quickly so I failed with that one. There was little bird activity today to be honest and I saw very few passerines.
The first thing I noticed as I walked through the church grounds was that there were a number of Red Admiral Butterflies about. On my return walk I found more in the small park area. What I have read so far suggests that this has been a good year for butterflies, blip or not. I did read somewhere that it had not necessarily been a good year for Red Admirals although I’ve seen lots. The second most important thing on my walk was a horse. Anyone who reads this blog, and I hope someone does, will remember I fancied getting myself a horse to ride around the patch and further a field. I have decided against the racehorse I recently spotted at ..... and my heart has been well and truly drawn to one I saw today. Tis in the photograph. This one I think would do me nicely. As you’ll note it is a little tubby and small. The tubbiness will I feel slow it down a bit on gallops and over jumps and this will be good until I get more riding experience. Its back is not to far off the ground either and this will save me the cost of any mechanical aids to lift me on it. I think I could manage a Frankie Dettori jump onto and from this one. I’m so taken with this horse I’m already thinking of suitable names for my equine companion.
The Grey Heron was in its usual place next to the smaller lake. There was no sign of the Great Crested Grebes. At least one adult and two juvenile birds remain on the larger lake however. The numbers of Common Gull are beginning to increase and as usual there was large numbers of Black Headed Gulls. Other birds seen were Mute Swans (the numbers seem to increase every time I visit!), Greylag Geese (2), Canada Geese, Mallard, Tufted Duck (numbers increasing), Coot and Moorhen. I noticed a different Grey Heron fly over and a Grey Wagtail flew across the lake. I also noticed the Brown Rats were around in number. As I walked past the small patch of reed one was startled by me and appeared to jump slightly into the air and scurry of at some speed. There were people sitting on the bench nearby so I had to appear ‘cool’ about this. Thank God it didn’t run towards me! They can certainly shift when need be. I passed some guys playing cricket and from the style of one or two of the players I think I have hope left yet as to my fitness! Perhaps they had been to the pub prior to the game.
As I walked home I thought I was going to get a smashing photo of a rainbow across ....., but it faded quickly so I failed with that one. There was little bird activity today to be honest and I saw very few passerines.
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