wellinghall: (Buzzard)
I have taken the opportunity afforded by my convalescence to finish reading Raptor, by James Macdonald Lockhart. My mother in law GlassLady gave it to me as a birthday present earlier this year. The book covers the fifteen British bird of prey species, interweaving them with the life of the great naturalist William MacGillvray. It took me a little while to get into the book, but I am pleased that I persisted with it. Thank you, GlassLady.

I am, of course, reading several books in parallel; but I have now taken our new Folio Society copy of The Norse Myths, ed and trans Kevin Crossley-Holland, off the shelf. I have only read his introduction so far.

Others on the go include Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising (nope, never read it before) and The Knight in Medieval England, 1000 - 1400 by Peter Cross; and, just finished, The Natural History of Orkney by RJ Berry (part of my anniversary present to [livejournal.com profile] adaese earlier in the year.
wellinghall: (Goldie)
Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea)
Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica)
Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Black guillemot (Cepphus grylle)
Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

Lots more behind the cut )
wellinghall: (Orkney)


Castle of Burrian, Westray, last week.

Grebe

Jun. 20th, 2016 01:46 pm
wellinghall: (Olympus)
I saw a great crested grebe on the lake at work today! First time for this location.

What are the odds on it being there when I bring my camera in tomorrow?

ETA: Hah! It stayed long enough for [livejournal.com profile] adaese to bring my camera in this afternoon, at least.



wellinghall: (Olympus)
Into the water ...


Read more... )
wellinghall: (Goldie)




More behind the cut )

ETA: Okay, how did this get to be one of the most popular 25 entries on LJ???
wellinghall: (Buzzard)
Going to the shops this morning, we saw a peregrine falcon :-)

I have obtained a copy of "Constructing Nations, Reconstructing Myth: Essays in Honour of TA Shippey" through inter-library loan. Worth doing, if only for the account of Tom Shippey chasing the opposing captain around the pitch and tackling him to the ground. In a cricket match.

We went on a four-hour guided walk around the boundaries of the Tyntesfield estate today. Photos are included in this album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153026794473408.1073741914.658173407&type=1&l=56a62f801d

I have finished reading John Rateliff's A Brief History of The Hobbit. A useful compression of his earlier work, but at 542 + xxxix pages, not so brief; and I could have wished for a whiter paper stock and a more legible typeface.

And was it compulsory to be called Thomas if you wanted to reach high office in the first half of the sixteenth century?
wellinghall: (Buzzard)
We saw a dancing oystercatcher ...
P5100587

Read more... )

Birdlife

May. 12th, 2014 01:07 pm
wellinghall: (Buzzard)
MastermindChampion came to vist us at the weekend. He had never knowingly heard a nightingale or seen a kingfisher, so we invited him over at the right time of year. We (or rather, the Gloucestershire local group of the RSPB) came up trumps on the nightingale front, as we found a walk they were organising on Friday evening, which gave us the opportunity to hear three or four nightingales sing - a lovely way to spend an evening.

We were not so successful with our kingfisher-watching trip to Slimbridge the next day, although we did see (among other things) a pair of oystercatchers with chicks - and one of the oystercatchers was being a very brave little bird, driving off a crane that got to close to its young. Other youngsters included Nene goslings, cootlings, and moorchicks.

Also on Saturday, we took delivery of two hens, who we have called Nettle (after my father's ferrets of yesteryear) and Bramble (to go with Nettle). They were on the very point of lay, as demonstrated by the egg that one of them laid in the delivery van, and the eggs they both laid on Sunday.

I tried to record the nightingales on my phone, and I will put up a link to the recordings if they are any good. I also took lots of photos at Slimbridge, and I will put up some of these.

So what about you? Did you do anything fun / different at the weekend?

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