Naturally High with a Raptor

  If you love wildlife and are out regularly watching the wonderful life we share the environment with then you will know about experiencing "Natural Highs". When you have a close encounter with a truly wild animal it cannot fail to generate happiness.It is a better remedy for depression than any anti-depressants you could possess.On this cold, sunny day in January, that's exactly what happened.
  Lincs Wildlife Trust Messingham Sand Quarry Reserve.(photo by Majella Fox)

  After two weeks without spending time out with the binoculars we finally managed to get to our local reserve, Messingham Sand Quarry.It was cold enough for two jackets but the sighting of dozens of Redwings in the adjacent field warmed us straight up.
  Redwing

  There were plenty of other birds on the reserve like Bullfinches, a pair of Buzzards, Gadwall, Cormorants, Shelducks, Tufted Ducks, Grey Heron, 400+ Greylag Geese and a solitary Redpoll but the aforementioned high came in the form of a Raptor.
  Strolling down a pathway we were amazed to encounter the raptor settle on a low branch of an Alder barely feet away.We both held our breath.If I raised my arm I would've been able to touch the slate-grey feathers adorning the back of a male Sparrowhawk (I had no intention of trying).

  He was aware of us and constantly turned his head to check on us but seemed to accept our presence.Wondering if maybe he had prey on the ground, I scanned the area but could see none.I didn't actually take many photographs as I was entranced by a wild Raptor being so close, mesmerized by those stunning golden eyes.To enable me to lift my camera and get a few shots of the Sparrowhawk I had to retreat a few steps in hope of not shattering the trust he had given us.
  He stayed with us for maybe 4-5 minutes before turning, gracefully leaving the tree and gliding towards Majella, his wingtip caressing her jacket as he passed by.She turned to me saying "Oh, my God, my heart was thumping in my chest"

  Photo by Majella Fox

   Photo by Majella Fox

 
  Wildlife encounters like these augment our connection to the Natural World.People need to get out there and see the beauty we share the planet with and do something to make sure it is still here in years to come.
 
  Here's wishing you all, your own special wildlife encounters :)

30 Days Wild - Days 14-16

  Well doing the right blog on the right day didn't last long lol so back to a triple header to once again catch up.

Day 14     Off Their Trolleys

  Apologies to begin with but this isn't a scenic blogpost for Day 14 but a pretty awful sight caused by Humans with no respect for the planet we live on.
  At high tide in Newry the River is full and looks like any other , but at low tide when the mud banks are exposed the river shows itself to be a scrap mans dream(if he could get to them).

  In this one 100m section of the River Newry running along Kilmorey Street I counted 52 trolleys, with more parts barely showing out of the mud :( Not surprisingly there is no trolley park there are more(probably because they ran out of trolleys) but the effects are still there affecting the river and its wildlife.
  I have contacted Newry and Mourne Council both by email and Twitter but have had no response so I guess the trolleys are there to stay.They would probably say it's too expensive to remove them.

  Maybe we should have to pay £5 for the use of a shopping trolley to make sure it is returned to the store and not have it dumped in a river by a moron.

  Please look after our environment, our future generations need it to survive.


Day 15     Birding in Westeros ;)

  If the title of this section confuses you then I guess you do not watch HBO's most popular ever TV series "Game Of Thrones" :) We actually spent the day in County Down, Northern Ireland along Strangford Lough starting with a morning visit to WWT Castle Espie.

  Like most of the Wetland Trust reserves there are 2 parts to it, the Nature reserve with hides for "wild" birding and the captive waterfowl area where you can get close up to Ducks and Geese from around the world.
  Feeding the hordes.
  Red Breasted Goose.

  African Combed Duck, Ross's Goose, Pochards & Mallards.

  My fiance Majella feeding a Baikal Teal.

  Some of the other waterfowl at WWT Castle Espie.
  Wood Duck

  Eider

  Baikal Teal

  Lots of wild Mallards

  Red Breasted Goose

  Barrows Goldeneye

  After the feeding frenzy we headed to the hide overlooking Strangford Lough.

  The tide was out so not much about besides the Black-headed Gulls, Oystercatchers and a couple of Black-tailed Godwits.

  I then noticed this nest on the hide.

  It's occupants were a Wren family, with the parents catching insects and returning to feed the brood.

  Ox-eye Daisies

  A newly emerged Ladybird on a fence post.

  A return to the visitor centre/cafe to feed ourselves and then it was time to head South along the Strangford Lough shoreline to "Westeros"

  Westeros, the main land mass in Game Of Thrones, to us was actually Castle Ward.Heading to the farmyard aka Winterfell.

  Winterfell

  A few extra bits were added for the filming.

                                   

  Around the Castle Ward grounds there were more locations used in the series.

  Three women were hung from this tree by men in the tv show.

  There were plenty of Bullfinches in the grounds and this Grey Heron flew overhead, trying its best to look like one of the Dragons from Game Of Thrones;)

  If you are a fan of the show or just want a nice day out at a country park and castle then Castle Ward is a massive place to explore.

Day 16     Birds In An Irish Urban Garden

  Due to all the walking the previous day my left knee had now flared up from my Arthritis and looks to be once again filling with fluid that will need draining in the not too distant future.So it was a day of rest.

  I got out my Nature dot-to-dot book and found a puzzle to do.It was a Fox with 1104 dots to join up.It took a while and made my eyes hurt lol

                                    

  The other thing I got to do was put out some meal worms and see what birds would come down into the mum-in-laws garden while I hung around with my camera.It's a small urban garden in a city and mainly paved.

  Male Blackbird on a mission to get the mealworms first.

  Jackdaw balancing act.

  A Magpie quickly joined the Jackdaws.

  The Rooks were a bit more cautious of my presence so stayed further away.

  Male House Sparrow couldn't have cared less about my presence and came on the closest fence and bounced around my feet.

  The irridescent colours of the Starlings lit up in the afternoon Sun.

  Even though I was prevented from getting outdoors again, I could still interact with Nature from house door :)

  If you think you don't have any time for Nature during the day just try and spend 10 minutes in your garden instead of watching TV.Put some bird food out and even in a small concrete urban garden the birds will come :)

  Thanks for reading the blogs again and keeping up to date with my #30DaysWild challenge.

  

Tales From The Highlands

Day 9 - Another Holiday Breakdown

  No, this time it wasn't myself or Majella, it was our car but I will get to that later.I got up at 6.15am as I could see the sun through the blinds.It was quite a nice sunrise over the Moray Firth.

  As I was up early we decided to head to Inverness carboot at the football ground.It was pretty busy but we managed to pick up a few bargains.Two African hand crafted masks, a Panda money box and a Rhino puppet lol

  After the carboot we drove back across Kessock Bridge and parked underneath it on the North side.There were plenty of Cormorants and Grey Herons but nothing else so we went back across the bridge to get shopping.
  We had lunch and then took the short drive up to Udale Bay.It was a couple of hours after high tide and the bay was teeming with birds.Hundreds of Pink-footed Geese squabbled among themselves with some taking flight and landing in the field behind us.
  Pink-feet everywhere.

  There were also over 100 Curlew which is more than I've ever seen in one place at the same time.

  The other numerous birds were the Redshanks and Wigeon.
  Redshanks

  Wigeon flying into Udale Bay.

  The two star species though had to be the Male Scaup, one that I don't get to see very often.
  Scaup sat watching the Pink-footed Geese move into the water.

  The other bird was a stunning Male American Wigeon.Looking through the sightings book we found that he has been here over 2 months.

  There were also Knots, Starlings, Crows and a couple of Skylarks in the field behind.We left the hide and as we headed back the car started shuddering so we headed to Munlochy garage where the guy was not very useful and just told us we needed it looking at lol Our only option was to call the AA, explain we were on holiday and see if they would come out.They did send someone but after an hour of revving the car, moving connections and spark plugs he couldn't work out the problem.We found that there was a garage in Fortrose so the car can hopefully be looked at and repaired there, otherwise it will be a long walk back to Lincolnshire lol

Thanks for reading :) Hopefully we will still get out tomorrow as a friend is taking us out while the car is sorted out.