How Blipfoto changed my life - for 50 days.

I've been neglecting my blog again, but this time I think I have a slightly better excuse than usual. Last time I mentioned that I was aiming to try to photograph and post on Blipfoto (link to photo no 1 - you can scroll though to no 50, if you wish) 50 different birds on 50 consecutive days. I did it! There were times I didn't think I would - round about mid-February when I wasn't too well, the weather was pretty grim, and I was rapidly running out of garden birds. I think you'll find it an eclectic mix: the common and / or garden stuff - tits and pigeons etc, the exotic - mandarin duck, the thrilling - peregrine falcon, the seasonal - waxwings, the colourful - kingfisher, the large - heron, the small - goldcrest, in the water -  great northern diver, in the air - Kestrel, upland - red grouse, seaside - oystercatcher ... to name but a few. Because of the constraints of the challenge, they haven't always been the best photos and some groups have been under-represented e.g. I've managed to get to 50 without a single gull, and there are not many waders and waterfowl generally. Of course there are no summer visitors. So, what next? It's been a pretty intensive experience. I've learnt a lot, and got out in all weathers, but I don't think I'd realised how all-consuming it was going to be. I'm enjoying the idea of Blipfoto journal, so I've decided to maintain that and try to post a wide range of subjects - mainly wildlife I hope, but as spring and summer come along, I can widen the range - insects - especially  butterflies and dragonflies, mammals, and of course fungi. I'll continue with the birds and number them up from 51 for each new one, so it will be a sort of photographic year list. There are some I've seen and photographed already on my year list, such as black-headed and herring gulls, thrushes, swans, reed bunting, bullfinch..., but they've been upstaged by something more unusual on the day,  I think I should be able to get to 100 by the end of the year, but I'll do it at a more leisurely pace. The photos here are some of those that didn't make the cut, but that I particularly liked.

First Blogger, then Flickr, next Twitter now Blipfoto

This morning, I saw house sparrows in the garden for the first time this year. I was delighted for a particular reason. Since January 14th, I have been signed up to Blipfoto and immediately set myself a challenge which has all but taken over my life: to post a photo of a different bird each day. One of  rules of Blip are that the photo has to be taken on that day, which is OK on days when I'm out and about in good locations, but on other days it can be a real challenge. I don't want to use up all my garden bankers too soon, and even some of the more common birds can't be guaranteed. On other days, for instance when I go to RSPB Old Moor, I have to choose one of many possible bird photos. It's also frustrating when I have to post a photo that is not one of my best, especially when I have a better photo of that bird. One example was posting a poor photo of a fieldfare at Old Moor because I'd never seen on before, and because it's a winter visitor, I wasn't sure I'd see another. I'd got much better pictures of other birds on that day, and ironically, I got a wonderful photo opportunity of a fieldfare close-up a few days later. It's proving more of a challenge than I expected, but it's proving good fun most of the time. I've set myself a target of 50 now I think I know what might be realistic, so I'm over half way. And today, the house sparrow is in the bag!!!  Follow my progress here. Wish me luck! Or why not join me!
It's unrealistic to expect good weather in January and February. In fact, it's unrealistic to expect any kind of weather at any time of year in this country - increasingly so, it seems. The last few weeks have brought a very mixed bag, the worst of which was high winds for several days, followed by heavy rain. However, I think it's fair to say that I've been really lucky when it's mattered - for example, the superb weather I had in Scarborough. We went for a walk around Agden Reservoir with a friend, and saw a good number of birds at the feeders, and much to her delight, a good sighting of the bank voles. We had an excellent lunch at The Plough in Low Bradfield. Top meat and potato pie for me.

The following Saturday was an excellent day - lovely bright weather; I decided to do the walk along the River Don from the city centre to Meadowhall. It's a surprisingly nice walk, and ironically, as it passes through a post-industrial landscape, and some heavily regenerated areas, the wildlife is some of the best I encounter. This walk was no exception. I'd hardly got underway, when a flash of blue betrayed the presence of a kingfisher. I'm learning through advice and experience that hanging around and watching patiently can result in good views and photo opps. Shortly after this in quick succession, I saw a pied wagtail, a wren, and a solitary fieldfare (see above) which was feeding on some fallen crabapples. Signs of spring along the way in the form of catkins and pussy willow were in evidence along the way and near one of the weirs, I watched as a fisherman pulled out and returned a grayling to the river: another wonderful indicator of the health of a river which not that long ago could be considered stone dead.
The following day I decided to join the Bugpeople of Sorby. Not sure wether that will be a regular thing, but my interest in dragonflies will certainly be re-kindled once they start to emerge.
As the forecast was cold but clear for Monday, I decided an extended trip down the valley (Rivelin, that is) was in order. I discovered a bus which I didn't know about which goes via the bottom of my road to the top end of the valley. Ideal to catch this and walk the 3 or so miles home at a leisurely pace. The highlights were getting some good shots of a nuthatch at the start of the walk, my first sightings of great spotted woodpecker down there, and some good glimpses of a dipper. Oh, and not forgetting a good sighting of Roger (aka @ukphenology on twitter and  - Mr Nature Bloggers )

I've resumed doing some walk checks for Get Walking Keep Walking  so last week I did 6 of these over 2 days. It involved walking through several parks in the NE of Sheffield and some birding opportunities at the same time. On the first day, I saw a sparrowhawk and a very obliging pied wagtail. On the second, I saw lots of redwing feeding in the smallest area whilst people passed on their daily business, unaware of the winter visitors in their midst.

Saturday was foul - heavy rain, but as I'd seem a number of reports of waxwings in the area, I decided to go searching. Turned out to be a wet, but very successful outing, I also got some really good views of a jay in yet another park.

A short outing in the valley on a blustery Sunday produced my first grey wagtail sighting of the year, but sadly no photo. Tuesday was another glorious day and I enjoyed it at Old Moor. Not a lot of waders or waterfowl, but plenty of reed buntings, bramblings and various finches.

Of Gulls and other birds

Just when you think it's safe to use the S word, along comes an indescribably miserable day like today! Still, it's good for catching up, which seemed like an idea before February is upon us. I seem to have done quite a lot since last time, especially considering the time of year. I've decided to try to get down to some part of Rivelin Valley once a week if I can, and my second visit of the year was on 13th January. I walked down via the cemetery. Not for the first time I heard a nuthatch there, but failed to see it. Immediately on reaching the valley, I saw a large heron in the river, and thought I saw a woodpecker between the trees. The river was very high and the stepping stones were well under water. Again there were lots of fungi around - mainly jelly and crusts but a few oyster types as well.
As I sat by the bridge eating my lunch, I saw a very small creature darting amongst the tree roots. It was very quick, and although I had several sights over the next half hour, I didn't even manage to see whether it had a black tip to its tail, but it was certainly a stoat or a weasel. On a nearby dam, I saw another heron. it seemed very scraggy, and it occured to me how difficult it must have been for them to find food during the cold snap, when even the river was frozen. At the green, I saw what must have been a sparrowhawk bringing down a pigeon between the trees. As I disturbed them, it was a very unsatisfactory outcome for all of us - for me because I didn't get a clear view, let alone a photo, for the pigeon because despite the fact it got away, it must have sustained injuries, and for the raptor, because it didn't get its supper.
The following day, I decided to have a quick wander down to the river Don near the city centre. No sign of any kingfishers this time, but I saw a number of female goosander fishing. Reports say they are still around, and have been joined by at least one male. The pied wagtail from my last visit (?) was still at Kelham Island strutting around.
On the 15th, I went to Longshaw on a fungus foray with the local group. We had a plethora of experts. We found plenty of fine specimens and the rain managed to keep off for us for most of the time. I stayed behind at the end and had a little wander, and saw a few birds - lots of chaffinch, but also nuthatch, treecreeper, siskin, long-tailed tits, blue tits and great tits, but not the fieldfare or redwing I had hoped for.

The next couple of days were spent painting and preparing for my trip to Scarborough. Thanks to anyone who kept their fingers crossed for the weather; it was glorious! Just had a wander round Peasholm Park and the North Shore along to the harbour once I had booked in to my B&B. I saw Canada and Greylag geese , moorhen and tufted ducks in the park, and redshank, turnstone and rock pipit by the sea wall. I'd had a tip off about some interesting birds by the harbour, but by the time I got there it was too dark to see much.

I had anticipated spending my full day there to the north of Scarborough - Robin Hood's Bay, Ravenscar or Whitby, but I discovered that RSPB Bempton Cliffs was do-able on the train, so I went for that option. It was a really enjoyable day, the highlight being the gannets, but I also saw tree sparrows, goldfinch, brambling, greenfinch and blue tits on the feeders and a kittiwake,  a black-backed gull and quite a number of fulmar. As I walked back to the station at twilight, I'd hoped I might see some owls, but so such luck. But it was a fantastic sunset.


On my final day, I decided to go down to the harbour to see if there was any sign of the birds I'd been tipped off about. It had been a few days, so I wasn't especially confident. It was a dullish start, but by about 11am, it had turned into a glorious day, and it felt almost Mediterranean in the warm winter sun. To cut a long story short, I knew I was probably in luck when I saw lots of blokes with spotting scopes and long lenses dashing round the harbour, and sure enough, before long I'd seen an Iceland gull. a red-breasted merganser, and a great northern diver, not to mention a cormorant fishing, house sparrow, a range of other gulls (as feared, unable to put Martin Garner's excellent advice on gull ID into practice) and some very approachable turnstone. A leisurely stroll in the warm sunshine up as far as Scalby Mill and up onto the cliffs completed my stay very nicely. The sea was covered in hundreds of wigeon, and there were several flocks of lapwing circling overhead. I also saw a solitary oystercatcher and a couple more redshank.
I had toyed with the idea of staying for another night, as the weather was so nice, but decided to come home as scheduled and have a few hours in Rivelin the following day while the fine weather still held. It was bitterly cold in the valley, but I was rewarded with sightings of a treecreeper, long-tailed tits and a dipper, and back at the carpark, I put a bit of food on the bird table and attracted robins, blue tits, great tits, coal tits and nuthatches.

Yesterday, I paid an overdue visit to Old Moor. Although the weather was quite promising, sadly it deteriorated again to the poor light we seem to have had a lot of so far this year. However, the water was now all ice free, and I ended up with a long list of birds, if not photos, including 4 new ones: goldeneye, redwing, fieldfare and green sandpiper. I'd hoped I might see some of the waxwings that have been hanging around as I haven't seen any in 2011, but no such -  I'm just being greedy, I suppose. Did manage some nice pictures of some fine bullfinches by the feeders, though.

A reserve, an urban riverside and a country jaunt

Made it back to RSPB Old Moor last Tuesday. It was a really disappointing visit, as much of the water habitat was still completely frozen and the waterfowl were all on the far side. Lots of goosander and wigeon, and I had a lesson on common gull IDing from the ubiquitous Man in Hide, (becoming even more ubiquitous than Heron of Doom). The best places were the garden feeders and the sparrow farm, but the light was also very poor so I only got a few poor shots. Yellowhammer, reed buntings and greenfinches mainly.

Much better was my Saturday outing when I set off from the city centre to follow the Don upstream towards Hillsborough. I got "stuck" for quite a while at Kelham Island as a result of seeing a kingfisher - my first in the city proper, although I've often seen them on the Loxley. It looked so special in this environment - the light was petty good as well, and the additional  presence of a great tits, blue tits and a strutting pied wagtail kept me entertained for quite some time. Not much further up, I saw a heron and a large flock of long-tailed tits.  After that, things got a little sticky - literally, as my path beyond Hillfoot Bridge went from a narrow tarmac road to a sea of sticky brown mud. I had hoped to explore a hidden cemetery nearby but the long paddle through the mud had left me exhausted and very grubby - also, it's impossible to enjoy the scenery and watch for wildlife when you are concentrating on where you are putting your feet.

Yesterday, in spite of very changeable and unpredictable weather, I decided on an outing into Derbyshire. After a few false starts, I took a path along Barbrook towards the reservoir. It's hard to believe that after all that seriously sub-zero weather, it actually felt much colder in the wind blowing across the moor. The wildlife had very sensibly stayed at home too. By the time I got to the end of the track, things had improved a bit, so I planned a circular walk which took me a little lower and through some woodland. This paid off with sightings of lots of treecreepers, a goldcrest or two and a trio of goldfinches. Also found a large clump of oyster mushrooms. OK, not a lot, but a very pleasant walk with some interesting skyscapes. Off to the N Yorkshire coast for a couple of days next week. Fingers crossed for those blue skies.

More fungi than feathers

Today was my first outing of the New Year. A combination of a cold, problems with the central heating and unappealing weather had kept me indoors thus far. Down in Rivelin Valley, much of the path was still frozen, so it was not too muddy. The birds were shy today, but I got quite a nice sighting of a jay, and several of goldcrests. Odd to think that I had never seen a goldcrest until last October in Suffolk, and now I see them all the time on my own patch. I think birding is about knowing what you are looking (and listening) for. I'm waiting for the day when I can get a decent photo; today I got some good views, but there was too much scuttling in undergrowth for a chance at a shot. I also saw a pheasant and a very exciting grey squirrel chase!

There were lots of fungi about. particularly jelly ears in all sorts of shapes and sizes, the usual long-lived brackets and velvet shanks. With the moss at its best, it was very colourful!
Last Wednesday, I ventured up to the start of the Loxley Valley trail, catching a bus up to Damflask, then walking home down the valley. Again, quite disappointing on the birding front. One of the dams had a solitary tufted duck on it, and the carcass of a canada goose on the ice. I saw jays and wrens, but nothing of note on the river itself. The later part of my walk brought me past the confluence of the Loxley with the Rivelin and a short walk along that valley. I was surprised at the difference in the two valleys in terms of how much more ice and snow still remained in Rivelin. I suppose it must be more sheltered; certainly, there was a huge amount of ice there immediately prior to the thaw. It seems like a different world now most of it has gone. I wonder what the rest of this winter has in store for us. There was a mist descending as I approached home, which made my walk through the cemetery very atmospheric. A pheasant on the path was the closest I had seen one to home. Perhaps they'll find their way onto the menu by next Christmas!
I've long had planned a garden sightings diary, and that began well with a dozen species on New Year's Day, including a bullfinch, which we haven't seen for a very long time. I'm planning a trip to Old Moor tomorrow, so hopefully that will get my "year list" off to a flying start (pun intended).

Icily does it.

Managed to get out a couple of times recently, despite my wussiness about the ice. On Tuesday, I went out to Bradfield on the bus, intending to walk home along Damflask Reservoir and the River Loxley, but the lure of Agden was too great, so I walked around the reservoir and was fulsomely rewarded with some fine landscape views as well as the reliably good wildlife. I managed to flush out what might have been a woodcock (or was it a snipe?), but it was way too fast for me. At the feeders, the usual array of blue tits, coal tits, great tits and eventually some brilliant long-tailed tids (my favourites - sooo cute!), blackbirds, robins, a single nuthatch  and the bank voles were obligingly coming out to feed on the bird seed, and towards the end of the walk, a brown hare was highlighted against the snow as the light began to fade. Getting a blackbird, a bank vole and a coal tit in one shot was a bit of a highlight for me, although I have to say, I'm proudest of the long-tailed tit pictures.
Yesterday, Christmas Day, with fond memories of last year and a dipper that made my day, I set off via an atmospherically frosty Walkley Cemetery, down to Rivelin Valley. With all the ice along the river, it really was most magical. I had not got too far along before I arrived at a spot where there were lots of birds flitting around so I set up base camp, took a few photos and has my hot drink and mince pie. I saw wrens, treecreepers, jays, goldcrests, and - wait for it - long tailed tits. Although I got photos of the jay and goldcrest, they were not brilliant, but the treecreeper and the wren were a bit better. As well as the birds, I also spotted, and had a pleasant chat with the family from across the road, who were also enjoying a Christmas Day stroll. Also, and with a degree of inevitability, I final ran into Roger Butterfield, a fellow Tweep, and Flickrer, and a wonderful photographer, with whom I've had quite a lot of communication, but never met in person, despite the fact he lives only a few hundred yards from me. (see links).

I also took quite a lot of shots of the icy river, and did a bit of experimenting with the guide setting, a new feature on my new camera body. which looks like a good learning tool, as well as a handy shortcut to advanced settings.
When I got home, I realised that I had got 2 key settings wrong, so the fact that I got some reasonable shots was really a bonus. No dippers this year, but I'm sure it won't be long before I see some again. I've booked myself on a couple of day courses to make me try harder to get the best out of my camera, rather than just stick in Auto, so that's all part of the plan for next year.
Happy New Year to everyone! I'm looking forward to even more wildlife watching in 2011.

Splashing and splurging

Since the last lot of snow, pretty much all of my organised activities have been cancelled. I've done a few more local walks - Rivelin and Loxley Valleys in even deeper snow. It was nice to get into Loxley Valley again as it's been a while. As I was walking from home, I didn't get very far, but that didn't matter as there was plenty to see. The first highlight was a flock of long-tailed tits, and a wren by the first dam. I decided to head for an area where on my last visit I had seen kingfishers and grey wagtails. No such luck on these, but possibly even better, as I was entertained for about half an hour by a lovely dipper going about it's daily business.

As I climbed up the steep bank above the river, I got some good views of 3 jays amongst the trees, and a couple of treecreepers.
After a few days at home, the snow began to clear and I ventured out to Manchester for a wander round the Christmas Market, which I think is one of the best. and then along the Sheffield Canal to Blackburn Meadows SWT Reserve. There is always plenty to see along this stretch, and as well as the ubiquitous long-tailed tits, I was rewarded with sightings of kestrel, goosander, song thrush, goldfinch and a squirrel doing a circus act using one of the pipes across the canal as a bridge.
I'd been toying with the idea of getting a new camera body and when I noticed that mine was in need of cleaning, I went up to the camera shop to explore my options. To cut a long story short, it cost me a lot less than I was expecting to upgrade and I now have a higher spec camera which is actually simpler to use. One feature is that it is supposed to perform better in low light, so the following day I paid a long overdue visit to Old Moor to really put it to the test. It was a grim day: one of those where it never seems to get light, but in spite of this I saw a good number of birds, and the camera stood up well to this test. No masterpieces, but some good record shots in very poor light, so I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do in better light. Here's a shot I got of a brambling - a first sighting and a first photo with the new camera.

I had hoped to go waxwing chasing again today. Lots of reports still in the area, but I wussed out as it was icy on the pavements after another snowfall yesterday. At least I can stay in the warm watch birds at the garden feeders and draw them, even if I don't get out to see them. I've added a few more drawings to the drawings page. I'm hoping for more snow - the forecast is for sub-zero temperatures - at least I can do local walks in the snow, whereas the icy pavements make getting out and about no fun at all.

From Waxcaps to Waxwings to Whiteout!

Wow, November went out with a bang - and December came sweeping in in a big white coat. Edinburgh seems long ago and far away. My outing with the local RSPB group to Frampton Marsh went pretty well. I met an old colleague on the coach, so the journey went quickly. The reserve itself is quite new so it still feels a bit "under development", but there was plenty to see. It was quite busy as they had double booked, so as well as casual visitors there were 2 coach parties. At times, the hides were a bit congested. The real highlight for me was watching a barn owl hunting over the marsh shortly before we left. I got a few hasty shots, which turned out better than I expected - they might be used in the trip report, but it hasn't been posted yet. Weather permitting, I'll be going on the next trip to Tophill Low. I've also been on a couple of waxwing forays. Having the intel from Sheffield Bird Study Group really helped me to track them down, and I managed a number of sightings and quite a lot of photographs of varying quality. I like this one best, as it is against a green background, not the usual backlit sky, and I've managed to get the wing colours showing, which isn't the case on many other photos I've seen.

Since the snow started, I've been on a couple of local walks in Rivelin Valley. I'm glad to have this so close by - it means I can get out and get fresh air and take pictures without having to dig out the car, or even worry about whether the buses are running. On Sunday the light was stunning. I had a couple of unexpected encounters - one with a couple of geo-cachers wanting to look under my sitting rock for their cache - I helped them hunt for a while but by the time I moved on, they still hadn't found it - and a nearly too close encounter with a guy who had taken the steep road that skirts the top of the wood I was walking along, and failed to stop at the bottom in the icy conditions. Fortunately, he wasn't hurt, but he'd made a bit of a mess if the car which had ploughed into the undergrowth before finally coming to a halt. On Tuesday I did the same walk after a little more snow. It was less eventful, and the light was not as good, but I did see a jay, lots of long-tailed tits and a grey wagtail.
Pretty much everything I had in my diary for this week has been cancelled - a visit to a friend, a couple of bird-related events, my art class, my Mac workshop... I'm still not used to the fact that I don't actually have to do anything. I've been feeding the birds in the garden, of course, and spending a lot of time watching for new ones. Nothing new so far unfortunately, but plenty of the usual suspects: magpie, robin, blackbirds, dunnock, chaffinch, coal tit, great tit, blue tit, long tailed tit, wood pigeon, collared dove, feral pigeon, starling - oh and I did see a kestrel overhead yesterday, which is a first from the window.
As there is some sunshine forecast for tomorrow, I might get my boots and my Yaktrax on and get out to another stroll.

No sun, no moon...

Actually, November is no worse that many other months, but it has a bad press and the gloomy old sod Thomas Hood over-egged it a bit in his poem "No" , although I rather like it. Days like today are Mother Nature's way of saying "you stay in with a nice cup of tea, and I'll take care of things out here".
Catching up with records and general fettling and blogging; these are just a few of the things today was designed for.
I devoted the first week of November to getting myself a scope. The taxman kindly returned some of my money, so I thought it was a sign. I went to Old Moor on the Tuesday to have a look at their wares, but finally plumped for some kit from Denby Dale, which involved a pleasant train journey. I can't believe the luck I have when I go to Old Moor - I always seem to get good weather, even though I don't plan with the weather in mind. The highlight of this particular trip was a snipe at Wath Ings, which very obligingly stood quietly in the water remarkably close to the hide, allowing me to get some nice shots. Goosander, shoveller and long-tailed tits were other highlights of this visit.
There were one or two fungi around and one in particular which I resolved to ID turned out to be a Tricholoma cingulatum (Girdled knight), which is little recorded in this area.
Hopefully the scope, and spending more time with experienced birders will help me get better at seeing  ID-ing birds. It seems really hard. I don't remember finding basic fungi identification being such a struggle, but it won't put me off, as a few kind followers on twitter seemed concerned about. It's in the same league as drawing and painting, which I'm determined to persevere with. More of this on my other (non-wildlife) blog - the multifunctional and eclectic Out of Office.

An enjoyable foray, with a select group, was the Saturday was visit with the Sorby Group to Strawberry Lea Pasture. near Fox House. As hoped, this threw up some nice grassland fungi, including Earth Tongues. There were quite a few birders around as well, apparently in search of a great grey shrike which had been sighted nearby. Perhaps I should devote some time to lurking around that area, as there seems to have been a few good bird sightings around there recently.
The following week I realised that the Fungi exhibition at Edinburgh Botanical Gardens only had a short time left to run, so I hastily booked a few days there. Before that was a few hours hunting for waxwings at a couple of the reported sights. I was lucky enough to catch a brief sight of half a dozen or so, but the presence of a sparrowhawk was clearly making them jittery and I was unable to get a photo. It seems there are still quite a few around the area, so perhaps I'll get another chance soon. On Wednesday evening, I went to a Sheffield Bird Study Group talk about Bearded Tits. Last month's talk by Paul Hobson was a hard act to follow, but this one was also interesting, and I learned quite a lot.

So, Edinburgh. Any excuse to visit. Like Sheffield, as well as being hilly, it has some of the best green spaces for a big city and I always take my walking boots. The exhibition itself didn't disappoint, and we also fitted in art (Surrealist exhibition at the Dean Gallery) and shopping. The Botanical Gardens were wonderful, as at any time of year, and no visit would be complete without a walk along the Water of Leith, where we saw a dipper and a fine heron. No time sadly for Arthur's Seat, the Pentland Hills, Musselburgh or the glorious walk along the River Almond, this time, but I'm sure we'll be back before too long.
I took my scope up to Redmires on Monday this week to have a little practice, but drew a blank on birds. I did see, remarkably, a peacock butterfly, despite it being a frosty day, and less remarkably, some blewitts, which someone had picked then discarded, I can only imagine, in a fit of uncertainty about their identity. At least I knew confidently about these.

Yesterday, despite forecasts of thick fog, I took my chances and went to Old Moor again - to have a little practice with my hide clamp. Amazingly, yet again I was lucky enough to get a glorious day. I've taken a few liberties with this shot by iPhoto-ing the telegraph wires out. Yet again, I didn't get many bird sightings. My top one for the day was goldcrests, but they are hard to photograph as they never seem to keep still. No matter. It was another lovely day.
Off to Frampton Marshes with the local RSPB group this Sunday, so fingers crossed for the weather.

Adjusting.

Oh dear. November. What happened to my plans for a daily blog .... a weekly blog.... ? It's such a busy life being retired. People always say this, and it's hard to believe till it happens to you. Actually, I think these first few months are more about making the adjustment. I'm going to stick to wildlife and related matters it this blog, as I suspect that's what anyone who can be bothered to read it is interested in.
So October then. Started outdoor activities with a walk around Agden area on a lovely sunny day, Where I saw a few raptors. Some I recognised as buzzards, but still not good enough to be sure what the others were, only that they were something different. Had a pleasant half hour at the feeders being entertained by a nuthatch, and took home a couple of nice orange birch boletes for the pot. The following day, I ventured out to have a look at the new Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust reserve at Centenary Riverside. It has a lot of potential, but still looks a bit raw. It'll be interesting to go back and follow its progress. As it happened, it hit the news a few days later when someone nicked part of the henge art work, presumably for scrap metal. This is why Rotherham gets a bad name. Such a shame. From there, I found a route back through to Blackburn Meadows reserve - which is now well established and shows how successful these sites can become. The highlight of the return walk to Meadowhall along the canal was a pair of kingfisher chasing along the river section.

My next outing was a trip to a part of the Wharncliffe area I had not previously explored. It began in a meadow area near the reservoir where there were lots of waxcaps, especially blackening ones. There were still a few butterflies around - mainly small tortoiseshell, but I suspect we are getting close to the end of their season now. I dropped down through a lovely wooded area, across another meadow after watching more buzzards from a splendid vantage point, then circled back though the woods and along the edge of Wharncliffe Chase. I spent a little while sitting at the top of the Chase, as I thought it might be a good site for birdwatching. I saw nothing, but discovered when I got home from the Sheffield Bird Study Group website that someone else had seen masses of stuff up there. I can only console myself with the fact that they probably didn't see all the cracking fungi I saw. That same evening I went to my first Local RSPB group indoor meeting. The talk was fine, but not about local birds, so less interesting, I thought. Also, I didn't find people particularly friendly, but I've booked on a field trip to RSPB Frampton Marshes, so that might be a better time to see whether it's my scene.

Hygrocybe intermedia

The weekend brought 2 Sorby forays. On Saturday, rather an exclusive event (3 of us) went out to Lathkilldale to look at waxcaps. The weather was not brilliant, but it held sufficiently well was us to manage an excellent tally of species, some quite rare ones amongst them. Sunday was a very different affair: a very well attended foray led by Steve and Ziggy in the General Cemetery. Lots to see, but it's often slow going, and difficult to take good photos with so many people to accommodate. The people at the cemetery (the live ones) were great. Very welcoming and enthusiastic and provided tea and biscuits at the end, and I enjoyed seeing the cemetery itself - can't believe it's the first time I've been in there after all the years I've lived in Sheffield. Obviously a real haven for wildlife, but then Sheffield is astonishingly full of those.
The following week, I had a brief excursion to Rocher Head. I'd been feeling a bit rough, so kept it gentle. Vast numbers of parrot waxcaps in the fields up there. Goldfinches and a hare were the other highlights of this short excursion.

On the following day, I went to Old Moor. The highlights here were a small copper butterfly, a reed bunting, a goosander and a great photo opp with a wren from the reedbed screen. There were still plenty of common darters around.
Wednesday's highlight was the SBSG indoor meeting with a talk by Paul Hobson. Fabulous! I have put in a request for a one-to-one masterclass  with him for my next big birthday. Picked up some useful tips, and what is often nice, some affirmations that in some respects I am on the right lines.
On Thursday, I braved Rotherham again with a friendly native. We followed the "Fuelling a Revolution" flagship trail around Canklow Woods, and very nice it was too, especially for a wide range of trees and fungi types. Well worth a visit.

Jostling for position. High Tide at Iken Fen

The following week, we went down to Suffolk. Unfortunately, I was still feeling under the weather, and not at my best, but it was still a wonderful week, with visits to Westleton Heath for the deer rut, RSPBs Minsmere, North Warren and Snape,  Kenton Hills, Aldeburgh, and Thorpeness. It's just the most wonderful area for wildlife. Can't wait to go back again.
The last week of October was half term, and I mostly lay low, except for Saturday, when I went on a Sheffield Wildlife Trust foray to Wyming Brook. Again, too many people for comfort, but it was a glorious day, and the views from up there with Autumn Tints in full swing made it well worth the visit.
Enjoying life: 8 out of 10 VG. Blogging regularly: 3 out of 10. Must try harder.

One Month On

I've now been retired for one month.
My favourite month next - October. But it's started badly weatherwise, so an indoors day to catch up with blogging etc. is in order. It's been over a week, so I'll work backwards to my last blog. Yesterday, we had a trip out to RSPB Old Moor. The weather was lovely through the morning - clear blue skies. As always, I let myself be distracted by dragonflies, and to my surprise, there were more around than ever - mainly migrant hawkers and common darters, and I managed to get a couple of nice shots See Flickr). There were also quite a few fungi around, but I managed to keep my observations to a passing glance. After the feeders which were busy with greenfinch, chaffinch, great tits, blue tits and a bullfinch, we visited the reed beds. We saw little grebe, great crested grebe, tufted ducks and the arrival and departure of a couple of cormorants. As we went to lunch in the excellent Gannets Cafe, I ran into an old friend and colleague who is also retired, and doing some volunteering at Old Moor, and as we left, we ran into another couple of friends just arriving. The walk through to Wath Ings, punctuated by hide stops was fairly uneventful. We saw herons, BH gulls, more cormorants, teal and plenty of wigeon. At Wath Ings, there were lots of lapwing and golden plover, but fewer waders that when I was last there. We did pick out a couple of godwits, but most of the birds were even further away than usual, so I'm doubly handicapped when it comes to identifying them. I suppose I will have to get myself a scope if I'm going to make any progress. Once the dragonflies have disappeared and the fungi diminished in numbers, the birds will still be there to see me through the winter. Just to cheer me up, as we were about to set off back from Wath Ings, I saw a kingfisher flying along the bank. Bless them for being so spectacular, and as a consequence, so easy to identify.

On Wednesday, I stayed at home. The weather was a bit dull and drizzly, but I was able to take advantage of the renewed interest in my bird feeders. Currently, our most regular visitors are a family of coal tits, and we also have the ever-reliable great tits and blue tits. There was the first appearance for a while by a robin, and we also had a couple of dunnock. It was very reassuring to see them back after a quiet time.
As well as fungi, I've decided to record dragonflies, but it's a laborious process as I have to keep checking, but at least there are far fewer of them than fungi.
On Tuesday, I got round to seeing the Mervyn Peake illustrations for Alice, which were exhibited at the University Library. I'm already pretty familiar with them as a devotee of both Peake and Alice, but to see the originals, and some of the preparatory drawings was a bit special. A quick trip into town and a whizz round Graves gallery was followed up by an unpremeditated walk to Meadowhall via the 5 Weirs Walk along the River Don. I tried to focus on birds, but my only real sightings were a few solitary grey wagtails, and a small group of noisy and colourful goldfinches. Even the photo I attempted of the latter didn't turn out. The walk included a visit to the tiny Sheffield Wildlife Trust Reserve at Salmon Pastures, a "tick" for me as I am intending to visit them all over the coming months. It was full of little birds, but they disappeared into the trees too quickly for me to be able to ID them.  The walk finished at a coffee shop at Meadowhall with a very welcome cup of tea, piece of cake and sit down.

Last weekend was a two-foray weekend. On Sunday, I went out with the Sorby Group to Limb Valley and Rough Standhills. We found a huge variety of stuff, including a few items of real interest, and I enjoyed being the dedicated photographer whilst Steve and Ziggy do all the hard work of IDing stuff. My photos from this are on my photostream, and also in the Sorby Flickr group, were Steve adds his really useful comments.
Saturday was the annual Foray-gossip-and-bacon-butty event out at Hope Cross.  It's a chance to catch up on some serious gossip from (former) M'colleague, collect some yummies (although the sloes were a no-show this year) and indulge in a pint of tea and a bacon buttie at the legendary Grindleford Caff.
So, two more forays lined up this weekend. I think the weather could be mixed, but my boots are freshly dubbined, and the last few weeks of BST need to be grasped.

Parrots in the Peak ;)

First of all, an apology to birders who were drawn in by the title. I'm afraid this edition of my blog contains no birds at all. The parrot waxcap is pictured right.
Had a nice outing to Greno and Wheata Woods at the weekend, taking out an acquaintance who is keen to learn about fungi. Much of the earlier flush had gone over, but it was not bad for showing some of the main groups of fungi, as within the first 5 minutes we saw brackets, amanitas, russulas, lactarius, boletes, and others. We found trumpet chanterelles - what you birders would call a "lifer", and after scrupulous checks, I scoffed the lot. Not bad: a nice earthy taste, but not very substantial. And best of all, I'm still alive.
Just realised that this month marks the 40th anniversary of my arrival in Sheffield. Wow! Like so many, I was captivated my the lure of the Peak District on my doorstep, but over the last few years, I've been discovering the charms of South Yorkshire. However, now is a good time to rediscover the Peak District: now I've retired I can go out during the week, when it's not quite as busy as at the weekend or in high Summer.

So yesterday, the forecast being good, I set off for one of my favourite walks near Bretton (the one between Eyam and Abney, that is). It has everything - conifers, beech, oak, birch, rowan, hazel, and rough pasture, not to mention fantastic views. And most surprising of all for a circular walk, it is almost all downhill. Yes, yes, I know... it just seems like that.

It was a day where Summer collides with Autumn, to make it almost perfect. Sadly the heather had all but gone over, but there were still butterflies searching out the last remaining blooms. As I set off, there was thick cloud over the Derwent Valley, below blue skies. By the time I'd got my boots on, it had burned off, so the only photo I got was with my phone camera.

One of the main reasons for this choice was to hunt for waxcaps - the jewels of the fungus world, and I was not disappointed. Yellow, orange, red, pink, black, white and green... (the parrot waxcap) . I also saw lots of what is now called the Scarlet Catterpillarclub. No, not an exclusive organisation for red wannabe butterflies, but a fungus which infects insects to use as a food source.  The colours in the woodland fungi were pretty spectacular as well - yellow chanterelles, red and maroon russulas, orange lactarius, red and white fly agaric, and verdigris agaric. Don't want to fill my blog with too many photos, so please follow the link on the right to Flickr if you want to see more. There were plenty of brown birch boletes down in the valley, but it was only under pretty much the last tree of the walk that I found a magnificent cep. Patience rewarded.
In addition to fungi,  (I'll list these on the fungi lists page) I saw peacock, small tortoiseshell and small copper butterflies. Sorry, birders, the only other flying things I saw were a light aircraft, a glider and these : the Birdpeople of Great Hucklow

Puttanesca it is, then

Tuesday was another day at Old Moor. With the aid of the Wader ID sheet that was put together by Kate, the assistant warden, I managed to ID a ruff. At least, I think I did. Visit my Flickr pages if you want to check! Lots of teal and golden plover, and otherwise the usual suspects. There was very little in the reed bed area, partly down to very strong winds and partly due to work taking place on a nearby bank.
Wednesday, I did a bit more clearing out - my room is starting to look slightly less cluttered and I even set up my old microscope and looked at some spores of fungi from Monday. No idea what I was looking at, but one step at a time!
On Thursday, yet more bramble jelly was made, this time a "limited edition" (i.e. only 3 small jars) of a spicy version. In the evening I went to the AGM of the Sheffield Wildlife Trust. It's quite exciting times for them, as they are just taking their first steps towards the ownership of a large area of woodland in the North of the city - Greno Wood. There was a very interesting talk about woodland by Mel Jones, a local expert, followed by a very acceptable buffet.
So to today. Friday is pasta day. I went to Little Matlock Wood in the Loxley Valley, in the hope of getting a few choice mushrooms. I've experienced some mixed fortunes here in the past, but felt confident, considering the current profusion, that I'd find some goodies. You can never rely on fungi, so plan b was a nice home-made puttanesca sauce. I could hardly believe how little there was around. If you look at my new lists page, you will see how little. even the one badius was pretty puny .

As if to compensate, I was treated to a viewing of a kingfisher along the river, and a couple of grey wagtails put on a show to allow me to get photos. I also saw a treecreeper, and some very noisy jays, who seemed to be warning off a raptor that I glimpsed only fleetingly. A passing dog walked informed me that it was a "sparrerork", but I have been warned about believing men in hides, and I suspect the same goes for dog walkers.
Finally, I was very excited to find that one of my photos had been chosen to go on a BBC Nature blog.

I'm including it here, but this is the link in case you don't believe me :-)
Click on this post's title

A full-on day

This morning I went out to one of my favourite fungi sites - a small birch woodland above Ladybower. On the way out, my first treat was a kestrel hovering low over the bank of the reservoir. There were a few of the usual suspects in the rough grassland on the way - dung roundheads and liberty caps. The woodland itself didn't disappoint. There were about 15 that I could comfortably record, either immediately or with a small amount of work with my new edition of the trusty Phillips, and there were probably at least as many again that I could narrow down to the family, such as mycena, russula, and lactarius, plus a few more that I was unsure about. As well as the old standby bay bolete, I found a couple of fine ceps and even a few chanterelles.


Among the non-edibles, I found an amanita that was new to me (a. porphyria), several lactarius and a laccaria bicolor.
On the walk back, I had a great close up view of a couple of wrens larking about, a hare loping along the path, and this fine fellow:


This evening I had my first outing with the Sheffield Bird Study Group. Unfortunately it was rather dark and windy, but nevertheless, large numbers of gulls obliged by coming in to roost, and we even saw 4 yellow legged gulls, apparently. Perhaps not the easiest initiation for a crap birder like me. The members made me very welcome, and I can look forward to a meeting soon about photography.
My cocoa tonight will be accompanied by the gulls section in my birds field guide.

Time flies when you're having fun!

Sunday already! Still busy clearing out the clutter, and joining things like there's no tomorrow. Had an excursion round my local patch above Rivelin Valley earlier in the week and bagged a couple of nice bay boletes and an orange birch bolete for the pot - a simple pasta sauce was again the preference. It brought back memories of when I trawled the area very regularly, and even kept records. Bits of it look quite different. Some areas seem to be more managed whilst other areas are getting wilder and more overgrown. No wax caps or field mushrooms in the meadow but maybe it's still early days.



Yesterday, I went out with a group from Sorby Natural History Society. It was a bit of a return to the fold. I'm going to try to get back into recording and reacquainting myself with names (although it appears that some of them have changed and common names are now de rigeur for even the most unlikely candidates). One advantage of going out with a group is that there are more sets of eyes, although this can also be a problem, as with so much around, progress was slow. Barry, one of our leaders, was keen to show us the parasitic bolete he had discovered, but it must have taken us a couple of hours to cover the few hundred yards to the spot. But eventually we found it and here it is: