Another sunny day

I think today has been the hottest of the year so far, it certainly was at the reservoirs I take Emma to anyway. Got the shopping out of the way first at Morrisons, then got a McDonalds and me and Em had a picnic round the lakes on the bench, sitting in the sunshine. See, I'm not so mean after all, Emma had loads of chips! Took lots of photos again, mainly of trees this time, I love the colours, all the leaves have sprung open everywhere this past few days, and with the sun shining on the new shades of green, and the blue sky, just makes me feel good. I think Emma decided to spite me for yesterday, she went in the muddiest, most stagnant bits of the lakes she could find! Made her go in a clean bit last off though and gave her a quick rub down with the towel before we came home. At last I got a picture of a duck! First time since I've had the new camera that there has been a Mallard there, a lone male. Millions of tadpoles too round the edges. The same Moorhen as the other day, and there was one Coot, who was too camera shy. One of the robins let me take his picture too, and there was a tiny, tiny little bird which I can't identify up above me, I have a feeling it may have been a Goldcrest, but can't be sure. I took a snap but it's too high up and is too blurred. I don't think it was a Chiffchaff, unless they make other noises. Forgot to say yesterday because I had to look up another bird I saw on our way. Near Devil's Bridge - it was a male Stonechat, another first for me. :)

Can I go in this muddy bit?
hehe I'm in!
See I'm cleaner now.

More photos from Gigrin yesterday

View from the farm across the Valley
Tractor arrives with the food




Beautiful big Buzzard
Buzzard and Rook, look at the Rook's face lol!
Buzz again
Rooks, Crows and the Heron

Gigrin Farm, Rhayader

Oh boy, what can I say? What a fantastic day I've had today. The weather has been superb, despite slight anxiety on the way there around the mountain area where it was grey and cloudy, we soon got through this and it has been amazing! The scenery up that part of Wales just blew me away, I've not been up to that area before, it is simply breathtaking. I shall definitely go again. We decided on the scenic route going, there are three different ways to get there from here, all about the same in distance. We chose Tregaron, Ystrad Meurig, Ffair Rhos, Ysbyty Ystwyth, Devils Bridge (just amazing!) then on to the A44 through to Llangurig and then Rhayader. Had a bite to eat in a cafe there, and then onto the Red Kite Centre. Had a mooch round, watching some of the Kites already beginning to gravitate for the 3pm feed. Had a look in the gift shop, walked Emma a way up the track, there's a 2 mile nature trail you can take, but we decided against that because it was a bit too hot and we wouldn't have been back in time for the feeding. There's loads of hides to sit in and wait for the tractor with the food. There were loads of Rooks and Crows, and Jackdaws waiting too. Well when the food was thrown into the feeding area, it was the most amazing thing ever, the Kites came from everywhere. I guess the most there were at one time was around 50, just awesome. They say on the leaflet up to 400 come in winter time! I guess some are breeding now so most of these were one half of a pair. Also several Buzzards who are much easier to photograph as they eat their food on the ground, whereas the Kites swoop and dive, grab a chunk and fly off and eat it on the wing. A Heron of all things put in an appearance, and I had a new "tick" for me - a Raven. Got one chance at a photo as he grabbed and went off, it's a bit blurred but still going to post it! I took 86 photos, but as I say it's difficult to get clear ones of the kites as they are on the move, so only about 30 of them are worth keeping. Also did a short video clip, which again is a bit poor.

I won't be able to post all the photos yet as they need sorting and editing, but will put a couple now as a taster.

Great day out, highly recommend it. We couldn't believe how many people were there really, bearing in mind the kids are back to school (only adults there today) and it's too early really for holidaymakers, reckon there must've been about 50-60 of us, could even have been more.

Let's have another go!

Well the photos are uploaded, let's hope I can write this and not lose everything again.

Today I went to my friend Pat's. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the wind still cold, but it was boiling sitting out the front of her house. We took the dogs to the woods just across the road, where there are the ruins of old mill workings and cottages, and beautiful scenery. Chiff Chaffs calling from all over the place. How lucky is she to have such a fabulous place right on her doorstep.

When we came back I snuck round the back and took some snaps of a pair of Willow tits on her peanut feeders, and a Collared dove.

Came home, put the guinea pigs out for a run round before the sun disappeared from round the back, and thought I'd try and get some photos of something other than house sparrows or chaffinches here. Well I got lucky! Thankfully, the Sparrowhawk didn't as he swept through and missed everything. He's not a very successful hunter, although I've found a couple of piles of feathers around, I've not seen him get anything, and hope that I don't. He went and perched on the rail in the next door garden and posed nicely for me, so didn't shoo him off this time. He came back later behind my aviary again, and still didn't get anything, and that time I did shoo him off, he terrifies my poor cockatiels. One of my regular robins came out from under the holly bush, Tic, he's not as tame as Bouncer, I think he is one of Bouncer's offspring from last year, but has a mate of his own now, who is still terrified of me!

Well tomorrow, I'm off to Gigrin Red Kite Farm, really looking forward to it, hope to get lots of photos, so watch this space....

Given up with this bloody thing

I'm livid. I've written my blog twice and uploaded 10 photos, and then it decides it's got an error and I've lost the lot. I am bloody livid. I love wasting my time, I really do, Ive been trying to do this since 6.30

I've got better things to do now, so will have to try again tomorrow night. I am not pissing around anymore. I've taken loads of good photos today. It's about time stupid effing blogger sorted itself out so that it can actually work during peak times, and not crash and lose all your stuff. Boy am I mad.

Tuesday

Went to Irene's today. Hooray, the sun came out, but there has been a bitterly cold north-easterly wind. We decided after lunch to take Emma and her cocker spaniel Sian for a walk to the next village. It's a mile, uphill some of the way. She wanted to speak to the workmen who are putting in new water mains because she needs to have the use of her field back for the sheep, and there's still a big hole in the field. Anyway, we found the workmen, they promised to come and fence off the hole and the pile of mud so that her lambs won't come to any harm, and then decided to walk back the long way. I said yeah, I'm up for it, but poor old Emma struggled a bit, well in all honesty so did I. It involves about half a mile of a one-in-three uphill gradient. What a killer! Anyway, once it levels out, about another mile across the top, and then back down the lane to her farm. I guess about three miles in all, took us an hour and a quarter. The views from up there are fantastic though. I haven't cropped the photos I took, so if you have a 15" monitor or bigger, it's worth clicking on the pics for the full panorama.

I had a great afternoon, but I am a bit fed up, because she will soon be gone, and I shan't be doing any of this stuff for much longer. Typical of my luck, someone who I have a lot in common with, who is now single again, with no family here, same as me, and now she's about to depart. Bummer.

Oh yeah, another bummer. In the past 7 days, I've now seen 7 squashed hedgehogs, run over by cars. Thats more than I saw all last season. There's one either end of our village, one in exactly the same place as I saw one last year. Another one I saw had so very obviously been deliberately run over, it was dead centre of the width of one lane, so the car would have had to be straddling the centre white line down the road to have hit it. How people get off doing this is beyond me, how evil can you get? I hope they have a similar death.

Busy

I made a list this morning of stuff that I had to do. There's other things that will need to be done in the not too distant future, but for today I settled for cutting all the grass, and strimming which is a personal hate of mine, and I only do about three times all summer if I can help it. For once the line didn't break though, because I bought some really thick stuff last season, but it was making a funny noise, and when I looked, the blade has disappeared! It was just the line cutting against the edge of the plastic, lol. I also managed to break the mower at one point when I hit a rock, and the blade had nearly come off! So it was out with the spanners and a new washer and off I went again. I also cleaned out my aviary, hooray. It should stay a fair bit neater now with the doves gone, because they flick the food everywhere, and their poos are much bigger and more frequent that the other birdies in there. I've also cleaned out the guinea pigs, Chippy, and Diddy's Lodge, taken Emma out for an hour round the park, and planted out my Red Pepper seeds and cucumber seeds into compost, and done a hanging basket with some trailing plants. Oh and yippee, I have some little peeny lettuces just sprung forth from the soil in my veg plot! Oh and I watered all my tubs as they were all bone dry. And chased off the bloody Sparrowhawk three times from behind my aviary. It even had the cheek to come when I was mowing up there quite near. I don't know how my cockatiels know it's there, they must be able to see through wood, but I guess they hear the alarm calls of the wild birds, they must all speak the same language I suppose even though it all sounds different to us.

Another incident in the village today, although I don't know what, I was too busy to go down and have a nose, but there was either a fire engine or ambulance screaming through when I was doing the aviary, but it only stopped just down the road and shortly after the Air Ambulance helicopter came and set down in our football field I think, roughly that area. It stayed for about 30 minutes and then went off at great speed in the direction of Carmarthen hospital. I wonder what happened only it is quicker by road to the hospital from here, because the AA has to stop in a field about quarter of a mile from the hospital and then the patient has to be loaded into another ambulance anyway. It's only about 12 mins by road if you can put your foot down.

The sun has just broken through now, first time we've had blue sky and sun here for about three days. So fed up with it, when everyone else is bathing in tropical temperatures again, but it's also turned noticeably colder too, the wind has swung round to the north and feels quite chilly out there. I hope we don't get the frosts they forecast, when I checked the weather sites again, it showed plus 5c and higher for night time temps.

Sunday

Feeling very sad. My doves went to their new home this morning. The person who has them now has a wonderful set up and showed me round his place. I was gobsmacked. It is paradise for me, away from other houses, huge, huge spread of polytunnels and aviaries, right next to the river. He has all sorts of exotic birds including Kookaburras, my first ever sighting of these in real life, and they are huge! I thought they were the same sort of size as a blackbird. He has kakariki, laughing thrushes, lots of different finches, budgies, a Rhea, Wallabies, Marmosets, oh boy are they cute! The doves travelled well, but my poor little hen looked very bewildered when they were put in their new aviary, was very nice, and planted which they've not had here, but I was a bit concerned because it has no cover over it, and they sit out. The guy's wife said they would get something, but I am still worried, they have so many things there, and to be honest they haven't time to look after everything the way I would, some of the cages and aviaries needed cleaning out very badly. I've come home feeling sick, I've got rid of them because I couldn't be bothered with them is the honest truth, the noise, the hassle, the worry. Not very proud of myself at all. Oh well, I just hope they will settle in and be okay, I could get them back I know, but that would be very defeatist, and solve nothing except make me feel better. Bugger.

Afterwards, I drove down to the reservoirs in Carmarthen, and took Emma for a morning walk for a change. This time there were a few birds around, but it's nigh impossible to switch camera on, push the zoom and get a pic before they are off. A moorhen, a robin, and a rook obliged. A wren and the buzzard didn't.

I'm also very fed up with the weather. It was boiling down at the reservoirs, came back here (again only 11 miles up the road) and we are covered in high misty hazy sort of cloud, which at around 3 oclock turned quite cold, no sun at all now, and have had to come indoors.I've just been checking weather sites on the net, and it seems it's just here that has this crap, everywhere else within about 10 miles in any direction is showing sunshine and 18-20c, we've got grey, cold wind and 12c. Shit, I hate this place some times. Will have to bring the guinea pigs in too in a minute I think, it's too cold for them to be out now. We have minus 5c forecast for Wednesday and Thursday night too, so winter hasn't gone yet. Means I'll have to bring in my stuff from the greenhouse else it will be done for.

I can't be doing with this getting up early and doing stuff in the morning. I thought I'd try it as the weather has been so nice lately, but it's doing me in. I get to about 3 oclock and I am bored out of my brains, too tired and lacking energy to do things that need doing, like cleaning out the guinea pigs, cutting grass, cleaning the car, cleaning the windows etc etc. I just wanna go to sleep!

Saturday

Just a brief blog tonight, too much on tv to interest me to spare time for this! I have had a good day, met up with an old friend and took our dogs for a walk, more about this another time. Tomorrow my doves are going to a new home, I have had to think seriously about this, and although I am going to be upset, it's for the best, they want to breed so desperately, and I don't want the responsibilty of trying to find them good homes, or worrying about them and what will become of them. Also the cock bird coos non-stop night and day, and I'm sure it will be getting on peoples nerves around here, because it does mine too, and I don't want any official complaints from the council who will then find out about Diddy. And finally he keeps attacking my male cockatiels, and I'm afraid he will do them harm before long, as it is Chico's life is becoming a misery because he is being chased out of the flight all the time. So tomorrow they go to the man who bought their parents from me two years ago. So I took their last pictures. They are also another tie for me for getting away for a few days because they won't roost in the shed. If need be, I could shut my budgies and cockatiels in for three or four days with loads of food and they wouldn't come to any harm, but I can't do that because of the doves, I won't leave them shut out because I don't want food left out in the flight incase rats are about again and will try to get in. So it's goodbye to Flicker and Bubble. I shall miss Bubble especially, she is so tame and would be dead if it weren't for me intervening when she was born as she had been thrown out of the nest pan and was on the floor stone cold. I put her back under her mum and hoped for the best, and she survived.

The guinea pigs had a nice run round outside too, I've been putting them out most afternoons for a couple of hours, they love it. Diddy Boy also likes it, he treats them like his lost flock!

I took the picture of the budgies in the shed. It's the first time all 11 of them were in the same place I think. They amaze me, a boiling hot day, and they stay inside where it's even hotter....