nature notes II

[SweetPea]

you know, there is something about mountains, I've noticed this elsewhere..... they are very mystical.

Nice to see some appreciation of geology crop up. Something to consider further SweetPea - the particular kinds of bedrock and processes that occur in any given area utterly dictate the character of the landscape and habitats and to a large extent will have steered the course of human activity within that place. Think coal mining... but also in much more subtle ways than that too. So, if that is true, and if as individuals we feel some special connection to a landscape it is actually the geology that is at the root of it. I grew up on Chalk, put me in any chalk landscape and I feel at home. Large features like mountains are impressive, especially if they are unfamiliar, but I bet the rocks under your back garden (so to speak) are having just as much of a profound affect on your experience of the natural world... its just it isn't as obvious.

 

Samuel

That's a very interesting post. As a child, I was surrounded by mountains living in Gairloch, Wester Ross; so maybe they are a kind of part of me. I'm not sure I noticed their aura as much then as I do now, but last year in Turkey and this autumn in Yosemite NP, it felt very strong. There was plenty of granite around in Yosemite too, and very probably granite can be found in parts of Gairloch.

Since leaving Scotland I have lived in rural areas of both clay and sandstone and other places more urban of which the geology, I'm not sure. At the moment we are on sandstone and I love it. There are two areas where roads have been carved through sandstone hillocks, that have an attraction. And when there is a really hot summer, like this year, any tracks around fields or local hills are like walking on a sandy beach...... of which Gairloch has many. So, maybe connections, as you say.

 

[Enki]

Rarest bird in the country at the moment is on one of my local patches at Patrington Haven(close to Spurn Point). So, today I was up at 5 am, out by 6, and just beat the morning traffic crush through Hull, to arrive at Patrington. Haven as dawn was breaking. Managed to park the car close to the walking point, and after about a mile and a half walk along a muddy track, there it was, a first year ivory gull from the high arctic, a ghost of a bird which duly performed beautifully. This is only the second one I've ever seen, the first being at Saltburn in 1986. A bonus was finding a male hen harrier while watching the ivory gull. Returned home somewhat smug and somewhat knackered.

Anyone who wants to see photos of the bird, try

http://www.surfbirds.com/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery9

and scroll downwards.

[RobM]

Congrats.  Not seen one yet - but they are great looking birds.

[Rhiannon]

you know, there is something about mountains, I've noticed this elsewhere..... they are very mystical.

Nice to see some appreciation of geology crop up. Something to consider further SweetPea - the particular kinds of bedrock and processes that occur in any given area utterly dictate the character of the landscape and habitats and to a large extent will have steered the course of human activity within that place. Think coal mining... but also in much more subtle ways than that too. So, if that is true, and if as individuals we feel some special connection to a landscape it is actually the geology that is at the root of it. I grew up on Chalk, put me in any chalk landscape and I feel at home. Large features like mountains are impressive, especially if they are unfamiliar, but I bet the rocks under your back garden (so to speak) are having just as much of a profound affect on your experience of the natural world... its just it isn't as obvious.

 

Yes, this is very true. I grew up on Essex clay and live on clay and flint. Local buildings are faced in flint. There are no   standing stones here but Grimes Graves in Thetford point to the importance of flint to ancient people. It is a very powerful stone and I feel a huge attachment to it, and  it's probably no coincidence that I collect studio pottery.

I love vast, rocky, mountainous landscapes but they always freak me out slightly, and I'm not sure if I could make my home somewhere like that.

[Enki]

Yes, this is very true. I grew up on Essex clay and live on clay and flint. Local buildings are faced in flint. There are no   standing stones here but Grimes Graves in Thetford point to the importance of flint to ancient people. It is a very powerful stone and I feel a huge attachment to it, and  it's probably no coincidence that I collect studio pottery.

I love vast, rocky, mountainous landscapes but they always freak me out slightly, and I'm not sure if I could make my home somewhere like that.

Yes, I remember visiting Grimes Graves years ago. I remember climbing down a ladder and exploring the short tunnels where they dug out the flint. Fascinating experience! I used to go field walking in Lincolnshire, where one of our number discovered a perfectly formed flint arrowhead. I still have a flint scraper which I found, from those days.

[wigginhall]

you know, there is something about mountains, I've noticed this elsewhere..... they are very mystical.

Nice to see some appreciation of geology crop up. Something to consider further SweetPea - the particular kinds of bedrock and processes that occur in any given area utterly dictate the character of the landscape and habitats and to a large extent will have steered the course of human activity within that place. Think coal mining... but also in much more subtle ways than that too. So, if that is true, and if as individuals we feel some special connection to a landscape it is actually the geology that is at the root of it. I grew up on Chalk, put me in any chalk landscape and I feel at home. Large features like mountains are impressive, especially if they are unfamiliar, but I bet the rocks under your back garden (so to speak) are having just as much of a profound affect on your experience of the natural world... its just it isn't as obvious.

 

Yes, this is very true. I grew up on Essex clay and live on clay and flint. Local buildings are faced in flint. There are no   standing stones here but Grimes Graves in Thetford point to the importance of flint to ancient people. It is a very powerful stone and I feel a huge attachment to it, and  it's probably no coincidence that I collect studio pottery.

I love vast, rocky, mountainous landscapes but they always freak me out slightly, and I'm not sure if I could make my home somewhere like that.

I chime in with your last point, as I grew up near the Pennines and Peaks, and was always scrambling around the bare outcrops, Heathcliff-like.  But when I got older, to my surprise, I started to find them a bit bleak.  We had a holiday a few years ago right next to Kinder Scout, and I found it too bare really.  Well, Norfolk is pretty remote, but plenty of villages also.   My favourite place is Bath - very civilized, and from the town centre, you can see cows grazing, so it's a nice mix of town and country. 

[floo]

We have blossom on our flowering cherry tree! It must think it is spring as it is so mild for the time of year. It is about 12C at the moment, in spite of the strong wind.

[wigginhall]

Yes, we have a cherry tree flowering in our street, plus lots of other flowers, e.g. plenty of roses, and the  usual winter flowers, e.g. mahonia.   It is very mild, and wet!

[OH MY WORLD!]

Calgary's top ten cute animal stories for the year.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-s-top-cute-animal-stories-of-2013-1.2473837

[SweetPea]

Powwow, do you know what happened to your ospreys, this year? Transmission was lost on the webcam after the floods in your area, I know; but were you still able to watch their progress, yourself?

[OH MY WORLD!]

Hi SweetPea,
I don't don't know what happened to the live feed but it went down before the flood hit. The island that the Osprey nest is on got heavily damaged and the Zoo just opened up again a few weeks ago. I would think that the pole that the nest is on would have survived. I do some checking on what happened to them and get back to you.

[SweetPea]

Thanks, Powwow.

You may have noticed, I was following the progress of the Scottish WLT osprey chick, and now they have nothing from her transmitter, and fear she may have departed this life. So, I know of only one (but of course, there are others) that is doing alright, at the moment - last year's SWLT osprey chick. Have fingers crossed the Canadian chicks are ok.

[OH MY WORLD!]

Sorry SweetPea, I can't find out if the chicks survived the flood. Next time I walk down my hill to the river I will see if their pole still stands. If it's there I know chances are they made it. Here is some pictures of the chicks just before the flood.

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/thousands-flood-enmax-website-following-hatching-of-osprey-chicks-1.1330903

[SweetPea]

Sorry SweetPea, I can't find out if the chicks survived the flood. Next time I walk down my hill to the river I will see if their pole still stands. If it's there I know chances are they made it. Here is some pictures of the chicks just before the flood.

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/thousands-flood-enmax-website-following-hatching-of-osprey-chicks-1.1330903

Ah, never mind. I was reading the link..... great that Calgary have built so many nesting platforms. And the picture of the osprey looking into the camera is a scream.... "hey, you lookin' at me?" (in a Canadian accent, of course ).

[wigginhall]

At the moment in Norfolk, we have big flocks of pink-footed geese on the fields at the back of the house, where the sugar beet has been harvested.  This temporarily leaves plant debris on the soil, which the geese love, and the farmers don't mind, as they have got their beet in. 

It's wonderful to watch them arrive, circling down in big skeins, making their rather wild shriek as they do so, and then another skein arrives.  They say that on a moonlit night, they will stay to feed, but on dark nights, they fly back to the saltmarsh to roost.  I'm not sure how many there are, but around 200, 000, I think, so we get a few thousand fly onto the fields locally.

We also went down to see the wild swans at Welney, mostly whooper swans from Iceland, but also some Bewick's from arctic Russia.   Just a touch of wildness for us, and an amazing spectacle at the moment, with massive floods right down the river Ouse, but safely contained by the banks which have been built. 

[wigginhall]

Saw the first snow-drops peeping through yesterday, not open, but you can see the white buds, getting ready!  Also, other bulbs now poking through the earth, daffodils I suppose.  Axial tilt rocks!

[wigginhall]

Peregrines regularly nest on top of our local hospital (Charing Cross), so now, if you know where to look, you will often see one perched on a balcony, about 3 floors from the top.  They are supposed to have a cache of food up there, and sometimes they come whizzing over the local bird reserve, hungry for a moorhen or something, I suppose.  Of course, nearly everything takes off, although the herons usually hold their ground.

Yesterday, the bittern was perched up in the reeds, about 5 feet off the ground, preening.  Quite an odd view.

[torridon]

It's midwinter's day today.

OK, not astronomically speaking, granted, but in terms of average temperatures, today marks the real midwinter in the northern hemisphere.

but hey ho ...

[torridon]

midwinter ? what midwinter ?

there are snowdrops in flower in the chiltern villages this morning. 

[wigginhall]

Yes, snowdrops out in London also, tons of birds singing, bees around, one of those mild winter days.  The daffodils are well up now, and the buds on the magnolias are looking like hand grenades, about to explode.  Let's hope it's not too mild, or it could be a disaster later on, if there's a cold snap.

[Enki]

Catkins and snowdrops all very advanced around here. Plenty of buds on the laurels and magnolias, Bullfinches, great tits, robins and yaffles, all in evidence by their songs and calls. In the last two weeks or so, winter thrushes seem to be more common in suburbia too, presumably because the winter berries in the hedgerows are no longer plentiful.

[Rhiannon]

Birds singing here too, and ladybirds are about, looking drowsy. Much colder today though, this worries me. Our snowdrops always seem to be late but there is a white periwinkle and comfrey in flower. Put some old apples and grapes out for the thrushes. Fields opposite us have plentiful muntjac and roe deer hoof prints in the mud.

[OH MY WORLD!]

My little grouse visiting my yard this morning.

[Aruntraveller]

I have some Fuchias that have been in bloom in the garden since November - this is clearly wrong!

[OH MY WORLD!]

It is wrong, but I'm just envious.