House guest!

We are looking after a friend's Alaskan Malamute, I walk her often anyway but this is her first proper stay with us :) I thought I'd use her as a kick-me-into-touch aid, with the target of getting out and about doing some decent mileage walking. So today, 14 miles and gosh I'm achey! Someone seems more tired than me and bar from wolfing her tea down she's hardly moved since we got back!

I took the OS map and planned a vague route in completely alien territory for the most part. The dog and I had some right adventures! Normally my other half takes control of the map when we're out and about so it was really good practice for me to be chucked in at the deep end! We only got lost a couple of times...And trying to fit a broad shouldered dog through stiles just wider than my leg is amusing...and time-consuming! Not much wildlife seen really, a bit disappointingly but the weather was pretty good so can't complain. Everywhere the ground is absolutely saturated after the huge amount of rain we've had over the winter so far.  Highlights included a Roe Deer early on on a golf course, a few Red-legged Partridges (my first of the year, yey!) and a very smart pair of Goosander.

A few pics!

Looking across towards Silsden

Very old...any ideas what it is?

A very scenic resting-place anyway!

You can see Cowling's Salt & Pepper Pots to the left of the horizon!

And some Brown Jelly Fungi I believe!

One very mucky pup 14 miles later, don't know who's more tired, her or me!

As for artwork, I'm currently still working on a commission of a very pretty subject...And a lovely Canadian lady purchased mugs for my first overseas order, exciting stuff!

Bye for now :)

Warning: Feathery Overload!

I wanted to post this earlier in the week but had to wait to retrieve photos off a camera I've been recently loaned, been having a bit of a play with it. As mentioned previously, a local female Kestrel has been hunting regularly in the fields outside the house over the past few weeks giving me some great views. Still need a lot more practice but these are a few of my faves:

Shame not totally in focus but the colours clinched it :)

Having a preen

A closeup crop

Posing like a good 'un, such a lady!

And a few of other species over the last few days:

Dunnock

Handsome male Blackbird

A pair of Fieldfare

Fieldfare & Redwing in flight

Fieldfares, loads have been feeding and flitting through

An acrobatic Robin on my feeders

House Sparrers

Starling stuffing itself

Lucky shot, blurry but I like it!

Kes with a plucky Jackdaw

Pair of cock Pheasants

Still a bit of learning to do, mate's camera is a Sony DSC HX200V and quite a bit posher than my usual Fujifilm Finepix S5000!

Sheer Cliffs and Shearwaters

Made a point of getting out at first light this morning and having a stroll about the fields with my bins, saw passing flocks of Fieldfares, Lapwings and Starlings. It was pretty quiet as I left the village but as I was coming back and the early morning sun had broken through the cloud the birds were really giving it some, it felt like a fresh spring morning with the unusually mild weather and them singing their little hearts out. Got a lovely view of little flock of Bullfinches too.

I like morning silhouettes :)

But anyway, the reason I was posting today. I thought I'd draw your attention to a book a friend has written, named "Sheer Cliffs and Shearwater" A Skomer Island Journal. I was very lucky to spend two months on Skomer Island at the southern tip of Pembrokeshire in Wales as a Long Term Volunteer back in 2011. It was a fantastic experience and Dr Richard Kipling has captured the wonderful memories of the people, the flora & fauna and much more in this cracking little book. Richard was the Field Assistant over the 2011 season and responsible for much of the seabird surveying on the island including the monitoring of breeding success. A keen naturalist, Richard has a great knowledge of botany and was the first person to turn to when wanting to identify a strange or unfamiliar plant!

 

This book is a great read and the memories all came flooding back for me and no doubt the rest of the Skomer team, a real insight  into the day-to-day running of the island, looking after visitors and general management of the island. I would highly recommend it for any nature lover who has ever visited Skomer or has plans to, if you just have an interest in the natural history of islands or if you just love natural history! This journal is very informative and a lot of fun too :)

You can buy your own copy of the book here:
http://www.bramblebybooks.co.uk/sheer_cliffs.asp

And a Facebook page has also been set up here:
https://www.facebook.com/shearwaters

As a further note, I had a lovely surprise waiting for me at the end of the book when I saw my own website get a mention which I'm very grateful to Richard for, while I was staying on the island I painted up a couple of bird identification boards to brighten up the two bird hides, they are mentioned in Sheer Cliffs and Shearwaters and here's a couple of pics too:

Resident Birds. Moorey Mere Hide, Skomer Island

 Acrylics. Donation to Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales

Resident Birds. North Pond Hide, Skomer Island

Acrylics. Donation to Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales

Saturday's Ringing Session 11/01/14 a.m.

First ringing session of the year, first in about 7 months for me thanks to working many weekends BUT now I am mostly free at the weekends my training can hopefully make some real progress. I recently worked out I've been dabbling in ringing for at least 6 years, bits here and there in some very beautiful places but just not regularly enough to be in with a chance of gaining my "C" permit.

Anyway, after a very chilly 40 mile ride on the motorbike to my trainer's house, I arrived for 8 as planned and a few birds were already netted, always a good sign. I was a bit rusty to begin with and the memory needed a big boost in remembering moults and ages (tea, cake & a roaring fire do help the old grey matter thaw out however!) but I soon got back into it and a great session all in all. I ringed 50 birds in total, 10 species including Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll, Siskin, Robin and Bullfinch; a fantastic selection. We also caught 3 retrap birds, one of which was a control Goldfinch which was a bonus!

A few pics from the session:

Adult Male Lesser Redpoll

Female Bullfinch

Siskin

I'll be using this blog as a bit of a visual diary for me to personally keep track of ringing sessions but hopefully others will benefit from reading it too :)

Swan o'clock!

I had an old uni friend come to stay over the last couple of days so I took the opportunity to show her a bit of what our gorgeous county has to offer. We thought we'd take a trip to RSPB St Aidan's Reserve in Allerton Bywater. It was a pretty nice day weather wise, lots of birds about but as we'd not got as early a start as we'd have preferred we didn't walk round the whole reserve (it is quite sizeable!) Still, we were greeted by a Mute Swan family who were bulrush grazing, not an activity I'd seen before. A large number of Coot, Tufted Duck, Canada Geese and Teal were present, not to mention a couple of Great Crested Grebes which I was very chuffed to spot, they're a favourite of mine. We also had a skein of what I'm pretty sure were Pink-footed Geese fly over, it was a bit too chilly to faff about matching the honks on my mobile phone app...

Pinkies?

Looking down onto the reserve

So after realising we were a bit peckish after a long drive and knowing we only had an hour and a half or so of good light left in the day, I suggested heading to Lin Dyke just a few miles away at RSPB Fairburn Ings Reserve. After only being in the hide a few seconds we witnessed a spectacular fight between a couple of adult swans. It was clear a male was pursuing another adult but hard to tell the sexes apart in the rapidly decreasing light. With it only being early January it seemed a bit early to be pursuing females so we figured it was probably a territorial dispute but not too sure. A few youngsters were present and the irate male actually turned on one at one point. The adult not being pursued was keen to lead the youngsters away...all made for great watching anyway, certainly better than sitting in watching rubbish soap operas! Here are a couple of shots taken from Lin Dyke hide.

A puffed up male make making a beeline

Attack!

I also managed to get out for my first ringing session of the year, after not managing to get much training done in 2013 due to work commitments and a very busy trainer I'm hoping this year is going to be very different so expect to see plenty more updates on that as I progress. I will post more about Saturday morning's session another night as I'm needing to get to my bed now!

Meg's Mirrors now available online!

Meg's Mirrors to accompany my "Meg's Mugs" range. I produced these little compacts especially for my stall just before Christmas and I was very pleased to see the reaction they got.

A choice of 7 designs using my pencil drawings

Each mirror measures 58mm in diameter

Presented with a tag displaying the animal's English and Latin names

Handmade little pocket mirrors, perfect as a little treat or gift for any animal lover. A handy size to slip into your pocket, purse or bag just when you need it!
Please note: As these items are handmade they may be subject to tiny variations in drawing position.

Available to buy from my online shop here

Meg's Mugs available here


Bye for now :) x