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Sunday 20 November 2016

Tree to ID please

This is something very common I suspect, but I am very poor on trees! If you know what it is please let me know. It was seen yesterday in a wood at Reach, Cambridgeshire, UK. It was a tree in a wood.

Wednesday 16 November 2016

Long-tail tits

There are fewer small birds around these days in our garden and generally, but some have become more common in recent years. Great tits seem more plentiful and here in East Anglia the long-tail tit is the most common tit to see and hear. Only just a few moments ago there was a flock of long-tail tits on the lilac in the garden next door when I was sweeping up leaves.

See http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/l/longtailedtit/ .

Among the larger birds there are more magpies locally. Going to work, I saw not one in nearly 40 years, although now they are plentiful. Little egrets can be seen all over the place but they were rare before the late 1980s. Buzzards are now widespread in East Anglia whereas they were once a sign we'd reached Devon. Since their reintroduction, red kites can be widely seen again.

There is no doubt that we see different birds these days.

Wednesday 2 November 2016

In the garden

Although colder than of late, today was a bright and sunny day, so ideal to be in the garden. There are fallen leaves everywhere at this time of year.  Our son came up from London this afternoon to help us "put the garden to bed" for the colder months ahead. We had no idea just how long the roots were on the shrub our other son dug up last week! 

Our "London" son turned over the ground and planted some bulbs with my wife. It will be fun seeing these appear in the winter and spring.

Monday 31 October 2016

Dew in autumn

This cobweb was covered in dew this morning. We are now very much in autumn and the grass is very wet in the mornings. I hope you like it as much as I do. In every season there is something good.

Friday 28 October 2016

Autumn in the back garden

The garden is starting to turn more autumnal by the day. Most trees are turning colour and losing their leaves. October seems to have gone very fast!

Thursday 27 October 2016

Salcombe lifeboat disaster - 100 years ago today

See http://salcombelifeboat.co.uk/lifeboat-disaster-centenary/ .

One hundred years ago today the small Devon town where I came from suffered a tragedy when the lifeboat (rowed with oars) overturned with the loss of life of most of the crew. Only two men survived. It was a tragedy in a small community.

There will be a special service to mark this 100 year anniversary.

One of my aunties witnessed the tragedy when she was a young girl.  Most of the crew were not young men as most of these were fighting in WW1.

To this day the RNLI crews go out in any weather to save lives. They are brave men and women.

Wednesday 26 October 2016

Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica

See http://motherboard.vice.com/read/scientists-warn-the-collapse-of-this-glacier-could-be-globally-catastrophic-thwaites

It looks as if this glacier is melting fast and could result in a huge sea level rise. I know the skeptics will say this is just scientists after funding, but we ignore these risks at our peril.