A Hirundine Storm

Utterly blank day yesterday where it was so cold and miserable I didn't do a thing all day.

I suppose we are allowed to have off days, but I still felt guilty about it. Hence me getting another 10km run in today, where while it was cold and windy it was at least bearable.

It was worth it, too.

I ran out to Farndon, then cut along the path to the power station on the other side of the river. It was here that I ran into a veritable storm of swallows, house martins and swifts feeding where the river drops off over a weir and presumably the rising insects were a rich source of food.

There appeared to be a sand martin colony based in the river bank too. Maybe about 50-60 birds present, although sadly rather distant.

Happily, on my side of the river I was treated to some prime aerobatics as the swallows skimmed the furrows of the freshly ploughed field, and the martins and swifts scythed about overhead, challenging the wind to do its worst.

I was happy to interrupt my run to take it all in for a bit.

Wasn't the only good sighting I had either, earlier on in a cow pasture over the river from the South Marina, I flushed a pair of noisy oystercatchers.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 11.05.20

The Swifts are Home!

While snatching a glimpse at twitter during my breaks at work today, I could see that a lot of people were reporting the arrival of the first swifts of 2019 today; my timeline was full of pictures of sickle curved wings arcing through the skies.

I resolved to keep my eyes open on my way home, in a faint muggy drizzle, but kind of forgot as my head was full of cricket practice thoughts, which I indeed attended and batted very badly at after my confidence was dented by being hit on the shoulder when batting, and I ripped a right tricep which is rather sore.

Anyway, when I got home and was putting my bike away, I happened to look up and there was a swift flying away from my flat.

It turned out that there were four of them, and judging by the way they were flying, they were town birds rather than just passing through. As ever when they first come back, they were high up, circling round, presumably keeping an eye out for their nest sites.

My arm is still really sore as I write this, joy of joys. At least it isn't my bowling one.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 01.05.19

One Day, Two Games of Cricket

We knew the weather forecast today was going to be dreadful, and indeed when me and my fellows in the third team arrived to play Gedling and Sherwood at another biggish complex near the National Watersports Centre, prospects didn't look good.

It was tipping it down, basically.

Our skipper, who was perhaps more concerned with going for a drive in his flash new BMW 320 while pumping out music of an urban variety - perhaps even taking me and a couple of team mates to a "Booty Bounce" as I believe these events are called - was hoping the game would be called off, but as soon as we got into our whites and threw the ball around a bit, he was as keen as any of us, and we did get a game going an hour late.

I opened the bowling, as seems to be what happens these days, and lo and behold, I took a wicket with my first ball! Batsman just lobbed a perfectly average delivery to one of our best young bowlers. I was so surprised I forgot to run round like a maniac as if I'd just got Sachin Tendulkar off.

The same thing happened a few balls later!

Luckily we had other good bowlers too, and after keeping our opponents down to 119-9 off 36, we thought we were in with a big chance. However, it had started raining, and when we went off after 20 minutes of fielding in a downpour and a muddy pitch, we knew that was it.

The ground seemed to be popular with swifts heading out of the city for a feed on the insects drawn to the nearby river Trent, never seen Swifts over a cricket ground before.

The sun came out as we drove home, the skipper deciding that "Saturday Night" by Whigfield was good driving music, and found our first team arguing with their opponents, who didn't want to go back out to finish a game they looked like losing. Well, they were rather chubby and unathletic, I don't blame them.

But on a lovely sunny evening, lose they did!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 20.05.17

An Evening with the Swifts

A very interrupted night's sleep, as usual, left me incredibly tired for most of the day, but the desire brought about by a late afternoon appearance of the sun to get out for a walk at the end of the day.

You need it after a twelve hour day spent inside.

I've spent some time trying to photograph the swifts around their nest sites; they are having a great spring and there's at least forty engaged in sky shredding flight above the three that I know. However, knowing where the nests are is no guarantee of being able to photograph one of these fast flying characters.

My bright idea, having watched them over a few evenings, was to stand opposite the nest with my camera, and wait for one of the swifts to make one of the super low level runs that indicate it's going to duck down and head up under the eaves, offering a chance to maybe get the bird with a burst of shots as it slows to make its entrance.

Fat chance of that!

When I went to try and get some photographs last night, the swifts tormented me by staying mainly at high altitude, at no point going into their nest holes and making only occasional rooftop level screech-runs at far too high a speed for me to follow.

It didn't take me long to give up.

Tonight, I decided to just visit the park, enjoy the sun, and then just watch the swifts.

Worked for me.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 29.05.16

This first set of shots is from around the park.

These next pictures are where the swifts are nesting. Note the eaves they can get in to.

Evening under the Screeching Swifts

After cycling back from work, a very long and dragging day at work, I saw that the lowering sun had found a few gaps in the cloud to shine through, and that there were gaps in the cloud. That was good enough for me.

A bite of food, and I was out there!

I walked around the park, past the river, past lots of families, lovers, shy teens holding hands, football kickers and the inevitable dog walkers. Overhead, motorised parachutes droned about like flying vuvuzelas. With it being evening, the woodland was dominated by the song of the blackbird. The River Devon was acting as a waterpark for millions of insects, and excited small fish ripped through the surface in their pursuit of them.

As I headed back into town, along old Millgate, I was really happy to see so many swifts in the sky, and indeed to identify a nest site I wasn't aware of before. They were hunting at medium level, but every so often one would streak down to head height before making a near vertical ascent up to the nest under the eaves of a Georgian house.

I have an idea that this is the best spring for swifts here in some years. Now that I've identified where their nests are, I'm hopeful I can get a sequence of shots of them arriving and entering. I would love to get one clear shot of a swift, for they are masters of the sky.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 22.05.16

Conker candle

Bronze River Devon

Garlic mustard meadow

The individual flowerhead

Buttercups

A cow parsley meadow

Insect life

Sunset over the marina

Golden castle

Deep into sunset

Ghost Trees in the Dusk

I had a stroll out tonight to vote, in a slightly hazy dusk.

There's nothing interesting to vote for here, no mayor, councillors or assemblies. Just the PCC, but even after struggling to locate my polling card amid a sea of junk mail - I failed - I felt it was my duty to exercise a right an awful lot of people don't have.

Besides, I take a great deal of pleasure in NOT voting for one particular party. After I'd scrawled my cross on the paper, using those great thick pencils you only find in polling booths, I trotted back to the little gardens not far from home with a great deal of satisfaction.

It was obviously a slow night, voting wise; the two attendants nearly fainted when I walked in.

Great trees have spouted blossom on the park. In the low light, they looked ghostly. Swifts flew above, getting lower, screaming more and more.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 05.05.16

Cricket and Swifts

Sport with balls for a change! None of my solitary, self indulgent running and cycling tonight, I actually mixed and did sport with other people, many of whom were talking about my third team colleagues who (without me) conceded 303 for 2, before being bowled out for 25.

Would never have happened if I was there, twitching around the outfield and dropping catches, before bowling like a drain and batting like a blocked one.

Speaking of twitching, cricket is good for this, providing I'm occupied with batting or bowling rather than being out out to grass in the outfield. Never twitch while I'm batting. Good job, as I have enough trouble hitting the ball as it is.

Cycling home, was really able to see how many swifts have arrived with the heatwave. It was avian carnage by the Chinese takeaway, as around a dozen birds circled low over my head, occasionally approaching the eaves of buildings as if to fly into a nest hole before turning away at the last minute.

One or two birds even came at me at little over head height before climbing up and over the roof of the florists on the other side of the road, wings fluttering seemingly far too weakly to obtain such speed.

The earthbound cyclist is a feeble thing by comparison.

Si

All images and text copyright CreamCrackeredNature 30.06.15

Sunrays kiss the pavilion

Early practice

Out on the greensward

Purveying a bit of leg spin

Thunder calves

The Swifts are Gathering

I've been mentioning a lot on social media how the swift count here seems to be rather down on previous years; whereas before you'd get groups of 6-8 swifts or even more screeching in circles around their usual nest sites, this year there's never really been any more than 4. I know they've been investigating their nesting holes on the old church hall and the Chinese takeaway, but whether they've actually "laid, hatched and raised" any young, I have no idea.

Tonight however, on my evening slow crawl of a run - still nowhere near pain free, alas - I noticed that there were many more swifts engaged in joyous flight all over their town colonies - there must have been 20 plus on Balderton Gate alone between the hall and takeout joint!

Does this mean fledglings are now among the adults as they hurtle round the sky? I wouldn't know, other than to say that none of the birds have had a juvenile look about them.

I think its more likely that the godforsaken Norwesterlies that have plagued the UK with freezing breezes for most of June have now gone south, and with the warmer air, we've got swifts now able to move up from continental Europe without having to pack two overcoats and an electric blanket.

Perhaps they will stay later into late August or even September!

Also very glad to spot a sand martin nest on the artificial bank of what I always call "Newark Island". Lovely little birds.

Enjoy Newark sunset rather than sunrise.

Si

All images and text copyright CreamCrackeredNature 29.06.15

Sand martins nesting behind the clump of grass in the middle

Fishermen have a camper van tonight

How different it looks in the evening

Likewise the lock

View from the bridge

The Barge, a floating pub

Hello metal ghost signs!