Saturation Point

My belly is straining my jeans a little after the festivities, although unbelievably I managed to drop a pound or two in between Christmas and New Year. Hence I want to be running and exercising as much as possible, and not lying in bed listening to 4 Extra and reading...

...which is exactly what I did today, covering myself in guilt not glory, and all because of a little bad weather.

Well, it was more than a little, really. It was actually hammering down the entire day, and running would have been no fun at all in that downpour - splashes of water on the backs of my leg make me vulnerable to calf strains.

However, I did manage to get my walking trousers and neon sex kagoule on, and headed down to the park. The River Devon is just in the process of going over its banks, not that this bothered the mallards who must have loved having more room to play in. The rain lashed down, and the only birds out of the water were a few gulls wheeling around overhead. Alder cones were sailing in splashy puddles; my feet washed them away in tsunami surges as I walked by.

That sort of day.

I actually enjoy walking in adverse conditions, there's no-one else around, and there's just this sort of elemental thrill of survival pulsing through your body, an Aldi Ray Mears refusing to eat any dog mess tainted leaves.

A Ray Mears who later walked to Morrisons past a rising Trent, and got a lift home with his stepdad when he bumped into him.

Si

All text and imagesd copyright CreamCrackeredNature 03.01.15

Rising River Devon

Swans loving it

Over she goes

Not bloody today it wasn't

Line up now, ladies

Quaggy old wood path

Daffs are spearing up

Nearly in flower

Trent nearly over

The working boats

More Joy of Morris

I was wandering moderately aimlessly around the market square today, after buying two tins of soup and other assorted excitements, when I heard the sounds of aggression, the sounds of fighting.

These are not normally unusual events in this town during the night, but fights during the day are not that normal, unless it's a couple of the town drunks fighting themselves at high volume, but as time went on I realised that no fights 1) went on that long and 2) were accompanied by the sound of bagpipes.

So I traced the sound past the bear baiting post, and onto the little square backing onto the Wetherspoons pub, to find a wide variety of Morris sides performing while a blue faced man dressed as a sailor called out helpful information.

"Why are these people dancing with brooms?" I thought to myself, and as if reading my mind, he piped up, loudly "THIS IS A TRADITIONAL NOTTINGHAMSHIRE BROOM DANCE!!!"

That would explain it then.

After a couple more dances, various scarily dressed mummer types lined up in order to look like the case of The Wizard of Oz on LSD, and scream scarily at us that they would essentially kill us if we didn't give them money. I was in no mood to die so I thought I'd leave before this costume mugging could be enacted.

But as ever, nice to see something that turned out not to be violence outside those particular pubs.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 02.01.16

Line up in line, line up in line

Formation closes in

The blue sailor

Swords now out!

A complex tangle

And a star of swords is made, just like The Wicker Man!

Broom dancers

Brushes to centre!

Mummers mugging

Operation Egret

I started off the day with this militarily planned attempt to go and photograph some little egrets today, at a spot next to the River Trent near South Muskham where I often see them fishing from gravel spits at the edge of the water.

Unmilitarily, I had forgotten that the river is rather high at the moment; sure enough, when I cycled by, there was a whole lot of water and no egrets.

However, Operation Egret turned out not to be a washout, for as I passed the A1 Fishery between the two Muskhams, I noticed 3 little egret, and a greater black backed gull about the size of a car door sailing in front of them.

My first ever opportunity to photograph these snow white birds! Operation Egret was a success.

However, things got rather more exciting as I cycled on to the reserve at North Muskham lake, for among the usual tufted duck on the water, I noticed a rather similar looking, but smaller, bird energetically diving near a small reed bed.

At first I thought it might be a little grebe bobbing about, but when I got closer, I wondered what it was I was looking at, a smart looking black and white duck with a prominent yellow eye.

Revelation came when it joined up with the stunning male. It was a goldeneye, the James Bond duck, and for me, a so called "lifer".

I know. It's not much of a lifer, they are common in winter! But I've never seen one before for definite, let alone photographed one!

It was a great day's birdwatching, for there were fieldfares that might actually be mistle thrush, and a buzzard watching me from a haystack!

Hopefully this is a good omen for the year.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 01.01.16

Little egret

Two little egrets

Tufted duck flotilla

Pochard

More pochard!

Mrs goldeneye

The happy couple

Mr goldeneye

Heron

Not a fieldfare

Wondering if these birds wandering around a field were actually mistle thrush. They look a little large to be song thrushes

Buzzard

Watching from his haystack

The Unseasonal Season

If you look at my blog entries from exactly 12 months ago, you will see photographs of glittering snowfields and closeups of ice crystals looking like jewels.

This winter has been characterised by howling winds, driving rain, and T-Shirt temperatures. Everything is fooled. Crocuses are now appearing to go with the snowdrops, and daffodils are spearing out of the sodden ground, yellow trumpets not yet ready to unfurl.

The ground has no winter crispness about it a frost brings. Everything is muddy, thank heaven for my excellent £12 Decathlon trail runners but even they don't prevent your feet getting soaked when you suddenly find yourself in an ankle deep puddle.

The main blessing of this winter has been the fact that might cycle commutes to work have not yet been made hazardous by ice and snow.

Si

All yext and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 31.12.15

Cemetery crocuses

Snowdrops too

Bracket fungi

Not sure what this is, but it's out!

Magnolia flowers budding

Also nettles flowering

River Devon just starting to flood

Trent nearly over at the lock

Muddy running

Even muddier running

Muddy owl land

Pub Quiz Funs

Up until 8 years ago (!!!) I ran I weekly pubquiz at the much missed Mailcoach Inn here in Newark, but when that place eventually turned into a Sicilian mobster's den - truly! - my Thursday nights ended up being my own again.

However, David and Leslie, who used to run The Coach, got me to do a new quiz at Oscar's, the pub they have now taken over. So, after a lot of research and struggles with busted internets, I took my black book of doom down to the bar last night, with much trepidation.

An empty room is the quizmasters dread.

Luckily, the room was absolutely stuffed with competitors, including to my delight top local birder Nick Crouch, and many friends I hadn't seen for years. Within seconds I was sweating with nerves, and that was without the presence of Irene from Home and Away, who is appearing locally in Panto and drops into Oscars from time to time.

People were expecting questions about nature, astronomy, and of course, Christmas questions. What they got were a musical round where I played Christmas songs I didn't know how to play on my guitar, dodgy 70s sitcoms like Love Thy Neighbour, and unspeakable euphemisms from Star Wars.

Naturally, as with all my quizzes, it turned out to be murderously difficult and 21 / 40 ended up being the winning score. But that was kind of irrelevant, as it was all a hell of a lot of fun and everyone ended up rather merry.

Thanks then to Dave and Leslie, and all who played.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 30.12.15

The Birds of the Blue Lake - The Tufted Duck

After mallards, tufties are probably the next most common duck species in the UK that your average town dweller will come across. Out in the sticks in winter teal and wigeon may be far more numerous; but they don't seem to visit urban bodies of water.

I've never ever seen a tufted duck chick, and in summer they tend to disappear to breed I know not where. But with their yellow eyes, drooping crest, and precision plumage that makes them look like models, they are very characterful little ducks indeed!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 29.12.15