Feathered friends

Since moving in to my little country cottage is South Yorkshire I have been making the acquaintance of the local wildlife. I put up bird feeders on my front room window, literally on the glass, to get the closest views I could. I now get regular daily visits from Robins, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits and Chaffinch. The food dropped by the latter is taken up by Blackbird, Dunnock, Pigeon, and most recently, Pheasant. I have also had recent visits from Voles. Despite my Cat sitting in the window watching with baited breath, the birds keep coming. I think they know that the Cat cannot get them. At night I have had a visit from a Barn Owl, and a Tawny Owl is a regular. I'm hoping that the Deer from the woods will one day wander up, but I somehow doubt it. I may be lucky to get a Fox, Badger or a Hedgehog. My next plan is to install a night vision camera so I can monitor night time visitors. (Of the wildlife kind I may add).

I have been working on some birds at my place of work too. So far I have had a Robin cast a shady eye on a handful of food but my best feathered buddy so far is actually a Pied Wagtail who follows me for a scrap of food in our South American exhibit. No mean feat when you have to compete against seven feisty Squirrel Monkeys. 

A sighting of a Leucistic Crow is common just of late, especially in the Polar Bear enclosure. A Kestrel is seen daily taking scraps from the Polar Bear leftovers. I have even seen it eating fish. Ever the opportunist. The wetlands area behind the Tiger enclosure is teaming with Lapwings, various Ducks and Geese a plenty. In the Summer a pair of Oystercatcher live and nest in our African enclosure. Goldcrest are plentiful as are Long Tailed Tit. 

Locally is Potteric Carr nature reserve with Bittern and Egret as regulars. As is the stunning Starling murmuration. I have a lot of bird watching to catch up on. New county, new wildlife. Nature is just the best and can lighten any dark heart. Get out and take a look around you. The countryside is a wonderful place. (Be quick before that Trump bloke ruins it all!) 

Here are my Pheasant friends outside my house. Crap pic from my phone but hey, I'm not a photographer! 

Love life. Love nature.

Return of the blog

So. I have been requested to resurrect my blog by popular demand. Okay, a demand of one, but hey, someone likes it so who am I to argue.

Lots have happened since my last blog. Far too much to write about in one go so I will condense it a bit so i don't bore you too much.

I now live in South Yorkshire. Ironically next door to the birth place and childhood home of William Bradford who was one of the Pilgrim Fathers and Governor of the Plymouth Colony who set sail on the Mayflower from Plymouth. Not only is there a geographical co-incidence but I have a family connection also. A close family member is a direct descendant of his. Small world eh.

I am now working at Yorkshire Wildlife Park and loving every minute. After eight years of ............ I won't go in to that. It is so nice to be working with a forward thinking progressive zoo that actually delivers. One of the fastest growing zoo's in the country. The staff are highly professional and generally great people to be around. Love it.


My home is situated in the country and I have set up some bird feeders which is frequented daily. Even have Tawny Owl at night and Pheasant in the day. Just feet from my door is open countryside and a small woodland that Roe Deer live in. On the other side of the road is a nature reserve and a study center with two large astronomical telescopes. I have yet to visit but will do one day. I have joined the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and found an excellent nature reserve nearby. Potteric Carr. Large waterways and reed beds with Bittern and Egrets and a large Starling murmuration most evenings. A few miles up the road is the Humberhead Peat Marsh which is a site of international importance and has Nightjars among it's wildlife visitors. 

I will be posting more blogs as and when I see some cool stuff. I will post pictures and video too if i can work it out. Please feel free to comment so i at least know people are reading this. Don't be rude though eh. If you don't like it, don't read it. 

Watch for wildlife, exotic animals, interesting trips and astronomy. 

Thanks to my fan.... You know you are :-) 

Here's an amusing Polar Bear picture to keep you going.

Tasmanian Tiger alive!

An interesting read that indicates the Thylacine, (Tasmanian Tiger), may actually still exist. If it's true then I for one would be ecstatic. Such a wonderful, strange beast. It even has a pouch!
Please be alive!!

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2003/06/18/879154.htm

Crow life.

Here's a short video of a friendly Crow enjoying a spot of lunch. She is very cool. Gotta love Corvids eh. She started by tearing off pieces and burying them then going back to eat the rest. A very interesting close study of Corvid behaviour.

Earth, Cyprus, and.....

So i'm off to Cyprus.
Binoculars at the ready I will be doing a bit of bird watching. An opportunity to see some new firsts for me. Looking forward to that. Not so keen on 100' temperatures though! It will be a great break away from the hassles at work. Look out for my new bird sightings list.

On a trip to Stover country park recently I saw a Hawfinch for the first time. Very cool. And I saw a host of Nightjars and many Glowworms. So good to see these. Finding them is tricky but if you know what your doing then they never disappoint. So far, every trip I have made I have seen and heard them all. So lucky.

In other news. Planet Earth 2.0 discovered. A new planet has been found with Earth like qualities. I have got my ticket. Bag's already packed. Where do I queue?

Spam. Love it. Discuss.

Catch up.

Not written anything for a while. Been very busy now spring has sprung.
New animals to sort out, idiots to deal with and garden to spruce up. Had help with all to make life easier.

The Swallows and Martins are back!! Brilliant.

Grass is growing fast now so need to try and keep on top of it. Had some great sunshine to help it on its way and now a little rain to motivate it. Planted some wild flowers and trimmed back the trees so gardens looking good. Thanks to the help on this too. :-)

Taking a day off is proving more difficult lately so looking forward to a good long break in July. Although not so keen on the apparent temperature in Cyprus in July being around 100+! I like warm weather but that's a bit hot for me.

There's been some good astronomical events lately. Another Dragon supply craft went over UK chasing down the ISS which made interesting live viewing and the Lyrid meteor shower gave a good show too. Venus and Jupiter been showing really well and the thinnest crescent moon a few evenings ago was spectacular.

My 4x4 training is all booked in so looking forward to that. A trip away is also coming which i am also really looking forward to. Get my car serviced and raring to go.

Stay well folks and i'll try and keep you updated more often. 

Solar Eclipse

So today i was lucky enough to have clear skies to see the Solar Eclipse. What a wonderful sight. Not 100% but around 85%. That'll do me. Had some great viewing options that worked really well. Even got some cool pictures which you can see below.

No dark skies but it went a little dusky. Nothing happened with the animals either. It didn't get dark enough. Hope you all had a great view if you had the opportunity. If you didn't, i hope you enjoy the pictures.

Thanks all.