A trip to Minsmere

For our first full day in East Anglia, we travelled into Suffolk and visited RSPB Minsmere, where the order of the day was 'Wildlife, tea, cake, repeat'. Whilst there were plenty of birds to see, my photos of the day didn't reflect this, despite my futile attempts to capture images of Bearded Tits.

At this time of year, as in Orkney, so in Suffolk. There was a lot of slime mould about, in the form of Scrambled Egg mould (or Dog's Vomit mould, if you prefer, but I suspect you don't!).

We were chuffed to see species of butterfly that either aren't common or do not put in an appearance in Orkney. Here's a Comma that is trying it's darnedest to be just an autumnal leaf, honest.

And we did have great views of a Southern Hawker hunting along the vegetation at the side of a path, plenty of Migrant Hawkers, as well as countless Common Darters and the occasional Ruddy Darter.

Bench press: 20+ Common Darters and a Speckled Wood butterfly

Sympetrum sweethearts

A rather worn, male Ruddy Darter

In the evening, we returned to Sisland, and were able to enjoy further views of the Barn Owl. Later, as we settled down for the night, we could hear several Tawny Owls in some nearby trees.

North to South

'S been a while, huh?

The second half of September has been a bit of a blur, to be honest. A fortnight's holiday saw us heading south, visiting relatives en route through Scotland and England, before a week's stay in a converted barn on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, and then the return trip north, visiting yet more relatives.

We were very fortunate with the weather, the only appreciable rain being between Orkney and Fife, in both directions! The remainder of the time was dry, calm and often sunny, which meant that the East Anglian week flew by in a blaze of nature and autumnal outdoorsy-ness.

Spoiler Alert: There may have been dragons.

As mentioned above, travelling down through Scotland was rather damp, so wildlife watching opportunities were few and far between. Instead, we concentrated upon reaching J and N's home in Fife, for a catch-up and an overnight stay. The next day, we journeyed over the newly-opened Queensferry Crossing, and headed south to Yorkshire, via RSPB Leighton Moss.

View from a tree-top platform, the Sky Tower

Common Darter soaking up the warmth from a handrail of the Sky Tower.

Crossing the Pennines into Yorkshire, we camped overnight with First Born and D, and visited a smashing pub/bistro called The Fox, where a must-have photo opportunity presented itself.

Photo courtesy of First Born

Monday saw us heading further south to overnight with Second Born and S, in their home near Milton Keynes.

I was captivated by this little wooden pig, which was decorating a key press.

Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, we arrived at our holiday accommodation, adjacent to the Tithe Barn in the hamlet of Sisland. Within five minutes of our arrival, whilst I was unloading the car, Our Lass (in broad daylight) had spotted a Barn Owl quartering a nearby pasture. I had to wait a little longer for a view, but it was a good omen for the rest of our stay... in the Owl Barn.

The Owl Barn in Sisland, Norfolk.

Stuff On My Phone (3)

OK, I have to admit to a thing... 'Stuff On My Phone' wasn't the first choice name for this series. I know, it's a bit of a bombshell, eh? For a while, I had been toying with the idea of calling it 'A Window On My World', which was just as descriptive and does sound much more... sensible. Let's face it, that probably sealed its fate, right there. But neither were my preferred choice. However, third-placed 'Stuff On My Phone' it became.

And the mystery title... ?

One of the songs in my playlist is a bit of an anomaly, in as much as it doesn't sit particularly comfortably with the melodic/progressive rock and 60s/70s/80s pop that makes up the bulk of the list. No, that's unfair, it is very comfortable, that's what makes it different.

Let's rewind a few years. Our Lass, Second Born and I were dining at a restaurant in Aberfeldy, Perthshire. It was a very pleasant evening, the food and service were excellent, the barman created a unique and amazingly red mocktail for Our Lass, and the background music was varied and interesting in time and style. Lots of songs I knew well or had heard of, some I hadn't heard before but knew of the artist, and one song that caught my ear despite not previously having heard it or knowing who the band were. It stuck with me all evening. And the next day. And I couldn't stop humming the tune. So, somehow, I had to figure out what it was from a few vaguely-remembered bits of the lyric. Thankfully, this is the work of a few moments when there's enough Gs and bandwidth available to search the internet. Which is how I discovered the genre that is Downtempo or Trip Hop.

The band was Morcheeba and the track is 'World Looking In', a single from 2001 on the album 'Fragments Of Freedom' (2000). It's become a Go To track and I still play it a lot.

I found it on the compilation album 'Parts of the Process'

Here's the official video for the track.

As if that wasn't enough of a hook, the holiday in Aberfeldy also featured several chickens, belonging to the family who were renting us their cottage. These chickens had obviously done well out of the self-catering business, as they hung around all day, staring through the windows and doors, in the hope of shaming us into providing a few tasty morsels. Some chicken, some hope!

World looking in, indeed.

Environmental outreach meets arty crafty

To be absolutely honest, I don't think I'm remotely qualified to be either an outreach worker or an artist, but when has Old Tense ever let factual accuracy have any sort of bearing on blogpost output!

Yesterday, Saturday, saw the Family Day at the Orkney International Science Festival. Not having ever attended a Science Festival event (family weddings have seemed to coincide with the Festival these past few years), I wasn't sure quite what to expect.

It's safe to say that there were lots of hands-on science experiments, being demonstrated by enthusiastic science-y folk, from molecules to the Milky Way, and I can tell you're wondering where I fit into this, aren't you?

Well, it could probably be said that, to some extent, I have pushed dragonflies and damselflies up the Orcadian agenda this year, so it was pretty much inevitable that I would be 'volunteered' on the Orkney Field Club stand to do something Odonata-ry for the Science Festival. Live specimens of aquatic larvae or flying adults certainly weren't an option, so I decided to go with the pipe cleaner vibe, as trialled on Graemsay recently.

A fellow Field Club member, Helen, kindly volunteered to help me, so we spent the day sitting on tiny chairs, fashioning all manner of weirdly-hued dragons from a few pipe cleaners. I say 'a few', but I reckon the visitors to the stand helped us make over 150 reasonably anatomically-correct dragons. With two contrasting colours for the body (maximising the stripey effect) and two white pipe cleaners for the fore and hind wings, plus the addition of a pair of pony beads (wtf are they?) for eyes, the kaleidoscopic possibilities were numerous. Pink and purple were a big hit, probably reflecting some gender stereotyping that had befallen our diminutive clientele, but I thought it best just to go with the flow and not become to proscriptive about the physiology of my favourite insect group.

The calm before the storm

"Have I mentioned that they eat midges?"

Forget Red Bull, Helen and Graeme can give you wings!

Stuff On My Phone (2)

Yesterday morning, I was outside cleaning the windows (a visitor was due, which had swiftly promoted the task up the To Do list), when I heard a small flock of Skylarks go by, their gentle contact calls a mere shadow of the more well-know territorial song. And not long after that, another flock went by, this time Golden Plover, the plaintive notes of their progress receding into the distance.

These musical musings reminded me that we don't really hear 'normal' garden birds at Tense Towers, but I do still have several soundscapes of a suburban garden from times past squirrelled away on my phone. Just in case I feel the need.

This particular example, from a June evening in 2012 in Milton Keynes, features a Song Thrush, with a supporting chorus of Goldfinches, a Wren, a Blackbird, a Carrion Crow and, in the far background, the rumble of traffic on the M1 motorway.

Apologies for the lack of moving images, but it's taken me the best part of two hours to move the track from my phone to my computer, try to upload it as was via Blogger, fail, try to upload it to Youtube, fail, download Vimeo to discover that won't help either, download Audacity to convert the file format from mp4a to WAV, try to upload the resulting WAV file via Youtube, fail, say "Stuff it!", create a Powerpoint presentation with one slide (a screenshot of the Audacity project), add the WAV file, record the result, finally realise I can export that as a movie and... upload to Blogger. Hip Hoo-flippin-ray!

Subtle signs of the changing seasons

Working on the outskirts of Kirkwall yesterday, I was packing away the tools ready to move on to the next task, when something fluttered past my nose, which can be a bit disconcerting when you're carrying a three-section aluminium ladder. After securing the ladders, I went to see if I could find the flutterer. Sure enough, on a low southerly-facing wall, was perched a Painted Lady butterfly. Not the only one I've seen this year, but always a joy to experience one this far north.

With only my phone to hand to capture the moment, I crept carefully forward and took a couple of shots. To my untrained eye, it looked to be an absolutley pristine individual, so I wondered if it had emerged locally.

There were also plenty of Red Admirals around, again, dressed in the best finery.

I was beginning to realise that the customer's garden was a bit of a nature hotspot!

In the evening, I was gazing out of the lounge window at Tense Towers, when I spotted a movement in the field over the road. With the application of a coat of looking at through my bins, the activity resolved itself into three Wheatears, busy foraging through the grassy sward. Apart from the local blackbirds, we don't see many members of the thrush family for most of the year, just the occasional Robin, Song Thrush or, as in this case, some Wheatears on migration.

Yep, here we are at the end of August, and all manner of species that came north to breed during our Summer, are turning their thoughts to heading back southwards. This may even include the morning's Painted Lady, which just seems such an incredible undertaking for a wee creature that must only weigh a few tenths of a gram.

Stuff On My Phone (1)

In what I hope will be the first of an occasional series, Stuff On My Phone looks to shed a spotlight, or at least a few photons, upon the multimedia files residing on my mobile phone. Whether they be pictures, sound recordings, videos or music tracks, often there is a story behind why they are stored there. Perhaps a tenuous link, or a mere whim, nothing earth-shattering, you understand, but there'll be a reason that resonates deep within the Tense psyche. Scary, huh?

So, first up is a music track by Chris Rea, a Middlesbrough-born singer/songwriter. It is 'Stainsby Girls' from the 1985 Shamrock Diaries album, a particular favourite song of mine, which doesn't seem to have dated one bit. Although the same can't be said for the music video linked above! 

In December 1981, in a chance encounter, I met a girl on a train which was leaving Kings Cross station in London. We were both travelling back to the north east of England for Christmas and spent a happy few hours chatting to each other. She was different, out of reach, had attended a private girls' school and was now studying on the south coast, hence our paths converging at Kings Cross.

I still recall her first words to me: "Is that seat free?"

When, in 1985, Chris Rea's track was released, it brought back fond memories of that train journey... sigh.

Over the next few decades, there were various, ever more expensive, ways to store music and, sadly, I never caught up with this Chris Rea track. So, when I finally dragged myself into the 21st Century with a smart phone, it was pleasing to be able to download 'Stainsby Girls' and transport myself back to the 80s. 

Fast forward to the present day, and all I will say is:

"Happy Anniversary, pet!"