New Things

This weekend I didn't manage to do anything exciting like go to Norfolk, so instead I cheered myself up by restocking my fish tank following a bit of neglect of late.

First up were a pair of corydoras to keep my panda company. Marvel at my amazing photography skills..


With the gradual decline of my minnows (finally) and my platys (theyre rubbish fish), I decided on trying out some guppies, for the main reason that they're supposed to be really easy to breed and that might be quite fun.


Will keep you posted as to the extent of their success, but so far I've kept the full compliment alive for 2 whole days. Hoorah!


Ram is still my favourite though, he's like the fish equivalent of a portugese friend of mine- small, cocky but entertaining.

Oh and while I was out I picked up one of these...

Should be much more reliable for all those far-flung birding trips than the blue beast :) It's much bigger than I thought, but I suppose most cars are big compared to a Ka. It's pleasingly grown-up and doesn't make any doom-filled noises as you drive along, which as far as I'm concerned is a big plus.

Update 2: Dorset

I can't be bothered to write up a proper post about our trip to Dorset a couple of weeks ago with the Boy, so have some nice pictures...

When it wasn't raining we managed to find some time to go to Portland Bill, Abbotsbury and to the interesting side of Brownsea Island.








But kids, don't forget. Nature is dangerous. Mind the sharp edges...


Or this guy will get you.

Might look cute but has been singing like a car alarm all day...

Update 1: Brighton-Marwell...

Last week was spent at various places in the South, and managed to have a proper break away and catch up on sleep.

First we spent a couple of days in Brighton, where I caught up with a friend from university and visited some old favourite places (including a particularly good sunday roast in a pub near my old house). I miss Brighton, so was good to have a wander round. We went to see Up while we were there- which I highly recommend (don't bother with the 3-D version though, can't say it overwhelmed me). We watched the starling flocks gather over the (wrong) pier as the sun went down, on a ridiculously warm evening.

Monday was spent at Marwell Zoo, which has to be my new favourite zoo. They have a great collection of animals, including plenty that you don't normally see in zoos (snow leopard, bat-eared foxes, fossa, and various smaller cat species). Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area, particularly for their huge African Plain exhibit. I'm always a sucker for penguins though :)

Penguin chasing my hand, complete with bubbles...

Pygmy marmoset being small

Amazonian milk frogs being awesome

Cheetah having a rest after chasing the land train

Further update to follow on stuff wot we saw in Dorset...

Quick catch up...

After over 7 weeks with no internet I am finally able to update my blog. Not that I've really been up to much that's very exciting. Me and the boy are heading south for the next week, hoping to have a well-needed rest and get outside a bit more.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with some photos I just found from a trip to Oare Marshes at the end of September...

Suggestions please....

The planned trip to Mull in October doesn't look like it's going to happen now, for various reasons. A real shame, because I was looking forwards to seeing lots of big birds (EAGLES), getting scared by proper scottish people, and sitting on a hill being very cold and watching a deer rut. Ah well, sometimes you just need to change your plans and maybe we'll go in Spring instead and see all the Puffins...

This leads me to the audience participation part of my post. I do still have a week off work and would like (neeeeeeed) to get away. Has anybody got any suggestions of somewhere nice to go and investigate relatively cheaply? Home/abroad, I'm not too fussy...

Me again

Hello, remember me? Not really been out and about chasing wildlife as much as usual of late, and so haven't had much to tell you about. Add that to the fact when I get home I generally just fall asleep, what I have had to tell you never quite made it online.

I went to Dorset a couple of weeks ago with my mum, and it was pretty good really. Didn't do much birding to speak of, but we did walk from Swanage to Corfe along that big Chalkhill ridge which eventually turns into Old Harry Rocks/ the Needles.

Corfe Castle is a bit cool really...

Poole Harbour as seen from just outside Swanage.

There were a fair few swallows and martins zipping around the fields as we walked along. Plenty of stonechats and many other birds that I didn't stop for long enough to identify. Dorset also has big flocks of rooks/jackdaws, all of which seemed to take off in the air simultaneously at one point. Pretty impressive if slightly scary thing to witness... From being at such a relatively high vantage point we were able to see loads of kestrels, sparrowhawks and peregrines hunting below us. Oh and this guy sitting in a tree being very vocal.

Rargh I am loud Buzzard

On setting out on our walk, mum mentioned that she never really saw any butterflies anywhere anymore. Just to prove her wrong, I had a ridiculously productive lepidopterrific walk, especially considering that I didn't even have my book with me. Large white, small white, green-veined white, speckled wood, painted lady, gatekeeper and peacock butterflies made welcome usual appearances, but there were also hundreds of small heaths flitting around our feet, and loads of different blue butterflies that I couldn't really tell apart on my own.

Butterflies everywhere...

Small heath really are very very small...

Most exciting of all was one particularly pretty bright blue butterfly that was very obliging when I pointed my camera at it. I later checked it out in my book and am pretty certain it's an Adonis Blue. Now this is a pretty rare spot but everything seems to add up. The black marks around the edge of the wings together with the underwing pattern don't really point to anything else, plus the shade of blue is completely different to the usual purplish-hues of common blues. Plus the habitat requirement "short herb-rich turf on sunny south-facing downland slopes", with a distribution limited to pockets of south central England. Awesome.

Adonis Blue being very blue and adonis-like

We were a bit tired after our walk and big ploughmans pub lunch, so just took the train back home :)