Out of My Area: "Working" Part 2 - Rimac and Donna Nook

I came, I saw, I stood around and asked people questions from dawn 'til dusk (and a little either side). Only getting half hour breaks means I cant never be more than 15 mins walk from the car, but sometimes that's all you need!

Saturday was spent at Rimac. A lovely area of Saltmarsh and dunes south of Saltfleetby. As soon as I arrived I could here the calling of fieldfare overhead and as I set up for my first 2 hours work the dawn chorus was finishing with a flourish of robin song. It was a fairly foggy morning and the air was crisp (so I was freezing), but as the sun burnt of the remaining mist and the dog walkers began to appear I was suddenly surrounded by buntings.

Just after mid-day the habitat managers, in the for of 12 cows, were delivered to the site. No sooner were they out of their trailer than they came over to meet their new friend with the clipboard, so keen were they that I considered hopping over the fence out of the way. But they soon lost interest in me and wandered away.

The rest of the day proved to be enjoyable bird-wise, little egrets on the saltmarsh at lunchtime were joined by lapwing, curlew, whimbrel and redshank. A hobby shot over at around 3pm and I had numerous sightings of peregrine, one flashing through the car park as I went for more sheets. Skeins of geese were also seen high overhead - I presume these were Brent Geese, however the retired warden, on site for the month's WeBS counts informed me that this year had also bought barnacles and white fronted.

I spent Sunday with the seals, Grey Seals to be exact. And fell in love with Lincs. Wildlife Trust, who took me under their collective wing and ensured I was never short of hot coffee, food, and let me (and my parents when they stopped in) use the warden's parking, and the super secret facilities. When I arrived the "dawn patrol" had been there since 6, herding the over enthusiastic photographers away from the saltmarsh and back onto the marked path. Not only was this tramping amongst the seals horrendously thoughtless, it was also downright dangerous as the fog was so thick you could barely see the end of your own nose.
The first break I could get I headed down the path to see the seals, then, fed up with the crowds, I turned back to get a hot coffee and chat to my lovely new warden friends.

Never short of Brent geese during the stay a few dark individuals could be seen mixed in with the rest of the flock.

There are always a few that think they have the right to go where ever they like (annoyingly they often get a better experience than more careful individuals)

Big boat, big birds

Geese and Greys, a GREYt weekend.....

All in all this weekend I met great people, ate greasy hot food in the cold (bliss), drank big cups of cocoa and got paid to chat wildlife to interesting people (I even met some friends from my time at Spurn). I cant wait to see where I end up and what I see in the first weekend in December!

naturebites

Just a quick note to you all, fellow Midlands escapee Kathy James has just started up a rather wonderful blog called naturebites: that covers her adventures in and around Anglesey. Well worth a look (just don't forget me in the process!).

Nat

'via Blog this'

Out of My Area: Cairngorms National Park

When you've had a tough couple of weeks and you feel like you've had no time to yourself what so ever you have a number of options, carry on regardless like there's nothing up, take some time for yourself to truly relax, or (like I decided to do) stress yourself completely by having 3 early morning calls ups, driving 600 miles, meeting complete strangers, and tramping off into the unknown.

My antidote for the last fortnight's frustrations was to pack up the car and head first to meet friends at Pitlochry to check out the dam and fish ladder (now known as the "Damn Fish Ladder"), then up to Lossiemouth on the banks of the Spey, then down to the Ladder Hills to conquer a couple of Corbetts, then back to work this morning. And you know what, It was damned good fun. Here are some pictures. I'm going to bed!

The "Damn Fish Ladder"!

My wonderful hosts for the weekend, Lou and Daz

R. Tummel

Me and the Fish Counter 9000

Out over the Ladder Hills

Lou and Glen Livet

The Motley Crew

A Cairn on a Corbett....

Elusive Sunshine

And the Black Grouse...

The Best of Autumn (so far)

I know, I know, I've been lax on the posts recently. This has been one hell of a busy time with loads to do at work and the onset of the rain keeping me indoors, but the sunny days have been good, and the migrants have begun moving through en masse giving plenty of excuses to run away on a lunch break and get out on the boats with the boss.

So in no particular order, here are some of the highlights of the last two months!

The spate of wet miserable days has bought plenty of birds to the feeders

They're so used to me now I can fill the feeder next to them and they don't move a muscle

There have been great foraging opportunities particularly the wild blackberries and mint

And boat trips continue to turn up feathery friends including guillemots

...razorbills

A couple of Uni groups gave me excuses to escape the office and enjoy good weather

providing great views even if we occasionally had to lure the birds in

Many of the younger birds are all too keen to get up close for a free meal...

...their curiosity are general cheekiness mean that the gulls still star in most of my pictures

Going to Ballochmartin Bay after a tip off from the Boss of big group of Merganser yesterday I found 8 Little Grebe foraging along the shoreline

.... along with the Merganser themselves

New Friends and Name Dropping...

Hello from the South! Today's update comes fresh from the first ever Wildlife Xpo, exhibitions and lecturers organised by the wonderful Wildlife Extra.

Setting out this morning with my wonderful assistant Rachel, cameraman Matt and a huge packed lunch we made a beeline for Alexandra Palace. 

If you fancy going along next year be prepared for a range of stalls from well known charities, tour operators, optics manufacturers, artists and local interest groups as well as wonderful talks from Chris Packham, Andy Rouse, Mark Carwardine, Nick Baker and Bill Oddie. Wear comfy shoes and bring enough liquids as its blooming warm inside and the park is well worth a walk round (we spotted jays, green woodpecker and numerous others just on the way to and from the train station). 

Keep your eyes peeled as you wander round, you don't know who you'll bump into

There's also the chance to get involved in debates about current issues in conservation (if you can get a word in edgeways)...

...and to make a few new friends.

Unfortunately we missed the moment where Nick Baker photo-bombed the picture...

Scoff from the Sea 1 - free scallops and hand picked black berries

Last week on a particularly low tide I happened to be down the slipway cleaning out some of my tanks, when what should I see laying amongst the exposed Laminaria, but huge tasty Queen Scallops.

Scallops are usually either hand gathered (expensive) or dredged (ecologically questionable) so when a guilt free, zero food miles option comes along, I'm a happy girl. Not one to turn down a free meal, I rinsed out my bucket and got gathering, popping them into a free tank to see if the survived the night.

After checking with Jim at the marine station that their being so far up the shore was due to nothing life threatening to me, I bagged up the first 4 and brought them home. Stopping on the way to pick some of the first ripening blackberries.

It was my first time prep-ing scallops and I have to say its not for the faint hearted, but the prospect of fried scallops, onions, garlic and chorizo and finished off with wild rice was just the incentive needed. All I needed to follow it up was my freshly made black berry and apple crumble. Brilliant!

The trickiest part is opening and cleaning the scallops, which continue to twitch after opening

These beasties were huge, and were more than enough for me.

Ta Da, Scallops and chorizo with garlic and wild rice, followed by apple and blackberry crumble. Genius!

Familiar Faces at the Feeder

I finally got round to putting up my new feeders a fortnight ago. After a few days of nothing much, they were found by the locals. Since then they've really taken off (so to speak) with regular visitors including finches, tits, robins and my much maligned jackdaws.

A bird in the hand may be better than one in the bush, but its those I'm helping through the winter that I'm most proud of. These are MY back garden birds.

The most regular visitors are the neighbourhood Great Tits

Enjoying the nut feeder I'd put out in hope of tempting the woodpecker

They're frequently joined by Blue Tits

and flighty Chaffinches

As well as furtive Coal Tits

One out, One in. Manners are key at the Ravenscraig feeders.

Not so nice to wake up to; the local Jackies announce their arrival with a deafening squark!