Stormy Weather

[jayne lee wilson]

I worship the sun; I am an atheist; I'm not a sunbather, but if the sun's on my little lean-to conservatory, I'm there if possible (when life & business don't get in the way) and don't leave till it dips behind the SW trees. In the deep midwinter, a clear blue sky and deep frost at night, it rises above the SouthEast trees by 13:00, and disappears below the SW trees by 15:15. For 2 hours, the finches and tits feed frantically from all the tables and dispensers I provide, while, behind the glass, I lift my face to the great, nourishing sun.

Sorry, what was this thread about again?

Some religions believe the sun to be God. We live in symbiotic relationship. I have a soft spot for the sun; it has hot spots for me.

[salymap]

Nice post Jayne, I love my sunny warm kitchen in the morning, facing SE. When I can I sit in a sheltered corner or the garden and lap up my vitamen D intake for 15 minutes or so.

By the evening at this time of year the sun shines on my computer and TV as it sinks in the west so
curtains have to be drawn early. And no, they can't be moved. Love the sun though

[amateur51]

I'm a very simple organism at heart. My mood is greatly affected by sunshine and being a slap-head I get plenty of Vitamin D butI do have to apply factor 50 protection lotion (For Babies & The Newborn!) to my bonce in the Summer months. Long gloomy days in Winter do me no good at all but at the first sign of earlier Spring days I cheer up.

Like you jayne, I have seed & nut feeders for the garden birds and currently attract a sparrer squadron some 14 strong who bicker & bully among themselves and provide me with many moments of harmless and pretty cheap fun

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

er an unmissable set of pictures of disappearing glaciers in the Himalayas ...

as the lady in tesco said, it is oddly warm in the middle kingdom today ... doors and windows wide open ....

[eighthobstruction]

Each drip makes a river, then the charge is on, the shape becomes like an ruley teenagers hair as he gets out of bed; but moes faster unless he is late for the bus....Oh shenandohI love you dearly even in this small beck....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35Sx-IuXloM

[eighthobstruction]

Oh boatman are you coming
Oh boatman are you coming
I am waiting for you
I often look from the highest hill
To try to see the boatman
Will you come today or tomorrow
If you do not come at all, I will not be downhearted.

My heart is broken and bruised
With tears often flowing from my eyes
Will you come tonight, will I expect you
Or will I close the door with a sad sigh

I often ask people on boats
Whether they have seen you
Whether it is time to go
Each of them says
That I was foolish to fall in love with you

I have called to you many times
And you have not come
My obsession is to walk towards you
Time is not long, though some try to prolong it
I will love your silence
I will love your peace
I will love to be in your arms
I will forget all worries
And float from land to eternity


Adapted from the song Fhir a Bhata : Jane Finlayson by OnileOnile

[jayne lee wilson]

14 Sparrers! They are extinct in the NW, where finches and tits thrive and multiply. This August, 2 Nuthatches appeared, the first for over 20 years; they're still with us. And other gems - blackcaps in winter, bramblings and even siskins in the early spring... but I haven't seen a single song thrush since March. The males sing, singly; then fall silent, and disappear.

"I was foolish to fall in love with you..."
Always, the price of love is grief.

I'm a very simple organism at heart. My mood is greatly affected by sunshine and being a slap-head I get plenty of Vitamin D butI do have to apply factor 50 protection lotion (For Babies & The Newborn!) to my bonce in the Summer months. Long gloomy days in Winter do me no good at all but at the first sign of earlier Spring days I cheer up.

Like you jayne, I have seed & nut feeders for the garden birds and currently attract a sparrer squadron some 14 strong who bicker & bully among themselves and provide me with many moments of harmless and pretty cheap fun

[Anna]

Plenty of thrushes here. I have a pyracanthus and they have been feasting on the berries practically non-stop, in fact, rapidly denuding the bush. It's 19 (66) at the moment and quite muggy, yesterday evening/night although rainy it didn't get below 13 (55) and doors and windows stayed open until bed, I did notice this morning a neighbour's daffs poking about 2" above ground, surely not right? Also, no sign of leaf colour changing at all except for the silver birches which are now quite bare.

[salymap]

Yesterday watched a mother squirrel escort a quarter size offspring across a busy road. They may be 'vermin' to some but they keep me amused with their antics, trying to reach the peanut cage, hanging up for the birds. Plenty of sparrers here but otherwise greedy pigeons and the occasional seagull mostly

[handsomefortune]

it's gloriously sunny here today....since dawn. from our bed, we can currently watch a squirrel, and three babes who have made a home in a nearby rooftop. as morning light arrives, mum goes off, and the three see her off, and wisely return to bed ..... i like them up there. i'm not so keen on them pinching blackbirds' eggs in my small garden, or digging up bulbs.

it's been a great year for small birds, a variety of finches and tits, a few sparras, starlings, robins, a jay or two (very striking), and (too many) magpies. last but not least, my topfave are nesting collared doves, who look great sunbathing together. songwise, starlings are great value, but i quite like the cry of doves taking off too! there always used to be a freckley thrush in greenspace nearby, but 'instead' there have been jays, in their 'hats' lately, no thrushes. i clearly heard birdsong at about 12.30 am one night, and have wondered ever since what it was.

it's been good watching the distant formations of swallows, (or swifts)? doing their manouvres, before they travel abroad for winter. since moving here, the connifers (not ours) have grown immensely tall, which apparently attracts wildlife, especially as a vantage point for predators. we have had lots of birds of prey, which is fascinating but brutal. they seem to like my garden for eating pigeons they've caught. the first time it happened, i thought someone was knocking at my back door. but it was a large brown bird, with yellow rings round its eyes, banging a pigeon against the door, presumably to kill it. it then left its meal, like a human might. head and body bits neatly arranged around the main corpse, like cutlery; or a voodoo message left on my doormat! since, there's been a lot of different birds of prey, and this summer, in particular, more than usual. unfortunately, i don't know anything about birds, or any real 'twitchers', and looking online to identify birds is actually quite difficult i've found.

there was a large, snow white chested bird, with a yellow head, the last to visit ..... (they are totally out of scale, and seem bigger than they are, as i'm not yet used to seeing them, and my garden's small.) photographing birds of prey is (this far) hopeless...... usually just a photo of a vague, grey, blur ....but since i can't quite believe my own eyes, i usually give myself a headache trying to get a photo. there's one type of bird of prey, that i only ever see from the back: dark grey, with v small head, large curved 'shoulders', and a white lacey stripe on the tip of its tail feather.

i hope r4 draws attention to the february? dawn chorus of collective bird song this year. i listened last year, and it was absolutely fantastic. much to everyones' suprise, my brother phones from the US, especially to hear the blackbirds, which is apparently one of the things he misses most. i like to sometimes shout 'you're out of scale' particularly at wood pigeons ...because they are quite clumsy, especially in a small space such as my garden, remind me of tipsy ducks, blundering around slightly foolishly!

[salymap]

When I posted earlier I forgot collar doves and usually I get one or two redwings and fieldfares. I had to look them up in a bird book but both very distinctive. They are on their way to warmer countries and feast on my apples rotting at the bottom of the garden.

[handsomefortune]

aren't they gorgeous, lovely yellow freckles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Redwing_Turdus_iliacus.jpg

they're soon off to the south of france perhaps - the lucky devils! although today was a bit like that here, so mustn't grumble.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://oswestryonline.com/images/bird%2520fieldfare.jpg&imgrefurl=http://oswestryonline.com/birds.html&h=434&w=604&sz=42&tbnid=C_7c5PS5jymtiM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=132&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfieldfare%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=fieldfare&docid=wHY6hhKCt2deFM&sa=X&ei=e3qYTpGkJ4K38gPwhPnqBQ&ved=0CF0Q9QEwBw&dur=3748

[doversoul1]

My favourite summer visitor is yellow hammer. http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/bird...mer/index.aspx

A pair started coming to my back garden three (may be four) years ago and since then, they always come back and usually have two youngs and move on when days begin to get short. You can see their absurdly bright yellow heads from miles away but the sparrow hawk doesn’t seem to be all that interested in as there are a huge flock of collar doves in my garden.

[Chris Newman]

My favourite birds around Salisbury are the Little Egrets which have moved in from France as we get warmer and sit around the Harnham Water Meadows. They are stunning, like little white herons which, of course, they are.

[BBMmk2]

Although sunny today, it's quite taiters, to say the least!! We have eltectric heating in our home!! Gah!