The World is a wonderful place thread.

Eccles Blue said:
My eldest moved to Penmaenmawr when he was made redundant in Warrington and I love going to visit. Not been this year yet because of my health but hoping to go soon. The views from his windows are of the Great Orme on one side and Puffin Island and the Menai Straits and at the back onto the hills. I love it. :-)
Click to expand...
Hope you are able to get there soon :)
 
dennishasdoneit said:
I spotted a Goshawk ,out in the countryside, on the way to 5 a side footy at Matlock Derbyshire 2 weeks ago. I was absolutely gob smacked, having only seem this secretive bird of prey twice before in my entire life .it was perched upon a silver horse box out in a field, surprising as id never seen this bird away from the covrr6 of a wood / forest before.

I was buzzing for the next few days and texted as many folk as possible that I knew would be interested, good news should be spread !
I love nature, birds in particular , esp Birds of prey ,for their beauty, dexterity and hunting methods .

The World is indeed a wonderful place when nature shoes itself , for those with eyes to see....
Click to expand...
They are the most beautiful birds. We have their smaller cousins regularly launching attack sorties in our garden. You are lucky to have seen them thrice. I have never had that privilege. Hopefully one day.
 
Marklr said:
I went hill climbing and hiking last week...DESPITE my Long COVID. I was completely knackered, but better than I usually am.
Spent some days down at my mums in Wales last week (looking after her house and cat while she went away) and went for a good walk with the missus to a village called Knucklas across the hills.
I'd heard there was a castle there, so we went looking for it. Through some woods, across an orchard, through more woods, up some big steps....paths that were barely visible. ALL uphill. Lynn gave up, but I carried on up...I wanted to see the castle. I got to the last part but collapsed, out of breath. So I crawled! I was determined! Anyway...I made it, but, guess what? There was no fckin castle! This was it: https://www.google.com/maps/@52.3637898,-3.1035931,3a,75y,220h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPpT6znpqWEsBiwjf0GEFo6exY0bAG3vb-i-dOG!2e10!3e11!6s//lh5.ggpht.com/p/AF1QipPpT6znpqWEsBiwjf0GEFo6exY0bAG3vb-i-dOG=w900-h600-k-no-pi-20-ya81-ro0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352?coh=205410&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkxOC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw==

So glad that I made it...the views were well worth it. Made me feel ALIVE. The ruins of the castle were used to build the nearby viaduct. It's just a mound now. Back in sunny Salford now...recovering. Painful joints and muscles!
Click to expand...
Well done mate. That was quite something given what you are going through. Are these the green shoots of recovery? Fingers crossed that they are.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
They are the most beautiful birds. We have their smaller cousins regularly launching attack sorties in our garden. You are lucky to have seen them thrice. I have never had that privilege. Hopefully one day.
Click to expand...
Love Sparrowhawks too. Prob my fav British bird. I've had the privilege of handling a wild one. One really really hot day a few summer's ago I was out walking and came across a juvenile which I imagined had fell out of the next, or fell from its 1st flight ..it was on the ground and was clearly weak and I imagined would soon die of thirst or fall prey to a fox or the Crows. It was situated on the edge of a wood.

Its parent didn't appear to be anywhere close,and I was mindful of the rule that you should leave fallen birds where they are as parents would come back for them....but it's current posistion ,on some bracken,close to a path was not good. After much deliberation ,discounting taking it back to the car for water or taking it to a friend who has nursed many wild creatures back to full health,( it would not have made the journey and prob died of shock )... I decided to try and change its posistion for the better. There were some bushes behind it and I thought if I could get the youngster to a safer place .....the hawk must have read my mind for as I picked it up carefully and made for the higher bush behind , baby hawk simply mustered every ounce of strength it had left In its body and flew out of my hand into said bush, off the ground...and hopefully to safety.

Quite an experience..!
 
dennishasdoneit said:
I spotted a Goshawk ,out in the countryside, on the way to 5 a side footy at Matlock Derbyshire 2 weeks ago. I was absolutely gob smacked, having only seem this secretive bird of prey twice before in my entire life .it was perched upon a silver horse box out in a field, surprising as id never seen this bird away from the cover of a wood / forest before.

I was buzzing for the next few days and texted as many folk as possible that I knew would be interested, good news should be spread !
I love nature, birds in particular , esp Birds of prey ,for their beauty, dexterity and hunting methods .

The World is indeed a wonderful place when nature shoes itself , for those with eyes to see....
Click to expand...
I had one as a fairly regular visitor a couple of years ago, watched it take a dove off of one of my feeders. It flew a cross the road into some pine trees, without thinking I walked across the road to get a better look. I got within ten feet of it, we got eye contact and it dropped the dove which fell limply down through the branches. I kicked myself for messing with it but a few hours later it had collected its dinner and gone. Amazing how big they are us close
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Well done mate. That was quite something given what you are going through. Are these the green shoots of recovery? Fingers crossed that they are.
Click to expand...
I suffered for it but yeah..I've only had a few crashes since. I just try and do whatever...avoid the depression. Thanks, mate. How's your son?
 
Marklr said:
I suffered for it but yeah..I've only had a few crashes since. I just try and do whatever...avoid the depression. Thanks, mate. How's your son?
Click to expand...
Surprisingly calm. He just had his contract renewed for a year so he is very relieved at that. Mentally he is very strong. Physically no worse so that is a blessing. He controls his crashes by not doing very much physically at all. He has invested heavily in his home IT and has big wrap around screens. So when he’s not working he’s gaming. His Gp remains as much use as a chocolate teapot. Stay safe mate.
 
dennishasdoneit said:
Love Sparrowhawks too. Prob my fav British bird. I've had the privilege of handling a wild one. One really really hot day a few summer's ago I was out walking and came across a juvenile which I imagined had fell out of the next, or fell from its 1st flight ..it was on the ground and was clearly weak and I imagined would soon die of thirst or fall prey to a fox or the Crows. It was situated on the edge of a wood.

Its parent didn't appear to be anywhere close,and I was mindful of the rule that you should leave fallen birds where they are as parents would come back for them....but it's current posistion ,on some bracken,close to a path was not good. After much deliberation ,discounting taking it back to the car for water or taking it to a friend who has nursed many wild creatures back to full health,( it would not have made the journey and prob died of shock )... I decided to try and change its posistion for the better. There were some bushes behind it and I thought if I could get the youngster to a safer place .....the hawk must have read my mind for as I picked it up carefully and made for the higher bush behind , baby hawk simply mustered every ounce of strength it had left In its body and flew out of my hand into said bush, off the ground...and hopefully to safety.

Quite an experience..!
Click to expand...
We’re lucky to have a place near us that’s sole purpose is to care for injured raptors, I took a tiny American Kestrel there one time, they got it better and released it back into the wild
https://tetonraptorcenter.org/
 
Saddleworth2 said:
They are the most beautiful birds. We have their smaller cousins regularly launching attack sorties in our garden. You are lucky to have seen them thrice. I have never had that privilege. Hopefully one day.
Click to expand...
Just going back to Goshawks, I was walking away from what I used to call DH Lawrence Woods at Eastwood, notts ( near j.27 M1,) with a dog and we both stopped in our tracks as we heard this loud ,very loud screaming coming from the heart of the wood. At the time it sounded like a female being attacked, it was that piercing ....scary like...as though a sexual assault was taking place ...

I later looked up the diff birds of prey ,and knowing that Goshawks were in that wood ( I'd seen one month's earlier ) I'm pretty sure I had just heard one . If you ever hear the sound you'll never forget it...
For such a secretive large predator ,it can make a hell of a noise ! Never saw it on that occasion ....

The woods at Moor green / Eastwood Notts hold many secrets ,not least this fantastic bird of prey , Wild deer, Woodcock, Buzzards, and on the low land walking towards the famous dh lawrence farm...Snipe,which sit extremely close when just humans are about but with a dog get up and zip away at break neck speed .
The Woodvock I saw up in the woods I almost trod on ,it only moved when it had absolutely had to.

A fabulous place full of wildlife, or at least it was 20 years ago.
 
dennishasdoneit said:
Just going back to Goshawks, I was walking away from what I used to call DH Lawrence Woods at Eastwood, notts ( near j.27 M1,) with a dog and we both stopped in our tracks as we heard this loud ,very loud screaming coming from the heart of the wood. At the time it sounded like a female being attacked, it was that piercing ....scary like...as though a sexual assault was taking place ...

I later looked up the diff birds of prey ,and knowing that Goshawks were in that wood ( I'd seen one month's earlier ) I'm pretty sure I had just heard one . If you ever hear the sound you'll never forget it...
For such a secretive large predator ,it can make a hell of a noise ! Never saw it on that occasion ....

The woods at Moor green / Eastwood Notts hold many secrets ,not least this fantastic bird of prey , Wild deer, Woodcock, Buzzards, and on the low land walking towards the famous dh lawrence farm...Snipe,which sit extremely close when just humans are about but with a dog get up and zip away at break neck speed .
The Woodvock I saw up in the woods I almost trod on ,it only moved when it had absolutely had to.

A fabulous place full of wildlife, or at least it was 20 years ago.
Click to expand...
sounds amazing.

As a fly fisherman, I get to see some amazing wild life - golden eagles and sea eagles (flying barn doors) when in the western isles and my favourite raptor, the osprey. I fish the Lake of Menteith frequently and in season there are always a number to be seen. If I'm really lucky they even fish in front of the boat. Seeing them dive on a hapless trout from 60 feet up is quite something. Then, with no little effort their wings beat and off they go with dinner which can be quite sizeable. We follow them every year on the Rutland webcam as well -they are remarkable birds, partners for life and fly back from Africa every year, returning to their own nest in the middle of Manton Bay (within hours of each other) where year on year they have raised dozens of chicks.
 
dennishasdoneit said:
Just going back to Goshawks, I was walking away from what I used to call DH Lawrence Woods at Eastwood, notts ( near j.27 M1,) with a dog and we both stopped in our tracks as we heard this loud ,very loud screaming coming from the heart of the wood. At the time it sounded like a female being attacked, it was that piercing ....scary like...as though a sexual assault was taking place ...

I later looked up the diff birds of prey ,and knowing that Goshawks were in that wood ( I'd seen one month's earlier ) I'm pretty sure I had just heard one . If you ever hear the sound you'll never forget it...
For such a secretive large predator ,it can make a hell of a noise ! Never saw it on that occasion ....

The woods at Moor green / Eastwood Notts hold many secrets ,not least this fantastic bird of prey , Wild deer, Woodcock, Buzzards, and on the low land walking towards the famous dh lawrence farm...Snipe,which sit extremely close when just humans are about but with a dog get up and zip away at break neck speed .
The Woodvock I saw up in the woods I almost trod on ,it only moved when it had absolutely had to.

A fabulous place full of wildlife, or at least it was 20 years ago.
Click to expand...

You'll probably know his birthplace, a house that's beautifully preserved and looked after, in Eastwood, and, I suppose, part of the National Trust. I only visited it for the first time in my life a couple of years ago or so. You actually realise that his house was quite a prosperous one. Roomy, and well kept, with a spacious yard outside and a laundering room on the other side of it. It brought it home to me that there's working class and working class, and he definitely came from the upwardly mobile part of it (largely due to his mother, according to him). Certainly, my nan's house in Burnley was nothing like as well appointed (my nan was a mill worker, my grandfather on that side a coalminer, then a forester).
I should have visited it before. I've been a huge D.H. Lawrence fan since I first studied him at college, and read nearly all of the novels, a fair number of the short stories, etc. I now have the privilege of getting to teach him, finally. (His short story, “The Fox”, taught the last two years. It's brilliant. Moving on to teach St. Mawr this year). Of course, you have to leave the silly semi-fascistic theorising to one side. It's really silly stuff, and produced his one truly worthless novel. There are signs that he himself saw it for what it was towards the end of his life.
 
Last edited:
The Lightbowne Cowboy said:
Walking to the shop yesterday morning before work and I seen a piece of paper glistening against the dew soaked hedge.. that piece of damp paper was indeed a 20 pound note. :) And I think to myself.. :)
Click to expand...
I lost 20 pounds yesterday morning walking up...er...Lightbowne Road? Just near Nuthurst Road? Somewhere near Manchster, anyway.
 
Marklr said:
I lost 20 pounds yesterday morning walking up...er...Lightbowne Road? Just near Nuthurst Road? Somewhere near Manchster, anyway.
Click to expand...
The truth is you probably lost 20 pounds in weight after your recent ascent to the castle ..a battle you described really well, and I hope you keep gaining the after walk benefits in your struggle against long covid.
Your clearly a battler and fighter in life , I admire your tenacity .
Keep Going Blue.
 
I was going to post a great pic of the Northern Lights against the backdrop of the Big Dipper over Canada on Tuesday night, but the world is apparently not wonderful enough to allow the upload of the file, even in its cropped version!

Oh well…
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top