Mainly as a way of getting some much-needed exercise, I've accepted Mark Reeder's January 'Foot it' birding challenge. If you haven't heard about this, basically it involves birding from your house on foot and seeing how many species you can see in January. You can read about my area and see the map here, and updates on everyone's lists will appear on that blog in due course. Should be fun!
Friday, 7 December 2012
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
The End of the World is Nigh
Apparently a significant number of people on this planet believe that the world will end on 21st December 2012. This is variously known as the Mayan Prophecy, Hopi Prophecy, Doomsday Prophecy, etc. If you are one of those people, please pay close attention to the following very important announcement. And if you're not worried about it, well you should be, because it's obviously true.
God has spoken to me and told me that anyone who gives away all of their money before 21st December 2012 will be saved and go straight to heaven when the Earth is destroyed. To make it as easy as possible for you, I've added a donation button below. He also said that you don't have to wait until the day before to give your money away - entry to heaven will be on a 'first come, first served' basis, so the sooner you do it, the quicker you will get in (a bit like checking in your baggage online).
So just click the button and give me all your money (it's probably OK to keep enough to pay the next month's bills, as long as it really is all gone by the 20th). You will then have the double satisfaction of knowing that when the last trump sounds in just over a month, you and your family will be transported instantly to Paradise, whilst I and all the other miserable sinners and heathens go straight to hell where we belong.
Thursday, 15 November 2012
A-hole Alert!
No idea what this is all about - some dodgy looking bloke I met in a car park asked me if I could advertise his new service. Click for larger image:
Sunday, 4 November 2012
A Hawfinch in the rain
I debated for at least an hour this morning whether to go out in the pissing rain and in all probability see nothing, but in the end I decided I needed the exercise, and headed for Cossington Meadows.
At about 11:50 I was walking along the river bank near Plover Meadow pool, checking through a mixed tit flock and doing my best to pretend I was birding somewhere more exciting (the sort of place where something like a Pallas’s Warbler might be in with the flock), when an unfamiliar high-pitched ‘zeerp’ call somehow penetrated my hood/woolly hat combo. I looked up and was delighted to see the unmistakable chunky shape of a Hawfinch bounding towards me across the river! For a moment I thought it was going to land in the hawthorns, but I was obviously too close, and it continued across the pool and away towards the main track and Rectory Marsh.
A welcome county found tick, and the first one I’ve seen in Leics for over 14 years, the last being at Clipsham Hall, where they were fairly regular in the late 90s. And also, it has to be said (sorry Dave and John!), a mega Soar Valley tick, possibly even the first record for the area? If it has ever occurred, it must have been way back in the 1940s or 50s, when they bred at Quorn, which isn’t too far away. Not that my Soar Valley list is anything to shout about though...
At about 11:50 I was walking along the river bank near Plover Meadow pool, checking through a mixed tit flock and doing my best to pretend I was birding somewhere more exciting (the sort of place where something like a Pallas’s Warbler might be in with the flock), when an unfamiliar high-pitched ‘zeerp’ call somehow penetrated my hood/woolly hat combo. I looked up and was delighted to see the unmistakable chunky shape of a Hawfinch bounding towards me across the river! For a moment I thought it was going to land in the hawthorns, but I was obviously too close, and it continued across the pool and away towards the main track and Rectory Marsh.
A welcome county found tick, and the first one I’ve seen in Leics for over 14 years, the last being at Clipsham Hall, where they were fairly regular in the late 90s. And also, it has to be said (sorry Dave and John!), a mega Soar Valley tick, possibly even the first record for the area? If it has ever occurred, it must have been way back in the 1940s or 50s, when they bred at Quorn, which isn’t too far away. Not that my Soar Valley list is anything to shout about though...
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Recent Artwork
I’ve decided that I might as well use this blog more for promoting my artwork – if nothing else it will give me something to write about, as posts have been few and far between recently! I don’t intend to completely turn it over to art, but don’t be surprised if there are a few more posts like this in the future.
OK, hands up who knows what ACEO stands for? Anyone who’s liked my Facebook page should know, since I’ve been posting almost nothing else on there recently, but if you haven’t seen my page, or aren’t on Facebook, ACEOs are Art Cards, Editions and Originals.
There is only one rule for an ACEO, and that is that it must measure exactly 3.5 x 2.5 inches (landscape or portrait). Other than that, anything goes – paintings, drawings, prints, collage; if you can put it on a 3.5 x 2.5 inch card, it’s an ACEO. The cards can be framed, or displayed in albums, and make excellent gifts.
The format was introduced as an eBay category several years ago, and has proved to be very popular with art collectors. I’ve been painting ACEOs for a couple of months now, and selling them on eBay and in my Etsy shop. My eBay auctions start at either £14.99 or £19.99; selling prices are slowly rising as more collectors find my work and bid for it, but the top prices so far have been around £30, so this is a very affordable way of acquiring some original art!
Here are just a few of my recent ACEOs. Most of these are sold, but if you want to keep in touch with what’s currently for sale, please have a look at the ACEOs page on my website.
OK, hands up who knows what ACEO stands for? Anyone who’s liked my Facebook page should know, since I’ve been posting almost nothing else on there recently, but if you haven’t seen my page, or aren’t on Facebook, ACEOs are Art Cards, Editions and Originals.
There is only one rule for an ACEO, and that is that it must measure exactly 3.5 x 2.5 inches (landscape or portrait). Other than that, anything goes – paintings, drawings, prints, collage; if you can put it on a 3.5 x 2.5 inch card, it’s an ACEO. The cards can be framed, or displayed in albums, and make excellent gifts.
The format was introduced as an eBay category several years ago, and has proved to be very popular with art collectors. I’ve been painting ACEOs for a couple of months now, and selling them on eBay and in my Etsy shop. My eBay auctions start at either £14.99 or £19.99; selling prices are slowly rising as more collectors find my work and bid for it, but the top prices so far have been around £30, so this is a very affordable way of acquiring some original art!
Here are just a few of my recent ACEOs. Most of these are sold, but if you want to keep in touch with what’s currently for sale, please have a look at the ACEOs page on my website.
Friday, 26 October 2012
Farewell to Ceefax
How many birders of a certain age felt a little pang of nostalgia when they saw the news this week that Ceefax was finally being switched off? I certainly did, although I was also amazed it was still going in these days of mobile Internet and instant everything-on-demand whenever and wherever you want it.
It seems hard to believe now, but when I were a lad, in addition to Nancy’s Cafe and the grapevine, we used to find out about rare birds via Ceefax. There was a wildlife page, which I think was something like page 260, and on it, as well as general wildlife news, there was usually some very specific rare bird news. I can’t remember who used to update it, but it was a proper birder, who either had good grapevine contacts or used to ring Nancy’s to get the latest news.
There was one big drawback though – it was only updated once a week! Again, my memory is rather hazy (we are talking nearly 30 years ago after all), but I think it was updated on Thursday mornings. I remember going in to Coalville library to use their Ceefax TV, and jotting down anything of interest, which would then be firmed up (or not) by ringing Nancy’s on the Friday, and twitched (transport permitting) at the weekend. The Greater Sandplover at Cley in August 1985 is one bird I particularly remember finding out about on Ceefax, and there were several others. Even after Birdline started it was still a useful (and free) way of finding out what was around, on a Thursday at least!
It’s not quite hearing about a rare bird by postcard, but it’s not far off in terms of seeming ridiculously antiquated now!
It seems hard to believe now, but when I were a lad, in addition to Nancy’s Cafe and the grapevine, we used to find out about rare birds via Ceefax. There was a wildlife page, which I think was something like page 260, and on it, as well as general wildlife news, there was usually some very specific rare bird news. I can’t remember who used to update it, but it was a proper birder, who either had good grapevine contacts or used to ring Nancy’s to get the latest news.
There was one big drawback though – it was only updated once a week! Again, my memory is rather hazy (we are talking nearly 30 years ago after all), but I think it was updated on Thursday mornings. I remember going in to Coalville library to use their Ceefax TV, and jotting down anything of interest, which would then be firmed up (or not) by ringing Nancy’s on the Friday, and twitched (transport permitting) at the weekend. The Greater Sandplover at Cley in August 1985 is one bird I particularly remember finding out about on Ceefax, and there were several others. Even after Birdline started it was still a useful (and free) way of finding out what was around, on a Thursday at least!
It’s not quite hearing about a rare bird by postcard, but it’s not far off in terms of seeming ridiculously antiquated now!
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