Wednesday 17 August 2011

Wings for Wednesday

Last Monday Bobby visited the Vet for his six monthly check up. Mike, the vet, said that his vision is now probably limited to seeing light and dark with very little detail as his cataracts have grown thicker. He continues to have a heart murmur but that doesn't stop him from thinking he is 13 months old as against his 13 years.

On our journey there I spotted a tree carving I hadn't seen before so I made a quick stop on the way back. Why are these things near blind bends in the road? A few shots through the windscreen. The trunk has four carvings:

Tree Carving 1   Tree Carving 2

At the bottom are a badger and a bird which may be a Curlew. Near the top is a squirrel and pride of place goes to an owl:

Carved Owl

 There have been quite a few Blue-tailed Damselflies around my pond. Mainly males but this female allowed me to thrust the TZ7 within a few inches of her face.

Damselfly

Yesterday when I checked my pond for any visitors I spotted what at first I thought was a Harlequin Ladybird. Much relief when I checked on the net and found out it was my first sighting of a 14 Spot Ladybird. It was very small, about 4mm, too small to be a Harlequin.

14 Spot Ladybird

Most of this year's fledglings have grown up but it is still possible to see the occasional young Goldfinch.

Goldfinches

Finally - weekends usually see the occasional private aeroplane on its way between various local small airstrips.

Monoplane

This Thruster Sprint T600N was spotted last weekend as it flew over the village. No, I'm not clued up on the myriad makes of planes. As long as you can get the ID (G-CDGI in this case) a quick Google usually finds all the information. It seems to have quite an unusual shape and engine layout. A good view can be seen on airport-data.com.

9 comments:

  1. A very good shot of the Damsel fly. I enjoy the tree carvings....they seem to be getting more popular. Glad Bobby is still happy.

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  2. Bobby will cope brilliantly with his current situation. With regular habits and activities he will thrive. Fantastic to know that he still acts like a youngster. Leo is like that when he goes swimming, he runs about like a 3 year old!

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  3. Lovely carvings on that trunk John.
    A cracking shot of that damsel.

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  4. Thank you Adrian. It makes a change to have a cooperative insect. Those were not the best carvings I have seen but they do brighten up a garden.

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  5. Yes Matron. Bobby has had five years to get used to the layout of his home and generally copes well. Just the occasional clunk as he head buts a door or wall when he turns round. Most days he has a mad five minutes and hurtles around the garden. Everyone who meets him assumes he is about four or five years old.

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  6. Thank you Keith. A very cooperative damsel.
    I wish I had a suitable tree trunk. I would love to have some carvings like that.

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  7. Hi John,
    Love the shot of the damselfly! We are still getting the odd youngster in our garden, most notably are the Goldfinches, with up to 5 visiting at a time with 2 parents in tow! Those wood carvings are fascinating and very tactile! We have one at Ferry Meadows and my niece and nephew have to `stroke` it when the see it!
    p.s. Glad Bobby is still doing well!
    J
    Follow me at HEDGELAND TALES

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  8. Thank you John. Very near the end of youngsters visiting here. In fact bird visitor numbers are well down at the moment. Broods don't seem to have been very large either, mainly ones or twos.

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  9. Hi John, sorry for the late entry, we're only catching up but we didn't want to miss anything. First of all, we were delighted to hear Bobby's check-up went OK - it must have been an anxious time. Then to see the most wonderful variety of pictures, especially the beautiful wood carvings - wow. We are, as always, very grateful for your ever-observant eyes and for you lining up the best angles for a picture and most especially, for keeping your camera to hand 24/7/365 ;)

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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