31 July 2011

Wednesday

Sorting and tagging and uploading to Flickr is tedious.

The grebes were trollying around as usual.

At Morse lock a tiny moorhen chick was dithering about on the brickwork.

After a while the chick managed to jump off and swim to mother.

Meanwhile on the pond:

He's got a fish ...

... for her ...

... but she's not sure.

Mum still had baby on her back ...

... until he got off for a paddle.

Mother and child

Thursday's walk to Ranby to do now.

30 July 2011

Tuesday

Pond:

The "bottom" grebes have left their nest

There are loads of grebes on the pond now. The three original pairs, the bottom chicks and the top chick. Such a small pond with such a density. There must be loads of fish in here.

Tip for slideshows: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.

Long and possibly boring slideshow of grebes on the pond.

Some excerpts (As before these are a looooong way away & the camera's hand held so the picture quality is lacking but I've done my best):

Mother and child

Family

Family again

Canal:

Someone had done a booboo. The Worksop Town to Morse pound was down a foot!

I have my suspicions.

Saturday to Wednesday

Saturday, Sunday & Monday's pics.
Tuesday & Wednesdays tomorrow

Saturday 23rd July

Didn't do anything.

To town (pond → canal →) Up to the market and back.

Frau Grebe still on the nest: no immediate sign of the offspring, although Herr Grebe was around.

The heron was at the top.
This was taken at extreeeme distance through a bush.

... he fled as I came within snapping distance.

Big Ted's on his stall, not looking too happy about it.

Sunday 24 July

Even less today!!

Indoors: just pointed the camera through the door. Hollyhock porn (see what those bees are up to!!) and grapes and Gingernuts.

Monday 25 July

Only town and back

BUT!

The top grebes (who have been hiding their nest very successfully) have hatched at least one chick. See below.
The bottom pair are still on the nest with their second set. Surrounded by Blue green alga.


Blue green alga	Enhanced


"Bottom" grebe on nest.

Be advised: these pics are at a distance and the camera's handheld. I've tightened them up as much as I can.

The stripy chick peering out.

Papa meeting junior

Going for a ride

29 July 2011

Better late than never (?)

Weather's too nice to spend hours (yes literally hours) at the computer renaming and tagging 454 photos for Flickr, so it's taken me a week to do those from my walk Worksop to Kiveton Park and back.
In the meantime of course I've been up and down the canal as usual, including to Ranby Yesterday. (Google map of the route) I packed drink, sarnies and other lens and toddled off with them on my back about 9:30. I set out to go all the way to Retford but my camera battery was nearly flat when I got to Ranby. I've two batteries, the old one is on its way out and I'd left the new one on charge but forgot to take it with me! They're £40+ each. Reached the bus stop in Ranby just after the bus back to Wop left: half an hour wait. Ate my sarnies at home!

Tip for slideshows: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.
Anyhow, back to last Friday's walk:

Round the pond and up to Shireoaks

Note: Grebe's still sitting on her nest.

Some old friends seen along the way:

Nb Dreamcatcha moored at Lock Keeper

Nb NoName hereafter referred to as "James", formerly moored at Shireoaks Miner's Welfare, having gone to turn below Stret, sailing up to Shireoaks Marina.

And in the Marina Nb Futurest

Shireoaks to Thorpe Locks Bridge.
Beautiful!

Had to watch mummy duck Shepherding her brood from the bottom to the top of a lock.

And on to Dog Kennel Bridge.

Just here (google map) is a stone

On one side is "CCC" and on the other "DL", any ideas?

Christine (of Richlow books) has solved it:
"the boundary stone marked the land owned by the Chesterfield Canal Company, and the adjacent land owned by the Duke of Leeds. The stone was found, in the nearby undergrowth, by Chesterfield Canal Trust stalwart Ken Clark. It was placed on the towpath by CCT members, as a memorial to Ken.
The stone was installed when the CCC purchased land from the Duke of Leeds, to create the railway/canal transhipment wharf which used to be nearby."

I swap lenses, usually at the turnaround point of a walk, from 70-300 to 18-70.

Back down to Thorpe locks.
There's a heron towards the end of that slideshow. Two ladies walking four dogs had told me to watch for it.
If I'd not swapped lenses it'd have been clearer.

So I played with the pics a bit.

Down through Thorpe flight and Turnerwood.

and home. Nb Apfelkorn, Nb Bertie Willow(!) and Nb Dreamcatcha. On the way.

Back with more of the week's pics later. This entry's taken about three hours! Gotta go and buy cat food!

23 July 2011

Walks

The boredom of renaming and tagging over 400 pics I took yesterday to Kiveton and back has led me to list a lot of the walks I've done around the Chesterfield Canal, Worksop and Clumber here Most of them I've done several times.

Yesterday's walk will be posted on Flickr and here probably tomorrow.

22 July 2011

Friday Morning

Starters:
Had to buy a new memory card, (looking at the dead one, it seems to have got wet somehow) I'd got a couple of 2 Gig ones,but they're slow and not really big enuff for my snapping habit. So that's £25 gone. I know you can get 'em (a lot) cheaper, but speed and reliability have to be taken into account.
Had to buy a new microwave: another £40!

Rain! Wednesday it rained; only showers but such torrents when they came:


lovely weather for ducks

The blue-green alga's still on the pond, now all round, earlier it was just at the top (west) end.

Now there's the warning notice: just in time for the school holidays.

To lessen the repetitive boredom, I've stuck all the grebe nesting pics in a slideshow:

Tip: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.

Swans are so photogenic!

Tip: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.

So I've slideshowed a few.

I didn't know that moorhens ate fish:

And here's interesting:

Tip: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.

Daddy grebe brought junior a fish and a gull decided it wanted some. Both grebes dived and, presumably, the fish was transferred under water. Didn't quite catch all the action it took me by surprise.

The roses on the Canch are struggling against the depredations of the weather and, I suspect, the financial situation.

Couldn't resist this:

Tip: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.

Gingernuts and Gingerkit kipping together. They've both allowed me to feed and house them but I've no idea where they're from. Since Gingerkit turned up Gingernuts has become quite affectionate: he's on my lap at the moment.

A few favourites to end:

He looks as if he's describing the one that got away.

Mother and younger child only.

This moorhen seems to be suspended.

18 July 2011

Monday: A week's pics

Wednesday 13th

Round the pond.
Tip: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.

Grebes nesting, swans swanning, flowers blooming.

Insects sunning
and

insects feeding.

The Wednesday Market was in full swing:
Tip: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.

You'll note in the above slideshow that they've started digging up the old market place.
I particularly like the colourful fruit stalls:

Thursday 14th

Round the pond.
Tip: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.

Mrs Grebe's still sitting.

But humans are doing what they do best:



Love the motto!

On Monday I'd seen Nb Algonquin at Retford, now here she was at Morse lock:
Tip: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.

Narrowboat folk are all so friendly!

Friday 15th (St Swithun's day!

Just a few Grebe pics:
Tip: don't click the centre arrow, click an edge.

Scheiße! My card (the one in the camera) has gone SPLAAAAAA! Saturday, Sunday & this morning's pics are GONE!. Nothing special: Narrowboat Dayspring and more grebe stuff is all.