Category Archives: Wildlife

A busy weekend

We’ve had a packed few days. Friday evening was mostly spent in Trillians, where a bunch of us went to support a bloke we (mostly) know separately.

That’s him on drums.

Afterwards, my second in command and I caught a cab to our local. Where we caught the last part of a set from Beyond Madness.

Saturday was spent in Durham, with nice people.

Who fed us with lovely food.

Returning home on Sunday, we called off at the Hungry Vegan for hot dogs, then walked to Ouseburn where old furniture was purchased.

It needs a little work, but really only a little. There was beer in Arch 2, the Cluny, the Cumberland Arms, the Free Trade Inn and the Tyne Bar. And our local. We called in there too.

Cool bird boxes were discovered.

That’s the Cumberland Arms in the background.

The river looked nice on our walk back along the quayside.

In the garden with a friend

While enjoying a hard earned beer or two in the garden, the woodpigeon arrived. He sat on the fence for a few minutes, looking at the bread, in his tray, on the table next to me. He bottled it and flew off.

And returned a few minutes later.

Then, he jumped onto the table next to me.

We’ve noticed for a while that he recognises us. He hangs around for food when he sees us in the garden, or through the kitchen window, so we’re clearly associated with pigeon food.

He’s putting on a bit of weight, so I guess we should get him back on porridge.

Things to do on a Bank Holiday

Sunny Bank Holidays are rare in the UK, so we should make the most of them and do stuff outdoors. Beer gardens. Yes, beer gardens are great on a sunny day.

So that’s what we decided to do today. So I decided to work in the shed again. I was perhaps a little overly optimistic yesterday when I said that the wall I’m now working on isn’t as bad as the last.

It’s not seriously damp, which is of course a good thing. But there were a couple of cave-ins today.

However, after several hours’ work the wall is now safe.

Looking pretty much as it did yesterday.

And, also as yesterday, I’m sitting in the garden with a couple of woodpigeons (one’s in the tree).

Gardening

Since the weather’s changed for the better, I couldn’t put off resuming work on the shed.

This wall is a lot more solid than the first one I tackled, so it wasn’t so easy to remove the inside layer of stone.

Doing a spot of gardening now.

While sitting here, a magpie arrived.

My second encounter with such a creature today. The first was this morning, when, on arriving at the tip, we saw a magpie attacking a young parrot.

An old lady and I scared off the magpie, but the parrot was unaccessible, behind a high fence. Also in the queue was a parrot breeder (there had to be), who said he’d drive back around to capture the bird.

So, the old lady and I stood guard until he returned.

Unfortunately, a girl with a stick arrived before he did. I’d acquired a towel from one of the site workers, but hadn’t used it because I didn’t want to harm the bird. The girl, however, pointed the stick in the parrot’s direction. Apparently, the bird was supposed to walk onto the stick.

It flew off. Just before the parrot professional arrived.

As I was writing this, a pair of pigeons landed on the fence. This will be their second year of nesting in our tree.

Bees

I do quite enjoy sitting in the garden, particularly with a beer after doing something constructive. 

It’s not just about beer after work though; I like to watch bees go about their business. A picture of a bee …

Shed II

The new shed looks a lot better now it’s been painted. 

We could only fit in a 6×4 shed; anything else would have been too imposing. Looking at the two sheds together, the old one is pretty much three times the size of the new one. 

In other news from the garden, the pair of woodpigeons are nesting in the tree again. 

Little yellow spider

I do sometimes wonder whether yellow spiders, as in the Devendra Banhart song, actually exist. 

Our spider has yellow stripes on its legs, so maybe that counts. He/she seems to have made its home in a corner of the ceiling. 

According to the internet, house spiders can live for several years; months without food too. While I’m uncertain as to whether this is a house spider, I no longer need to be concerned about the lack of insects in our kitchen. 

God and relationships

Our new spider disappeared the other day. I found myself to be concerned. 

However, it transpired that it had traversed the spider continent of our kitchen wall. To seek the protection of Jesus, the guardian of the beer fridge. 

That’s him/her, on the left. Just above the lamp. Here …