Dorset.
Sorry I have gone quiet, for a bit I had little time to write the blog. I am also wondering whether or not I should write some themed blogs, not just about my experiences with nature but based on certain topics. This could be a specific blogs on how I became interested in nature, why my writing (both on and off blog) is inspired by nature and wildlife, different conservation projects, how to get involved in nature or activities to get the kids out (alongside videos of pond dipping ect). Tell me what you think! :) If you have any suggestions on blogs based on subjects you would like to hear me writing about please let me know! :) I am also making some animations inspired by wildlife that I wish to share with you soon! :D Well, this week I went on holiday to dorset. We stayed in a caravan in Charmouth, just a stone throw from the river that runs to the beach. In the morning we woke to the sound of ducks as they stood on our doorstep, looking for food. One was easily distinguished from the others and christened 'Rupert' (I am not sure why in all honesty.) On the first day down here we visited the tank museum, which is so big we havent looked around all of it yet! It was quite interesting to see the tanks and hear about their production for the first world war. After visiting the tank museum we headed back to the caravan before visiting the beach for some afternoon and evening fossil hunting. The sea was close to the cliff edge, slowly edging up the berm and towards our feet. On the fallen boulders a rock pipit called, one of many along the rugged coastline, some in pairs and some alone. I got as far as two metres away, photographing it as it sat on the rock. Its drab plumage was made even darker by the shadow of the cliff and it sat for a while, watching me and calling throughout the experience. (And then I tripped on a rock and scared it off.)We came home in the evening to with belemites and annomites. The next day we went to portland. Its an interesting little place with lots of stoneworks and different architecture. We travelled to the lighthouse where there were a number of people birdwatching but very few birds (probably due to the amount of visitors, it was quite busy). Every so often a cormorant flew past, low over the water with an unending series of flapping. A rock pipit tweeted and flitted among the boulders filled with hundreds of fossilised bivalves, the remains of shells that have not moved for millions of years. Back at the campsite we headed down to the beach and fossil hunted for many hours, returning with a previously smashed large annomite and many belemites. The next day we visitied Dinosaurland, the fossil museum that is privatly owned in Lyme Regis. It was very educational and very nice to look around with lots of different exhibits containing specimens that had been found in the local area and further abroad. There were exhebitions showing the different types of belemites you can find, a very interesting and useful timeline as well as many other fossils that I had not seen in real life before. That evening I walked in the local wood where there was a large variety of small birdlife. In the trees were bluetits, greatits, goldcrests and a reedbunting called from the rushes. A greater spotted woodpecker flew above my head and out of the woodland but did so too quickly for me to snap a photograph of it which was quite dissappointing. The next day we travelled down to Lyme Regis aquarium. This is a small aquarium made up of species found in british waters. In the aquarium you were given the chance to feed mullet by hand. Would I do that? Of course I would! It was an interesting experience, involving sticking your hand in a pond of fish and have them nibble at your fingers, looking for food. Even when you placed your hand above the water they automatically rose to the surface, mouths gaping for a meal. Mullet are bottom-feeding fish that are commonly found in estuaries and coastal waters around the UK. When I lived in North Devon we would find them swimming in large rockpools in westward ho beach, trapped by the tide in shoals of three to five fish. The aquarium also gave you the oppurtuinity to hold a starfish and contained a variety of different species such as wrass, hermit crabs, tompot blennies, common prawns and lobsters. After getting back we went fossil hunting once again. The next day we visited monkey world, a sanctuary for primates that have been abused and mistreated. It was interesting to see the variety of monkeys and the amazing habitats that had been created for them. The habitats gave the monkeys space to hide, so that some could not be seen. Others came and sat by the glass, including a gibbon who was observing the people walking by.
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Sorry that I have not posted in a while, I have been quite busy but quite a lot has happened! Two weeks ago I put up a bird table in the garden. This garden is situated in the inner city and so whether or not it would actually attract anything was debatable... So far it has attracted two daily Wood Pigeons, a magpie and a robin... so I guess that is a start and hopefully more will use it in the spring.
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About Me!Hello, I am a young birdwatcher and wildlife enthusiast here to talk about my interests and other things on my mind. I hope you enjoy my blog. Archives
April 2017
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