THE RAMBLINGS OF A STRUGGLING ARTIST ON LIFE WITH TWO TERRIERS, A PONY WITH ISSUES AND OTHER WILDLIFE AND BIRDS THAT CROSS OUR PATH

17 January 2013

FIELDFARE FLOCKS AND SIMPLE PLEASURES


Every morning, as I approach Trigger's field with his breakfast, I disturb a huge flock of Fieldfare who all fly off as soon as they see me. So, this morning I was more stealthy and managed to snap them from a distance from behind a conveniently placed tree. Not great but since I've been trying to identify them for over ten years, I'm delighted. 




It's been a very difficult week again and I can't really talk about it so here are some pictures of its better moments.






Snow dusted dawn


 Super-puppy


Yet another variety of ice crystals on a puddle


Stalking


After trawling lichen identification sites, I believe this is Cladonia Bellidiflora. I never realised how many lichens there actually were and this one is particularly strange.


Evening light behind a wire fence


A bit late for this Christmas Robin....

And some slightly snowy ones from today in preparation for the coming white-out:







And finally, my lovely Origami Boy, whose sunny disposition in the face of adversity is an inspiration. Here he is launching a paper plane into the wind a few days ago....simple pleasures. 



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18 comments:

  1. CarlaHR17 January 2013 at 16:30

    Em, so sorry you are having a hard time - I hope that the good moments will soon outweigh the bad.
    What a lovely picture of your son and dog.

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  2. rachel17 January 2013 at 17:02

    Much love to you Em hope next week is better.Always a cup of tea here if you need onex

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  3. rusty duck17 January 2013 at 17:25

    Take care Em, especially with the bad weather coming our way.

    Thank you for the pictures of the fieldfares. It may solve a mystery for me. There were a couple of birds on the lawn last week that I first thought were thrushes, but the spots weren't so distinct. They looked an awful lot like fieldfares. How big are they?

    I hope things get better for the weekend. Jx

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  4. Em Parkinson17 January 2013 at 17:33

    Carla - Lovely to hear from you Carla. That picture was after many tries at capturing the paper plane coming out of his hand and was the best I could do with digital delay! Thanks so much for your sentiments; they are much appreciated .

    Rachel - I may take you up on that next week if that's okay. x

    Rusty D - They are about the size of a thrush....perhaps a tiny bit bigger? I was thinking back to the first time we saw them and it's actually been a twelve year long mystery! I'll never make a proper birdwatcher. Just been listening to doom laden weather reports on the radio so keep safe too. x

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  5. Virginia17 January 2013 at 20:54

    What a delightful photo of Origami Boy and Snippet - boy being boy, and dog being dog!! Both happy and busy - the best of life

    You do manage fantastic photos Em. Your bird life is so different fro ours - no Redbreasts over here, and certainly no Fieldfare. We live right next to the Zealandia Wildlife sanctuary, and since it's been established we get Tuis and Bellbirds, and occasionally Kereru (wood pigeons) stopping by.

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  6. Em Parkinson18 January 2013 at 09:12

    Thanks Virginia. Great to hear from you and I'm about to go and look up those birds of yours, none of which I've ever heard of! I wonder if the Kereru look like our wood pigeons?

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  7. Ragged Robin18 January 2013 at 10:16

    Lovely photos of the Fieldfares - so glad you managed to identify your mystery bird and great photo of Origami Boy with the paper plane.

    Hope things improve soon for you. Keep safe in the snowy weather.

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  8. Caroline Gill18 January 2013 at 11:31

    Thinking of you ... It's very chilly here, with mini blizzard-like gusts of snow that swirl around in the east wind. Love the Fieldfares ... have seen the odd two or three, but only rarely and never a whole flock.

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  9. Caroline Gill18 January 2013 at 11:32

    P.S. Red lichen is MOST extraordinary!

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  10. Caroline Gill18 January 2013 at 11:35

    Not sure these are quite the same, but still interesting ... and from Dartmoor.

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  11. Em Parkinson18 January 2013 at 12:02

    Hello Caroline....the snow is DEEP! The Fieldfare flocks are sometimes 40-50 strong at least and very wary. The only reason I was able to get them was because they weren't out on the moor.

    The red lichen is very strange isn't it. I've looked at the Flickr one and it also looks very like Cladonia Polydactyla. I need to do some serious identification work out there, but not today. The photogenic snow will take precedence.

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  12. Em Parkinson18 January 2013 at 12:04

    Sorry RR - I didn't see yours there. Snow blindness! I'm about to strike out in it wearing my Norwegian army fur-lined trousers. Not the greatest look but they're lovely and warm.

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  13. angryparsnip18 January 2013 at 20:49

    Lovely photos as always.
    Especially like the first one of Snippet and a stock.
    Lovely photo of your son and Snippet.
    Hope your doing better, sometimes my valleys are so deep it takes quite awhile to climb out.
    Plus it is nice to have fur lined trousers with the weather your getting.

    cheers. parsnip

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  14. Danielle Barlow18 January 2013 at 21:29

    Amazing lichen! Have you got an ID book? I saw some quite extraordinary 'growths' the other day, and we argued over wether they were Lichen or Fungi.
    xx

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  15. Dartford Warbler18 January 2013 at 23:23

    Sorry things are not so good. I hope the walks and lovely surroundings helped.

    Fieldfares are stunning birds. I haven`t seen one this winter but we had a flock of redwings in the old mare`s field before Christmas.

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  16. Em Parkinson19 January 2013 at 19:19

    Parsnip - thank you....I wish it were my problem as then I could stop it affecting my son. He's such a sweetheart.

    Danielle - I have an inadequate one but intend to invest in a better one. Thank goodness for tabs on the internet to compare photos!

    DW - I've only seen a Redwing once so I see them as pretty exotic! How brilliant to see so many.

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  17. Gail H. Ragsdale19 January 2013 at 20:52

    Em, so sorry to hear that all isn't right with you. Hope whatever it is resolves.
    Take care, Gail

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  18. Em Parkinson20 January 2013 at 10:24

    Thanks Gail. the same to you. Hope you aren't snowed in!

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