Seemingly trivial things that cheer you up
Comments
-
SecretSam wrote:Veronese68 wrote:ooh, a barn owl is a very cool spot.
LOL first time I ever saw an owl was at a football match. Evening game, about to kick off, crowd of 16k or so. Suddenly an owl flies along over the pitch at the same height as the floodlights (on the front of the stand). Cue 16k people (and the players) looking up and going "F**k me, an owl!"
(Bristol City vs Stockport, BTW - mid 90s, think it ended 1-1)
Would have been cool if it had been Sheffield Wednesday.0 -
Riding along the Bristol to Bath railway path when a steam train goes past.0
-
Pross wrote:SecretSam wrote:Pross wrote:Watching birds of prey either circling gracefully or hovering for the kill. I was like a little kid when I saw my first ever red kite about 5 years ago.
LOL come to Aylesbury, there's thousands of red kites. And surprisingly few pigeons, one wonders if these facts are related...
Yeah, I've seen loads since both on the M4 near Reading and in mid Wales (where I saw the first one and where on of the centres used to reintroduce them was set up). I still love seeing them though as well as buzzards and harriers. Would love to see an Osprey and Golden Eagle in the wild.
I was pretty sure I saw an osprey fishing on Loch Tay two summers ago but it was too far away to be sure. Practically crashed my car when I saw two a few weeks later circling about 30m above the road. I saw a massive eagle at work the other week on the west coast but I don't know if it was a golden eagle or a sea eagle. Incidentally there is talk of golden eagle reintroduction down here in the borders which might be good.
Something that made me smile the other day was seeing a peregrine on a forest road with it's head firmly inside a kill, it looked up at me then carried on without flinching, watched for about ten minutes after that0 -
Not sure it made me smile but (whilst we're on the subject)...
My mother's garden is sufficient habitat for 2 pairs of collared Dove's. I like them. They sit in the Apple trees and canoodle and they're always shagging.
If the numbers ever get much more than 5 or 6, they tend to get taken out. I guess, if you are a slow and seemingly overweight bird, the only thing you can do is shag to keep your species going.
I was concreting one day. On the ladder rack of the tipper truck was a collared Dove, minding it's own business and out of the corner of my eye I spotted this thing coming across my line of vision and it took said Collared Dove out at god knows what MPH. I am pretty sure it was a Sparrow hawk as there quite a few in the area. The speed the collared Dove was taken out of and the dexterity of the flight of the Sparrow Hawk was something else.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
Pinno wrote:Not sure it made me smile but (whilst we're on the subject)...
My mother's garden is sufficient habitat for 2 pairs of collared Dove's. I like them. They sit in the Apple trees and canoodle and they're always shagging.
If the numbers ever get much more than 5 or 6, they tend to get taken out. I guess, if you are a slow and seemingly overweight bird, the only thing you can do is shag to keep your species going.
I was concreting one day. On the ladder rack of the tipper truck was a collared Dove, minding it's own business and out of the corner of my eye I spotted this thing coming across my line of vision and it took said Collared Dove out at god knows what MPH. I am pretty sure it was a Sparrow hawk as there quite a few in the area. The speed the colla Stoat.ared Dove was taken out of and the dexterity of the flight of the Sparrow Hawk was something else.
Sure it wasn't taken out by a Stoat? Never underestimate a Stoat.0 -
Being in Monday evening traffic and finding you are moving exactly the same speed as a very attractive female pedestrian.0
-
The evening made up for the morning. Ying and yang!0
-
Pross wrote:The evening made up for the morning. Ying and yang!
I had a great day. I wasn't stuck in traffic. That can only mean tomorrow will be one b4stard of a day. I guess it's that Ying Yang thing going on but instead of making references to some far eastern philosophy to which we have fleeting knowledge of, ''sod's law' is far closer to home and reality.
I'll try Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm and see how it goes.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
I had driven in to work one day in the summer a few years back when my usual transport was a motorcycle, a colleague said he thought I would be missing the bike in such weather. I pointed out that it was too hot for a motorcycle in traffic as you had to keep your wits about you and concentrate fully on the road and should still wear protective gear which gets very hot. Whilst in a car you didn't need protective gear and could watch the world go by and admire the scenery if you weren't moving.Pross wrote:Being in Monday evening traffic and finding you are moving exactly the same speed as a very attractive female pedestrian.0 -
As someone who has to continually delete stuff from my iPhone to make space for new photos etc... I noticed that Strava was hogging 750mb of space. So I deleted it, then reinstalled it - to find that it now takes up just 60mb. #win.Cycling prints
Band of Climbers0 -
Seeing yet another reminder of why my cheap android phone is better than an iPhone (it takes a 128gb memory card)0
-
I was away this weekend with Mrs Slog, just getting away from it all.
We sat by a stream near Weedon Bec on what turned out to be a lovely Saturday afternoon and said "what a great place this would be for kingfishers". Then, one flew along the stream a couple of metres in front of us, and perched 50m to our right. We watched for half an hour and eventually we'd had about 5 passes by what turned out to be a pair.
As an angler, I've seen a lot of them, but not so Mrs Slog who had only ever seen a couple and those far away. She was delighted and that cheered me up.
The older I get, the better I was.0 -
They are stunning in all their colour.
Quite something when sat on a river bank/up to your waste in waders and it flashes by.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
On a related note, watching a pike/perch/trout take your lure almost under the rod tip.Advocate of disc brakes.0
-
homers double wrote:On a related note, watching a pike/perch/trout take your lure almost under the rod tip.
'Lure' - FAIL.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
Pinno wrote:They are stunning in all their colour.
Quite something when sat on a river bank/up to your waste in waders and it flashes by.
Yes.
I was caught in a downpour one day when i was trout fishing and I sheltered under a big hawthorn bush. I'd been standing there about a minute when i was joined by a kingfisher, it sat on a branch about a metre away from my face at eye level and didn't know i was there. I couldn't believe my luck, I could just stand and study it it for minutes hardly daring to breathe before I had to cough or something which scared it away. Truly a magical day, I can't recall whether I caught anything but I know it didn't matter.
The older I get, the better I was.0 -
Pinno wrote:Not sure it made me smile but (whilst we're on the subject)...
I was concreting one day. On the ladder rack of the tipper truck was a collared Dove, minding it's own business and out of the corner of my eye I spotted this thing coming across my line of vision and it took said Collared Dove out at god knows what MPH. I am pretty sure it was a Sparrow hawk as there quite a few in the area. The speed the collared Dove was taken out of and the dexterity of the flight of the Sparrow Hawk was something else.
Couple of times while dog walking I've been astounded by the agility and speed of sparrow hawks. One in pursuit of a blackbird shot out of a lane to my left, did a smart 90 deg turn right towards me, then immediately 90 deg left and down a lane to my right. I'd love to know what kind of G-force they pull in such fast, tight turns; they look impossible.
Then a couple of months ago there was a squeal from the hedge to my right, a grey blur in front of me, then a fledgling blackbird dropped stone dead and bleeding copiously at my feet. I'm guessing the sparrowhawk wasn't expecting me to be there..0 -
Pinno wrote:They are stunning in all their colour.
Quite something when sat on a river bank/up to your waste in waders and it flashes by.
On a narrowboat holiday with school friends I was always up first, and often saw them zipping past down the canal, just an electric blue / orange blur.
Then when in my first job on the Science Park in Cambridge which has several lakes with fish, we had one fly straight into the mirrored office window so we got to have a good look at it while it regained consciousness before flying off again.
And I spotted one this summer in Wicken Fen, again just the blur. Annoyingly no suitable perches where we were. Still a cheery sight.0 -
Flâneur wrote:...or something more random and brazen
Are you endorsing hypsters?!
At the corner of the patch of concrete around my house, there is a rose trellis that I put together. If it's a reasonably clear night and you are very very quiet, sometimes you can see a Barn Owl sat on it. From the top of the trellis is obviously a good place for Owl to see and wait outside the double garage (no doors) - which is a perfect haven for mice in amongst the wood pile.
That leads me on to the arrival of the House Martins. They always nest in the garage which curtails some activities in there (same garage as above) during their stay, which I don't mind as I have total respect for that little bird who has to fly up to 7000 miles to get here every year. Overcoming all sorts of obstacles including people who trap and eat them for some inexplicable reason. Their chitter chatter and seemingly playful behaviour upon arrival is like a sign of spring - it always makes me smile.
They don't worry about me so much but they dive bomb the cat. 6th sense I guess.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
homers double wrote:On a related note, watching a pike/perch/trout take your lure almost under the rod tip.
Or your float gently dropping below the surface and disappearing across the lake - even better at night with a glow stick insert in the float.0 -
Pross wrote:homers double wrote:On a related note, watching a pike/perch/trout take your lure almost under the rod tip.
Or your float gently dropping below the surface and disappearing across the lake - even better at night with a glow stick insert in the float.
Had a whip (rod with no reel) on the bow of my boat, worm on the hook. went inside to collect a cuppa and heard a rattle and splash as the whip disappeared into the river. Fortunately iI had a spinning rod set up with a plug with a couple of trebles on it. Cast over the fast moving rod and snagged it, managed to retrieve it and the whip without losing what had taken the worm. turned out to be a bloody eel which managed to cover me and a load of my kit in slime. But i got my whip back.Rose Xeon CDX 3100, Ultegra Di2 disc (nice weather)
Ribble Gran Fondo, Campagnolo Centaur (winter bike)
Van Raam 'O' Pair
Land Rover (really nasty weather )0 -
On holiday in France I saw one guy leave his rod unattended and the next thing it was trailing around the lake. He eventually pulled it back in with someone else's rod and the fish was still on but ironically he lost it before he could land it.0
-
In the spirit of this thread...Pinno wrote:They are stunning in all their colour.
Quite something when sat on a river bank/up to your waste in waders and it flashes by.
I think the correct spelling you need is "waist", but I suppose you could have meant the outlet a little lower down... Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS0 -
Wheelspinner wrote:In the spirit of this thread...Pinno wrote:They are stunning in all their colour.
Quite something when sat on a river bank/up to your waste in waders and it flashes by.
I think the correct spelling you need is "waist", but I suppose you could have meant the outlet a little lower down...
My bad. It's the auto correct mal-functioning - in that part of my brain.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0
