Manchester Beer & Cider Festival 2015

Posted on January 31, 2015 by daftmumblings

Last weekend I went to the Manchester Beer and Cider Festival at the Velodrome. A winter visit to a beer festival is starting to become a bit of a tradition and spending a day in the warm, drinking good beer with a group of mates makes a change to getting wet and cold outside doing conservation-type things!I particularly like beer festivals in great venues and they don’t come much more spectacular than the Velodrome – especially with practice sessions going on most of the day. Some of the bars we around the outside of the track but the main event was in the middle – reached by a tunnel under the boards.

I went on the last day of the festival but unlike last year in Derby, there were still plenty of beers left. I was particularly excited to try my first draught pint of the Purple Moose Brewery’s Dark Side of the Moose. After having had many a bottle of this fabulous beer (after getting some freebies via volunteering at the Glaslyn Osprey Project – it’s made locally in Porthmadog), I’ve had to wait ages to have my first proper pint of it; I wasn’t disappointed!However, I was disappointed by the lack of cheese – at the event in Derby last year, I bought a big cheese platter (and had it all to myself!) but this time there was only a pretty poor looking ploughman’s stall.Now I need to find another festival to go to at another great venue.

Winter Bird Survey – Blakenhall Moss

Posted on December 30, 2014 by daftmumblings

A couple of days ago I did a second bird survey of the winter at Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Blakenhall Moss reserve. I have to do one survey for November/December and another for January/February but if I have the time, I plan to do one per month (and the same for the Trust’s Bagmere reserve).

I recorded 28 species on this visit, which brings the total for the winter surveys so far to 35. The Marsh Tits were present, unlike the first survey, and a flock of around 30 teal was still at the site. Following the removal of the majority of the trees from the site and the raising of the water levels, to return it to its former moss state, the recorded bird species has changed with wetland birds now adding to the woodland species still present on the site.

The cold, bright and frosty morning made for a very atmospheric walk through the remaining areas of woodland around the outside of the site. The flooded woodland looks almost like a mangrove swamp.

Falkland Islands – Pebble Island: The Falklands in Miniature

Posted on December 27, 2014 by daftmumblings

After a bit of a break from writing up my Falklands trip, I thought I would publish a few more blog posts over the coming weeks – the first one about Pebble Island.

Pebble was the first of the offshore islands I stayed on during my trip and it certainly has a bit of everything; scenery, history and wildlife. In fact, I would say, from what I have seen elsewhere, it is the Falklands in miniature. The island has mountains and long sandy beaches with turquoise seas, a human history made more vivid by the events of 1982 and wildlife in abundance.

Pebble is the eastern-most of the larger islands off the north coast of West Falkland. It’s a big island with an area of 88 square km, 30km long and just less than 10km across at its widest and you would struggle to walk it in a day. It has a very small population, mostly comprising the owner and staff of the tourist hotel (Pebble Island Lodge).

Like most of the Falkland Islands, Pebble is an odd shape with an indented coastline and some wide open bays, it has rocky cliffs and large swathes of open diddle-dee heath. The rugged and hilly west of the island is very different to the lower lying and marshy east and the two larger landmasses that make up the island are joined by a narrow isthmus on which sits the only settlement. The main landing strips sit just to the west of the settlement up a small rise towards the first of the three hills on the island, conveniently named First Mountain – the others being Middle Mountain and Marble Mountain. I visited the beach where there were once tonnes of semi-precious pebbles (after which the island is named) but after over-exploitation, there are very few left and I didn’t see a single one.

The population was once much bigger, with the settlement being larger than the current handful of residents need. It is a typical Falklands village with too many buildings for the present population, many appear semi-abandoned, but the buildings that are used are in good repair and cared for. The old farm buildings down by the jetties are particularly spectacular in their deteriorating stark and rustic charm and lit an interest in me to capture images of these places around the other islands I visited.

The war had a particular impact on Pebble as, unlike the majority of the offshore islands, it had a significant Argentine presence and it was used as a forward operating base for some of their aircraft. Within easy reach of San Carlos Water to the east, the location chosen for the British landings, Pebble and its aircraft were a serious threat to the amphibious task force. To remove this threat, the British special forces mounted a night-time raid which took out 11 aircraft and rendered the landing strip unusable (although it was the Argentines who blew up the strip).

There are also significant signs of the wider war on the island with the debris of two shot down Argentine Dagger aircraft strewn across the land and a memorial to mark the crash site of an Argentine Learjet. High up on First Mountain also stands a cross marking Pebble as the closest land to the final resting place of the British destroyer, HMS Coventry. After successfully taking down numerous Argentine bombers, with her frigate partner HMS Broadsword, she finally succumbed to one of the air raids she had been helping to protect the British bridgehead from.

And then there’s the wildlife! The Island has been designated as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International due to its abundance of avian residents. Pebble was the first place I saw penguins; a nice little group of Gentoos on Elephant Beach on my first afternoon. There are coastal Gentoo colonies but also an inland colony to which the penguins trudge over a kilometre from the coast, while a big Rockhopper colony spreads out above the cliffs where the diminutive birds bounce up and down the steep rock face. There are also a small number of macaronis amongst the Rockhoppers and colonies of Magellanics along the coast. To the east, there are good numbers of wetland birds and, as usual, plenty of geese everywhere and many of the smaller birds that can be found throughout the islands. I saw Commerson’s dolphins surfing the crashing waves coming into one of the wide bays and had a distant view of a sea lion on one of the smaller outlying islands.

The weather while I was there was probably the most changeable of anywhere I stayed, with bright sunny bright blue skies, dark menacing clouds, strong winds, a hail storm and snow showers passing through, all in less than 48hrs.

Like most of the islands, Pebble has a soul all of its own, which is now made most vivid in my memory by the sunset on my first evening. I wandered down to the jetties near to the settlement and walked amongst the old farm buildings. As I moved out onto the beach, a flock of gulls rose into the blustery air against a backdrop of dark brooding clouds broken by the bright light of the setting sun. Out in the distance were many small islands with the mass of hills on the West Falkland mainland standing behind. The wind rushing past couldn’t drown out the angry cries of the birds as they called alarm at the presence of stranger amongst them. The breeze brought rattles, creaks and groans from the resisting buildings while the slowly setting sun picked out the details in the wood and metal walls, roofs and doors. A remoteness seemed to come over me – the emptiness of the view out to the far off islands and hills, the isolation of the once bustling but now quiet settlement and the wildness of the weather and the calls of the gulls – truly spectacular!

With all this to offer, Pebble has to be on my list for a return trip down south.

(My stay on Pebble Island was made all the more special by the people – Riki, Brad, Cat, Leigh and Walter. Pebble Island Lodge is a great place to stay with comfortable accommodation and lovely food! I particularly have to thank Brad for a great day-long tour of the west of the island – my TripAdvisor write-up can be found here)

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2014 by daftmumblings

Christmas Dram

Posted on December 20, 2014 by daftmumblings

My festive spirit this year is the fabulous Lagavulin Distiller’s Edition. It’s matured in Pedro Ximenez (PX) casks but still has the great smokey flavours of the classic Lagavulin. It’s a bit like the Bruichladdich PX I had last Christmas but much better (in my humble opinion!).

GUEST POST: Rallying for Nature by Jack Riggall

Posted on December 15, 2014 by daftmumblings

Earlier this week I went along to the second sitting of the Rally For Nature in London, an idea of Mark Avery taken up by the RSPB, League Against Cruel Sports and The Wildlife Trusts. If you’re following the plight of the natural world you probably already know that the State of Nature report published last year found 60% of species in the UK to be in decline, and that in 2013 in England no hen harrier chicks were raised at all as a result of intense persecution of raptors & terrestrial carnivores on grouse moors. You may also know that the natural world provides many physical & mental health benefits, and that a lack of it is linked to health inequalities in our society as shown by a report from this year – very important, since an estimated 1 in 4 of us suffer from mental health issues at some stage during our lives (myself included), thus ‘ecotherapy’ may do a lot for relieving the strain on the NHS.

For all these reasons and more, I sat amongst strangers and old friends alike whilst Martin Harper, director of conservation for the RSPB, spoke about the proposed weakening of the EU Directives for Birds & Habitats, cornerstones of UK wildlife protection in the UK, and we could contribute to their defense. Stephen Trotter, of The Wildlife Trusts, spoke about the Nature & Wellbeing Act, an Act to reconnect society with nature for our own sakes and bring about both the recovery of nature & a reversal of habitat fragmentation. Finally, the League Against Cruel Sports CEO Joe Duckworth spoke out against wildlife crime for which the vanishing hen harrier has become an icon. MPs from the Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green & Conservative parties also offered words of encouragement throughout the day, but no word from UKIP, presumably because their party members were hatching another plan to farm elephants.

With all these briefings explained, everybody (including Bob the campaigning red squirrel, a fox and a badger) marched to Westminster and in to the St Stephen’s entrance to the House of Commons to ask for an audience with their representative MP; during this walk I kept trying to sneak into photos with the organisation heads, succeeding once, which I believe is called ‘photobombing’. I appear on Mark Avery’s blog, in the sixth photo down, result!

Disappointingly, my MP was absent from the House of Commons on the day, but I did see the impact that others were making when asking their MPs to defend the natural world, and it did indeed seem to be an effective way of campaigning for change. I’m feeling empowered by the process and I have arranged to meet my MP on the 9th of January. I’ll only have 15 minutes, but this should be enough time to outline the Nature & Wellbeing Act and its benefits to people, as well as the problem of rising wildlife crime – not just for hen harriers, though two of those that I protected this year have already been lost (likely destroyed), but also for increasing illegal badger persecution. The Badger Trust’s 2013 report on badger incidents shows that in 2012 there were 353 incidents, but 657 in 2013, 151 of which were badger baiting. An invite for a walk in the woods where I regularly film wildlife might be an idea, to explain why the priority species that live there need habitat connectivity.

If I get time, I’ll also see if he will put his name to the Marine Charter, already supported by 147 MPs, 44 organisations and 8 million people, which aims to fully implement a strong network of Marine Conservation Zones and Marine Protected Areas so our depleted oceans can properly recover. I may also ask him if he has changed his mind on his support of culling badgers following the 2014 shambles…

After the meeting I’ll post an update about whether he is supportive of these environmental efforts. In the mean time, why not get involved and arrange a meeting with your own MP to stand up for wildlife and our natural heritage? They work for you, after all.

Photos courtesy of Mark Avery, from his blog post on the event.

Winter approaches the Glaslyn Valley

Posted on November 23, 2014 by daftmumblings

A familiar route once again but the first time in over a season’s length. I turn through the narrow gateway and over the cattle grid. The trees start to enclose as I make my way down through the wood once more. The winding, rising and dipping track has a new surface of fallen leaves and small twigs as autumn comes to a close. The summer shade has melted away and left naked, bent and twisted branches reaching out and interlocking over the narrow way. The vibrant green of the earlier months has gone and there is a new richness to the scene with the rusting bracken providing a foundation to the ambers, oranges and reds in the trees. However, the colours of the peak of a bright effervescent autumn are fading to the last drops of the season. Out on the wet meadows, with decaying dampness in the air, the dark, brooding clouds are letting a few drops of fine rain fall onto the ground as I approach the gate, crossing the grass that now has a touch of yellow. The site is almost silent now and would be but for a few calls of a chaffinch and a light breeze in the woods. The tops of the surrounding hills and mountains are covered in low mist, partly shrouding their purple-hinted rises. In the distance, what must be out above the sea, the suppressing clouds are parting and a brighter light is beginning to emerge but I have to leave and won’t see the land under a more vibrant autumn sun. Across the river and the low field, there stands a tree empty of the summer’s focus. Now long gone, it is like the family was never here but the nest lies up there, without its owners but ready for their return, just marking time through the long, cold and dark winter months.

Well, I lied in a post back in July, that I wouldn’t see that old track again until next spring. I just had to go back; to see the valley at another time, a quieter time, a more sombre and more moody time. The Glaslyn Valley is so different from the height of the summer but just as beautiful and it’s a pity I couldn’t make a visit at the height of the autumn colours. The life in the valley was certainly of the season with jays calling from the woods, ravens cronking as they drifted across the sky and redwings ‘seeeeping’ on their journey through. The only fresh signs of life were new blooms on the gorse, while all other flowers have long gone from the fields, woods and field margins.

After blogging over the spring and summer, I wanted to make a visit to the valley in the autumn or winter, so I could see and show how it changes through the colder months and seasons. With a meeting for public interest company that runs the osprey project planned for yesterday, a trip across had a dual purpose – to see the valley when the ospreys aren’t there and to keep up to date on plans for next year.

The meeting highlighted just how much great work the company and its volunteers have done over the past year and revealed some very promising plans for next. In all, over the last 12 months, nearly 5,500 volunteer hours have been put into running the project, from re-establishing both the viewing and protection sites, to all the hours put in watching over the nest and showing visitors views of the ospreys. Almost starting from scratch, it is simply amazing what this small group of volunteers has achieved over the past 12 months. Taking over the running of the project from a huge national charity was a daunting task and I’m sure others would have failed, and yes, there have been difficulties on the way. However, they have achieved what they have set out to do and now have plans to build on this and make next year even greater. There are proposals for a new visitor centre which should be open seven days per week during the breeding season, and the nest will be protected 24 hours a day while the risk to the ospreys, their eggs and eventually their chick persist.

Next year, they will need even more volunteers and more volunteer hours to ensure success, and yes, I will be back, hopefully doing some night shifts and maybe there might be a few blog posts too!

British public transport drivers’ new uniform…

Posted on November 21, 2014 by daftmumblings

If the Argies must have signs on all their public transport claiming that the Falklands are Argentinian, this should be the new national uniform of all British bus and train drivers (for one day at least)… …and on a related matter, if the Argentinians are going to be childish, why are we allowing their national football team to play two friendlies in England?

Falkland Islands – Wildlife: It’s not all penguins!!!

Posted on November 20, 2014 by daftmumblings

Today, I hope, the Falklands are becoming more famous for the wildlife than the war; they certainly deserve to be. I’m sure to many people the Islands are an unknown, or known for only what happened back in the early 1980s. The Falklands are so much more than that and the spectacular wildlife is just the tip of the iceberg, but a good place to start.

Whilst I seem to spend much of my time looking at, counting and protecting birds, I’m actually more interested in mammals and the Falklands has some good ones to take an interest it. However, like the birds on and around the Islands, the mammals are relatively few in species but big on numbers. While there I saw elephant seals, sea lions, Commerson’s dolphins, orca and possibly a fur seal; all these were new to me (in the flesh at least) and I spent hours watching them. There were also plenty of brown hares in and around Darwin where I stayed for the first night, but these are an introduced species and occasionally seen around where I live.

The elephant seals were a great sight, lying out on the beaches of Carcass and Sea Lion Islands. They seemed to spend most of the day lazing around in the sun, particularly the females and youngsters. The males, despite their huge size, were generally more active, with the ‘beachmasters’ frequently having to chase of the other males trying to sneak into their harems and have their way with the females. The sight of the males fighting is not for the feint hearted and nor is the view of the males forcing themselves on the local ladies, with the young ones still hanging around close by and occasionally getting crushed underneath the heavyweights.

The sea lions were fewer in number and I only saw large numbers on Bleaker Island, with the occasional one or two on Carcass and Sea Lion Islands. Standing in the tussock grass at the top of a shallow cliff on Bleaker, I spent a good while watching a group of fifty relaxing on the flat rocks at the cliff base. There was one huge, aristocratic looking male patrolling around his own group of females with the occasional potential challenger appearing and quickly hopping off again before the big guy caught sight of them.

Tussock grass is not the safest place to stand looking at sea lions, even at the top of a cliff, as the seals can easily climb up unnoticed to spend time in the shelter of the big stands of grass, and indeed, I did stumble upon one or two. Fortunately, I didn’t come face-to-face with a big old male as they have a fair turn of speed and I wouldn’t want to be caught by one. I eventually moved on and sat in a more open area overlooking a small bay and watched a mixed group playing in the waves. I got a good view of two males fighting; firstly sizing each other up on the rocks and then chasing into the water, scrapping around in the surging waves.

I saw Commerson’s dolphins three times on my trip; the second time there were a couple riding the bow wave of the boat on the way between West Point and Carcass Islands; a really nice end to a day, on a calmer crossing than in the morning going the other way. The first and third sightings were groups surfing the big waves crashing into beaches on Pebble and Saunders Island. On Pebble, the view was fleeting but on Saunders I stood watching them for ages with up to twenty playing just off the coast.

The best mammal sighting, and perhaps the wildlife highlight of my trip, was of two pods of orca (killer whale) off the coasts of Sea Lion Island. Throughout my trip, talking to people who had already been to the island, I was told that orca were there, but being a pessimist, I expected them to have pushed off by the time I turned up. How wrong was I? The first afternoon I spent several hours watching one pod of four patrol up and down the shoreline, trying to snatch an unaware elephant seal in the water. The following morning, I watched a group of five in the same place, with some coming into a small pool only a few metres from the water’s edge. There was a large group of southern giant petrels (more about them later) waiting further out from the coast to snatch anything remaining from a kill and periodically they would all suddenly lift and descend on an area around the orca but usually returned empty handed. The following afternoon and evening I spent more time watching the orca and saw two pods, one on each side of the island. It was quite incredible to learn that they had been focussing their attentions on the big male elephant seals, the big bullies of the beaches, and had taken quite a few over the preceding few days. The males on the edge of the groups (like the one in the picture below) often looked nervously out to sea, checking if the orca were out their lurking in wait. In all the time I spent watching them, I didn’t see a kill, or at least not of anything big. I think a penguin or two may have been taken as a light snack with the petrels quickly clearing up any leftovers but it would have been quite something to see the orca take a fully grown male elephant seal.

The orca sighting actually ticked another item off my bucket list; so two down, quite a few more to go!

Manchester Christmas Markets are already here!