Author Archives: daftmumblings

Sunshine after the floods

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We returned from a drought-affected Ecuador (including the Amazon Basin) on Saturday to heavy rain. By Sunday morning we could see flooding in the fields nearby and by the evening our village had been cut off in all directions apart from one road.

Today, therefore, it has been nice going for a lunchtime walk in the sunshine…

Our holiday was amazing and one of the best I’ve had. It may take some time but it warrants more than one short post. So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting a series of posts about different aspects of the trip, starting with an overview.

South America-bound

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So the big trip of the year has finally arrived! I’m sitting in our hotel room at Heathrow Airport from which, far too early tomorrow morning, we will start our journey to Ecuador.

We will first fly to Madrid and then an 11 hour flight to Ecuador’s capital, Quito. We will have two nights close to the capital before heading out into the Ecuadorean wilderness.

We have a few days in the Andes followed by time in the cloud forest before journeying into the Amazon, all of which will amount to 14 nights in country.

This is a mammal-focused trip but I’m also hoping to add quite a few new birds to my life list. This is the first time I’ve been to mainland South America, so every mammal and nearly every bird will be new to me.

I might be able to add a blog post or two while I’m there but I’m looking forward to writing some longer posts when I return home.

Now, down to the bar for a drink and meal before an early night – the 3:30am alarm will arrive far too soon!

Autumn lunchtime

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I’m so fortunate to be able to work from home several days per week as it allows me to go for walks around the village and down the country lane at lunchtime.

Today is a particularly lovely autumn one with blue sky and a little remaining warmth in the sun. There’s a bit of a chill in the breeze but I’ve come out without a jacket.

In the sunshine the autumn colours really do stand out…

Nearing the end of evening cycles

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As we approach the changing of the clocks and the return of Greenwich Mean Time, my post-work cycles are coming to an end for this year.

I love heading out for a cycle in the country lanes after a day at my desk but I’m not keen on cycling in the dark once the clocks have gone back. Around here in Northamptonshire, the undulating and twisty roads can hide cyclists at night and many drivers don’t give enough consideration to cyclists (or walkers, pedestrians or horse riders for that matter). I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been close-passed by drivers this year and in the dark it is perhaps even more likely.

However, I’m not stopping cycling altogether over the darker days; I’ll try to make sure I head out at weekends and start running again to keep up my fitness.

This year has been great for exploring the off-road routes in the countryside surrounding my home and I feel closer to nature and the farming seasons because of it. Unfortunately, most of those routes are now very muddy and not really usable on a regular basis. I’m already looking forward to the drier days of spring and summer when the ground hardens and I can explore.

Here’s a sunset picture from my cycle last night…

A few signs of the coming cold

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It still feels quite mild at the moment with daytime temperatures in the mid-teens. This is actually about average for October in Northamptonshire and the night times are in their average range too (six to eight degrees Celsius). I even had my shorts on as I went for my lunchtime wander down the lane and eventually the track if turns into.

There were more signs of the changing season and the winter to come. The leaves really are starting to put on a show, even in the drab greyness of today. There was also a small flock of roving long-tailed tits in one of the hedgerows, which will hopefully arrive on our birdfeeders on their way past. Finally, there was also the first winter thrush of the season, a fieldfare calling alarm from the top of a tree.

A nip in the air

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Standing at the station it’s an autumnal morning with a sharpness to the very fresh air and a heavy dew on the fields. In the distance is one of the high points of Northamptonshire, Borough Hill, which appears to have a slight frost on its slopes beneath the radio mast. Whilst the spring dawn chorus is long gone, there’s a collective calling of birds that I haven’t heard in quite a while. It began with a couple of robins ‘ticking’ in the bushes but they have now started to sing. They are accompanied by more distant wrens and a single blackbird startled into its alarm. Overhead there are the less tuneful calls of crows and jackdaws and the occasional wood pigeon flying by. This is the scene of an autumn morning with the hope of some sun, something we’ve been missing for days, after heavy rains caused flooding across the county. The songs of the birds seem to sign a hope that the sun may bring some brightness and rare warmth that has been lost since the equinox.