Lockdown Day 15 - Remembering the Blue Whale

For today's blog I have decided to do another flashback, this time to one of our holidays in Iceland back in 2010. We've had two holidays up there, the first - in 2009 - was preceded by the bank crash in Iceland on the day I went to pick up the Icelandic Krona I had ordered from the bank! 2010 was the year Eyjafjallajökull erupted and we spent quite a few worrying evenings checking the ash cloud forecast and airline websites. Luckily we managed to get up there and indeed back again although while we were in the north of Iceland the ash cloud covered Rekjavik again and flights were cancelled for a couple of days, although again we missed out on the disruption. 

We had already had distant views of Minke whales and a Humpback whale when we took a boat trip to Grímsey which is an island just off the north coast of Iceland where you can cross the Arctic Circle (and get attacked by Arctic Terns and get a lifetime's supply of Puffins!) but we had also booked a whale watching trip from Húsavík . After getting all kitted out in waterproofs and lifejackets provided by the boat crew we set off out to sea. 

We stopped just off the coast as the crew had detected a Blue Whale on the sonar and you could see the shadow of it down beneath the water. 

After a few minutes it surfaced and we had good views of the animal as it came up for air and then dived down again. 

This particular whale was about 18 metres long and actually a young whale, the adults can grow to approximately 30 metres long (we have seen the world's only stuffed blue whale in Gothenburg and they are big!)

Blue whales are quite rare sights on whale watching trips from Húsavík, in fact only a small number of the tours see a blue whale although most tours do see at least one species of whale, so we consider ourselves very lucky. As this one was a young one, it needed to come to the surface more frequently and so we got quite a lot of time watching this amazing creature. 

Lockdown Day 14 - Wild flowers and Oystercatchers

After some welcome overnight rain, the weather quickly cleared up this morning and so it was time for another cycle ride while I still can - due to some irresponsible behaviour by some there are warnings by the Government about tightening up the lockdown. Where I cycle, on minor country lanes, I see very few people and the lanes are wide enough to pass any that I do see with two metres or more separation. Getting out into the countryside and seeing wildlife and other nature is something that I find relaxing and enjoyable and coupling that with some exercise on my bicycle is an healthy way to spend some free time.

In the two weeks since the lockdown started, Spring is really become apparent, with blossom in the trees and hedgerows, birds displaying and making nests and flowers coming into bloom. The weather has warmed up a bit, but coming back to the house today was very hard going in the strong wind.

Not too far from where I live is Askham Bog. Whilst today I didn't venture into the reserve, as the paths are really too narrow to have safe separation, across the other side of the A64 from the reserve is an area of wildflowers, gorse and ponds.

In the space of a week since I last cycled past the cowslips (Primula veris) have come into flower. There are a number of locations in my area that have verges filled with cowslips

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/cowslip/

Also flowering now are Primroses (Primula vulgaris). Less common round my area but there were many groups of these lovely yellow flowers in this area.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/primrose/

This one took me a little while to identify as I am not sure it is natural to this part of the UK. It is a Grape Hyacinth and I suspect it is one of the introduced species that has escaped a garden at some point (Muscari armeniacum) rather than the native (Muscari neglectum) which I think is only found in East Anglia. Though I could be wrong and I am happy to be corrected by any botanist reading this!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscari_neglectum

And finally, the Oystercatchers! (Haematopus ostralegus) As I was cycling up Catterton Lane again today, this pair flew over and landed in the next field. They are skittish birds so I used the zoom lens on the camera to avoid getting too close. They started feeding in the ploughed field, probing the dirt with their long beaks for worms and other food. They breed in moorland areas of the UK, so they will have been using the Wharfe Valley as a migration route to the Pennines. While I was watching these birds, two lapwings starting displaying over the same field. Half a mile further on, two Skylarks were doing the same.

Lockdown Day 13 - Allotment

The weather was a lot warmer today and it really felt like Spring in the sunshine. So, it was back to the allotment to catch up on a few jobs.

First task was to plant out some early peas that have been growing first indoors and then in the lean-to greenhouse in the garden.

We have some very inquisitive house sparrows around the allotment who are very keen to take beak-sized chunks out of the leaves of pea plants so mesh netting is necessary to protect them until they are tall enough to withstand a few nibbles!

Though, with a sparrowhawk flying around this morning, I think they spent some time hiding in the hedge....

As the peas grow, we'll add taller sticks (leftover hedge and hawthorn clippings) to support the peas as they grow.

Our Meyer Lemon tree used to live in the house during the winter but was very prone to scale insect and even when in the yard in the summer, it had aphids and ants that would "farm" them.

So, last summer we took it up to the allotment and within weeks it was clear and looking very healthy. Always good to have natural pest control!

Of course, it needed protecting in the winter and it was wrapped in plastic to create a mini-greenhouse. Luckily the winter was mild but I do wonder how it would have fared in a colder one.

Now the weather is warmer, we have taken the cover off a bit but it will go on again if there's a late frost forecast, we have had frosts in early May here before now which have damaged potato leaves and damson blossom.

Last year we had a huge number of damsons, the most we have ever had from this tree. This is, although it has grand ambitions, a minarette damson and most years we will get damsons from it, apart from occasionally when there has been a late, damaging, frost.

There is some kind of moth that lays eggs on the fruit, a kind of sticky egg sack with pupae that burrow into the fruit causing it to shrivel and then drop off. This is easily rubbed off the fruit and it is a daily task in summer to keep them free of these.

There is also blossom on the Conference pear tree. Again this is a minarette tree and there is a Comice pear next to it. The Conference pears are much longer storing whereas the Comice ones are better eaten quickly or peeled and stored in sugar solution.

Jobs also done in the allotment today were chopping up hedge clippings into small pieces to form the base composting of the carrot tyre stacks and also digging over the area where the parsnips were now that they have all been harvested.

Lockdown Day 12 - Partridges

Today, with the sun shining first thing this morning, has been a day for getting out on the bike and cycling to a supermarket. Permitted exercise and shopping in one go! As I have mentioned, the country lanes around us have little traffic and few people and, even in less restrictive times, are good places to see wildlife.

 Not long after setting off from home I came across two Grey Partridges (Perdix perdix). These are indigenous to the British Isles having migrated over time to these shores since the last Ice Age. They have, however, been suffering large declines in population since the 1950s due to pesticide and insecticide use on farmland and also habitat loss from removal of hedgerows and intensification of farming practices.

They have good camouflage even out in the open like this.

It is unusual for me to find grey partridge out in the open like this, usually I find that I will get a brief view of them before they scuttle away into dense crops or undergrowth.

Here you have both the male (front right) and female (rear left). By this point they had noticed me and shortly afterwards took off with an alarm call into the next field. They don't generally fly far, just enough to get out of immediate danger.

Here is a close up of the male bird.

They are quite distinctive from the introduced red-legged partridge which started being released onto estates in the 1770s.

Both partridges are regular sightings for me around where I live though of course I prefer to see the native species.

Lockdown Day 11 - White Storks in Germany - October 2019

In October 2019, we had a holiday in Muenster and Dortmund in Germany. Whilst in Muenster we rented some bikes from the hotel we were staying in and headed out of town one day to Rieselfelder Nature Reserve, a few miles north of the city. Muenster is very well suited to cycling, with cycle paths everywhere and it is estimated that 35-40% of trips made each year locally are by bicycle. Bikes are everywhere!

We had just stopped to look at a map of the reserve next to a cafe when a huge bird glided past us into a nearby field! It was one of those moments where you can't really believe your eyes as it was the end of October and I thought that white storks would have migrated south by then! However, in the next field were about a dozen white storks together with half a dozen great white egrets.

Here are two of the storks working their way up the field looking for worms and amphibians and lizards.


The nature reserve is extensive with multiple lakes and reedbeds and other habitat. We cycled round the perimeter and also saw a White Fronted Goose and Middle Spotted Woodpecker. However, we spent a good half an hour looking at the storks and afterwards went in a cafe where in Spring they nest on the roof. Incidentally, whilst in Strasbourg in early March 2020, our eldest daughter was watching white storks build and maintain nests on the rooftops and trees in the city, that region is very densely populated with them after a long running conservation programme which started in the 1970s.

More information on the Rieselfelder Nature Reserve (in German) can be found here
http://www.biostation-muenster.org/

Lockdown Day 10 - Wine Making!

If you have seen some of my blog or Twitter posts over the past few years you may have seen that I home brew my own parsnip and blackberry wine. At this time of year, any remaining parsnips in the allotment are all woody, have started sprouting again and as such are unfit to use as vegetables in meals. However, they can still be used for wine making!

I have already gone into some detail on the process involved and this is described in the blog posts here

http://cashandcarrots.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/parsnips.html
http://www.cashandcarrots.com/2013/03/parsnip-wine-making-part-2.html
http://www.cashandcarrots.com/2013/06/wine-tasting-and-bottling.html

 Here are some photos from today.

There were 2kg of washed, peeled and chopped parsnips, 1kg of sultanas, 4.5 litres of water and 1.25kg of sugar.

The mixture was brought to the boil for a few minutes then put into the large tub in the second photo to cool down, and given a bit of a mash to extract more juice from the sultanas.

It is not a good idea to overcook the parsnips as you don't want lots of mush in the mixture, it is the juice and sugars you are after.

Now, I am waiting for it to cool down before adding the Campden tablet to deal with any wild yeasts that may impair the wine, and after 24 hours I will be then adding the wine making yeast and putting in a warm place to ferment for a few days before siphoning off to put in demijohns for further fermentation.

I find it best to leave for 9-12 months at least after bottling, it does sweeten and mellow with age, although is drinkable after 6 months.

Lockdown Day 9 - remembering the bison

Many people who know me in person know that I am very interested in all things Russian and speak a little of the language. In April 2014, we were very fortunate to be able to stay with a Russian family on the outskirts of Moscow for ten days. During that time we visited many of the well known sights in the city, Red Square, the Kremlin, Lenin's Tomb, St. Basil's and so on, but also some slightly less well known ones such as VKNDH (All Russia Exhibition Centre) and Christ the Saviour Cathedral. We also spent half a day on the Metro system looking at all the amazing underground stations.

However, one day we went outside the city, about two hours drive south east to a European Bison conservation project in the Prioksko-Terrasny nature reserve. There we were given a guided tour by one of the scientists working there (I think she was the daughter or maybe grand-daughter of the founder of the reserve) and went to see the breeding programme to help re-introduce the European Bison to the wild. By 1927 there were no wild European Bison and the only remaining animals were in zoos and collections. The breeding programme has now resulted in around 3000 wild bison, in Poland - Bialowieza Forest area,Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

The bison are bred in a fenced off, but otherwise natural habitat and then when old enough introduced into the wild proper.

There are still threats - the destruction of the Bialowieza Forest continues despite mounting international pressure and deforestation in Russia continues also.

While we were there we also saw Middle-Spotted and Black Woodpeckers and a Goshawk and heard a Nutcracker.



More information about the reserve can be found here https://pt-zapovednik.org/pitomnik/