Wildlife Spotting while Shopping.

It has been a lovely bright, warm weekend in the NW of England! Summer has indeed stayed a little longer than usual 😀

On Saturday Mum, David and I headed for my favourite garden centre, Lady Green, in Ince Blundell. We still needed to buy wildlife friendly plants for the other side of the garden.

We spent over £40 but I got a lovely pink Michaelmas Daisy and a Sedum which was covered with huge Bees and butterflies!

I counted at least five different species of butterfly while we strolled amongst the plants. Those spotted were:

1. Red Admiral
2. Speckled Wood
3. Small White
4. Small Tortoiseshell
5. Comma

Back home, amongst the mass of Goldfinches, Starlings and Pigeons, a new guest has been spotted at the bird feeders, a Robin to accompany the recently visiting Blue Tit who has been very vocal! The Robin seems timid and probably the mass of Goldfinches may chase him away. I will keep you updated.

Too Much of a Good Thing…

…you can never get enough!

Here’s video and more pictures of the International Red Panda Day at Welsh Mountain Zoo… Enjoy!

International Red Panda Day 2013!

21st September 2013 was The Red Panda Network’s: International Red Panda Day.

I knew The Welsh Mountain Zoo was celebrating the event so I managed to get David to agree and on Saturday, early morning we headed for north Wales and the A55. The one and a half hours travel from Liverpool passed by quickly as a warm Autumnal sun shone down upon us and the green of the Welsh hills seemed all the more greener!

We arrived at the zoo at 10am and subsequently made our way to the Red Panda enclosure, their enclosure at present is only temporary as a new one is being built for them. I was glad to hear this as the cage was small and the fence was difficult for my camera to focus through. However, Ming Ming as usual was running around the enclosure, open mouth panting. His female companion was asleep in a nest box at the top of the cage.

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In celebration of International Red Panda day, David donned on a panda onesie and posed in front of the Red’s enclosure! He did get a few strange looks from the other zoo guests!

Back to the Red Pandas and after taking an abundant video and camera footage of them, David exclaimed, ‘there’s three of them! There’s a baby!’ Needless to say I was all excited! The three month cub kept poking it’s head out of the nest and looking at the world outside. It won’t be long before he/she will be brave enough to venture out itself.

On our second visit to the Red Panda enclosure after taking in the Penguin Parade, David remarked that there was not just one baby but two! Two cubs for Ming Ming! I was overjoyed! We stayed for the 2pm panda talk and even had a nice chat to their keeper.

The 2013 International Red Panda day turned out to be very enjoyable. Wales was bathed in a glorious late rush from Summer, the Red Pandas were energetic (unlike most Red’s just asleep in a tree all day), and then there was the addition of the two cubs! I came away from the zoo still in love with Red Pandas as I ever was. They are definitely a species worth fighting for!

It wasn’t the Best…

…but the 2013 Southport Airshow was entertainment enough for one day. We arrived at Southport around 12 noon and found that there were more people about than usual. Probably because they had cancelled the Sunday display as bad weather was due… though I don’t think the Autumn storm was as bad as the Met Office suggested it would be!

After lunch we headed towards the beach or more truthfully towards the boundary fence. On one side people paid £9 and on the other, it was free! You can guess which side of the fence we were on?? 🙂

The wonderful Red Arrows opened the event with their eye catching display of acrobatics. I simply love them, they make me feel so proud to be British!

Some of the aircraft did nothing for me, like the helicopters. I don’t know why but they leave me feeling cold. We waited for The Blades, another aerobatic display team I like. However the last time I saw them they were blue! This time they crept up on us and were painted red and totally threw me!!

Then the highlight of the show appeared roaring through the air, it was the Eurofighter and though the display was short and sweet, it left you wanting more! The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight then followed and I was glad they were amongst the planes on display.

My favourite plane was last on the flight schedule, the Hawker Hunter, Miss Demeanour! Why do I like it? Because its a fighter jet, but ultimately I love it because of the colours! To me it looks like a supernova! 🙂 

I did enjoy my day at the Southport Airshow, David even got a sunburnt face!! However it was not as enjoyable as previous events, though if you have not been before it is well worth the visit! I wish the Tornadoes had been present, and also would love to see some different aeroplanes, as the lineup is now getting a bit stale for me! Let’s keep fingers crossed that 2014’s airshow is even better!!! 😀

 

Is is a bird, is it Superman? No it’s an Aeroplane!

Back to work this week from a lovely weekend away almost killed me!! Although I will get used to the early starts and long days in the office. I am just not looking forward to the dark mornings and cold days of Autumn/Winter.

This weekend is the Southport Airshow and for the past two years David and I have been attending. This year we will be there on the Saturday as I love seeing the Red Arrows and can’t wait to see the Typhoon again (it was rather thrilling last year!) and the return of my favourite plane of all, Miss Demeanour! Although it looks like the Tornadoes won’t be there this year which is a shame. I will try and get better footage than I did last year as I had the wrong setting on my camera!

Flying Times

Aircraft – Saturday	Time	Duration
Model and light aircraft landing	10:30	60 mins
Red Arrows	13:00	22 mins
Autogyro	13:27	8 mins
Spitfire XI	13:37	10 mins
Royal Navy Historic Flight Swordfish	13:49	4 mins
Navy Swordfish	13:54	6 mins
Black Cats (solo display Lynx HMA8)	14:02	8 mins
Red 10 & 11 – Squirrel HT1	14:10	2 mins
RV8tors	14:13	10 mins
Strikemaster	14:25	8 mins
Sea King	14:35	15 mins
Tucano	14:51	8 mins
The Blades	15:02	15 mins
F-86 Sabre	15:19	8 mins
Xtreme XA41	15:29	8 mins
Lynx AH7	15:39	8 mins
Typhoon	15:49	8 mins
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight	16:00	18 mins
Bulldog	16:20	8 mins
Merlin	16:30	10 mins
Miss Demeanour	16:42	10 mins

Thrigby Tales.

Day Four:

Today, though David and I were both tired from all the days out we have had over the weekend. We ended the short break in the style of how we used to holiday, by cramming in as much as possible to the day!

After our light breakfast, and I mean light as David doesn’t eat breakfast! We said our farewell to Dawn and checked out of the B&B. We made our way to Norwich Cathedral and got some nice pictures with lovely blue sky above!

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We then headed further east to Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens, as we wanted to update our zoo website, and this animal park was one we hadn’t visited before.

I was a bit depressed at the state of the big cat enclosures. They were all made of wire mesh which wasn’t very good for photography. The Swamp House and small cat enclosures were better though. We had lunch besides the Red Panda enclosure and saw one of their Reds. He was a sorry sight! The poor little fellow had had half of his body shaved and his poor little tail was a thin wisp of a thing. To me he looked like he was trying to be a lion with his mane. I just wanted to cuddle the little fellow!

The pinnacle of the visit was our trip to the gift shop. On approaching the manor house I said to David, ‘I doubt I’ll get any Red Panda cuddlies here.’ Then lo and behold as we walked through the entrance! There sitting on a shelf right opposite the door was four huge Red Panda toys! The biggest I’ve seen! My eyes widened in excitement and I just had to buy one for my collection at whatever cost! I won’t tell you how much he was but I have purchased three Red Panda cuddly toys over the weekend and spent almost £60!! Yes, there is no hope for me, I am crazy! 😀

So on our return journey of four and a half hours across country, I sat cuddling with Roz, my big Red Panda toy!

We have been so very lucky with the weather this weekend as it has only rained when we have been in the car.

Sitting in slow moving traffic around Birmingham I felt my spirits sag as we drew ever closer home and back to reality. It has been a much needed break away from renovating the house and the drudgery of work. It almost felt like we were the carefree Christine and David of old. I go back to work on Wednesday, and I expect that to be a hectic stress filled day, but I have to pay for my Red Panda toys somehow!! 😀

The stare of the Leopard.

Day Three:

Sunday was a much more relaxed kind of day. After getting up too early on a Sunday morning (7.30) for 8am breakfast which was nice, granola and coffee. David and I headed to Banham Zoo only 30 minutes drive from the B&B. We arrived at 10am and spent the next five hours there, walking the pathways looking at the Amur Tiger, Sri Lankan Leopard, Red Panda and taking in yet another flying display! The highlight of the day was catching a Mongoose with its baby! So cute!

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After 3pm we left the zoo, I with two cuddly Red Pandas in tow. 🙂

For the evening meal we went to a local pub, Brewers fayre, which was like a Wetherspoon’s to me. The place was buzzing with people enjoying the carvery and kids screaming!! What joy!! David had yet another curry while I after requesting a vegetable lasagna ended up happy with a chilli bean and rice, my favourite! Nice! 😀 We even had dessert of chocolate and strawberry sundaes 🙂 You can imagine which one David had? 🙂

Now after 10pm, we are relaxing with cups of tea after a nice bath. We are getting ready for bed… sleep tight.

Back to the Herd!

Day two.

A very tired Christine is updating this blog tonight.

This morning I awoke at 6.30am with the sun blazing into the bedroom. Breakfast was a jovial and friendly affair, with us talking to Gill about our love of visiting zoos, my passion for Red Pandas and the many street art exhibitions we have seen throughout the UK. After 9am we reluctantly left the B&B and headed towards Colchester Zoo.

Today has been a long day, of walking around the Zoo for hours, looking at all the animals and catching the Stand Tall giraffes. We saw the Red Pandas and Binturong, watched a bird of prey display and caught a glimpse of the impressive Amur Leopard!

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The weather today has been much better, with lots of sunshine, though the wind was quite brisk at times.

Then after 3pm David and I, tired from all the walking, headed back up to Norwich for the two night stay at 175 Newmarket Road B&B. Dawn welcomed us in and showed us to our room for the two nights. She was very helpful asking if we knew what places to go and eat.

After 5.30pm we headed back out, and went to the Raj of India restaurant for a curry. I had a vegetable dupiaza and David the chicken biryani. It was lovely and the service was commendable too. I loved the little warm towels given at the end of the meal to wipe your hands on. It was a nice touch!

Now back at the B&B I have had a nice bath, sitting with a cup of tea and feeling the ache of a headache. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a migraine, for tomorrow we are visiting Banham Zoo for the first time, and yes more Red Pandas!!

Night!

Gorillas in the Rain…

Day one:

After leaving the house a bit later than I had planned for the four hour journey to Norwich to see their GoGoGorillas. David and I hit rain shower after rain shower, jam packed motorways and A roads on our journey across country which left me feeling stressed!!

We finally reached Norwich around 2.30pm and after finding parking we spent an enjoyable hour walking the streets of this friendly city and caught a glimpse of 15 of the 54 Gorillas that gave colour to the drab, rain soaked historic pavements. I am overjoyed that I managed to see a few of them before they were auctioned off and the one’s we saw were amongst my favourites!

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Leaving Norwich around 4pm, the next two subsequent hours were taken up on driving to Black Bond Hall B&B, Colchester. Andrew greeted us kindly and showed us to our room for the night and then offered us tea and cake in the kitchen. He and his wife Gill have made us feel very welcome. After a meal of fish and chips in a local Colchester chip shop, I relaxed with a shower and enjoyed the calmness of the countryside.

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It’s back to colchester and the zoo tomorrow to see their 100 plus giraffe, Stand Tall art display. I can’t wait!!

Very Distracted!

I don’t know what’s up with me today but I can’t seem to be able to concentrate or motivate myself! I must be thankful for being half packed for my much needed weekend away to the East coast of England starting this Friday!!

Last year I had booked a five day holiday to Norfolk but with my father’s sudden illness and then subsequent passing meant I had to cancel. 😦 This year I had already booked a one nights stay in a farmhouse not far from Colchester as I intend to visit the ‘Stand Tall‘ exhibition of painted giraffes at the zoo. With my boss at the Royal Liverpool Hospital being on holiday for two weeks I decided to try and extend the one nights stay to three!!

I managed to get my own way, and booked another two nights this time in a B&B not far from Norwich, Norfolk. I will get there eventually! I intend to visit Banham Zoo to see their collection, as well as their Red Panda pair but then I don’t know what else to do. Go to other zoos in the region or visit a few sights in Norwich like the cathedral?

I usually have a whole itinerary written down by now, but as the extra two nights were just decided upon I am in a flurry as to what and where to visit. I also keep checking the weather forecast daily as most of what I want to do is mainly outdoors and is weather dependent. Unfortunately it looks like this lovely sunny ‘late summer’ weather we are having doesn’t look like it is going to last into next week.

Keep your fingers and toes crossed with me that the weather holds for the weekend and I look forward to sharing with you all my pictures and video. 🙂

Christine x