alang64.bsky.social
Hertfordshire birder, Weather station owner, retired chartered engineer
440 posts
294 followers
157 following
Getting Started
Active Commenter
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We've a lot of gravel quarries locally, it doesn't lake long before the willow begins to grow once the mineral extraction is complete.
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I read it when they referred to foxes as pests which was disgraceful. They are very widespread in London, there was a video clip some time ago of Larry, the Downing Street cat, making it clear to the fox that it was not welcome.
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A nice photo, give it a few years and they will be over every as is the case here (Hertfordshire)
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The people running heritage railways do, there are a substantial number of steam locomotives around the county. They are even building new ones, however this is not a reason for restarting coal mining here.
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The first one I saw was at Staines reservoirs about 65 years ago probably in autumn. A very grey bird. That location is the only place I've seen a Wilson's Phalarope, also in non breeding plumage.
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An oddity is its inability to pick up some birds I can hear clearly even with my defective hearing but other birds that are inaudible to me it detects at once. It is an excellent resource as long as it's used wisely.
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Indeed, although they did find a local resident whose mitochondrial DNA matched. They are still amongst us it seems.
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When companies fail they go into administration, why should Thames Water be exempt? The creditors and shareholders will lose money, that's a risk inherent in the capitalist system.
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I thought Cheddar man was truly indigenous, he dates back the the Mesolithic, had dark skin and blue eyes.
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I would agree with that. I'm Hertfordshire based and we are seeing Marsh Harriers quite regularly, they seem to roam around quite a lot. Bitterns are largely winter visitors although there was a mid-May record this year.
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The Planning and Infrastructure will will be an environmental disaster if it goes ahead as it stands. Targeting the less well off with cuts in financial support rather than taxing the better off is completely against what the labour party stands for.
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I didn't vote for them, but I didn't think in some ways they would be worse that the last lot.
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It looks perfect for both species which are doing quite well in England in particular. They are mainly still in East Anglia though so a long way from Ireland
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There's not enough retail competition in New Zealand.
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Kent isn't a unitary authority currently so they don't control things like parks, bin collections, leisure centres, local museums and more. This is done by the borough and district councils who done have responsibility for adult care and special needs children. The new system is bad for this.
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Unlike northern England water is sourced from aquifers where I live just north of London. 2024 was an exceptionally wet year so ground water levels are still well about average. The flow of the River Ver is at a healthy level although there is a serious raw sewage discharge problem near the source.
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It's been there 50 years or more, it was very controversial initially, it works well mostly, I drove around it the other day.
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It's the Magic Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead that is currently the woke roundabout.
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They have had the magic roundabout in Hemel Hempstead for 50 years so they ought to be able to cope with this one. It's not difficult, as a driver you just need to pay attention. It might encourage more locals to cycle to work on the industrial estate.
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Putin isn't bothered by his casualty levels, he regards the citizens of Russia as completely expendable. The Kursk submarine disaster was a good example when Mrs Thatcher recognised what Putin was like. Peace cannot be negotiated on a lasting basis with Putin, he might use one to rebuild.
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A consultant urologist told me that they now estimate that 80% of men over 80 have some degree of prostate cancer. Most will die with it, not of it as they are mostly low grade. The problem is picking out the high grade cancers early.
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That's a magical combination, a great photo.
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The % total over 100% is down to the export of power to the continent.
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I make my own bread, a bread maker machine cuts out the hard work. The recipe calls for teaspoon of sugar and salt plus a little oil. The bread doesn't taste sweet in the slightest, I suspect the sugar has largely been converted to alcohol in the fermentation process.
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Utterly horrible taste.
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I like hot carrot shreds, you need a food processor to shred the carrots. just sweat them for 5 minutes in butter then add lemon juice and serve. It's a Sophie Grigson recipe.
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I've done that very occasionally but with home grown tomatoes it's not required.
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Lower energy prices would help, the current system is flawed.
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This should have been started many years ago, there is nothing charitable about the IEA.
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I disagree completely about the beaches, there are many superb ones in the UK. We don't get excessive heat normally unlike you although the summers are getting hotter.
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The path by the hedge is almost certainly a bridleway which is legal for cyclists to use. The Chilterns is full of them, I know as I live on the Chilterns dip slope. They are very easy to ride at the moment as it has been so dry.
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The public are not the same as they were 9 years ago, there are large numbers of young voters who have not had a say in the matter. General Elections don't count as there are a multitude of issues that affect the way people vote.
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This reminds me of this classic song by Tom Lehrer
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Some of the Larch and Pine has been felled and replaced with some Douglas Fir and Oak, there is a lot of natural Birch regeneration here as well. There is a very healthy amount of understorey vegetation, clearly the deer population is being controlled.
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The future of this site is questionable, there is tremendous pressure for green belt land like this to be reclassified. It's next to an existing wood which was planted with Corsican pine and Larch around 70 years ago, the perimeter trees are still a mixture of Beech, Hornbeam and Oak. /2
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We did have some much needed rain here though, 7.6mm. May remains a very dry month here and the whole year is well below the average for rainfall, a stark contrast to 2024.
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the BBC top management need to go and be reolaced with individuals with a moral backbone.
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I had a comment from a care worker recently saying they would probably be better off stacking shelves at Aldi. She works for a good company as well.
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I used to work next to Vauxhall Bridge and regularly visited Tate Britain at lunchtime also at some time in the 1980s, all free of course.
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the best thing about Merlin for me is that it augments my poor hearing which is a result of being old. i'm UK based and it does make mistakes but not many so if it's an unusual species it needs to be seen. It doesn't recognise Red Kite calls which has been reported, they are now abundant here
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there might be some rain in SW England in the next few days which could extend to more of southern England. It then turns dry and sunny again.
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Annual rainfall in Marrakesh is 250mm which is about 50% of the driest parts of the UK which are parts of East Anglia. Perhaps his remarks are AI generated.