It's that time of year again when Fred and Rose return from warmer climes to mate in full view of guests in the rear rooms of the Avalon, and go on to produce a brood of chicks with remarkably antisocial natures.
I got some early intervention underway - a plastic falcon which I filled with cement and then cemented into a plant tray and placed strategically on our flat roof staring straight at their ledge. They came back two weeks ago, squawked alarmingly and left.
Yesterday they were back but today, the workmen arrived for the lady who lives in the house and covered the small flat roof they call home with netting. So they cannot land!
I'll keep you posted but it would seem their nesting site for some years has been closed down and rendered unusable.
I have to admit to not feeling too sad about this!
Showing posts with label Avalon Brighton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Avalon Brighton. Show all posts
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Thursday, 17 September 2009
A Good Weekend in Prospect...
This weekend it's WhiteAir in Brighton. This is an Extreme Sports Festival which encompasses all manner of events and live music.
Headlining band 'The Cribs' have apparently outsold the Beatles this week (although not Vera Lynn I hasten to add).
Check out their website on http://www.whiteair.co.uk/ for a full programme of events.
We've got tickets and can engage in some extreme sports ourselves if minded to. There's a Red Arrows display and the RAF, Royal Marines and Royal Navy are all out and about. You can also elect to participate in some of the sports. Like bouncing from bench to bench on a mountain bike or skateboarding through a crowd - I imagine young Britons are pretty good at these as they get so much practice!
Headlining band 'The Cribs' have apparently outsold the Beatles this week (although not Vera Lynn I hasten to add).
Check out their website on http://www.whiteair.co.uk/ for a full programme of events.
We've got tickets and can engage in some extreme sports ourselves if minded to. There's a Red Arrows display and the RAF, Royal Marines and Royal Navy are all out and about. You can also elect to participate in some of the sports. Like bouncing from bench to bench on a mountain bike or skateboarding through a crowd - I imagine young Britons are pretty good at these as they get so much practice!
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Elms
Growing up in the 1960's and 1970's I was vaguely aware of Dutch Elm Disease until I met two lovely people - Gladys and Oliver Colbert, now sadly no longer with us but who took me under their wing like a surrogate son - who were keen horticulturists and pointed out the ranks of dead elms littering the countryside of Surrey.
I noticed that elm saplings lived for a few years but the moment they reached a substantial size the disease took hold and killed the trees.
In art classes at school in the mid-1970's I used to look at landscape drawings and paintings with these fabulous trees.
As time passed our interests change - I no longer wanted to be an astronaut (actually I never wanted to be an astronaut I wanted to be in the RAF as a Fighter Controller so running a guesthouse was the next best thing) - and I washed up in Brighton in 2001.
The following year I suddenly realised that most of the trees as you come into Brighton, all around Preston Park, the Level, Royal Pavilion Gardens, Old Steine and Victoria Gardens are all mature elms.
It seems the beetle that carries the fungus which is Dutch Elm Disease is unable to cross the South Downs. This doesn't mean they are safe - signs appear frequently and drastic lopping or even removal is required. But there are hundreds of them and very grand they are too.
I hope one day, with GM technology or microbiological technology at our disposal as never before, we can conquer this disease and replant them in our countryside so that future generations can enjoy it in all its diversity.
I noticed that elm saplings lived for a few years but the moment they reached a substantial size the disease took hold and killed the trees.
In art classes at school in the mid-1970's I used to look at landscape drawings and paintings with these fabulous trees.
As time passed our interests change - I no longer wanted to be an astronaut (actually I never wanted to be an astronaut I wanted to be in the RAF as a Fighter Controller so running a guesthouse was the next best thing) - and I washed up in Brighton in 2001.
The following year I suddenly realised that most of the trees as you come into Brighton, all around Preston Park, the Level, Royal Pavilion Gardens, Old Steine and Victoria Gardens are all mature elms.
It seems the beetle that carries the fungus which is Dutch Elm Disease is unable to cross the South Downs. This doesn't mean they are safe - signs appear frequently and drastic lopping or even removal is required. But there are hundreds of them and very grand they are too.
I hope one day, with GM technology or microbiological technology at our disposal as never before, we can conquer this disease and replant them in our countryside so that future generations can enjoy it in all its diversity.
Saturday, 8 August 2009
... and then there was one ...
It was a hot and sultry night. There was a lot of noise overhead. 3am - whaaaar! whaaaar! whaaaar! Squeak. Thump. Clank.
Then something strange happened. The whaaar was much quieter. More - distant? Then quieter still.
I fell back to sleep and woke slightly later than intended but to virtual silence (obviously there is no such thing as real silence in Brighton). Tom went up to check during breakfast and confirmed only one bird remained. Strangely the one that fell into our yard last night.
We could hear the other one several roofs or yards away wondering what he'd done. As one neighbour commented (it's an incredibly neighbourly place) it must take a lot of courage to launch into the air with full intent for the first time.
This afternoon, in bright sunshine, remaining bird has settled into the bowl of water I put out for him to drink. It must be a nature thing - he's knows that he should be on the water but as yet has not spotted the sea so a ceramic bowl of filtered tap water must suffice. How long will remaining bird stay?
Then something strange happened. The whaaar was much quieter. More - distant? Then quieter still.
I fell back to sleep and woke slightly later than intended but to virtual silence (obviously there is no such thing as real silence in Brighton). Tom went up to check during breakfast and confirmed only one bird remained. Strangely the one that fell into our yard last night.
We could hear the other one several roofs or yards away wondering what he'd done. As one neighbour commented (it's an incredibly neighbourly place) it must take a lot of courage to launch into the air with full intent for the first time.
This afternoon, in bright sunshine, remaining bird has settled into the bowl of water I put out for him to drink. It must be a nature thing - he's knows that he should be on the water but as yet has not spotted the sea so a ceramic bowl of filtered tap water must suffice. How long will remaining bird stay?
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