MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 48

 

Casper

Yet another excursion has been made from the bower – last week, I spent a few days alongside my daughter in Hampshire.

Diamond

We had expected bad weather as our journey down on Sunday took place in continual heavy rain, but next morning we awoke in our motel at Stoney Cross to skies holding a hint of sunshine. By 9.15 am we were waiting at the ferry at Lymington, ready to cross to the Isle of Wight, because we wanted to visit – for the umpteenth time – the zoo at Sandown, which is run by Charlotte Corney, the girlfriend of naturalist Chris Packham, and which has been owned by her family for several decades. The zoo is particularly noted for its tigers, many of which are rescue or retired animals, though some have been there since they were cubs. Amongst them is Zena, the white tiger, Diamond  (whose parents carried a white gene, making his coat a superb pale gold colour) and Rajiv, who was once a ‘star’ in the entertainment world.  There are several others too, and on the day that we visited we were fortunate enough to see one of the handlers training the tigers, using a clicker and a pointer, to present their noses to the wire, or to sit or lie down – this all helps if they need veterinary treatment at any time.

Rajiv

 I have a soft spot for Rajiv. A few years ago I did a milk feed of the tigers at the zoo, and Rajiv loved it so much he was practically grinning! When I reached his enclosure on Monday, though, I couldn’t see him anywhere. So I called, ‘Rajiv, Rajiv’ – and suddenly this enormous, gorgeous tiger came lolloping towards the fence from behind a clump of bushes. And to my absolute joy, he began ‘chuffing’ at me. Chuffing is a bit like purring, tigers do it when they are happy and trying to communicate. So I chuffed back and, I think, we had a conversation, though I’m not sure what it was about! Amongst the other animals at the zoo is the magnificent white lion, Casper, often to be seen lying on an enormous rock in his enclosure, monarch of all he surveys. Recently, his sister, a white lioness called Frosty, came to live at the zoo, too.  Charlie Brown is a ‘normal’ sandy- coloured lion who enjoys lazing on top of a safari vehicle that is parked in his enclosure. On Monday he seemed to be getting bossed around by the beautiful lioness Nahla. Naturally, there are many other creatures at the zoo, including several breeds of lemurs, jaguars, wallabies, meerkats, porcupines, monkeys and a beautiful raccoon. There is also a collection of domestic animals and various reptiles. We caught the 5pm ferry back to the mainland – there was a stunning sunset on the way back, as well as a double rainbow.

Fly Agaric

The following day was so lovely that it was difficult to believe we were almost half-way through October. The dew was so heavy on the grass that it looked like frost, glittering in the sunlight that filtered down between the trees. It was slightly misty, too, adding an ethereal feel. Everywhere we looked, we could see fungi; there was one spectacular scarlet Fly Agaric the size of a tea plate. Other fungi were yellow, purple, pink, cream and brown – I’ve never seen so many.

 

 

Red Deer

We walked along the Forestry Commission land by the Canadian Memorial cross in the New Forest, admiring the autumn colours in the sunshine. The sky was blue, with no clouds at all. As we walked we kept stopping to photograph yellow trees, golden bracken, pretty fungi; there was so much to see. There were lots of chaffinches and long-tailed tits, too.  After walking for half an hour or so up the hill, we veered off to one of the smaller paths to look through the trees across some rough, bracken-strewn ground towards a wood in the distance. Suddenly, we realised that we were being watched!A magnificent red deer stag, together with several hinds, were in the bracken. We stood and watched them for around ten minutes, before the stag bellowed and the herd moved off – then, far away, we saw another stag and some hinds, and then all the deer melted away into the woods. Just magical!

Beautiful autumn colours

Fungi on fallen tree

When we finally reached the car, we drove to Bolderwood which is where Fallow deer are often seen. There is a viewing platform there. Sure enough a stag and a few hinds were there, though quite a long way away. We also went to Millyford bridge where there is a fallen tree that we first discovered last year, all covered in fungi and moss. Very atmospheric! Later we went to Burley, a pretty village in the New Forest and we were surprised to see a herd of spotted pigs crossing the road led by a farmer! We ended up at Mudeford Quay, just as the sun was setting. The sky was bright red and looked stunning seen through the masts of the sailing boats.

Sunset at Mudeford

Now, back home – though not in the bower today as it is definitely chilly out there – I have been busy writing, I’m pleased to say that two of my books have been listed on Amazon Kindle this week. The first book is volume three of my collection of short stories; ‘Twisty Ends and Tangly Tales 3’. The second is a full length romantic novel, ‘Tintagel Fantasy’ – and for three days only it is FREE to download onto your Kindle, computer or ipad.

Tintagel Fantasy

http://tinyurl.com/poa7h4d

 

Twisty Ends and Tangly Tales 3         

http://tinyurl.com/ner8xsw

 

MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 47

 

Surprisingly, as we are now into October, there have still been days warm enough to sit in the bower. There have even been butterflies, dragonflies, newts and frogs around, to say nothing of a small wood mouse who has discovered that by climbing up a conifer it can leap onto the bird table.

Wood Mouse visitor to bird table

 We visited the Raptor Centre in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, for an experience day. It was quite a family affair – my daughter had treated my husband and I to the event (as a wedding anniversary present) and as there were two of us doing the experience, we were given two free tickets, so not only daughter came along, but son did too.  He made a swish arrival in his ‘Back To The Future’ De Lorean, which always seems to intrigue people. It’s a nice-looking car, even if you do have to sit low on the ground in a semi-reclining position!

 

With a Scops Owl ready to be weighed

With a Burrowing Owl

Practically all of the birds at the centre are foundlings, unwanted pets or have been rescued from unsuitable homes. We were each handed a leather gauntlet, because most of the birds have extremely sharp talons. First we took a pair of Scops owls for weighing. These are small owls that, in the wild, feed mainly on insects and caterpillars. They also take small mammals and frogs. It is important to regularly weigh the birds to check that they haven’t lost – or gained – too much weight, so that they are in optimum condition. We moved on to the Burrowing owls; these small owls seem to have extra-long legs. They are often active during the day, unlike many other owl species. I was handed one of these, while my husband was given a Little owl. We were told that owls weren’t wise like legend would have us believe; in fact the brain of the Little owl is around the size of a peanut. However, its Latin name, Athene, is the name of the Greek god of wisdom  (Athena/Athene) – and this owl does do one very clever thing. When Little owls catch mice, they only eat a tiny part, leaving the rest hidden in a tree near their roost. As the mouse decays, it attracts flies and maggots – a built-in food source for the owl, who prefers insects. So instead of regularly having to hunt, it only needs to hunt every week or so. It is either clever, or lazy! These two were weighed as well.

 

A beautiful Harris Hawk

Next we went to a large aviary which contained two huge Turkmenian eagle owls. My husband was given one of them to hold, but apparently both are rather naughty, one was prone to baiting (deliberately falling off the glove and fluttering upside down), the other tended to grip the glove very firmly. He carried the baiting owl (yes, it did bait!) to the weighing shed. Then we each held a Harris Hawk while the keeper explained about their habits. Most hawks are loners but these had learnt to hunt in flocks so that they could attack larger prey if they needed to. They could down a small deer or a fox, or similar-sized creature. The females of the raptors are invariably much larger than the males.

I so loved this young Tawny Owl!

We were told that we could have our photo taken with (practically) any of the birds at the Centre. My husband went for the biggest, most spectacular he could see (he would!) – it was a Bateleur snake eagle. I wanted to have something British, so settled on a young Tawny owl. I have always been fond of Tawnys, they seemed to feature in so many of my childhood books. Soon I was holding one, and, I might add, was most reluctant to hand it back! Now it was time to meet something larger, so we were given Lanner-Saker  (hybrid) falcons to hold. These were very large and beautiful birds with exquisite markings. A short break followed, which we spent photographing some of the dozens of hawks and owls that were on display. Then it was time to do some flying. Well, not us personally, but the birds. First we flew the Harris Hawks – there were five being flown at once, so it was very exciting. The birds seem to rush at you, yet land so perfectly onto the glove. They were gentle hawks, despite their huge beaks and talons. We watched many other birds being flown, including kestrels, which demonstrated their renowned hovering technique.

Hovering Kestrel

Flying a barn owl

By now the wind had increased a bit, but the barn owls were brought out, and we flew them between us, going from one to another as we enticed them with a chick’s foot (!). Even when an owl flew right overhead there wasn’t a sound from its wings. Most amazing of all was standing there just watching that beautiful, white heart-shaped face looming towards you – what a magnificent sight, although I doubt that a mouse would think it so wonderful!

I really enjoyed that visit to the Raptor Centre, and, just like many others, have always been very fond of owls. Itis a shame that we don’t get owls around the bower – very, very occasionally I have heard a Tawny owl in the distance. If only one would roost in the nearby oak tree, then that would be really special!

Some of our apple crop

 

 



It might look weird, but it works brilliantly!

Changing the subject completely, the apple crop has been amazing this year. We have one apple tree, which is at least 50 years old. It used to be at my parent's house, but after they had it for ten years or so, the decided they needed the patch of ground. So we carefully dug it up and transported it to our garden. It has thrived, but this has been the best year ever for the crop. I don't know the variety, it is an eating apple with a soft sweet flesh. As we have nowhere to store a quantity of apples, we decided to peel them, stew them and freeze them. We used our Heath Robinson-like apple-peeler, which works excellently, and soon had piles of apple rings ready to freeze. We can look forward to lots of apple pies and crumbles this winter!

Eagle Owl