Good to be out

What fine weather it was for a ride at the weekend. A bit cold, but the brightness was welcome.

Something's eating my handlebars

I must admit to being somewhat bemused by this statement, utterred by Mrs P, on return from her ride. My mind pictured some terrible chemical accident that resulted in some corrosive potion getting on her bike and, more frightfully, herself. The damage, it turned out, was not done on the ride but was evident before she departed, it was just the way it was disclosed that caused my alarm.

Sure enough when I looked, the right-hand side of her butterfly bar's foam has small gouges all the way round. Our shed obviously has rodent visitors who like nibbling on rubber and plastic. The little blighters! They also destroyed some roof-bar covers. We need to nip this problem in the neck before any more expensive damage is done.

Springwatch '09

The trees are nearly all in leaf, spring is in full swing as the aroma of barbecues ramps up for the bank holiday weekend. The lapwings have been active on the Virgin Media site at Greenbank for a few weeks but this week saw the return of oystercatchers with their unmistakable squealing. I'm not going to chase them round this year for a new picture - they look the same as last year or the year before. It would be nice to get a shot of them flying because they look more elegant yet slightly aggressive in flight. My camera isn't good enough to do that.

First signs of spring

They say hearing a cuckoo is one of the signs that heralds the arrival of spring. The urban setting of my daily ride isn't the type of environment conducive to supporting cuckoos, but then it also probably wouldn't be the kind of place you'd expect to see oystercatchers. Nonetheless, today, arriving at Greenbank, I was greeted by the screeching of three of them flying around the area. Last year, they were here in June. It must be a sign.

Riding shotgun

I spotted this hulk of a pirate guarding a passing skip wagon.

Springwatch

Where I used to work, there was a farm nearby and we saw plenty of animals. Some of them were from the farm and some were wild such as rabbits. Once, we even saw a pair of breeding bipedal primates!
Now, we're located on an urban business park we don't expect to observe as much wildlife. How wrong could we be?

Last year there were plenty of lapwings nesting on the gravel land around the NTL building. This year we've got oystercatchers. Here's a couple spotted by Glenfield Park on the way home.
The absence of a long lens, it raining, and me not being a birder are my excuses for any lack of quality, but the pics were taken today and are not library images.
This is the Eurasian Oystercatcher or common pied oystercatcher. See wikipedia for more details. Oystercatchers in the Greenbank area of Blackburn are obviously not feeding on molluscs and presumably are enjoying a rich diet of worms and other insects. They make a lot more noise than the lapwings. To hear them, click here.