Archive blog I forgot to post Waxwings still around in Spring!!!!

With Spring in full swing and I have begun to visit my Badgers setts to get ready to photograph the Cubs first emerging from the setts. This year they must have been born late as last year we had 2 bouncing around one of the sett holes.

On the way to the Badgers the other evening I had heard a strange but similar call and as I went to look where it was coming from we spotted 30 plus Waxwings. They were in a high tree on the edge of Middlewich town but they flew off further away from town. Later that week my brother found the flock perched up and relaxed in a tree feeding on the new spring buds.

I got a few photographs but the best I got was posted below and as I had 2% power left on my DSLR I was pleased with what I managed to get especially as its so late in the year to see them.

Seeing so many Waxwings still here makes me wonder that in a few years will Waxwings be breeding here and after seeing them quite happy and healthy makes me think that it could be sooner than we think with summer being just around the corner.

Stay wild and enjoy the Spring while it's here

Mike

Blogging takes a back seat but were back!!!

Had a few weeks off blogging but I am going to try again but with keeping an eye on local wildlife mainly toads and keeping watch on Badgers setts as baiting has been seen in the area. With better weather coming in my business has been busier than usual so it's been hard to keep up with posting new content. In early February we headed off to Wales for an afternoon by the sea and a nights camping but as I got rid of my larger slumit pop up tent it was quite cramped in a smaller beach tent.

For a couple of week's we ended up relocating Male and female Toads off the canal Towpath from danger and into the water where there respected others await.

 Over the past few day's I've seen and heard so much from Green Woodpeckers to Otters and even Frog spawn up a tree but I'll post that in my next blogs.

 Appreciate spring as its only just the beginning of the wildest and best 2 seasons
of the year in my opinion.

Thank you for your continued support

Mike

Watching wildlife - A busy month so heres a few updates

It's been a busy few weeks since I last posted and having not taken many photographs. I decided to rest a little this Christmas and just enjoy watching wildlife and the outdoors rather than focusing on photographing and filming wildlife. I've also had a birthday, a week on the coast, checked out a holiday home and started work on a new conservation area hopefully your enjoy the updates below.

  My huge piece of triple Chocolate birthday cake from a tasty Conwy bakery near the harbor

Here's a link to their shop Facebook page if your ever in the area

Having sold a few bits of my own kit and my wildlife watching supplies this year to pay for one of my other favorite passions. In 2017 I will be hopefully doing more wild camping in the North Wales and Anglesey area once I get my new light camping gear soon. As I have a few days off work in February I'm hoping I can be ready for a few nights camping on the coastal mountains if I can find the best gear to keep warm and comfy as I'm sure Spring won't be arriving that early next year.

Updates to follow in my next blog post

Thank you and keep watching wildlife

Mike

A new opportunity...

One from this years trip to North Wales on a summers evening watching the sun fall below the horizon. At the minute I am looking into possibly getting a holiday cottage that I can use myself and rent out to holiday makers in the area in 2017. Fingers crossed I've covered all my bases and calculations are correct. I'm going to view the property in December :-) and If all works out I can possibly keep some kit there which will allow me to do more Camping/sea kayaking when I feel like it.

Summers end...

With September approaching and the end of Summer with it I thought it would be time to post some of my summer posts which I've been holding back so I can publish on the bad weather days.

My brother Ryan enjoying the late evening sun by a local river

The moon sinks below the horizon as a thick mist forms

View from my kayak on a summers morning

 Hopefully in the Autumn I can get out more with my camera more than I have this summer. I have not had much motivation to take my camera out with me this year very much as I have chosen more of a enjoy the Nature through my own eyes rather than through a lens.

 

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

Grebes have young but they have...

As most people seem to be out enjoying the summer weather, holidays and Pokemon Go I have decided to publish less blogs until the Nights start to draw in. Most posts will be from the beginning of the summer but today I have decided to write about some strange goings on. 

A few weeks ago after thinking the nesting season was over we noticed the Grebes on the local lake had finally hatched there eggs. The pair had 2 young which rode on there backs for a few days and the pair grew quickly. Everything was fine for about two weeks till a week ago when all 4 disappeared from the lake. We checked the surrounding pools and canal  but they could not be found. While walking and kayaking I spotted a few dead birds floating in the water but it had not occurred to me it could have been the grebes till I noticed they had disappeared. I am not sure if it was a natural predator, human intervention or they left the area but I think they were too young to fly so I'm hoping a natural predator but i. More investigation needed I think and first I'll chat to the locals and keep an eye out while biking, jogging, walking and kayaking. I have a few new camera mounts for filming wildlife over the next year. I have developed one that is perfect for underwater and for when I'm riding my bike as I keep bumping into things without having a camera accessible while out biking. Abit of good news on the 11th August as there is a family matching there numbers abit further up in the canal.

The photograph below is of my first Action camera wrist mount prototype

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

Last week off until Spetember :-(

Unfortunately last week I had my last week off of the summer so I decided to have a few days out walking in the local countryside and a overnight trip camping on the coast. As I had to drop off a plug we accidentally took when we stayed  at a cottage by the sea in early June rather than post we thought we would make it into a couple of days camping to detox from technology except my iPhone of coarse as playing Poke Mon on it made the 5 hr bus journey to the coast and back so much easier.

 We stayed one night camping in the mountains but as I chose cooking kit instead of comfort so we decided to stay one night instead of 2 to but as the weather got cooler I was not to bothered about returning home early. As I had a few days off once I returned home we decided to go out on foot to explore some more of the local villages surrounding my local patch and we found some lovely places we never new existed.

While walking to a place Ive visited before by car we decided  to use Google maps to explore the area on the way a local duck lake. We ended up finding a Nature area by the river Dane close to Holmes chapel which had a pond, woodland, bird hide and plenty of space for Nature. The place is about 30 minutes walk from home so perfect for when I want to enjoy a few hours peace in a place set aside for Nature. As we only passed through the area I did not get chance to explore or take to many photographs except for a few of the lovely nature boards.

One place we visited twice was Shakerley mere where we found a bench by the lake and enjoyed the sun, food and the geese and ducks coming over for food which was very relaxing.

One of the moody looking Geese came over for a photograph

I'll be visiting here over the winter months as there's a lovely bird feeder setup there and I will be taking my camera. Its quite a pleasant walk down some lovely country lanes to get there and at a leisurely pace I can get there in less than an hour. One other place we visited was the River Weaver and we decided to walk from Winsford to Davenam on the edge of Northwich. The walk goes along the river and passes through various habitats. I'll explore the area more over the next year if all goes to plan as I think there is a good chance of seeing Otters there especially in the winter months.

One thing we noticed was Great crested Grebes are doing well along the weaver due to the nests we found being sat on by the adults. We got to see the birds swap over incubation duty's as the rained poured down onto the small ponds along the river weaver.

One Grebe nested on some Lilly pads which is a great idea as they rise with the water

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

From my doorstep to the sea - Delamere forest and beyond PT 2

A few weeks ago we did our first section of our journey to North Wales by bike and I am glad to say we made it quite easily along the route I planned which was about 25+miles.

We had no punctures or delays on our route but after biking our furthest distance yet and still having energy to walk to my Badger sett once we returned home made me feel like the challenge is possible. I'm thinking that our next section of our journey will be from Middlewich to Chester where we will get on a coastal bike path that runs along the River Dee next to a park called the cop.

I'm a little bit apprehensive about the next section as the journey there and back is double what we have done before at about 44+miles. I'm sure if we take our time and get our minds and body's in sync we can make it in no time at all. It will be a good training session as when we finally do the full bike journey to Wales I'm thinking we won't be cycling back on the same day. We will probably camp/caravan a few days to recover and enjoy some more time relaxing by the sea.

I struggled to get a decent photograph with the sign and me in as we were next to a busy road

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

From my Doorstep to the sea...PT 1

Over the Winter months I have been thinking about a physical challenge I could do involving Nature,  cycling and the sea. After abit of Brainstorming I came up with the idea to bike from my own home all the way to the North Wales coast and end the journey at Talacre, Prsetstayn maybe Llandudno.
Here's a map showing the journey we will be doing
Journey starting point - Middlewich to Davenam about 5 miles

 Other options for end destination
Davenham to Talacre about 45 Miles

Davenham to Prestatyn about 48 Miles

Davenham to Llandudno(Little Orme) is my ultimate aim about 60 Miles

The journey is about 50+ miles which should take us less than a day with breaks every 20 miles or so.
My brother is planning to join me on the challenge which will be taking place  sometime in July. Over the next few months we will be planning the route, finding out what equipment/supply's are needed. Each week we will be doing some biking to local Nature places we also plan to increase the distance biked in one afternoon each week to increase our stamina. Our first training journey will be from my home in Middlewich to Delamere forest which is about 12.5 miles in total. As we will be coming back in the same afternoon we will be biking 25miles + in one session which is the most we have done.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

Next time: We bike to Delamere forest on a lovely sunny day but do we make it???

From my doorstep to the sea

Having had a quiet end to the Summer and enjoying the last of the sunny weather without taking my camera with me. It has been nice to just observe and watch Nature as it changes to Autumn. Over the past few weeks I have dusted off my bike and started to clock up the miles and have found some great places for Foxes and Barn Owls. So far I have been using the canal tow paths and cycle paths along the roadside. I have biked from Middlewich my home town to Marbury park in Northwich where I spent a lovely few hours enjoying the sun and the open quiet space. The Nature park is about 8 miles there and 8 miles back along bumpy and muddy paths. I felt like I had achieved so much for my first long distance bike ride.

 A few photographs taken on my I-phone from my journey

After biking over 16+ miles in a few hours this got me thinking about an idea I once had as a child, the idea was that I wanted to go from my home to the sea using my own body to walk and cycle to the closest piece of coastline. I have worked out that my biking journey from my doorstep to the sea would be around 50 miles or more depending on the route I take. As I don't feel safe biking on the roads and the scenery is less than stunning I have decided to use the waterways as a way to get from my home Middlewich-Nantwich-Chester-Talacre(North Wales) and once I get to Chester there is a long coastal path suitable for biking.
Next long distance biking location

To get to the stage where I can do 50+ miles in one day I will need to clock up the miles and see if I can slowly push my body into getting used to biking for long distances. Rather than select a distance and head along the canal till I reach the selected distance I have decided to find places just off the canals where I can visit before I head back home. My next place to bike to was abit further a field as I want to increase my distance every few weeks until I can do 50 in one day so 25 miles one way and 25 back. When I do make it to Wales by bike I don't think I will be biking it back on the same as I think I will need a few days to recover.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

On your bike...

Last Saturday I got out my old bike and as it need lots of work it took me the whole day to fix the brakes, change the inner tubes and give it a new paint job as it was getting a bit rusty. This weekend with my bike all fixed up I headed out for a few morning and sunset rides as I found it's the most peaceful and best times to see the more shier wildlife.

Sunrise on a local lake

Panorama on the Shropshire canal at sunrise

A local brook where I sit and wait to see if any Otters pass through

My bike will allow me to get to places quicker as it cuts down my journey time by half. Hopefully in the Summer I'll get out at sunrise to some local wild places before work as the summer early mornings are not to be wasted, so get out to your local countryside or wild area and just absorb all the sights, smells and beauty that's around you.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike