ON DUTY AT MANTON BAY.

Yes at last the long wait is over and Richard and myself had our first for the Year and may be last duty with the Osprey Project in the new Waderscrape Hide.

Richard arrived at our house at 13.00 hrs and when we set of it was windy and we were not hopeful for seeing many Little Owls, they would be tucked away out of the wind.

By the time we got across country to the Little Owl area, the wind was howling through the trees so it was a definite no to seeing any Little Owls. This however was proved wrong, as when visiting site No 2 sat in the nest hole was a Little Owl, the branches outside were bouncing around and covering the bird and then they were clear, difficult shooting weather so you just took a good number of shots and picked the ones clear of any stray blowing branches.

This was the only bird we saw on the outward leg of the journey so we carried onto Rutland Water and prepared for Osprey duty, none of our birds have as yet arrived but we were informed that five birds have so far returned so still a lot more to appear. 30/05 the satellite tracked bird was still seventy miles South of the french border in Spain and for the previous few days had been battered by high winds and rain. High winds had also been encountered in the Sahara crossing but these birds are very clever and soon get themselves back on course.

On duty which was a for shortened affair, the wind was awful and very little was seen to take images of, ducks and geese had tucked themselves out of the wind on the far side of Manton Bay laying low under the bank. It was obvious we were going to have no birds return today so at 17.00 hrs we locked up the hide and walked back to the Lyndon Centre to return the key and by 18.00 hrs we were on our return journey home with Little Owls and our tea on our minds.

We re visited all the Sites we had not seen birds at and saw two more birds at Little Owl Sites 9 and 15 making us up to three birds seen. After last weeks bonanza a bit of a let down, but it was so windy we were surprised we saw a bird at all.

An update since I started to put this Blog together, Osprey 30/05 was yesterday 27/03/15 flying North, 100 km North East of La Rochelle. As the forecast for the weekend is not that good it could be Monday or Tuesday before she arrives at Rutland Water. Should be and update tomorrow so will update again then.

The Nottingham University Peregrine Falcons are sitting on eggs, just click on the link below and then click onto live web cam.

Update on Osprey 30/05, she was seen at Eyebrook Reservoir 10 minutes ago heading towards Rutland so we are hopefully going to get the birds back in numbers now the wind has dropped. 02/04/15. 11.27hrs.

Little Owl Sites No 2.

The bird had tucked itself in the nest hole which was protected from the wind but the branches to the front of it were being blown about making it difficult to get a clear shot.

Here he appears to be giving us a good stare. 

Kestrel at Nest Box, The Lyndon Centre, Rutland Water.

This box has been in use for several years by the Kestrels and has a camera in place with pictures relaid into the centre on another television.

Mallard Duck, Waderscrape Hide. Manton Bay.

These were the only birds that came anything like close to us, but still a pretty bird. They were not bothered by the wind in the protected channel to the front of the hide. 

Wigeon Drake, Shallow Water Hide, Manton Bay.

Several birds, Ducks and Drakes were in a shallow area and made several attempts to fly across the Bay and after several attempts eventually made it. 

The New Waderscrape Osprey Hide, Manton Bay.

As yo can see this a super new hide with glazed windows and on a cold and windy day as Thursday was really very warm and snug and without drafts.

Osprey Nest Site, Manton Bay.

The cleaned and height reduced nest awaiting the return of its pair.

Gulls arriving at the reservoir, taken from Waderscrape Hide. 

A closer view of the gulls, for those of you that have visited the site, it is a beautiful area.

Jays our Garden.

We still have the two birds visiting on and off every day so lets hope they decide to nest in the trees to the rear of the garden. 

Second Bird with damaged feather to wing.






A KING IN A CAR PARK.

We have been very lucky of late having the archaeological dig and finding of the remains of King Richard III in Leicester. This find was made possible by the works carried out by one lady, Phillipa Langley.

This lady had carried out research over a considerable time and eventually became of the opinion that the remains were possibly in the area of the choir at the old Greyfriars Friary, not far from the present Cathedral where the King was re interred. She had visited the site and located as accurately as she could from an old map, the area of the Friary. She thought she had found the area of the Choir under some car parking spaces, she then noticed a large R {reserved} painted on the space and it was under this R that the remains were found. She approached the archaeological department at Leicester University to see if it was possible for them to carry out a dig, this they agreed to but she would have to raise £34,000.00 for the works.

She being a member of the Richard III Society put this out on the web site and soon the money was available and the works were carried out in September of 2012. On day one of the dig remains were found under the car park space and a licence was applied for from the Home Office and the rest is history.

Richard III was killed on the battlefield at the Battle Of Bosworth in 1485, his body was supposedly placed over the back of a horse and carried to Leicester on virtually the same route as the cortege took. It was at one time reported that his body had been thrown of the Bowbridge into the River Soar but luckily Mrs Langley has disproved that.

The remains were confirmed as being Richard III by the taking of one of the teeth from the remains and crushing it. The mitochondrial DNA was then extracted and compared to the DNA from the nearest relative from the female line, this being a Michael Ibsen, the carpenter who made the coffin. In the past after the Friary was destroyed, some materials from the Friary were transferred across the road to the then parish church and the building extended. This parish church eventually became Leicester Cathedral. On that basis some of the fabric of the Friary where the King was originally buried is within the Cathedral where to King is reburied.

The Skeleton as first found, you can see the curvature in the spine.

The Cortege passed the entrance to my Farmer friends so we visited to watch, thousands of people had turned out. The first to pass was the Police outriders. 

Then with a Police outrider to the front the hearse appeared followed by cars with family descendants in. 

Eventually when the Hearse got level with us I managed an image of the coffin. This having been constructed by a Canadian relative of the King, a Michael Ibsen. This was the man who's DNA was taken to prove it was the King.   

All the while a police helicopter followed the procession checking the road was clear. 

When the Cortege reached Leicester the coffin was placed on a gun carriage and pulled through the streets by four black horses, with these two Knights on horseback either side. They then stood either side of the entrance into the Cathedral while the coffin was carried in.

The coffin placed in the Cathedral prior to the first service taking place.

A new Crown was made and sat on top of the coffin whilst the body laid in state in the Cathedral, during this time 20,000 plus people visited the Cathedral to walk past. On the re internment of the remains the Crown was placed in the coffin.


Thank you for your visit, I hope you did not mind me putting the section on Richard III on the Blog. I thought it would be of interest to some of my visitors from other countries. As the title says, "Owls and Other Things of Interest."