ROLLING HARBOUR GALLERY

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS (2): THE EGGS HAVE HATCHED

Published on May 16, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

Two avian excitements today. Firstly, the swifts timed their return to coincide with some morning sunshine. A flock of 10 milled around overhead with their unmistakable cries. They flew very high, fast-moving specks in a blue sky. As I was watching them, I noticed increased activity at the woodpeckers’ nest. The pair were changing egg-sitting duty more frequently. As I slowly edged my way nearer the hole, I could hear very faint cheeping from deep inside the tree – new hatchlings. I’ve remembered that this presages increasingly loud and insistent noise over the next 2 or 3 weeks until the fledglings fly.

THE MALE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER

The birds have a rather touching takeover ritual. The bird returning to relieve its partner lands close to the hole, and makes a quiet, rapid 3 or 4 note clucking noise. The other bird appears at the hole, looks around, and flies straight off, while the other takes its place inside the tree. The male clearly has a big appetite. Occasionally he leaves the hole and forages briefly in the gnarly bark close to the entrance for insects or grubs, then returns to the hole. As he enters – and despite his mouthful – he makes a soft staccato 3 or 4 note call to the occupants, distinctly different from the parents’ greeting to each other.

THE FEMALE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER

HELSINKI BUILDINGS: NATIONAL ROMANTIC STYLE & ART DECO

Published on May 14, 2013May 14, 2013 by Rolling Harbour4 Comments

GREY SQUIRRELS IN CENTRAL PARK NYC (WHERE THEY BELONG…)

Published on May 10, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

Not a huge fan of grey squirrels in the UK. There’s great work being done to expand the native red squirrel population. If you had to choose between a grey OR a red squirrel in your garden? Well then… But in the right place they are kinda cute. Look at those little hairy feet. Awwwww!

THE HOUSE MARTINS… BUILD (A NEST)

Published on May 7, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

Spring is making up for lost time in Dorset, as everywhere else. The blackbirds are nesting again, the partridges have been joined by a cock pheasant in full, shiny breeding plumage. We heard our first cuckoo on March 5th, a couple of fields away. Sparrows are nesting in cavities in the old walls of the house. Strictly we ought to plug them with something, but it seems a shame, and the walls are thick enough. And so, on to…

…the decade that music forgot. I watched a pair of house martins building a nest under the eaves, taking it in turns to collect small balls of mud to add to the structure, and carefully fitting the nest together. I decided to video them. Suddenly I had a vague recollection of The Housemartins and a song called ‘Build’ (it reached #41 in NZ in 1987… rather higher in the UK). So I put video and song together, only to realise that the song is actually quite irritating – especially the papapapapa bits. Too late. Here it is, with advice to mute the sound if you don’t want to be transported back to a bad place musically…

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/65641512]

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS FINALLY SET UP HOME

Published on May 2, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

Most years recently a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers have nested in a silver poplar tree at the end of our garden. They usually start prospecting in March, drilling several new exploratory holes (or sharpening their beaks) before going back to the original hole. Then they clean it out, chucking out the previous year’s debris, and carry out some minor home improvements. There is soft tapping from deep inside the trunk as they put the finishing touches to a new bookcase, or whatever they keep in there. Then the female lays the eggs, they share sitting and feeding duties, and in due course the nestlings fledge and fly.

This year, like everything else in the garden, they were late. However, much better late than never, they have returned. There is a carpet of mess and small wood chippings below the tree, the female has laid the eggs, and the male attentively lets her take a break to stretch her wings while he takes over the eggs. He still hasn’t got the front door quite to his liking yet. These photos were taken during the last couple of days. It’s lovely to have them back, and very tolerant of them to live so close to the centre of a big city.

The male has a nest-watching perch in a nearby tree

He keeps the entrance looking smart……and checks all is well insideThe female comes to the doorway from time to time for a look aroundI’ve noticed she often looks down for a while before fully emergingThe male usually stays close at hand, foraging on the same tree

THE HIGH LINE, NEW YORK: (1) ART + ADS

Published on April 30, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

The High Line in New York City is a 1-mile ‘linear park’ built on a disused section of the former elevated New York Central Railroad spur called the West Side Line. This line runs along the lower west side of Manhattan currently runs from Gansevoort Street, three blocks below West 14th Street in the Meatpacking District, up to 30th Street, through the neighborhood of Chelsea to the West Side Yard, near the Javits Convention Center.

225px-West_side_line

The line has been imaginatively redesigned and extensively planted as an ‘aerial greenway’. Many reminders of its former life have been incorporated, including sections of track; and the line cuts through a number of large office blocks. Along the way, there are a number of access points. There are plenty of neat ‘mini-platform’ wooden seats from which to contemplate the scenery or the urban art; and areas with larger wooden seats long enough to lie on, as with a sun lounger. Some of these are doubles…

You’ll find plenty of information on the excellent Friends of the High Line website HERE. When we were in NYC a couple of months back, it was in winter mode, with snow on the ground and a freezing wind. However I enjoyed the experience so much that I walked the length of it… twice! It was gratifying to see the large number of people doing likewise, even in very cold weather, and making the most of New York’s most recent city innovation.

I am planning a series of photographic posts to highlight various aspects of the High Line, starting slightly perversely with some of the astonishing and/or entertaining art (in a broad sense) along the route. I really look forward to coming here in summertime one day. This is a wonderful railway restoration project that you definitely do not need to be a rail-geek (trackie?) to enjoy.

SPRING IN THE CITY = BLOSSOM ON THE TREES

Published on April 24, 2013 by Rolling Harbour4 Comments

At last we have Spring in London. The birds are ‘twitterpated’ (©Walt Disney, Bambi – classic child-friendly euphemism). Suddenly there are things to be done in the garden, largely neglected during a long winter. The sun is out and I can tell the time on the sundial (last time I looked it said ‘November’).

Spring 2013 3 DWARF WHITE CHERRY BLOSSOM
SPIR[A]EA

A RANDOM COWSLIP IN THE LAWN

CAMELIA

TULIP

DAFFODIL SPECIES BORROWED (ahem) FROM THE WEST COAST OF IRELAND

FORGET-ME-NOTS (‘ground cover’ – i.e.saves weeding)

PINK CHERRY

SNAKESHEAD FRITILLARIES (my favourite)

AMELANCHIER

MAGNOLIA STELLATA

FORSYTHIA

SOME MORE CHERRY FOR LUCK

SPRING IN DORSET: BETTER LATE THEN NEVER…

Published on April 22, 2013April 23, 2013 by Rolling Harbour7 Comments

Spring arrived in mid-Dorset last week. On Tuesday evening, swallows appeared for for the first time. On Wednesday, they were joined by housemartins. That evening, the unmistakable sound of an attempted break-in at the back of the house turned out to be a male partridge landing on, and strutting round, a corrugated roof. His mate then set off a security light, to her great surprise. Last year they raised 13 chicks. On Saturday morning, I was fishing for wild and wily brown trout, when a sandpiper flew up from the water’s edge. Plenty of people have been posting lovely Spring pictures. I certainly can’t beat them, but I’ll join them with a few photos from the last few days.

Buds are bursting The partridges are back, and other birds are out in force

The spring flowers are at their best

Baby blackbirds are already fledging

The rooks are pairing up, and nesting in the oaks

The alpacas are enjoying fresh grass and the warmth of the sun (attractive they may be, and useful mowers, but they were looking the wrong way when brains were being handed out to the animal kingdom)