ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Thursday 25 September 2014

COOT AND CROW. (25/09/14)

Today has been pleasant enough but windy and overcast. I have been out three times but have not seen anything particularly interesting nor close enough to make a study of.

This is a picture of the Herons but taken with the macro lens yesterday._MG_3704  There are five of them not six as I thought. I have never seen them in anything but single units so it was a surprise to see so many together.

_MG_3714  I rounded the dogs up and put them on the lead, we then kept very quiet and crept through the reeds. I don’t know why when the little mere came into sight it was empty.

_MG_3716     After ten minutes this Coot emerged from the reed bed.

_MG_3715     Then another appeared and chased it away. Coots are aggressive little birds but do have wonderful feet. I wandered over the bank to the river Tees. No Otters and no Seals, both can be seen here as there is a fish ladder up the barrage which makes for a handy food trap.

After breakfast I went down to the big Asda on Portrack Lane. They had a good selection of fresh fish on offer so I’m having fish pie with mushrooms and a couple of chillies; I pushed the boat out and made a cream sauce for it to cook in. I’m looking forward to supper. In Spain they sell cardboard cartons of natta de cocina, cooking cream, it’s a bit like Elmlee cream here but much better. I used normal double cream. I’ll top the potato off with my oldest cheese, I think it is that hard Swiss stuff that you can scrape with a potato peeler and make little flower shapes. I noticed it going a bit crumbly yesterday. It’ll be fine after a blast in the oven.

I had a sandwich around two o’clock and decided to give the Reserve one more go. Lots of Dragonflies and big ones. They were flying high and not settling. They were either Common Hawkers or more likely Emperors. Big blue jobs from what I glimpsed. I’ll have a serious go at them tomorrow. 

_MG_3720   A Crow, it was making a very funny purring noise. I suspect that the repulsive, smug, excuse for a prime minister of ours had phoned it. He is a disgusting misogynist. I am no royalist but have more respect for the queen than Dithery. If I were her I’d pop him in the Tower for a week or so. Shave his head and tattoo ‘Pompous Twit.’  on his forehead and ‘Witless.’ over his pate. He is braver than I gave him credit for. There have been times when I would have loved to be a missoghamist. I got hit and it nipped such dreams in the bud.

Unless I score with the Dragonflies early tomorrow I won’t post as I’m going a walk on Redcar beach to take pictures of the reflected sunset with a lass who is so posh she has her hair done in a hairdressers and has been known to have two showers on the same day. Don’t panic, she shops in George and Oxfam, I’ll check, she looks as if she does. She is relatively normal.

Have a great weekend.

29 comments:

  1. the good news, you're getting your exercise :O)

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    1. R.Mac. I get lots of walks. They are not always productive though.

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  2. Dave frequently puts his foot in his mouth. I'd like to do that, the smug git.

    I've quite often heard Crows making that strange sound Adrian. Contentment, perhaps?
    Good luck with the dragons tomorrow, and the posh bird.

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    1. Dithery is beyond the pale as his peers would say.
      Smug doesn't do him justice. He is absolutely awful. Like a kid let loose in a sweet shop. Ozzy is no better. Eton wants closing if that is the best they can do.
      I will have to have a good polish up. I like her even if she does go a bit overboard on the personal hygiene front.

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  3. nice wandering with you today!

    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>

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    1. Ta Cloudia, not a good day but not a bad one either.

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  4. the first pic is great Adrian. Hope you have a great walk ;))

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    1. Ruby I hope I find the Dragonflies and Herons.

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  5. Cooking with Adrian. Even GB included photos of his fruit cake.
    Coot? Aggressive? Do you think that is where we take the term "old coot"? (No reference to you or GB of course :)

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    1. Old Coot ? Carol. Yes I can be aggressive. I am generally laid back but if some bugger gets annoying then so be it. I am generally soft as a brush and nothing like a Coot.
      If I had a tape worm I'd hit it with a hammer.

      I didn't think to take a snap of my tea. A pie is just a pie but a cake is a work of art to be savoured in small slices over a month or two.

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    2. We usually use the term "silly old coot". We have a professor of language studies here in AUS called Roly Sussex ~ he does a spot n the radio ~ would know the origin.

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    3. Origin 1766 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coot
      Similar reference ~ crazy as a loon
      I wonder if there is a similar idiom for crows?

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    4. Not as far as I know Carol.

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    5. There is a few idioms with crows. As the crow flies, stone the crows and probably the worst Jim Crow was a term in segregated USA to mean no black kids in an all white school.

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    6. There you go Carol.
      A mine of information is Douglas.

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  6. Like coots feet. Like clothes from George. There are dragonflies here too at present but I can't decide if we have masses or its a few dashing back and forth with extra enthusiasm. Surprised they are here at all. No fresh water nearby. Only the sea.

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    1. Lucy, some travel quite a long way from where they hatch.

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  7. Coots are weird and their offspring ugly bald things (bald as a coot) but we would have so few sayings.
    Those Herons were strange. Were they fishing?

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    1. Douglas, I watched the Herons for a while, they just seemed to be floating around. Every so often they would take to the air then settle again. Most peculiar.

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  8. Buen menú te prepaste ;))
    Espero que disfrutes de tu paseo por la playa.
    De nuevo en casa.
    Un abrazo.

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    1. Laura, es una buena playa, pero rodeado de la industria pesada.

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  9. Great Coots images, and yes the lass was tasty, Redcar. Good luck with Dragonflies.

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    1. Bob, it's still windy so I will need luck.

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  10. You know where everything is when nobody's around. Coots, herons, dragonflies, women. I'll be ready for tomorrow's post to see what you get!

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    1. Red, I stay here quite often. I'm just going out now.

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  11. I'd love to hear a crow make any noise other than their horrid caw. Not that there are any here but their call is always fresh in my memory. Good luck tomorow and enjoy your time with the posh lady.

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    1. Pauline, they are quite intelligent birds. She only calls round to see the dogs.

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  12. In defence of the Queen - and I may have said this before - would you really prefer Dithery and Mrs.Dithery as our First Family? Because that would be the alternative.

    Lovely photos, as ever.

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    1. Frances, put like that then I'd have to give the matter further consideration.

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