haiku

dandelions
brighten roadside verges -
missing my rabbit

Wildwood - a photography Exhibition

Wildwood, an exhibition at Bolton Museum, features new work by photographer Pete Davis. These stunning large format photographs capture the mystery and beauty of wild woodlands in Wales, UK and Vermont, USA. Its a lovely exhibition and not on for much longer, so if you are in Bolton in the next few days, make sure you pop along to the museum!

After visiting this exhibition with my Mum we then visited the Aquarium, in the basement of the museum, where we were delighted to see several new species of fish, including the pygmy glass danio, one of the smallest fish in the world.

Birdwatching in suburban Manchester

My parents house in suburban Manchester has a lovely garden and is surrounded by other lovely gardens. It's great to see so many birds all thriving there. Although there are significantly fewer starlings, house sparrows and song thrushes than there used to be (following UK wide trends) and the increase in magpies and jackdaws isn't always welcomed, its great to see that there are good numbers of blue tits, great tits, woodpigeons, collared doves (which have only relatively recently colonised the UK and now are everywhere!), blackbirds and robins as well as occasional visits from more unusual birds. On my visit we saw greenfinches and a coal tit, and my parents have also recently seen long tailed tits and goldcrests. These are three species I don't remember seeing when I was growing up there and I was a keen birdwatcher from a very early age! It was really nice to see signs of breeding behaviour from the blue tits, song thrushes and blackbirds (including one male blackbird with a white patch on its head but a particularly fine song!).

My parents really look after the birds in the garden, having several feeders filled up with good bird foods. Two blackbirds have particularly developed a habit of visiting the garden first thing in the morning for their special fruit snacks!

We also enjoyed a rainy walk round Rivington where we heard willow warblers and robins singing.

Why I don't complain about train fares

A lot of people grumble about train fares in the UK, here's why I don't:

Edinburgh to Bolton single £9. Bolton to Edinburgh single £15.

This is what I've paid the last several times I've made the journey! I seem to be pretty lucky getting the cheap deals! (Of course more of our fares should be that cheap). I also enjoy the fact that the train journey between Edinburgh and Bolton passes through some of the most beautiful scenery in southern Scotland and the English Lake District.

I'll be back next week!

Make Your Own Biofuels from Waste Oils

When Dr Rudolph Diesel demonstrated his newly-invented diesel engine in 1900 at the World Exhibition, he used fuel derived from peanut oil. Now a new device, about the size of a dustbin on wheels, enables drivers of diesel cars to produce their own legal, duty-free bio-fuel from recycled cooking oil. The ‘Fuelpod’ is so efficient, it can pay for itself within about a year. It sounds like a great idea and when I got the information sent to me at work, I thought I'd share it here!

The Fuelpod is designed to recycle cooking oils and is therefore environmentally friendly, unlike biofuels made from farmed crops, which have negative impacts on food supplies and rainforests. This week, Jean Ziegler, the UN's rapporteur on the Right to Food, described farmed biofuels as "a crime against humanity" because they divert food from the poor to provide fuel for the rich.
For more information on the Fuelpod, visit: www.greenfuels.co.uk

It is heartening to see that both the European Commission and the UK government are rethinking their targets on biofuels.

Late Spring Snapshot

A confusion of cherry trees
has bloomed since November
while others are still in bud -
leaves slow to unfurl in the cold
late Spring. The nuthatch, a southern
bird welcomed here by recent warmth
fluffs its feathers, delays nesting.


Late Spring for Totally Optional Prompts

Time Capsule for Earth Day

I would give you
the song of a skylark
rising thoughtless
into the blue

the blue green flash
of a kingfisher
darting downstream
to the waterfall

the fall
of a peregrine
plunging to catch
its prey

the prayerful cadence
of a nightingale
in the honeysuckle scent
of evening


The RSPB works to conserve birds and their habitat across the UK and beyond.

Time Capsule for Weekend Wordsmith

Earth Day is 22 April 2008. Enjoy the beauty of the earth and help to protect it for future generations.