Thursday 31 July 2014

Flaming June

“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside”

~Maud Hart Lovelace~

Shots from Home

The weather had been perfect, sunshine and blue skies, and that summer feeling in the air. The garden was lush, abundant and teeming with life. Insects hummed, bees buzzed and butterflies fluttered everywhere. Everywhere I looked, there were beautiful flowers, mingling prettily against a blue, blue sky, filling the air with intoxicating, aromatic smells. Aah, check these the roses. The arch were laden with fiery, red blooms and and the smell was equally gorgeous.

Shots from Home

“The rose speaks of love silently,

in a language known only to heart”

~Unknown~

Shots from Home

All the garden birds were feeding their chicks at the moment. They looked very frazzled, distracted and ruffled as they flew to and from the feeders. The tailess female blackbird was to-ing and fro-ing with a beak full of worms to feed its young. I loved watching the many different sets of fledglings arrive in the garden especially when they were being fed by the parents. But the highlight was when I spotted this pair of Blue Tit flying in and out of the bird-box at the end of the garden. Whoop …whoop. How did I missed that!!! I hoped the chicks made it to adulthood because last year when we brought the box down to be cleaned, there were 2 very tiny un-hatched eggs. Soo looking forward to see this family.

Shots from Home

Our first trip of the month was to Bradgate Park and we were surprised to see the place uber-buzzing. There was a summer fete in the grounds of the overflow car-park. Eeek!!! Fortunately, we arrived late in the afternoon and the crowd had died down a bit and we managed to find a parking space. We didn’t check out the fete because these gorgeous natives caught our attention. They were grazing by the entrance oblivious to the crowds watching them. We sat on a bench and rattled hundreds of shots. But we’d to move when they grazed closer and closer to where we were sitting. We would never harm them but if they were spooked, we’re in their firing line.

Bradgate Park - Spring

That was why we were furious when we spotted a grandmother taking her grandson very close to the deer. The tot who looked like he’d just started walking was tottering towards where the animals were grazing. Although she was holding the walking straps, it was a very stupid thing to do. The herd was surrounded by nearly a dozen people who were getting closer and closer with their cameras and mobile phones. The deer might looked gentle and timid but they were still wild animals and if they felt threatened, they might kick to escape. I wonder why people think they need to get very close to these animals. If you wait patiently, they just wander around you. Like we did and even then, we moved away. 

Bradgate Park - Spring

We continued walking on and came across a horse-drawn carriage carrying visitors around the park. I enjoyed listening to the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves as it trotted on the pavement. A pity I couldn’t take any photographs because the view was being obstructed by so many people. This horse-drawn carriage seemed to be a permanent fixture for the park. Pied wagtails flew in front of us and was busy chasing flies. We walked across the grassy path towards Lady Jane Grey’s ruins. A very handsome Reed bunting was singing its heart out among the brackens and underneath the undergrowth, I spotted juvenile Linnets feeding.

Bradgate Park - Spring

In the ruins, Babe went to stalk the deer herd at the back of the grounds. We flushed Green woodpeckers which were busy feeding among the ant-hills dotted all over the place, their laughing territorial calls echoing as they flew off. We sat down on a bench observing this handsome Peacock being followed by a group of children. We were enjoying our picnic of cheese and onion pasties, crisps and shortbread when we suddenly realised that we’d a guest. Behind our bench, the Peacock was eyeing our picnic!!! This cunning chap crept trying to nick our food. It was hilarious but we did share some of the food.

Bradgate Park - Spring

After finishing our picnic with the aid of our colourful chaperone, we made our way back to the car. It had been a very hot and humid day and we would like to be home before we got sun-burnt. As we walked down the hill, we came across lots of fungi circles which we thought were quite early to be around. High-pitched rapid twitters from the colourful Goldfinches followed us as they perched on the old, oak trees. And on the ground, among the grasses, we spotted the striking red and black eye-catching Cinnabar moth. As we continued on, we heard the familiar cries and followed it to a tree trunk near the stream. When we looked up, we noticed a hole and a few minutes later, a Great-Spotted woodpecker was seen flying onto a nearby tree. We didn’t take any photographs because we didn’t want to attract attention to the nest. 

Bradgate Park - Spring

I took Friday off for a trip to RSPB Strumpshaw Fen in Norfolk. It was 21C in the car when we left the casa. Thankfully, it was a smooth dive until we reached a major road-work on the A11. Then we began to crawl and we drove past this imposing Elveden war memorial. This was a major landmark for holiday makers to let them know that they were in Suffolk. It was commissioned by the Earl of Iveagh to commemorate the 48 men from Elveden, Icklingham and Eriswell who died in WW1. It stood 113 feet high with a staircase inside with 148 steps. It was the tallest war memorial in Suffolk and one of the tallest such memorials in Great Britain. Poignantly, hundreds of red poppies were swaying along the route too.

Roadtrtp to Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk

From Middenhall, we drove through the glorious Suffolk countryside bathed in sunshine and hedgerows dressed for summer. We came across huge pig farms where they were enjoying their very short life outdoors. And finally we reached the RSPB set in the wild and beautiful Yare Valley. We parked the car and was greeted by a Chiffchaff singing with its monotonous and irregular repetition of two notes. Then we’d to cross a very active railway line. After using the facilities and paying our entrance fees, we checked out the nectar garden. Dame's violet, thyme and geranium were pulling in nectar hungry insects. The thyme was literally buzzing with at least eight different kinds of bumblebees. Tortoise-shells and Brimstones, too, were busy feeding.

Strumpshaw Fen,

We crossed the railway line again and walked along shady the Tinker’s Lane.  Cherry plum, blackthorn and sallow blossom were providing an abundant nectar source to keep the numerous butterflies and bees going. We saw Tree-creepers spiralling up tree-trunks and Nuthatches flying from trees to trees with their distinctive silhouette visible. But, it was too dark to take photographs. After about 10 minutes we came to a beautiful cottage at the end of the lane that everyone was talking about, the doctors garden which belonged to a local lepidopterist, Dr Martin George and his wife, Barbara. Thank you. God bless you both for giving access to hundreds of people to your beautiful garden.

Strumpshaw Fen,

We were here to see the piece de resistance of the reserve, the rare Swallowtail butterfly, UK’s largest and most spectacular butterfly. They were also the only resident butterfly of the Papillionidae family, which was one of the largest butterfly families in the world. They were confined to the fens of the Norfolk broads due to the distribution of the sole larval foodplant, the milk-parsley.which grew abundantly along the dyke edges. We joined the dozen or so visitors up the path and there they were, one of the most beautiful confetti in the world.

Strumpshaw Fen,

Marked adults spiralled down and landed on the Sweet Williams. We watched the proboscis fully unfurled sipping in the nectar while the wings continued beating. After one flower was drained, it fluttered to an adjacent flower. All you could hear were the cameras rattling away. Everyone in awe. Check out the large distinctively yellow and black-winged butterfly with a long streamer forked-shaped tail. The upper and lower surfaces were alike, although the underside were slightly paler.

Strumpshaw Fen,

"To A Butterfly" (1801)

I've watched you now a full half-hour;
Self-poised upon that yellow flower
And, little Butterfly! indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless!--not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

Strumpshaw Fen,

This plot of orchard-ground is ours;
My trees they are, my Sister's flowers;
Here rest your wings when they are weary;
Here lodge as in a sanctuary!
Come often to us, fear no wrong;
Sit near us on the bough!
We'll talk of sunshine and of song,
And summer days, when we were young;
Sweet childish days, that were as long
As twenty days are now.

~William Wordsworth~

Strumpshaw Fen,

After getting our fill, we continued our adventure. We crossed the railway line again and walked along Lackford Run through reed-beds and alongside pools. Four-spot chasers and black-tailed skimmers were patrolling the ditches, unwilling to strike a pose. Swallows were busy chattering as they criss-cross the cloudless, blue skies. There were plenty of LBJ’s darting to and fro amongst the exuberant foliage of the trees and bushes. It was getting very warm and Babe was getting tired. He took a rest on one of the many benches dotted along the path while I photographed clumps of Common Spotted Orchids.
 
Strumpshaw Fen,

We decided not to continue the walk and turned back with another stop at the doctors garden for another session with the Swallowtails. We went back to the car for refreshments and to recharge our batteries. The haunting cries of Peacocks, hidden from the other side of the reserve could be clearly heard. After the short break, Babe wanted to continue our adventure and we crossed the railway lines again and made our way into the reserve. Long tail tits and Goldfinches kept us company. We stopped at a pond dipping platform where a Four Spot Chaser was patrolling.

Strumpshaw Fen,

We walked along the Sandy Wall where we encountered a profusion of butterflies and hoverflies, among them the Common Blues and Ringlets. We stopped at the Fen Hide, a small wooden structure that huddled down amongst the Norfolk Reeds by the edge of a shallow lagoon. As soon as we opened the shutters, we spotted at least 3 Marsh Harriers floating effortlessly over the reeds. Then one of them flew closer and closer towards a flock of Black Headed gulls, heard but not seen. Suddenly, the flock flew up together and started bombarding the raptor off. The high-pitch cries from the gulls were deafening. It was unsuccessful at first but after at least 2 tries, we saw the harrier flying away with a gull chick.

Strumpshaw Fen,

The reed-beds were alive with Reed buntings, Sedge warblers and other LBJ’s. There was a nest nearby because the Sedge Warbler kept on coming out and flying into the undergrowth with something in its beak. A Little Egret did a fly past in front of the hide. We could hear the Cuckoo calls getting closer and closer and there it was perched on a tree not far from the hide. The best thing was as soon as it started calling, a Bittern flew in and dropped right in front of the tree. We were here for nearly 2 hours soaking up the atmosphere. Then it was time to say goodbye to this lovely reserve. A Black Swan sailed past the hide, waving us good-bye. Borrowing a quote from Schwarzenegger, we will be back :-)

Strumpshaw Fen,

As a fond mother, when the day is o'er,
Leads by the hand her little child to bed,
Half willing, half reluctant to be led,

 Strumpshaw Fen,
And leave his broken playthings on the floor,

Still gazing at them through the open door,
Nor wholly reassured and comforted

Strumpshaw Fen,
By promises of others in their stead,
Which, though more splendid, may not please him more;
So Nature deals with us, and takes away

Strumpshaw Fen,
Our playthings one by one, and by the hand
Leads us to rest so gently, that we go
Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay,

Strumpshaw Fen,
Being too full of sleep to understand
How far the unknown transcends the what we know.

~Nature by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

Strumpshaw Fen,

After yesterday’s adventure, I was out again with a colleague, HR  and this time we were heading to Oxford to see the Cezanne and the Modern exhibition at the world-renowned Ashmolean Museum. I took a bus into town and walked to the train station where we took the 9.25 train to Oxford. We arrived in the pouring train and had to take a taxi to the museum. Since we were early, we checked out some amazing free exhibitions and displays. And then we joined the long queue for the exhibition, which was the first display in Europe of Henry and Rose Pearlman Collection of impressionist and Post-Impressionist art.

Oxford

It featured 50 works by 19 artists from Gustave Courbet to Jacques Lipchitz. At the heart of the collection were 24 works by Cezanne, which comprised of 6 oils, 2 drawings and 16 watercolours which constituted one of the finest and best-preserved groups of watercolours in the world. These works spanned the whole of the artist’s career from the 1870’s up to the Still Life with Carafe, Bottle and Fruit which was made shortly before his death.  We’d a wonderful time oohing and aahing over the displays. It was amazing. After nearly 2 hours, it was time for the obligatory purchase of momentos and the only one I could afford were a fridge magnet and a tin of mints with one of Cezanne’s painting.

Oxford

We then checked the rest of the Crossing Cultures Crossing Time exhibition and displays which were housed in over five floors. I liked the approach of the displays, revealing how the civilisations of the east and west had developed as part of an interrelated world culture. I was impressed that still cameras were permitted sans flash photography in most areas. But I didn’t take any because everywhere was packed. I think the rain had caused this. By the way, the Museum was the world’s first public museum, founded in 1683. Before we say goodbye to this amazing place, we went down to have a light lunch at the cosy setting of the vaulted cafe. Oxford

The sun came out as soon as we stepped out the building. We were spoilt for choices because everywhere we looked were magnificent and impressive buildings. Soaring spires, magnificent churches, impressive architecture, historic buildings, Gothic towers and cloisters filled the streets with a quiet timeliness. It was all echoing quadrangles, wide streets and beautiful buildings, all of which 653 were listed as historic or architectural merit. There was no way we will be able to check them out in 2 hours. Another one or two or three or even more visits were planned as we stopped for a breather in one of the many delightful tea rooms which was in the vault of the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. But first, a visit to Blackwells and off course, the Norrington Room which boasted 5km of shelving and merited an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest single room selling books. I could stay here forever.

Oxford

We treated ourselves to a proper English afternoon tea. We’d the dainty finger cucumber sandwiches and scones with strawberry jam topped with lashings of clotted cream and all washed down with dainty floral cups of Earl Grey tea from a tea-pot. Sugar cubes in a canister and cold milk from a jug. There were lace-like dollies and folded, starched napkins. A pity that it was quite dark in the vaults for photographs. Then it was back out in the sunshine walking underneath the intricately carved gargoyles and grotesques that cling to the buildings. It was time to board the train and head home.

Oxford

AH little mill, you're rumbling still,
Ah sunset flecked with gold !
Ah deepening tinge, ah purple fringe
Of lilac as of old!

 Oxford
Ah hawthorn hedge, ah light-won pledge
Of kisses warm and plenty,
When she was true, and twenty-two,
And I was two-and-twenty.
I don't know how she broke her vow —
She said that I was "horty"
And there's the mill a goin' still,
And I am five-and-forty.

Oxford
And sooth to tell, 'twas just as well,
Her aitches were uncertain ;
Her ways though nice, not point-device ;
Her father liked his " Burton."
But there's a place you cannot trace,
So spare the fond endeavour—
A cloudless sky, where Kate and I
Are twenty-two for ever.

Oxford

~An Oxford Idyl by Thomas Edward Brown~

The above poem perhaps not so much about the place itself (though it captured the beauty of a summer Oxford) as about the wonderful aura of light and nostalgia that surrounded  the town and the endless procession of carefree, love-struck youth that passes through

Babe and I ended the week with a trip to our favourite playground. We parked near the wall where a flock of Swallows were having a breather and busy preening. Unfortunately, they flew off as soon as they spotted us, showing their long wings and forked tails in flight. We stayed for a while watching them chasing after each other in characteristics swoops and sweeps with their repeated high-flight calls. We think they were nesting in the outbuilding of the cement works. Often, they would stop and pick some mud and bring it into the building to build a cup nest of mud and weather.

Brandon Marsh - Spring

We stayed for a while to listen to the high-pitch twitterings of a juvenile Goldfinch. It lacked the head colours, but we did notice the characteristic yellow wing bars. Juveniles have plain faces and lacked the white tips to the tertials and primaries that featured on the adults. We spotted a flock of something landing on a pile of sand in front of the wall. It was so well camouflaged that we’d a hard time identifying them until we noticed a red forehead and breast. It was a flock of Linnets and it was lovely to see a male in full breeding plumage having a drink.

Brandon Marsh - Spring

We then walked into the reserve and noticed a Swallow nesting under the visitor centre’s beam. It must be a second brood. In the sensory garden, a huge rattan basket was covering a swarm of bees.  When a queen relocated from its hive, or a new queen was born and left to set up a new colony, a huge swarm of worker bees came along with her.  When they land on something while searching for a permanent nest all the worker bees clumped around the queen in a large ball. The sight of swarming bees can unnerved some people and that was why this swarm was covered. When everything had settled down, they will be moved to the bee hives situated in the orchard. It was good to see the honeybees out there. The populations have been dying out recently from unexplained causes, and they were very important to so many links in the food chain which we rely on for survival.

Brandon Marsh - Spring

As we walked along the path, we could hear what sounded like Great spotted Woodpeckers, but it’s usual ‘tchick’ sound was repeated very loudly and very quickly. We followed the sound and there was not one but three fledglings clinging on different branches of a large tree. These juveniles were distinguished from adults by the presence of a red skull cap and pale red under-tail coverts. They were flying after one of their parents which were trying to show them where to feed.

Brandon Marsh - Spring

Repeat the truth so that the dull can grasp it! Repeat the truth with the speed of a woodpecker’s beak making holes in tree trunks!

– Mehmet Murat ildan~

As we continued walking, damselflies and dragonflies whizzed past, above and around us. It had been a good year for the odonata. At every pool we passed, they were either mating in tandem or maneuvering in mid-air like a helicopter—hovering, flying forwards, backwards, and sideways, and instantly changing direction whenever they need to. They were the aerial acrobats of the insect world. Dragonflies can even fly upside down if they needed to. With the exception of damselflies (which belong to the same order), dragonflies were the only insects with this amount of control over their wings. Delicate yet powerful, each wing was connected to the thorax with a separate muscle group. Simply amazing to watch.

Brandon Marsh

A dragonfly accepts it’s brevity of life .
With its gossamer wings feeling the breeze
Full of freedom it watches our joy and our strife
Its wisdom learned flitting from water to air to trees
With wings that shimmer showing purpose and duty

Brandon Marsh - Spring
Obedient to all of life’s changes in flight
Modestly it shows us its outer beauty
Always gracious, mindful and full of delight
So whether what life gives you is good, bad, or sad
Show others that inner beauty counts and matters

Brandon Marsh
Make your actions amount to many smiles and be glad
For the dragonfly knows it lives a brief life this way
So I learn from this creature to live wisely each day
And make every minute special to those that you love
As the dragonfly watches our actions from above
~Ruth O'Neill~

Brandon Marsh

In the work front, I attended the UKSG webinar on “Doing away with the catalogue”. I’d difficulties accessing the recordings due to technical problems but after a few e-mails it was all go. In 2012, the Utrecht University Library in The Netherlands made a very bold and unconventional decisions by shutting down the custom-made discovery system Omega and not to implement another library discovery service and focus predominantly on delivery. While they still offer access to traditional library catalogue, their ambition was to get rid of that too. Instead, the library wanted to focus on delivery and guide users to find their collections through better and modern Web-search engines. It was very thought provoking and as a cataloguer, very hard to listen to. But I guess it might help us evolve because if there was no searchable quality metadata on the web, we might have a new role to play. I am keeping my eyes and ears open to this disturbing development.

There was also a session on the Copyright Licensing Agency Update.The CLA was the UK’s reproduction rights organisation which was set up by authors and publishers to license the copying of books, journals and periodicals and was responsible for distributing fees between rights holders whose work has been photocopied or scanned. The Agency had rights to audit the library at any time so it was important to comply with the terms and conditions of the licence. But for many researchers, copyright, once the exclusive concern of authors and their publishers, was today preventing them studying data and text in pursuit of new discoveries and learning. Digital communications technology also involved routine copying of text, images and data, which meant that that the regulation had started to act as a regulatory barrier to the creation of certain kinds of new, internet based businesses.

It was also another goodbyes for 2 colleagues. MM was leaving the UK for good and returning home to Estonia. I attended her farewell lunch at the minimalist and trendy Le Gusta. I had the veggie burger and washed down with the refreshing lime cordial.  SLA dropped a hot stone telling us that she was returning back to Cambridge after securing a good position at Caius College. She’d only been with us for 2 years. I organised a good-bye dinner at her favourite Chinese restaurant, Wing Wah. It was a good turnout and we’d lots of fun, laughter and food. As usual, I started the meal with sushi, followed by seafood galore. Lots of prawns, mussels, calamari and fish, with crispy seaweed. I also tried the crabmeat with sweet corn soup, mixed seafood laksa and seafood teppanyaki. Nom…nom. It was fun checking out each other’s plate. Good luck and goodbye and please keep in touch. A stem of delicate pink rose for both of you freshly picked from my garden.

Shots from Home

“What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer,

the fulfilment of the promise of the earlier months,

and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade”

~Gertrude Jekyll~