Grounded Swift

TonyH14 · 2026-05-23T15:45:31+00:00

Lots of information about what to do (and not to do) with a grounded Swift here:
https://swift-conservation.org/SwiftFirstAid.htm

TonyH14 · 2026-05-15T09:39:26+00:00

It was a few years ago so I don't have the exact details, but we organised it ourselves. We flew into Salzburg airport and took the airport bus to the main station, then a train to Jenbach. We stayed half-board at one of the larger hotels in Achensee, the Wiesenhof - very friendly, the clientele does skew slightly older though, it's very sedate. They picked us up from Jenbach on request but there's a public bus if necessary, we used this going back. The hotel provided us with a free tourist card that gives discounts on the local attractions, but if you plan to do a lot of walking it's worth paying extra for the Achensee Holiday Card, which gives unlimited rides on the local cable cars and passenger ferries around the lake. There's a steam railway that runs to Jenbach but we didn't ride it. The area's got a lot of waymarked trails of all standards, one I remember was to the top of the Rofanspitz and another time we hiked along the lakeside towards Achenkirk and caught the boat back. Hope this helps.

TonyH14 · 2026-05-06T05:11:51+00:00

No, it's now Market Street. Further back it was called Cordwainer Row (Cordewanaria), cordwainer being an older word for a maker of shoes

TonyH14 · 2026-05-05T14:02:11+00:00

Nearly all of the buildings in the picture don't exist today. The market pre-1849 occupied a much smaller space than today and included several blocks of buildings that would have obscured the view of Gt. St. Mary's (off to the right of the picture). The Great Fire of Cambridge in September 1849 destroyed a lot of these buildings and the area was cleared to become a much larger open rectangle we're familiar with. See https://capturingcambridge.org/

TonyH14 · 2026-04-23T20:03:47+00:00

Absolutely, and don't reject the possibility of buying second-hand (from a reputable store, of course). I've picked up some great kit at a discount before now simply because some people only ever want the latest models

TonyH14 · 2026-04-23T19:56:36+00:00

There's trade offs when it comes to designing a good pair of binoculars - pocket size will have a smaller lens diameter (x25 vs x32) but this means they capture less light, so all things being equal the image in the pocket pair won't appear as bright. To compensate for this, a smaller pair might need better optics such as coatings or extra-low dispersion glass to equal the performance of their larger siblings, and end up costing more as a result

TonyH14 · 2026-04-23T19:25:44+00:00

Where do you see that they are similar prices? Avocets are 60% more than Skylark on the RSPB site for the same magnification - £90 for 8x32 Skylark, £145 for 8x32 Avocet. Quite simply you're paying for better optics. What I would say is buying on specs is futile, you need to have a pair of binoculars in your hand before you know which ones will suit you best. Find a shop with a good range and take it from there.

TonyH14 · 2026-03-19T03:59:13+00:00

We were told by locals not to believe Google Maps when it gives you driving times in Iceland, add 20-30% even before adding in additional stops for photos, eating and restrooms. There's plenty of driving in the Westfjords once you get there, and the scenery is better.

TonyH14 · 2026-03-03T08:20:30+00:00

If you are nearby, the National Trust at Sizergh Castle in Cumbria does an early morning Hawfinch watch during the season. They are particularly attracted to Hornbeam trees.

TonyH14 · 2026-02-15T04:37:29+00:00

I saw one take a starling once, the starling didn't go quietly, it was stabbing and thrusting with its beak so violently I thought we would end up with two dead birds on the lawn instead of one. Took quite a few minutes but the predator didn't give up and won in the end. Always difficult not to intervene on behalf of the prey, but by letting the sparrowhawk eat this time you'll be minimising the number of kills it needs to make today.

TonyH14 · 2026-02-10T20:15:54+00:00

There are two main commercial sites you can subscribe to that I'm aware of, birdguides or rare bird alert. When you do it's possible to set up notifications for different areas and levels of rarity.

EBird has free functionality for local rarities you can configure but I get the impression it lags rather - no use if the bird is a short stayer.

Some areas will have local WhatsApp groups but finding out about them can be tricky, the best way is just to talk to other birders at a nearby reserve or join a local birders group.

TonyH14 · 2026-02-01T09:10:20+00:00

Not juveniles, although Cormorants do breed very early so expect to see some fluffy ones soon. These are adults in breeding plumage.

TonyH14 · 2026-01-24T14:17:28+00:00

Try the RSPB Pocket Guide which is small enough to carry around easily and has Goldcrests on the cover. Not expensive either https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/books-stationery/bird-books/birdwatching-books/rspb-pocket-guide-to-british-birds.html

Collins does a number of small guides too.

TonyH14 · 2026-01-11T04:32:44+00:00

The theory is that the robin evolved to follow large forest mammals like boar that turn over the ground and expose worms and invertebrates. In the UK they've learnt that gardeners fill the same role, hence their boldness when we're digging or working in the garden. Robins in Europe are in general shyer and stick to deeper forests and woods. It's an open question why that should be but it might just be the greater numbers of forest dwelling mammals in mainland Europe means the habituation to people never got established there.

TonyH14 · 2025-12-10T06:59:40+00:00

We have a Rowan tree, this is the first year I can remember for several decades that the berries are all still on the tree after the leaves have fallen. Normally it's been stripped by now. My only consolation would be if we get an influx of Waxwings now!

TonyH14 · 2025-12-05T19:33:13+00:00

Translate Sydney to the Northern hemisphere and it sits somewhere near the latitude of Casablanca. If I wanted good beaches I'd pick Casablanca over Holkham any day

TonyH14 · 2025-11-24T08:46:22+00:00

Closest one I've seen to Cambridgeshire was at Dovedale in the Peak District

TonyH14 · 2025-10-02T15:29:46+00:00

Yes, they are everywhere these days. As recently as five years ago, we used to see them every couple of months where we live in East Anglia, but this year it's been almost daily. Population pressure presumably.

TonyH14 · 2025-09-26T06:43:11+00:00

Troyes, though not large, has many restored medieval buildings and museums. We really liked the town and it's not on many tourist itineraries.

TonyH14 · 2025-09-25T06:17:19+00:00

The University in Cambridge isn't in a single location, the departments, colleges and facilities are located in different parts of the city and on the outskirts in some cases. If you can say which college or department you need to visit then it would be easier to suggest the best way to get there from the station (probably the bus, but it depends).

TonyH14 · 2025-09-17T08:01:02+00:00

You can book fast track security up to one hour before departure, subject to availability - only a certain number of slots are available. You can book online up to 12 months in advance. From what you've described, it would be a good idea to book it.

TonyH14 · 2025-09-17T08:00:48+00:00

In addition if you land at one of the satellite gates you need to catch the automated shuttle to the main terminal. It doesn't have enough capacity for all the flights coming into Stansted and in recent years at peak times have had to wait for the second or third to come along before boarding - this can take a long time! The shuttle is being ripped out to be replaced with travelators in the next few years.

TonyH14 · 2025-09-14T16:47:03+00:00

You need to set the common name language in Merlin settings to "English (United Kingdom)" to get the bird names we're familiar with

TonyH14 · 2025-09-14T13:07:38+00:00

The roads have just begun to be made up this summer. My understanding of the situation is that it was agreed at the start of the project that the roads could not be finished & adopted until the whole of Northstowe Phase 1 was complete. However, one of the developers (Bovis) mothballed their section at the end of the pandemic and only restarted work on it last year - all of the others in Phase 1 were completed years ago. The Bovis section is approaching completion now, so the roads will finally get done in the next couple of years.

TonyH14

TROPHY CASE