Big Butterfly Count

So the Big Butterfly Count is over! My total number of counts is about 6, if I had more of a garden I would have done several more. I have seen a few butterflies that I haven't seen before, which is always a nice a surprise, the biggest of which was on my birthday. So the total count of my counts is:

Large White (Pieris brassicae) x1

Speckled Wood (Paragre aegeria) x5

Small White (Pieris rapae) x8

*Small Copper (Lycaena phlaes) x1

Green Veined White (Pieris napi)

*Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus)

*Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithanus) 

The (*) butterflies are the species that I have never seen before. My personal favourite was the Clouded Yellow. I spotted this when out for a walk on my birthday, its bright yellow wings flashed in the Himalayan Balsalm. We chased after it and thought it may have been another species but the shape and brightness of the wings proved that it was in fact a Clouded Yellow. It is a migrant to the UK, so not something you are able to see that often.

There were plenty of other butterflies that I saw out of the count, like Peacock and Red Adrimals. But butterflies wasn't the only firsts for me this summer. I was lucky enough to see Gooseanders and a Black-Tailed Skimmer, photos of both are below. It just shows that once you get out and enjoy nature, even if you are just sat around in a field you will see lots of new things and increase your knowledge of the area around you.

Top (left to right); Red Adrimal, Speckled Wood
Bottom (left to right); Gooseander, Black-Tailed Skimmer

You can still upload your results from your surveys until the end of August by clicking on this: Big Butterfly Count


I hope you guys have seen special things this summer. What is your total surveys and what did you see? Please comment and let me know.

December Month!

December has been a mixed month, with lots of deadlines but lots of fun at the same time. The main theme throughout this month is Christmas. My housemates and I have our own Christmas Eve and Christmas Day earlier in the month before we go home. We have a house party on Christmas Eve, this years involved Articulate and a Harry Potter Drinking game, which was a lot of fun! On Christmas day we have secret Santa and we cook a Christmas dinner, we cooked for 8 people and there was plenty of food for everyone. I was very lucky and I got a small box which had a photo frame in and had been decopauged with animals on it, a large cross stitch of African savannah and a book on how knit zoo animals, I am going to need to get a lot better at knitting before attempting any of those! Sadly, I don't have any pictures of them as they are still in Bangor.

After deadlines, it was time to go home and get ready for the real Christmas, I was also very lucky and got lots of craft things and other objects to keep to occupied! I helped with Christmas dinner and made the roast potatoes and helped prep the veg and serve up. On Boxing day we went over to my Grandmas, to have my third and final Christmas dinner!! It was lovely to see them all and we had several hours of fun playing cards after exchanging presents.

The day after arriving I joined my dad and his partner on a walk through an area near Oldham, the details of which are on the previous post.

My next adventure after this, was heading over to Birmingham on the 29th to see friends. I stayed over in a hotel by myself for the first time and it was quite weird, I have to admit. I didn't feel comfortable to head to into the big city for tea so I had my left over sandwich from lunch! But I am sure I will be better for next time. I went around the bullring and was treated to a visit to the SeaLife centre there, it was very good. On the second day, me and some other friends went to the art museum, in which I saw a beautiful quote.

This hath no end,
My sweetest friend,
Our loves be so,
No ending know.
-English Posy 17th Century

Later we went around the bullring again, this time I did treat myself to a book journal and a address book. Who wouldn't?

On New Years Eve, I went back to my dads in Liverpool, we didn't really do a lot but stare at the TV but it was nice to be there. Plus his partner has two cats, which are lovely and I got lots of cuddles off one in particular, which makes a change.

Well as you can see not a very interesting month but it is the busiest I am going to be for a while. The only thing I have to look forward to in this month is exams and deadlines!! Hope you all had a wonderful December and that your January isn't as dull as mine!

Delph, Castleshaw & Harrop Edge Walk

This walk takes place in the South Pennines, near Manchester.

This walk goes through the town of Delph, which contains a lot of mills, I didn't think a town could hold that many mills! But it was nice to see them, despite them being run down and abandoned. Some may think that they should be knocked down, I think that they add character to the town. It would be nice to see something happen to them, maybe one should be turned into a museum about the history of mills in Delph and through the North West and maybe the effect of them throughout not just the UK but if they had a wider impact throughout the world, considering that we used to have a large trading empire.

A part of the walk went along the Dobcross Malt which was an old track along which donkeys would drag carts along to some of the mills. It was a nice flat walk. Through some of the walk there was a nice river, which at one point we saw a group of ducks standing at the top of a small artificial waterfall. I was able to get some good photos of a Mallard grooming.

The next part of the walk led us into the hills, we walked past Georgian churches and refurbished farm houses. On the way back down we walked over a reservoir which had beautiful surroundings.

We set of relatively late for this 7 mile walk so when we reached the reservoir the sun was starting to set, the light of which lit up the hills. Another thing that was nice to see was geese grazing on the grass by the water.

Overall this was a nice walk that wasn't challenging, I found myself not taking that many photos as I just took in the scenery. Remember, when on walks, out in the country or generally through life, to look up from you feet and take in what is around you. Yes, you will make trips and slips but you will always find your feet and move on.

Hope you all have had a good holiday season.

Conwy

With my time off I have done a little bit of exploring around Bangor and North Wales. One of my first adventures was off to a little town on the North Welsh coast, called Conwy. The town is built within the castle walls.The castle was built by the English monarch Edward I in the years 1283 and 1289. 

Conwy Castle and Town Walls © Crown copyright (2013) Visit Wales

As you can see by the above picture the town is a lovely little place, it doesn't take long to walk around the small town. There are some lovely little shops, and when I say little I mean it. The oldest building in Conwy is the Aberconwy house, which is now a National Trust shop, it was built in the 14th Century. A warning to tall people when visiting this shop, mind the wooden beams! Along the Conwy beach is the smallest house in Great Britain, the building is 1.8m wide and the last person who inhabited the house was 6' and 3" tall! However, in the 19th century it was deemed too small to live in, so the owner went around the country measuring all the small houses and found that he had lived in the smallest. You can have a look inside the house (Adult: £1, Child: 50p). 

Smallest house in Great Britain

 As you walk along the beach to the house you can see across the water to Llandudno Junction, which you can easily walk to over the bridge (10min walk max.). In Llandudno Junction there is a Cineworld, Pizza Hut, KFC and Mcdonalds. However, if you want to go on exploring a little more, once you walk off the bridge you can follow the coast a bit further, this is a perfect walk when the sun is setting. It also gives you a good chance to see some coastal birds. 

Now back to the Castle, it is owned by the National Trust. You can walk along the walls of castle, for most the way round the town (for free, I think).  Once you enter the main castle you can learn a bit more about its history and truly appreciate how the King lived there and how the castle defended itself.

Even though this may not be a very large castle, I still think this is awe inspiring just to look at the towers and some of the old staircases, how difficult it must have been to live in the castle. I would find it interesting to have seen how the everyday life of the people would have been effected by the on goings in the castle. 

When you are walking through the castle, you have to go up some of the towers. Only one tower has got especially narrow stairs, the others are well spaced and easily to go up and down. The view you get from the top of these is beautiful on a clear day. You can see all of the harbor and the sea. If you go to the castle around springtime and on a warm day then you maybe lucky enough to seeing some of the birds which nest within the castle. There where a few pigeons but the main bird that nested with the castle walls was the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus). I managed to get some pictures of some a the chicks, they can be difficult to see due to how well their feather blend in with the nest material. 

Everytime I visit this little town, I understand more and more why people live here and have it on their place to retire list! All pictures that aren't credited are taken by myself. Here are some websites that you may want to look at if you are interested in going or want to find out more:

• Welcome to Conwy - http://www.conwy.com/
• Aberconwy House - http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/aberconwy-house/
• Attractions of Wales - http://www.attractionsnorthwales.co.uk/attractions/britains-smallest-house

Here are some more of the pictures, including that of the Herring Gull chicks. Hope you have enjoyed the blog and are encouraged to visit this place.

Three Herring Gull Chicks

Herring Gull Chick

View from one of the towers

Don't go falling down this!

Kings Head

Three Bridges that leave the castle, from left to right, car and foot bridge, foot bridge (have to pay £1 to get on) and the train bridge.

Selby Abbey

On Sunday I was able to visit Selby in Yorkshire to go to see family and for the first time I went into Selby Abby. It has stood for nearly 1000 years!

The idea to build the Abby in Selby came from Benedict ( a monk from France) who had a vision of St. Germain where he was told to go and start a new monastery in England. He was told that the site would be marked the presence of three swans. His journey led him to the River Ouse at Selby, where there were three swans and ever since three swans have been the Abby arms.

It is a beautiful building and I would recommend anyone to go who is near the area. As this doesn't take long, you may want to visit York and explore the city which is such a lovely place to go. And I am sure if you enjoy history or beautiful architecture then you will love these places.

If you want to find out more about Selby Abby then visit this website:
www.selbyabby.org.uk

Natural History Museum

The thing I most looked forward to when visiting London, was going to the Natural History Museum! When we were in the queue, I was jumping up and down like a kid going to Disneyland. =) 

 

So here is the building, it is a beautiful building and when it gets darker blue lights light the building up. Alfred Waterhouse was the architect that designed the Waterhouse building, it was opened to the public on 18th April, 1881. The site chosen for this building was originally home to the 1862 International Exhibition building, once described as the' ugliest buildings ever raised in England', for more information on the history of this building go to: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/history-architecture/

When you enter the building you are greeted by Dippy the Diplodocus. Who lights up!! 

Surrounding Dippy is several display cases with special fossils and creatures. Off the central hall is corridors to different sections of the museum. The only one we didn't get chance to see was the dinosaur section, as we didn't have time to wait in the queue..ah well a reason to go back! I had 4 favorites, these aren't in order.

1. Darwin Centre - A huge egg shaped dome which collections are kept in. When walking through the dome you get some sneak peaks into the book collections (amazing!) and bug collections are shown throughout. 

2. Hummingbird display, it was amazing! There must have been nearly 100 birds in one display case surrounding a tree. It was incredible to see. 

3. The Treasures in the Cadogan Gallery, this the room with very special artifacts that the museum allows visitors to see, it include the fossil of Archaeopteryx, the first discovered link between birds and dinosaurs. Along with some of Darwin's writings. 

4. The marine mammal section, the wall was filled with so many fossils it was just awe-inspiring to see them all. 

Marine Mammal Wall

Hummingbird Display

Close up of hummingbirds

The Great Auk in foreground and in the background is the skeleton of a  Dodo

Archaeopteryx fossil

1st ed. of Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

For anyone who has even the slightest interest in natural history you should go and visit this museum, a warning though if you get there early, visit the dinosaur section first! Before it becomes packed. But overall a really good day, oh and if you have kids there is plenty of things for them to do. A great way to learn. Just one final shot of Darwin himself.

London

Big Ben!

 London 2012

Me and boyfriend went away for a weekend to London, we stayed at the Premier Inn in Victoria. On the first night there we went for a little walk to see what sights were about. We got to see the houses of parliament and Big Ben. Along with Westminster Abbey and the London Eye. It was a bit gloomy but it was a nice walk. Afterwards we went to Leicester Square for some food (some awesome restaurants there!) and to see The Hobbit in 3D and HFR. It was amazing!! The Italian restaurant served gorgeous food.

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The next day we went to the Natural History Museum, which was just pure nerd heaven for me! There was a lot of things to look at. One of the best rooms was the mammal room, it had a life size replica of a Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus). However, we didn't get a chance to go into the Dinosaur room. If we had known how busy it was going to get I think we would of looked at that section first. But I so plan to go back one day and manage to look at it all. 

Natural History Museum

On the last day we had planned to go to the Sea Life Aquarium, however because the weather was so nice. My boyfriend decided that it would be a better idea to go for a walk and look at all the sites rather than spend it indoors. At first I was a bit iffy about the plan but it was the best idea. We went for a stroll and saw several of the sights. We found a classic little sweet shop called Hardy's. It was lovely..so many good sweets. Some of the sights we saw were; Trafalgar Square, St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace. 

London Eye

St. Bride's Church

The Mall

Buckingham Palace

Trafalgar Square

St. Pauls Cathedral