The Countryside Code

It's not just the Fat Tuesday Music Festival 2022 (blog) that is being blessed by gorgeous weather, but you may well take advantage with a lovely walk in the countryside this weekend, for example, in Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve (above). But are you aware of The Countryside Code? If not, here are the salient points; for more detail see the The Countryside Code itself online (website):

Respect other people

• Consider the local community and other people enjoying the outdoors 

• Park carefully so access to gateways and driveways are clear

• Leave gates and property as you find them

• Follow paths but give way to others where it is narrow

Protect the natural environment 

• Leave no trace of your visit, take all your litter home

• Do not have BBQs or fires

• Keep dogs under effective control 

• Dog poo – bag it and bin it

Enjoy the outdoors

• Plan ahead, check what facilities are open, be prepared

• Follow advice and local signs and obey social distancing measures

The Bale House 'Visitors' Centre' Opens Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, Monday the 19th of July, the new visitors' centre for Hastings Country Park, The Bale House, is due to open at Fairlight (HBC), I look forward to visiting soon. 😊

Crossing Hastings Country Park New Signs etc...

Yes, I'm still wandering backwards and forwards across Hastings Country Park when I have the time, which I do my best to ensure as much as possible, and new signs have appeared here and there, notably at the east and west ends, eg up at the top of the steps on the East Hill (above). 

And I'm still 'spotting' birds this year too, Dunnocks and Stonechats aplenty over the east end of the Park, as well as the more regular Robins and Blackbirds singing away right across the Park, and Blue Tits and Great Tits too, not to forget the 2 Goldfinches I saw recently, and a Jay too (although that was in Alexandra Park 😉).

And a new sign has been erected at the east end of the Park, at last!

A closer look of the information provided, and close by is the...

... new Hastings Country Park Visitor Centre at Fairlight (HBC website), made of straw, and funded by the European Union, one of our final grants from them I'd imagine, and part of their UP STRAW programme (website). Apparently due to open at the end of this month, behind time, whatever, The Bale House should open this summer, a wee bit delayed because of, guess what, the COVID-19 Crisis...

I do love Hastings Country Park!

Happy Easter and another Bird Blog!

I'm having a few technical problems with writing my blogs, and they should be more frequent in a week or two, but I'm borrowing resources for now, many thanks friends, and I had to say Happy Easter! Whatever that means to readers, but to me it certainly is a time of year where we witness birth and renewal with the arrival of Spring. Also, we usually feel very positive and optimistic around now in 'normal' times, and may those feelings continue throughout this year, fingers crossed... 

Anyway, my travels have continued across Hastings Country Park since lockdown began just over a year ago, and I have witnessed many of the birds I saw last Spring and early Summer, well, similar birds, at least. I had been particularly enchanted by a Song Thrush sitting up in the same tree in Barley Lane every day for a few weeks, singing his heart out, but recently he moved on, presumably his singing had made its mark on a potential partner: Love is in the air! But I have heard Song Thrushes all across the Park too, and still regularly hear one in Fairlight Glen, so I'm not too disappointed, yet. I thought sharing a link to YouTube and an example of the Song Thrush in full voice would be nice, indeed!

I've seen numerous birds of prey, Sparrowhawks, Kestrels, and Buzzards for example, but chatting to another mature gentleman, certainly more mature than me in a couple of ways, 😉 and he made me very jealous that he's seen an Osprey in Warren Glen! I wish he hadn't told me, although I'm glad he did really, as they are seen every now and then apparently, and I'd hate to miss one, so my awareness is now pretty acute when I walk into the Glen. You never know, I may be lucky and see an Osprey one day...

As I said above, I've seen many of the birds I've talked about in 10 blogs or so over the last year, including Chiffchaffs, Robins, Blackbirds, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Whinchats, Yellowhammers and Linnets, but... I am now seeing a bird I hadn't seen for years, the elegant Long-tailed Tit, and not just the one either, but I have to admit that has been over the garden fence of a property in Fairlight, feeding off bird feeders, but great stuff!
 
Enjoy your long weekend folks, and remember our Emergency Workers, and other Key Workers, who are at work 24/7, my respect and thoughts with them, cheers!

The photograph of the Song Thrush is thanks to the RSPB and Chris Gomersall, the Osprey thanks to The Wildlife Trusts and Peter Cairns, and the Long-tailed Tits thanks to Sussex Wildlife Trust and Bob Eade. Many thanks to all, cheers!

Hastings Country Park Visitor Centre & Temporary Footpath Closure

The footpath that goes between the new (and old) Hastings Country Park Visitor Centre at Fairlight/Firehills and the larger of the disused sand quarries is being temporarily closed from the 21st September until the week commencing the 12th of October. This is to enable work on the new Visitor Centre and for path resurfacing. 

Although planned to be opened this summer, problems, including the Covid-19 Crisis/pandemic, have seen the postponement of the opening of the new Visitor Centre, as can be seen from the photograph above (taken today) there is still some way to go. But this 'sustainable' building, with its straw bale construction, and using natural and recycled materials, will be an energy efficient low carbon building, and is certainly very interesting, I can't wait for it to open!

For more information please go to the Council website.

Walk to Firehills, Sloes, and a Recipe for Sloe Gin - plus!

View from Firehills Earlier

I own up, I've been walking over to Firehills, and usually beyond to Pett Level/Pett Village/Winchelsea/Icklesham/Rye (whichever), for years, but since the Covid-10 lockdown began, I walked across Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve for my daily exercise (eg see blog from March), and still do more days than I don't, and taken more notice. So, lovely, and not too hot this morning, with a decent breeze, and, okay, I've noticed them lots before, and I've already picked berries and placed a couple of bags of them in my freezer. Anyway, SLOE BERRIES! There are so many about, and so early in the year to be ready to pick, indeed, they've even been dropping free already.

Sloe Berries at Firehills Earlier

So what do I suggest? For a start, if you like sloe gin (and other sloe-based recipes, eg sloe port and sloe brandy), hurry up and pick your sloes before it's too late. Then wash the berries, leave to dry, and place into freezer bag/s to be frozen; this helps them to develop better, and to crack them when they are later placed into gin whilst frozen, helping the flavour and colour to come out. Otherwise, if using the berries straight away, then comes the laborious task of pricking every berry with a sharp knife! I strongly recommend freezing them before using them. 😉

SLOE GIN EASY RECIPE: There are many sloe gin recipes about on the internet and in books, this is my basic recipe, I tend to add a little less sugar (personal preference) and, depending on how many berries I've picked, usually a few more berries, especially as I use the berries again a few months later.

Place 500 grams of frozen/pricked berries into a litre of gin in a larger sealable container, stir in 250 grams of caster sugar. Then shake every day for at least a week (I tend to shake every now and then after the first week, you gradually see the colour going red), and leave for 2-3 months. Again, I'm impatient and tend to not last the 3 months, and I've never been disappointed. Then pour off the berries into sterile bottle/s. I wash the bottle/s (unless it still contains a wee bit of gin, which I make sure a 75ml bottle does), and use 2 or 3 of those smaller glass-sized wine bottles which have been washed, then had gin swirled around inside them to sterilize.

Here's one I made earlier!

Drink when you like, but better to leave for a little while to mature, if you can remain patient enough! Then, what do I do with the berries? Use them again, that's what! Years ago I had a book with recipes in it (no idea where that went, I think I may have sold it with other books when I was short of money) which had a recipe for sloe brandy, which is very good (a bit like brandy with ameretto, so I discovered - if you don't like almonds, give them a miss!), and I found recently a recipe for sloe port on the internet.

SLOE BRANDY: To the sloe berries, following the gin being poured off, add up to 200 grams of caster sugar (amount can be personal choice), a bottle of brandy and some crushed almonds (I may try almond essence next time, just to see if it works, and I don't see why not). Shake for 2 months, leave for another month, then drain off into sterile bottle/s. Leave for a month or so, your choice, and drink!

SLOE PORT: Similar to sloe brandy, only add to the used gin-soaked sloe berries 100 grams of caster sugar, 200mls of brandy, and a bottle of red wine (I used a reasonably cheap 14% full-bodied red from the New World). Shake daily, if you remember, for 6-8 weeks, leave for a month or so, and drain the sloe port off the berries, 'tis good!

Or you can look up other recipes on the internet, enjoy!

Sunday Ramble, and revised public loos opening times...

As I mentioned an update about the public toilets opening times I thought I'd get it out of the way first, meaning you don't have to read through my rambling to get there. On my way back from my daily exercise/walk I met up with Judy who informed me that the public toilets at the Stade and those at the Pelham Beach car park, are now open from 9.00 am to 10.00 pm daily, or from 09.00 to 22.00 in 24 hour-clock-speak.

Above is the wee stream that descends Warren Glen, this morning at about 06.35, now I think it's quite cute, and the lighting wasn't too bad, considering, however... 

Before I reached Warren Glen I had a very quiet start to the morning, I saw a couple of lads from a distance in the town centre soon after leaving home, I think they were either acting suspiciously at 05.20 in the morning, or they feel the cold! They both had hoods up, it looked like from jackets, but they were a way away, so they could have had hoodies up plus jackets on top, anyway folks, was this suspicious, do you think, or are modern day youths just that soft? I'm wearing a polo shirt at the time... 😉 

Oh, and I didn't see anyone else until I got up to Barley Lane, when I think it was Neil and his wife walking along in front of me, at pretty much the same speed as me, so I didn't catch up with them before I turned off right, and down into Fairlight Glen, where I actually met someone for the first time. It was about 8 someones actually, all aged somewhere between nappies and 18, probably about 15/16 years of age, give or take, but acting closer to 12. I was nice and friendly, as I always am, said 'hello' and smiled, all I got back was some strange animal noises from one or two of them, giggles, and a shouted "BALDY!" Now, they'd probably been out all night, I couldn't smell alcohol, so I'm guessing they'd been sniffing gas (which I have mentioned in a blog before), seems to be the drug of choice for youngsters these days, and the only reason I can imagine for 8 young lads to be spending the night 'out in the country' together...

This (above photograph of pony and Warren Glen) is after I had passed the posse, and walked back over into Warren Glen, took the photograph of the stream, carried on up to Firehills and the far eastern edge of Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve, then walked back to above Warren Glen, where I had a wee chat, more sensible discourse this time, with the 6 ponies (the other 5 are to our left/the east of the photograph). 

But I had been walking along, musing about my own teens, and how I had never taken drugs (a big NO NO for my parents, and for me, fortunately), but had enjoyed the similar benefits of testosterone and adrenaline, played football most of the time, or watched football, or tried to 'get off' with girls, sometimes did, sometimes got into fights (another big NO NO for my parents was carrying a knife, so I never did, fortunately, my mum always said that if you carry a weapon and get in a fix, you'd use it, she was most likely correct there, indeed, my brothers and I weren't even allowed one of those wee little penknives!). Oh yes, and we used to go to clubs to meet girls, drinking in a pub beforehand, or to parties with alcohol (usually a large bottle of cider or a Party Seven), and like all youngsters, we knew which pubs we could get away with drinking in whilst underage... But where did those 50 years go?!?

Thank you for bearing with my rambling, it was pretty quiet for birds this morning, but I shall be writing my latest 'Bird Blog' very soon, anyway, cheers folks and be careful!

And I didn't even mention Led Zeppelin (youtube) 😉

My Daily Walk Today - Just a few photographs

Firehills

My daily exercise/walk earlier today and another stroll to the far eastern edge of Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve and back, as I said, just a few photographs...

Looking across Warren Glen 

Not such good light as the previous photograph, but looking down into Fairlight Glen.

Birds Blog IV - Warblers and Flycatchers

So, here I am writing my Birds Part IV blog, Warblers and Flycatchers, with the image of a Wood Warbler and its brood (above) from the appropriate chapter of John Gooders' The Complete Birdwatcher's Guide. These birds mostly eat insects, although some do vary their diet slightly, particularly in the autumn before they migrate southwards, when many take advantage of fruit and berry crops. Sadly, I am not aware that I have seen any Wood Warblers since March the 23rd, so I shall write no more about this specific member of the group today, however...

What I have seen are Whitethroats (above) and Blackcaps. I saw my first Whitethroat quite early in the lockdown period, right at the eastern edge of Hastings Country Park Wildlife Reserve, sitting on a shrub singing his little heart out for me! More likely he was telling me to 'take a walk.' Anyway, go to YouTube to hear the Whitethroat song. A summer visitor to Britain from the fringes of the Sahara in Africa, probably spotted early due to our 'summer' coming so early this year. Indeed, the Whitethroat is an example in this group that does eat berries as well as insects. More recently I have seen other birds collecting nesting material for a second 'brood' this summer, there is so much food around for them, and they nested early the first time when humans were quite rare for them to see due to the lockdown.

Blackcaps are another of these birds who also eat berries in addition to insects and are mostly summer visitors, although they sometimes remain in southern England over warm winters. Warblers can be difficult to differentiate, and so I may well have seen others but not been aware. But I have seen the insect eating Chiffchaff with its distinctive call that it was named after, a summer visitor, and the insect and berry eating Garden Warbler, another summer visitor with a call similar to the Blackcap (YouTube).

What I have not noticed, although I may well have seen one fly by me, is the rarer Dartford Warbler (above). Why may I have seen this rare warbler? Well, a local dog walker I have met regularly at Firehills told me that, about a month ago, a large number of birders had descended upon Firehills to see the Dartford Warblers that had been spotted there, so I am mentioning the bird in this blog, and it is quite a fine looking bird, as well as being rare, I just wish I had seen it...

Anyway, that's enough today for this chapter of my bird observations, and the next chapter of the book* is called Chats and Thrushes, so the Birds Part 5 blog will be called similar, please do watch out for it, and many thanks for reading the blog today.

By the way, although not originally from the county, ornithologist John Gooders* used to live in East Sussex before he died 10 years ago sadly, and had previously chaired the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and been the Mayor of Winchelsea, consequently, the Speaker of the Cinque Ports for a year (website).

* John Gooders The Complete Birdwatcher's Guide.

The photograph of the Dartford Warbler is reproduced with many thanks to Derek Middleton, and of the Whitethroat with many thanks to Nigel O, and thanks too to the Sussex Wildlife Trust and RSPB respectively.

3 Months Birdwatching with Steve...

This is one of my own books about birds in the British Isles, and the book* that I will be using to help create an order in which to deal with my own list of birds seen since the Coronavirus Crisis 'lockdown' commenced on the 23rd of March 2020. I started out with a daily walk as my exercise nearly every day in that 3 months, and am still maintaining a similar walk, staying in the Borough of Hastings all that time, but managing a round trip of a little over 8 miles each day from my home in central Hastings. "How did I manage this?" I hear you ask, well I walk to the eastern edge of Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve (website) and back, early every morning, mostly, to the gate at the eastern edge of the park, and eastern border of Hastings Borough Ore Ward, at Fairlight/Firehills; see photograph below.

Gateway to Hastings!

You'll gather from my having appropriate books that I already had an interest in birds, indeed, I have been interested in birds since childhood and early ownership of The Observer's Book of British Birds. But I have never been a birdwatcher as a specific hobbyist, though my interest has increased enormously since March and enjoying seeing birds between the Gateway to Hastings in the east and the old town end of Barley Lane (below) in the west, mostly in Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve.

I shall not only be referring to The Complete Birdwatcher's Guide, but also to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) website, and if I don't acknowledge anyone else for photographs borrowed, I shall pass on my thanks and acknowledgement to the RSPB now, as they'll be their's; as my own camera skills and equipment are completely hopeless for photographing wee birds that won't sit still!

So, if like me you are interesting in wee feathered creatures, watch out for my first 'bird' blog which will be entitled Sparrows, Finches and Buntings, many of them seen!


* John Gooders The Complete Birdwatcher's Guide