We celebrated the meteorological autumn with a visit to Slimbridge WWT. For meteorologists, summer came to an end on August 31 and autumn began on September 1, running until Thursday, November 30. But for astronomers, summer ended on September 22 in the northern hemisphere and autumn began on Friday, September 23. According to the Met Office, the meteorological seasons consisted of splitting the seasons into four periods made up of three months each. These seasons are split to coincide with our Gregorian calendar making it easier for meteorological observing and forecasting to compare seasonal and monthly statistics. We headed straight to Rushy Hide where a Greenshank greeted us.
Greenshanks were medium-sized slim waders with olive-grey above and silvery-white below, with dark streaking on the breast. They’d long, slightly upturned grey bills with striking grey-green legs. They fed in the shallow water, pecking at the mud, water or vegetation as they walked and caught fish by using a dash-and-lunge technique. They were passage migrants and scarce winter visitors and tend to be solitary when feeding. They frequently bobbed up and down when standing and flew off in a low zig-zag pattern when disturbed, appearing dark above with a prominent white rump and contrasting black underwings.
We’d a fun time playing spotting the Common Snipes. These cryptically coloured waders were seen foraging in the vegetated fringes of the mudflats and skulking under the overhanging shrubs. These superbly camouflaged waders were seen probing under the moist substrate for insects, earthworms, crustaceans or spiders with their elongated bills. Food on the surface were located by sight and picked up, but prey under the mud was located using the touch-sensitive sensory pits at the tip of the flexible bill.
We then checked out the rest of the hides. Unfortunately, the tack piece was empty except for a few sleeping Tufted ducks, Shelducks and Mallards. A large, inquisitive Southern hawker was patrolling the ponds and hawking. through the reed-beds. Hawkers were the largest and fastest flying dragonflies, catching their insect-preys mid air. They do this by hovering and also by flying backwards. They will still be on the wing through to October.
We then heard the bulging calls of the Common Cranes from the Dumbles. We headed for the multi-storey Holden tower overlooking the spectacular River Severn and saw a pair feeding on the mud-flats. There was also a Little Egret hunkering down in the reed-beds. Unfortunately, they were too far to photograph. Plenty of birds were seen flitting in and out of the trees. I was chuffed to see this adorable Chiffchaff moving restlessly through the foliage and sometimes briefly hovering over the branches for insects and spiders. It needed feeding continuously to put on extra fat for the long migration flight back to Africa.
Then we walked back into the grounds walking through the boardwalk. We walked past the enclosure containing the Eider ducks with their flirtatious ‘whoa whoa’ calls. At the end of the lake, there was bedlam where a large gathering of Black headed gulls were scrambling over bird seeds that visitors had thrown in the lake. They had lost their chocolate-brown hood for winter, leaving just 2 dark spots. They were bold and opportunistic feeders and it was so noisy as they scrambled over each other for the food.
We left the bedlam and walked towards the very peaceful enclosure of the Andean flamingos. The ‘fostered’ chicks had grown successfully and were seen wandering around the sand pit. Their parents kept a close, protective watch on their chicks as they explored their habitat. The chicks began to grow their flight feathers after 11 weeks. At the same time, the bill began to hook, allowing the chicks to feed itself. They lose their juvenile grey or white colour gradually over 2-3 year period, at which time their pink feathers began to show.
Then we checked out Hogarth Hide where a Ruff was feeding quite close to the hide. It was feeding on the soft mud, probing or searching by sight for edible items. It primarily fed on insects, especially in the breeding season, and consumed plant material, on migration and in winter. Virtually all wintering Ruffs in Britain were males as they were able to tolerate colder winter conditions because they were larger than females. They stored fat as a fuel and used lipids as the main energy source and kept warm by shivering.
Nearby, a few dozen Black Tailed Godwits were also feeding in the shallow water.The black and white stripes on their wings were visible and now in their winter greyish-brown plumage. They were sociable birds, forming large flocks when feeding, probing the mud with their bill for shellfish, marine snails, worms and shrimps. The female’s beak was longer than the male’s which meant they don’t compete for the same food. Black Tailed Godwits were migratory and spent the non-breeding season in wetland sites in Spain, Portugal and West Africa.
I was chuffed to bits when we spotted the Crane family at the end of the reserve. We’d been following Bart and Ruby since April when she was seen incubating her eggs on the South Lake duck marsh reed-beds. The 2 eggs hatched around 26th May and the two chicks were often spotted around the lake as they foraged for food. Bart and Ruby had done well, protecting their chicks from predation and teaching them how to find the food they needed to grow. Common cranes foraged on land or in shallow water, probing around with their bills for any edible organisms. They were omnivorous largely eating plant matter and animal foods such as earthworms, insects, snails and rodents. They dug in the soil for food items and uprooted tufts of grass to access any invertebrates to feed on. Both juveniles were fledged by late August and their antics provided quite a show for the visitors.
We took the scenic route on the way out and was pleasantly surprised to see one of my favourite butterfly, the Painted Lady, feeding on the Buddleia. It was a long distance migrant which was the most spectacular butterfly migration observed in the UK. They don’t hibernate here and soon will be migrating back to Northern Africa as they couldn’t survived our winter. Although a bit tattered, its pale buffy-orange background colour to the upper wings was still vibrant. The underwing colouration and eyespots had amazing details which was visible from close quarters. On sunny days, they were very active feeding but as soon as the sun disappeared, individuals tended to leave the nectar source and find a bare patch of earth, stone or rock on which to bask and absorbed the heat with their wings spread wide open.
We also came across the last of the new additions to the Giant Lego® Brick Animal Trail in the Puddleduck corner, being surrounded by real ducks. Skye the stork was one of the fourteen individually-designed 1.5m Lego® brick animals that formed a wild adventure trail for kids (and big kids) to inspire them to build a better future for nature. Each sculpture was built by professional Lego builders, taking hundreds of hours and using no less than 253,728 bricks and it took 6,328 bricks of those to build Skye. It was an amazing way of putting the spotlight on some really important species, many of which were endangered. We left Skye with her admirers and walked back to the car.
We also partied at the 20th anniversary of Europe's biggest free festival, the Godiva Festival 2018 which took place between Friday 31 August and Sunday 2 September. It was the largest family music festival in the UK, and was made up of two fields; a Main Field and a Family field, which each offer a different experience in the 12-acre site in Coventry's War Memorial Park. Other features of the festival included the Family Field, an Acoustic Stage, a Paradise Tent, food stalls, a Hilltop bar, craft stalls, an Urban Youth Tent, a vintage market and a fairground. In the Family Field, were attractions such as a petting farm, charity village, Community Stage, Lives and Times area, Greenspace area, Make Space tent, a funfair, cycle training, falconry and visits from local groups such as the Coventry Bears and the Fire Service, alongside displays from dozens of community groups, local scout groups and wildlife organizations.
Although it was a 3-day event, we only went on the Sunday. There was already a queue to get into the parking site and there was a large crowd lingering at the turnstiles. We were early as the gates were only opened at 12 pm. We also wondered whether we were allowed in as we brought along our DSLR cameras which was categorised as professional-looking. I did tweeted/emailed the organisers but I didn’t receive any reply. When the gates opened, we were allowed in, no questions asked. Phew…
The sun was shining throughout the afternoon keeping the crowds in good spirits. We headed for the Family field and made a pit stop at the BBC Coventry & Warwickshire stage which we thought was much smaller than before. The stage was dedicated to showing local and up-and-coming talents, demonstrating the Festival’s commitment to its home origins. The Notables was again present to accompany the performers with learning disabilities. These were professional musicians, formed in response to a request from learning disabled adults to make music as a group.
The Hawkwise Falconry was back again and we managed to get close and personal to the various birds of prey. We then went into the Vintage tent which was heaving that we walked out again. The crowds were beginning to arrive that we decided to head to the main arena walking past a huge funfair with a range of rides for the thrill seekers. There were already hundreds of people milling about, staking their places, having picnics and enjoying the fantastic sunny weather and atmosphere. We cooled down in the Rhythem tent where the main theme was Bhangra to Bollywood: the sounds of South Asian Britain. Vocalist Abi Sampa was on stage with her own unique sound, combining Western popular music elements with qawwali, carnatic and Hindustani classical music.
Then we headed to the Main Stage for the act I wanted to see, Tony Christie. I know there were amazing acts such as Professor Green, Gabrielle, Jonas Blue and Ronan Keating being headlined but somehow this silver-haired crooner took my fancy. I blamed it on Peter Kay
who was credited to the resurgence of the single ‘Is this the way to Amarillo’. The song was re-leased on March 14th 2005 to raise money for Comic Relief. There was a buzz when Christie went on stage and when he sang that song, everyone stood up and did the ‘walking on the spot’ scene, clapping and singing along. It was amazing. We left after his set was over as more people were coming in to see Ronan Keating, who was closing the show later that night. 
I was still high with adrenalin when I got ready for my 3 day conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. My colleague and I flew via Fly-be but our flight was delayed due to the aftermath from Storm Florence that hit the area. The airport was closed causing travel chaos as the airport authority tried their best to clear the backlogs. It was chaos when we finally touchdown at the airport but I’m glad that we arrived safely, albeit 1.5 hours late. We took the taxi to the university and it was another slow ride as we encountered the rush hours. But what greeted us made up for it.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t our accommodation. I could just see Rapunzel letting her hair down for her Prince Charming from one of the towers. This was a mid-19th century St. Leonard’s Hall which could be hired for weddings. Our home-away from home was Chancellor’s Court, located at the foot of the Royal Holyrood Park and Arthur’s Seat. After dumping our luggage, we went for a short walk to check out the town. We’d coffee and cake at a very hipster coffee house and then went to the pre-conference meet-up in the Summerhall Bar. The cafe bar was once the Small Animal Hospital of the Dick Vet School and we were surrounded by an eclectic mix of wall decorations. Unfortunately, I left my camera in my room which was a shame. We introduced ourselves and joined in the fun. It was a fabulous way to break the ice and let our hair down before the conference began.
The Cataloguing and Indexing biennial conference was held at the John McIntyre Conference Centre. This year conference ‘Metadata : Create, Share and Enrich’ showcased the continued need for quality metadata in a data dominated world and those who created, shared , enriched and used it’. The first day was full on with presentations on collaborative cataloguing, metadata revolution, Dewey development, RDA, institutional repository, discoverability in archives, legacy data, metadata mapping, data migration and Marc Edit. There was so much to take and thankfully a lot of these wasn’t new to me. The break was a blessing for our brain to rest before the next assault.
A lot of us wasn’t happy with the seating arrangements because we were crammed so close together and there was no place to put our laptops. It was quite difficult to work without a table. By the end of the day, we made gaps between the chairs so that we could sit comfortably. After a long day, a few brave delegates including moi, decided to climb Arthur’s Seat which loomed behind our accommodation. My room faced the hill and I slept with my curtains opened. When I woke up at around 6.30 am, I saw quite a number of people up there waiting for the sun to rise. I was envious and wished I was up there with them.
Arthurs Seat was the highest point, an ancient dormant that sat 251 metre above sea level with excellent views of the city. It was also the site of a large and well preserved 2000 year old hill fort with a diverse range of flora and geology making it a site of Special Scientific Interest. It was described by Robert Louis Stevenson as
“a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design.”
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to climb up the hill. After about 10 minutes of walking up the very well trodden and eroded path through shrubs and gorses, I was breathless and decided not to continue. I asked the others to go ahead while I waited for them at the bottom. I spent the time people watching and from the edge, there were great views down over Holyrood Palace, the Scottish Parliament, the white roof of Dynamic Earth, and further afield to Leith and the Firth of Forth. From time to time, I did looked up to see figures of the climbers at the top silhouetted against the skyline but I don’t know whether they were my mates. After about an hour, I heard and then saw them climbing down safely. From their photos, it really looked amazing up there.
The 2nd day was the keynote address from Professor Melissa Terras on using library metadata as a discovery in publishing history. She highlighted this when she did a research for her book “Picture-book professors: academia and children’s literature”. After her very informative talk, it was back to cramming topics such as MARC, zine cataloguing, serials standards, World Cat, subject headings, NBK, metadata memory, cataloguing art objects, Linked Open Data and ethical issues in catalogue content standards from some very knowledgeable presenters . Some of these were new to me and it was something which I would like to learn more about.
The highlight of the conference was the dinner at The Caves. We dressed up in our party frocks and walked about 30 minutes into town. The Caves had been magnificently restored from its original 18th century stone vault storage complex, part of the legendary Edinburgh Vaults, a distinct series of chambers formed in the 19 arches of the South Bridge. It was an eerie venue, right under the bustling city of Edinburgh. When we arrived a glass of wine was freely available to everyone but those who don’t drink had to pay £3 for a glass of orange juice. I was furious and put that on my feedback form. Then we walked 3 floors underground for our 3-course meal. Since I opted for a vegetarian option, my starter was Roasted tomato soup which was ok. The main meal was beetroot with chickpeas and artichoke mush which was really a let down. It didn’t even come with any salad or roast potatoes. Pudding was a salted caramel torte which was so-so. I didn’t enjoy my meal but thankfully, the conversations and ambience made up for it,
The third and final day of the conference was the day that everyone was looking forward to. RDA Day covered the latest developments in the RDA cataloguing standard, providing a forum for discussion, learning and sharing. There was focus on the latest developments in the RDA standard and the Toolkit which unfortunately led to more questions than answers. We were lucky that our library was one of the first users of RDA when it was released in 2010 and felt sorry for fellow cataloguers who were just about to adopt it. It would take a lot of time and patience to get used to. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay till the end as we’d a plane to catch and we don’t want to get caught in the Friday evening rush hour. We arrived with plenty of time to spare. Kudos to the CIG committee members for a fantastic conference.
After a 3-day conference, I needed something relaxing to do. Babe suggested checking out the Midlands Air Museum which was just down the road. The Midland Air Museum was started in 1967 by a small group of local aircraft enthusiasts as the Midland Aircraft Preservation Society (MAPS). In 1975 a lease was secured which laid the foundations for a permanent museum. MAPS changed its name in 1977 to Midland Air Museum (MAM) and became a Charitable Trust with Educational Charity status following in 1979. Following the arrival of the Vulcan bomber in 1983 and the Argosy freighter in 1987 the museum moved onto its present site and establishing the Sir Frank Whittle Jet Heritage Centre. MAM became one the first independent aviation museums to achieve the government's Museum and Galleries prestigious registration status in 1990.
After parking, we entered the reception area into the Sir Frank Whittle section where we learnt and absorbed the history of the jet engine and saw and touched examples of one of his early designs. We managed to watch a very cheesy propaganda film with him talking about how to apply for a patent of his invention. On leaving this area, we walked around inside the cramped hanger and climbed up the meteor cockpit and stuck our noses in to the Canberra cockpit. We also heard the typical start up and sortie in progress. We then wandered upstairs in to the gallery display area and checked out artifacts from WW1, WW2 to a full on Saphire jet engine. Although the place tiny, it was a maze of corridors to explore all packed with exhibits. On climbing down the stairs, via the display cabinets we read about the history of the RAF and its Coventry and Warwickshire associations plus a close up on some jet/rocket/piston engines.
Local aviation history was strongly featured in the Wings Over Coventry gallery on the mezzanine floor of the main hangar, showcasing products from local manufacturers which included aircraft exhibits. Most obvious was the huge Armstrong-Whitworth Argosy which dominated the external display area and was the largest airframe; AWA also built many Meteors, Sea Hawks, Javelins and Hunters and an example of each was on display. Also in recognition of the local area's contribution to the war effort, there were WWII related exhibits which included a rare Bristol Beaufighter cockpit section (built locally) and a rear fuselage section from one of the more than 1,800 Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley bombers built here at Baginton. Unfortunately no complete Whitley airframe had survived which was a shame.
From the hanger, we ventured outside, a field filled with aircraft. We headed straight to our favourite aircraft, the Avro Vulcan B.2. It was incredible to see the vast futuristic delta shaped design this close. I bravely climbed the steep steps into the cockpit of this classis V bomber where a very enthusiastic guide explained all of the interior and exterior details. The pilots seats weren’t open to visitors as they were very cramped and contained very fragile safety equipment but I was allowed to sit on the rear seats. It gave me the shivers as the guide relived the lives of those crews that flew it during the Cold War. It was hard to imagine how they sometimes spent nearly 20 hours flying the plane on long distance trips.
Five people could fit in the tiny cramped space not much larger than a London taxi cab as the rest of the plane was dedicated to its war function. Protected under a metal panel was the switch that thankfully was never used to drop the nuclear bomb. While performing conventional combat missions, the Vulcan could carry up to 21 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs inside its bomb bay. From the 1960s, the various Vulcan squadrons would routinely conduct conventional training missions and the aircrews were expected to be able to perform conventional bombing missions in addition to the critical nuclear strike mission the Vulcan normally performed.
The Midland Air Museum's XL360 was the only preserved Vulcan with a name - City of Coventry. It was only given the name after it had left RAF service. Even when in service very few Vulcans were ever given names. She entered service with 617 squadron on the 1st of March 1962, then served with 35 squadron, 230 OCU and 44 squadron before being flown into retirement at Coventry airport on the 26th of January 1982. Although this one didn’t participate in that famous Black Buck raids, the fame of these astonishing machines were secured during the Falklands War.
After getting our fill of this fantastic machine, we got close and personal with the rest of the aircraft on display. From the Vulcan, our next largest aircraft was the locally built Armstrong Whitworth Argosy Freighter, the civil version with the nose door, as opposed to the RAF version, with rear clamshell doors. The main purpose of these doors was for quick loading and unloading. We climbed in the freight hold and moved forward in to the cockpit under the supervision of a guide, who explained the history of the aircraft.
On leaving the Argosy we wandered around the aircraft on display outside which was behind barriers. The only problem for us as photographers were that they were too close together that they photobombed each other in the photographs and the rope barriers was always in the way. The jet aircraft exhibits ranged from the rare Swedish SAAB J29 Tunnan which was the first post-war European swept-wing jet fighter and the only one in the UK; the Dassault Mystère IV A, a first French swept-wing fighter; the English Electric Lightning which was the only all-British Mach 2 fighter, and the mighty American McDonnell-Douglas F-4C Phantom II which was a genuine MiG-killer with combat history over Vietnam.
The incredible variety of designs produced by the British aircraft industry in the 1950s and 1960s was represented by an equally wide range of aircraft from carrier-borne types such as the Hawker Sea Hawk, de Havilland Sea Vixen, Fairey Gannet and Sea Harrier to RAF fighters such as the Vampire, Meteor, Hunter, Javelin and Lightning. The jet bomber force was represented by the English Electric Canberra and this was a rare reconnaissance version and the huge Avro Vulcan 4-engined nuclear bomber. There were also several military trainers including the American Lockheed T-33, the Polish PZL Iskra and the British Vampire T.11. At the back, we walked past more aircraft of a bygone era including two Lightnings and some American cold war aircraft. At the bottom of the site was Victor Nose section the Vickers Viscount aircraft and the Robin Hanger where restoration work was carried out.
And the Wright brothers said they thought they had invented
something that could make peace on earth
(if the wrong brothers didn’t get hold of it)
something that could make peace on earth
(if the wrong brothers didn’t get hold of it)
when their wonderful flying machine took off at Kitty Hawk
into the kingdom of birds but the parliament of birds was freaked out
by this man-made bird and fled to heaven
And then the famous Spirit of Saint Louis took off eastward and
flew across the Big Pond with Lindy at the controls in his leather
helmet and goggles hoping to sight the doves of peace but he did not
Even though he circled Versailles
And then the famous Yankee Clipper took off in the opposite
direction and flew across the terrific Pacific but the pacific doves
were frighted by this strange amphibious bird and hid in the orient sky
And then the famous Flying Fortress took off bristling with guns
and testosterone to make the world safe for peace and capitalism
but the birds of peace were nowhere to be found before or after Hiroshima
And so then clever men built bigger and faster flying machines and
these great man-made birds with jet plumage flew higher than any
real birds and seemed about to fly into the sun and melt their wings
and like Icarus crash to earth
And the Wright brothers were long forgotten in the high-flying
bombers that now began to visit their blessings on various Third
Worlds all the while claiming they were searching for doves of
peace
And they kept flying and flying until they flew right into the 21st
century and then one fine day a Third World struck back and
stormed the great planes and flew them straight into the beating
heart of Skyscraper America where there were no aviaries and no
parliaments of doves and in a blinding flash America became a part
of the scorched earth of the world
And a wind of ashes blows across the land
And for one long moment in eternity
There is chaos and despair
And buried loves and voices
Cries and whispers
Fill the air
Everywhere
~Lawrence Ferlinghetti ‘History of the Airplane”~
We also checked out Bradgate Park to see what the natives were up to. Bradgate Park was renowned for its fine herds of deer and was the only remaining enclosed medieval deer park in the East Midlands. The park was home to a large herd of Fallow deer and Red deer. Unfortunately when we were there, the Red deer was AWOL. As we walked through the park, we spotted small herds of Fallow deer dotted here and there. Some were chilling out under the shade, ruminating while chewing cud, watching the visitors checking them out. For most of the year, males and females were in separate single-sex groups, and large herds aggregated in open areas where there was plenty of food.
The fallow deer went extinct in Britain during the last Ice Age, and was re-established by the Normans for hunting in the 11th century. They subsequently escaped from deer parks and were today the most common deer in England. They were grazing animals and their preferred habitat was mixed woodland and open grassland. Throughout a large portion of the year the sexes remain separated and only congregated during the mating months. The male fallow deer was known as a buck, the female was a doe, and the young a fawn. The breeding season, or 'rut' occurred between October and November where the males made a loud belly belch to proclaim their territory and fight over the females.
Outside the rut, bucks lived in small bachelor herds, separately from the does and fawns. Only bucks have antlers, which are broad and shovel-shaped (palmate). In the first two years, the antler was a single spike. The Fallow was the only British deer with palmate antlers. These increased in size with age reaching up to 70cm long when the adult was 3 - 4 years old. It was found that males with larger antlers had higher mating success, while asymmetrical antlers did not. Large bucks may stop feeding completely during the rut and lose condition as a result, whereas younger bucks hanging around on the fringes continued to eat as normal.
The name Fallow was derived from the deer's pale brown colour. Much variation occurred in the coat colour, with four main variants: common, menil, melanistic, and leucistic – a genuine colour variety, not albinistic. The white was the lightest coloured, almost white; common and menil were darker, and melanistic was very dark, sometimes even black. In summer, their fur was usually reddish-brown, with lighter spots, while in winter it was thicker and greyer, with less distinct spots. A distinguishing feature of the Fallow deer was the tail area which showed a black border surrounding a very pale, almost white area of rump hair. The black often extended along the length of the tail. We spotted this pair in between feeding bouts, laying up in to ruminate and chewing the cud.
We turned back after checking out the herd in the main field. It was a shame that Lady Jane Grey ruins wasn’t opened. We walked along the grassy path and was chuffed to see a Small Copper. A tiny but dazzling butterfly with bright orange forewings, dark brown spots and a thick, dark brown margin. It had dark brown hindwings that were banded with orange. Once-common butterfly, it joined a growing list of shrinking species, despite no discernible habitat loss in recent years, suggesting climate change was having greater impact than previously thought. This sun-loving butterfly was nectaring on the dandelions. It later basked on the bare ground absorbing the sun's rays. Due to the recent good summer, the Small Copper may have several generations between April and October, with the last generation overwintering as a caterpillar
Along the River Lin that flowed through the middle of the Park, a Common Darter was also basking on the stone wall. A summer and autumn species, this dragonfly could be found well into November and may be one of the last on the wing in the UK. The Darter was a red, narrow-bodied dragonfly that hovered around all kinds of waterbodies, darting out to surprise its prey. As their name suggests, Common Darters darted forward suddenly from a hovering position to catch their insect-prey. They then take their catch to a favoured perch to eat it. It was able to remain active in lower temperatures than other species, partly by seeking out sunny spots to warm up in..
As soon as we reached the entrance, we spotted this pair stereotypical “spotty’ Fallow deer crossing the road. Everything stopped in their tracks to let them through. People were pointing their fingers and taking photographs via their telephones and cameras. All eyes were on them as they disappeared in search of food. The Fallow deer’s diet consisted of a range of vegetation and ground plants such as grass and heather. Fresh shoots of holly and bramble bushes were also eaten along with low hanging shoots of trees such as beech and oak. During the winter months when food was scarce they also fed on acorns, fallen nuts and fungi which were plentiful in the Park.
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