Spider-Monkey

I've been meaning to post these pictures for awhile now but somehow I never got round to them.  These pictures where taken at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park and we were lucky as just as we arrived at the enclosure the keepers opened up their enclosure to let the Spider Monkeys out.

As you can imagine, they are agile creatures and seemed quite at home with people being on their territory.  I was quite surprised how close they would come to the public as they explored their surroundings and sped across their runs above our heads.

Skying

First post of a new year and earlier this week I heard the telltale thump of a twin-rotored Chinook helicopter passing over the house.  I didn't really think anything of it until I saw on the nine o clock news a Chinook that was shoring up a breached flood defence in the north west of England and it got me wondering if this was the same aircraft that I had photographed earlier in the day.

I've taken the odd picture of military helicopters passing over in recent months but I've never really had enough shots to make a post.  The Chinook pictures are below combined with some gunships (I'm guessing Apaches) that I've spotted in recent months.

Now You See Me

It's amazing what you can see in the mist.

On a normal morning, I can look out of the kitchen window and hardly see a spider web. When the mist descends, the effect is truly spectacular.  Dozens, (and I do mean dozens) of spider webs pop into existence.  The gazebo, the hedge, the swings,  any surface where the spiders can attach themselves.  The moisture in the air clings to the delicate threads and brings them into sharp focus.

Of course with lots of spider webs, there are lots of spiders.  Not surprisingly, most of them are the common garden spider.

This one spun a web that went from the edge of the house to the fence - easily six feet.

Apologies for the delay with this post as well.  I've just upgraded my computer so it's taken a little longer than anticipated to get everything back on (the joy of upgrading to a 64-bit system from a 32).

Elusive

The first time I set eyes on a humming-bird Hawk-moth was  around ten years ago.  I remember it was a hot summer and I just happened to spot it hovering around one of the flower boxes.  They seemed to have a particular love of Bizzie Lizzies.  Subsequently, we made sure that we always had the flowers in the garden to try and tempt them in.  We saw them twice more,  always when the summer was hot.  I've not seen one in England in the last five years.

So it was a bit of a surprise to see one zooming around the Fox's Brush in the flower bed  during the last week of October.

They are a thing of beauty, with their long tongues dipping in and out of the flowers.  They move quickly but make it look effortless.  I imagine to keep it's wings beating at that speed they need a lot of nectar to maintain it.

Frustratingly, there was a trinity of factors that conspired to make it difficult to photograph it.  Bad light, a small fast moving subject and a camera focus that refused to do just that.  Out of forty shots there were only these ones that actually were passable enough to put on the blog.

Castle to Coast

 During our trip back to the north east, we managed to grab a couple of hours in Northumberland, driving along the Coastal Route which stretches the length of the Northumbrian coastline.  It would have been nice to have travelled up to Seahouses and Bamburgh Castle but unfortunately time was against us so we had to stay relatively local.  Still, you don't need to travel a great distance to find some nice scenery.

The village of Warkworth is dominated by the castle which dates back to 1157.  It is a ruin, but a relatively complete and interesting one.  Northumberland has more castles than any other county in England.  If you go to school in Northumberland I will guarantee you there will a school trip to a castle.  It's the law.

 The village itself is pretty, with most of the houses made of stone.  Traffic is busier than you would expect, mainly due to the Coastal Route running straight through the village.

Clouds over Warkworth Village

Just a short drive from Warkworth is the coastal village of Alnmouth.  If you have ever driven up the A1 in Northumberland you will have seen it, built into a hillside.  Strangely, for growing up in Northumberland this was the first time that I had actually visited.

The beach is impressive, but then it is Northumberland.

Coquet Island

 

Blog on the Tyne (Sorry!)

This week we spent three days in the north east of England, catching up with family and friends.  It's been a couple of years since I have been back on home ground and walking around the city where I used to work it felt strange to see how much had changed in my absence and was (to my mind at least) a relatively short space of time.

Our base for the visit was the Copthorne Hotel on the Quayside.  With all of the visits we had scheduled we didn't really get time to stray very far from the Quayside itself.  Newcastle was also one of the host city's for the Rugby World Cup which was why we had to go midweek, as the cheapest hotel we could find on a weekend was £300 per night! due to matches being played.

I took the pictures with a combination of my trusty Olympus and my iPhone.  In fact, the pictures that I like best (the Sage at night and the black and white shot of the Millennium Bridge) were taken with the iPhone.

The High Level Bridge

The setting sun on the Tyne Bridges

The Millennium Bridge from The Baltic 

The view from the Millennium Bridge

Bridge and Baltic Arts Centre

The Sage Concert Venue

The Baltic or to give it it's full name, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is an amazing building on the Gateshead Quays that used to be a flour mill.

I do enjoy contemporary art, when it is done well.  This visit disappointed Terry and myself  due to what we perceived to be weak exhibitions. There was however one show stopper of a moment.  Take the lift to the fourth floor and walk around the obscured entrance to the gallery and you are greeted by this.

 It's not what you expect to see 4 floors up.  The 17 tonne truck is part of a exhibition by Fiona Tan.   We spent most of our time wondering how they got the truck up on the fourth floor.

The Sage at night

Runners training outside our hotel window

Sunset from the Quayside