The Tale of Ducks de Luxe…. More About Hydrogen… And More About Clestrain…..
by Bernie Bell - 08:58 on 19 April 2023
The Tale of Ducks de Luxe….
Some of our neighbour’s ducks turned up on our pond one morning. Most of the frogspawn has hatched and the taddies can swim deep to get away from the ducks, so that’s OK. They ate some of the duck-weed - which is a definite plus - and were having a whale of a time - swimming about, wandering around by the pond, nibbling the grass and showing a lot of interest in the sedge mound – where we might find some eggs!
I’m not sure what the resident vole will make of them being there - they’ll have to learn to live with each other…
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=16243
We tend to name things – we’re calling the vole, Voleen – after the Dolly Parton song Joleen, and the ducks are Ducks de Luxe, after the band from the ’70’s.
Then – Tuesday morning – just after 6 o’clock - Ducks de Luxe were on the pond again, swimming, splashing - having a lovely time.
Then - one of them stood stock-still by the seat at the end of the pond - stood there for a few minutes - shook itself - and went back to swimming.
I thought – ‘It’s laid an egg. We’ll look, later’.
Then – I saw a Hoodie (Crow) swoop in. Got my binoculars, and there it was, gorging on the egg. The eggshell can go in the compost bin – nothing wasted.
Then – the ducks came up to the terrace in front of the house and emptied the dish of water that we put out for the hedgehogs…..
We’ll keep checking for eggs…..
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More About Hydrogen…
…from Steve Drury….
https://earthlogs.org/2023/04/18/hydrogen-and-how-the-earth-formed/
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And More About Clestrain…..
…..from the JRS……
“Help us build a Road to the Arctic
Our £150k ‘Road to the Arctic’ fundraising campaign will kick-start the building of the proposed John Rae Arctic Centre.
We are delighted to announce the launch of a major fundraising challenge to build an access road to the Hall of Clestrain – a first and vital step towards the creation of an internationally-renowned visitor centre, that will share the true story and ethos of Dr John Rae. It will also cement Orkney’s past, present and future connection with Arctic exploration and discovery.
Donations have already been made to the Road to the Arctic Fund, including £5,000 from Highland Park, £2,000 from Arizona businessman, David Connell, £12,000 from another Connecticut private donor, and a sizeable donation from cruise operator Adventure Canada.
Our President Andrew Appleby has also begun fundraising with a sponsored challenge to swim 8000 strokes in Orkney’s icy waters; a stroke for every mile between Orkney and York Factory, one of the Hudson’s Bay trading posts where John Rae would have served, and back. Hundreds of pounds have already been banked (you can keep abreast of his progress in news posts on this site).
‘The road is an important milestone for the project and we will be excited to see construction begin on what will be a hugely valuable asset for Orkney and our culture.’
– President of The John Rae Society, Andrew Appleby
£84 will ‘Fund a Foot’ of the 1800ft stretch of road. We would be so appreciative of all donations to help us kickstart the construction of what will be an important and valuable cultural asset for Orkney.”
Contact Andrew Appleby to discuss about doing a sponsored challenge or being a corporate sponsor
+44 01856771419 Contact by Email
Pic. by BB of Kristyn Grieve's Inuksuk sculpture next to the proposed site of the new road to Clestrain......
https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/10/20/kristyn-clestrain-and-the-inuksuk/
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Here’s one I made earlier…. https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/10/31/a-walk-on-bu-sand-burray-if-you-can-get-to-it/
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