Biking Birder I February 8th 2010

 

Dressed for a very cold night's sleep in a hide somewhere during the very cold winter of 2010!

Hello Sunshine Person!

Welcome to my Biking Birder blog.

My name is Gary Brian Prescott and I am known as The Biking Birder.

Since my first Biking Birder adventure back in 2010, the story of which I am currently telling, I have had five other Biking Birder adventures.

From I to VI, here goes . . .

BBI – 2010 A whole year cycle around the United Kingdom visiting every RSPB, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, nature reserve and W&WT, Wildfowl & Wetland Trust visitor’s centre.

(251 bird species seen)

BBII – 2015 A repeat of 2010 but with more RSPB reserves to visit and a change of route in order to add some of the summer migrant bird species missed in 2010.

BBIII – 2016 Just continued cycling with the aim of trying to beat The European BIGBY record. Big Green Big Year, Ponc Feliu Latorre of Catalonia, Spain held the record having seen 304 bird species by cycling in NE Spain/Catalonia.

The story of my BIGBY is in a book available on Amazon . . .

BBIV – 2018 A six month Peruvian adventure, I cycled from Lima to The Manu National Park, three months of cycling over The Andes. In the Manu, having given the bike away, I used an Alpaca packraft to paddle down an Amazon tributary called the Madre de Dios.

BBV – 2019. Well the aim was to cycle back from the Ebro Delta Bird Festival in Spain/Catalonia. Unfortunately the bike’s back wheel had other ideas as I cycled in the Pyrenean foothills!

BBVI – 2022 No fossil fuel transport of any kind being allowed for a ‘clean’ BIGBY, I spent the whole year cycling on the British mainland, most time spent along the east coast, trying once more to break Ponc’s European BIGBY record.

So there you have it.

More Biking Birder adventures to come!

Back to 2010 . . . 

8^th February 2010

I'm late, I'm late for a very important Date 😱

Alice in Wonderland - Disney

              I awoke in a panic, not too unusually. Usually do. Where am I? What day is it? Who am I?

Where was Oakwood School?

             The first Eco-schools visit of the day and I did not know where the school was. I ran to a nearby Tesco Express and with a little help, every little helps, and a phone call of 'where are you?' "not far from Chichester," I found the address. (How much easier it is nowadays with google maps on a Smartphone. Back in 2010 I only had torn out pages from a road atlas to help me plan a route or find a reserve.) 

             After a cycle ride of a couple of miles I eventually found the school entrance; only the drive down to the actual school seemed longer than the ride had been to the entrance! Oakwood Prep School, was in the middle of some lovely, wooded parkland, set around a large Georgian house.

Bird feeders were outside classrooms and with Eco projects everywhere, the school was well on its way to a Green Flag, probably got their third Green Flag by now. I do so hope so. Let me explain. Eco Schools, run by the Keep Britain Tidy group, is an environmental scheme for schools to adopt with rewards incrementally given according to progress all the way up to the prestigious Green Flag. Mighty are the schools, in the Eco education stakes, that achieve such status.

          I was given a coffee and I waited outside counting the birds; Great-spotted Woodpeckers, two Green Woodpeckers, one Long-tailed Tit, seven Nuthatch and a number of the commoner titmice.

           It was then time for me to give an assembly to lovely, enthusiastic children. As usual the Albatross flight caused hilarity, especially when I had all the teachers do the Albatross dance. Try it yourselves, arms out straight, imagine a la la la waltz, sung cheerily by Joyce Grenfell and Norman Wisdom and sway as you move around. Great fun, no?

Another coffee in the library after the fun, was appreciated before I left for Jessie Young Husband Primary School, not too far away. Another assembly of similar content as before and then a tour of a totally different school, a wonderful mainstream Primary school. My preferred sort of school being multicultural and open to all, the school reminded me of my years teaching at an amazing Primary School in Wolverhampton, Merridale Primary back in the 1990s.

The children here were extremely proud of their Eco Schools work, bubbling over with enthusiasm as they showed me around and why not? They had got a smashing sensory garden with a maze, composting and bird feeding areas and as detailed on their website, they were at the time of my visit, collecting plastic bottles to make a greenhouse. I have seen since that my assembly and visit are mentioned on the school's website and unfortunately, a photo has been added.

              The rest of the day, after I dragged myself away from this marvelous school, from their proud and hard-working staff and their friendly children, all of whom had been desperate to tell me of their and the school's achievements, was spent visiting the nearby Chichester Cathedral.

5.50 miles                                                                 

126 feet elevation up and down

😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

Biking Birder I February 7th 2010 Strength and Honour !!! GLADIATOR and Fanham Heath RSPB Reserve

 

7^th February 2010                                                 

Gladiator, Now We Are Free Film Theme        

Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard

    After an extremely comfortable night’s sleep, I woke up and thought that my OPTICRON binoculars had been stolen and reported this to the police. Some twit had left them in the lounge area the previous evening, me, and a chef had found them and stored them safely!

I cycled downhill to Farnham RSPB Reserve and then found the location of where the battle scene that opens the film Gladiator had been filmed, Bourne Woods. If you go to the RSPB reserve by the Rural Centre, follow the central path north. It goes over a hill and down the other side into an amphitheatre-like area. 

There it was, exactly as it is in the film. One almost expected the fireballs to be flying and the Zulu-chanting Germanic army to appear en masse in front of the trees. Indeed some of the trees still had some damage to them from the film. I went atop the hill where Russell Crowe, Maximus Decimus Meridius, had stood and shouted out the famous phrase, “Strength and Honour!” I then charged down the hill to take on the imaginary rabble opposite. 

Thinking I was by myself, I continued up the next slope to continue the fight. It was then that I noticed a family to my left watching my fun antics, a family of Mum and Dad with two young children and a toddler in a pushchair. Laughing, I went over to them and suddenly the Roman army numbered four! Great fun was had by all and a £10 donation went into Ricky, the RSPB Robin. The Man with a Robin on his Bike!

One disappointing note was the amount of thin black cable left amongst the heather growth; a sign of leftovers from the most recently made film there, Robin Hood. Mind you, when you realise that a huge mock castle had been built there for the filming, I suppose such small quantities of cable is understandable.

Going back to the RSPB reserve, I could not find any of the Woodlarks I had hoped for, despite the huge areas of tree clearance making the habitat look so good for the species. The intention of the RSPB recreating heathland was apparent and important. The rest of the day was spent getting to Chichester, up and down many hills. I did have fun cycling down one of them when I thought I had been flashed by a speed camera! A dream of mine is being done for speeding whilst on my bike. I can just imagine the publicity such a thing would bring. The Biking Birder, faster than a speeding Peregrine!

I do remember that a signpost stating four miles to go was much appreciated and on reaching Chichester, I remember another large Starling murmuration was circling with stunning precision over the train station; the coordinated birds gathering in the gloom, scared by the attentions of a local Sparrowhawk.

 

33.33 miles                                                 

1930 feet elevation up   2726 feet down

 

Biking Birder I February 6th 2010 Barfold Copse RSPB Reserve - small, inconspicuous and secret

 

6^th February   2010   

We're Busy Doing Nothing   Bing Crosby et al

 

In the morning, I was out extremely late because of more chat with my 'cuz', Honor and her brilliant husband Ian. After all I do not get to see any of my many cousins very often and the opportunity to catch up with one of them was wonderful.

Late in the morning I cycled to and eventually found Barfold Copse RSPB Reserve; a ridiculously small and exceedingly difficult to find woodland reserve tucked down in a valley. Very few birds there but it brought back memories of my childhood when we used to explore a similar area with Rhododendrons and Bamboo in Stourbridge, Worcestershire. Maybe there were only a few birds but at last I came across a small flock of Lesser Redpolls [127].

The rest of the afternoon was spent mostly going uphill to the Devil's Punchbowl Hotel on the A3, after having looked over the Punchbowl itself, and rest.

 

25.73 miles 

1366 feet elevation up   760 feet down       

 

A Busy Thursday helping different Charities - Acorns Children's Hospice, Children's Book Project and The RSPB!

Talk about busy today!    Thursday 6th of February, 2025.

Smestow Academy - excellence in education

          First thing, I had the privilege of giving a presentation, to a wonderful group of around 100 students at the amazing Smestow Academy School in Wolverhampton, UK, about Acorns Children's Hospice.

         Organised by a superbly dynamic teacher, Mr J. Patel, it is going to fascinating to hear what ideas the students have in fundraising for Acorns Children's Hospice.

          One of the three Acorns Children's Hospices, Birmingham Hospice in Selly Oak; this was the first one built back in 1988, back when there were two other hospices dedicated to children in the world. Truly pioneering care for children with life limiting conditions and their families.

          Oliver! One of the most amazing, effervescent children at Acorns Children's Hospice.

Acorns Children's Hospice website

          Really impressive, brilliant school with polite, impeccably well-behaved students and happy staff. The Headteacher there has done an incredible job, as have all the staff and students.

          Really looking forward to seeing how their charity week initiative develops, with students planning for a mass of different events to raise money for Acorns Children's Hospice.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

           From there it was to Toys4Life, a business that recycles/reuses toys, be they wooden, plastic or cuddly, by sorting them and sending them to outlets across the UK and worldwide.

Please take a look at their website to see what amazing work they do!

Toys4Life

            Maybe you have toys that could have a new life with a child somewhere in the world. I love to think of where the toys I take might be in a few weeks time. Have a look on the interactive map to see where the nearest donation point in the UK is to you.

Find a donation point near you by following this link

          There are other ways of getting toys to them, detailed on their website.

https://www.toys4life.co.uk/

          I had around 100 cuddly toys to give to them and they gave me a large cuddly toy, Bluey, to give to child when I am Olaf the Snowman at Saturday's Aston Villa women's game at Bescot Stadium, Walsall.

Paula Tomas of the fabulous Aston Villa Women's team, with Olaf's head!

Paula Tomas

Paula is one of the most phenomenally SUNSHINE people one could ever hop to meet. A recent interview with her was one the best footballer interviews I have ever seen. She just didn't stop laughing!

           I go to every Aston Villa women's matches, home and away with the brilliant Aston Villa Women's Fan Club . . . 

Aston Villa Women's Fan Club Facebook group page :

Aston Villa Women's Fan Club Facebook Group page

. . . in an Olaf costume. My hope is that fans, especially the children with their Mums and Dads/ Nans and Grandads, have a lot of fun!

          Anyway Toys4Life  receive the cuddly toys from me and I, not only got the weekly big cuddly to give to a child on Saturday, Up The Villa! but also six very large boxes of children's books.

           From Toys4Life my poor little Nissan Note struggled to chug along the M6, being so heavily laden down, for me to get to the wonderful Sandwell Valley RSPB reserve, where I work as a meet & greet person, welcoming visitors, chatting with them all and serving them hot beverages, cakes, sandwiches and baguettes and the like.

          It is a lovely place to volunteer and as always, the RSPB staff are fabulous SUNSHINE PEOPLE! It is a real privilege and a delight to work there.

          What is truly wonderful about this amazing RSPB reserve is its urban environment. Sandwell Valley is surrounded by the huge urban sprawl of The Black Country, with Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton all nearby. Yet when one looks out from the visitors centre's large windows, maybe with a cup of hot chocolate accompanied by the baguette or wrap, there is only one building on view and that is a very tall apartment - office structure currently being built in Birmingham City centre about ten miles away!

         From the centre, all one can see is trees, fields and reedbed-fringed pools and lakes and bird feeders of course!

         Goldfinches, titmice, especially Blue and Great Tits but also Long-tailed Tits (Lollipops!), Greenfinches and Reed Buntings visit the feeders, usually feeding on the proferred fat balls. Late in the afternoon some of the 700 or so Ring-necked Parakeets, definitely a marmite bird with birders and visitors to the reserve, attack the fat balls too.

          There is always Sid the Robin around too, prepared to come and sit on your hand if your offer him some bird seed.

          Mind you, he sometimes is too full to accept your humble offering . . .