Rural Wandering: a short bike ride through the Deverills in Somerset

I've managed to get a bit out of sync with my postings, and this is in fact from last weekend when we were away for a long weekend at Center Parcs, in Longleat, Somerset. I had not really expected to do much exploring, but was fortunate enough to manage to find time for a couple of bike rides outside the main complex. The countryside was beautiful, the roads were quiet, and on one of the rides the sun was shining. The only downside was on the second bike ride, where my rear disc brakes all but seized up, meaning that it was a tremendous effort to peddle at all, and on the down hill stretches I still had to peddle to keep going. I stopped a few times to take the wheel off, and adjust the brakes which seemed to free them up for a short while, but overall it was really hard going. However, going at this slow speed, I did spot this old AA sign in the village of Brixton Deverill, which marks the villages of Kingston Deverill and Longbridge Deverill both as being 1½ miles away, and London being 99½ miles away.

Old AA road sign, Brixton Deverill, Somerset

Tales of my Urban Wandering will continue later in the week, with a post about an Urban Wander over to the Pall Mall Deposit building in West London already in progress ... so stay tuned folks.

    

Rural cycling - Hampshire/Berkshire borders

The awful weather at the end of last week, plus the imminent nearing of the end of the financial year, meant that any plans for another Urban Wander last week were put on hold. Well, actually that's not strictly true as I did wander the streets of London after work, but it was wet and dark, so needless to say I have no pictures of that wander.

I did however force myself to get out on my mountain bike today, and despite the cold, damp and foggy start to the day I ended up having quite a satisfying 18 mile ride, and have hopefully burnt off some calories following last night's gastro-extravaganza at a friends house. As I mentioned though, the weather was not too great so I had pretty much given up hope of taking any photos, but a bit of brightness on the homeward leg allowed me to get this quick shot of the Hampshire-Berkshire boundary post. I was pleased that I didn't have any litter in this picture, which is sadly more than I can say for many of the lanes I cycled down, which were strewn with fast food wrappers, paper coffee cups, sandwich wrappers, crisp packets, and tin cans. To make matters worse, the hedge rows had been recently trimmed  and a lot of the litter was now shredded and sodden, making it a near impossible task for the parish litter wardens to clear it up.

County Boundary post between Hampshire and Berkshire

Also this week, on the days I have taken the train into London, I have been wondering more and more what it would be like to travel the other way which would involve taking the train to Taunton instead of London. In recent times I think I've only been west on the line as far as Hungerford, although more years ago than I care to remember we travelled from Paddington to Castle Cary for the Glastonbury Festival, but I don't remember much about the journey.

In other news, as a self-confessed slow reader, I am still working my way through both Brendon Chase and Lights Out for the Territory, although have not found enough time to make a lot of progress this week.

    

Waterways in the Test Valley, and Little Venice

Unfortunately this week has been a bit of a work related blur, with very little time to myself. I did manage to get out and about last weekend, on the day where it wasn't wet and windy, and completed a 41 mile bike ride loop down to Barton Stacey and back, exploring some villages, quite country roads and tracks that I'd not encountered before. When I left the house it was sunny but just a little chilly, but as the morning crept on, the weather became near perfect for cycling. I stuck mainly to quiet roads, with a few excursions off road, stopping every now and then to take in the scenery and soak up the ambience. The ride took me across several rivers where anglers were fishing for trout.

Somewhere in the Test Valley

Sunday was a complete wash out, and apart from wathcing the eldest son play football, and lose miserably, I cannot remember what else I did. As I mentioned earlier this week at work has been manic, and although I had hoped to go out in search of space last night in London, the rain and an invitation to some leaving drinks changed my plans. My only escape was at lunchtime today when I managed a half-hour walk around Little Venice before it started raining again. This first picture below is a curious little street called Bristol Gardens. It's on a slight hill, as can be seen by the slow but sure, continued elevation of the shop fronts. All the shops are in a similar style and immaculatly presented.

 Bristol Gardens, London W2

The second picture is of a couple of barges in the Paddington Basin, just off the main stretch of the Grand Union canal. I walk this way fairly often, but today was struck by these particulary barges. Just a shame that the Westway flyover spoils the view and the ambience.

Grand Union Canal, Paddington Basin, London W2

    

Not sure what this weekend has in store for me, other than a trip to Winchcombe tomorrow and another hour or so on the football touchline on Sunday afternoon. If I'm lucky and the weather holds, I'll try and get out on the bike on Sunday morning.

More vintage petrol pumps

Since my last post I have been out and about within the UK, although that all changes tomorrow when I go to the Netherlands for the rest of the week. My main trip last week took me down into Kent, a county I visited frequently as a child as my grandmother lived in Deal, but it's not somewhere I've been to much since. As a bonus for me, I was travelling by train rather than driving, and I was also taking the slow train. I did consider going via London and using the high speed link down to Ashford, and whilst that probably would have been a bit quicker, I was keen to travel cross-country, at least on the journey there, partly inspired by the book On the Slow Train. My journey was in four legs and took me from Newbury to Reading, Reading to Redhill, Redhill to Tonbridge, and finally Tonbridge to Ashford. I have travelled to Reading countless times, and Redhill a couple of times before, but the journey from Redhill was all new. A lot of the track seemed to be in cuttings, or so tree-lined that the view was obscured, but when the track did open out, the unrestricted views of the Sussex and Kent countryside were stunning, especially the oast houses, which are a distinctive memory from my childhood. On my return journey, time was a little tighter so I took the train to Victoria, crossed London by tube to Paddington, and then headed home from there, quite tired and looking forward to the weekend.

Determined to get some more exercise this weekend, I set off on another 30 mile bike ride, in search of new sights, roads and trails. My ride took me out through Ashmansworth, Faccombe, Linkenholt, Upton, Wildhern, and then back up through St. Marybourne, Stoke and Crux Easton. During the ride I was looking for something out of the ordinary to photograph. Don't get me wrong, the scenery was spectacular throughout most of the ride, but this disused petrol pump, on the Finkley Road to the north of Andover, fitted the unusal requirement quite nicely.

Vintage petrol pump, near Finkley, Andover

Vintage petrol pump, near Finkley, Andover

    

An unexpected weekend treat on the River Kennet

What a great weekend we've just had here in the southern UK. More spectacular weather, and fortunately I found the time to enjoy it. My original plan on leaving work in London on Friday afternoon was to pay a visit to Harrow-on-the-Hill, but on leaving the office and heading towards the tube, I could not bear the thought of squeezing myself in, even for the relatively short distance, and then having to get a later, busier train home to West Berkshire. So, my plans changed and I left my search for space to Saturday and Sunday.

On the Saturday I managed a 35 mile mountain bike ride down to Whitchurch, where I was forced to stop and seek comfort in coffee and cake after having managed to fall of my bike earlier in the ride.

After having eaten myself better, although sore and bruised, I continued my ride down towards the staggering beautiful Long Parish (which has a couple of excellent looking pubs that I need to make a note to visit some time), and then headed back up through The Wykes, St. Marybourne and Crux Easton.

So Saturday was my planned space but I had some bonus space on the Sunday when I managed to fit in a walk along the River Kennet, looping back along the Kennet and Avon canal before watching one of the boys playing football. This particular walk west from Newbury is one of my all time favourites. I love the way the transition from road, to rough road, to gravel track, to muddy lane, to footpath happens. It always reminds me of the line in the Neil Young song, Thrasher, "Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand". The only thing that spoilt the image was the sound of the traffic thundering along the A34 bypass. If only the railway line that used to run over this bridge was still running (admittedly it only went as far as Lambourn, but the sentiment is the same).

Disused railway bridge on the Newbury to Lambourn line

River Kennet, just west of Newbury

 River Kennet, just west of Newbury

River Kennet, just west of Newbury 

River Kennet, just west of Newbury

So that's it for this week I suspect. I am going to be finding some space in Kent later in the week so check back on or after the weekend to see what I found there.
    

Another London

We were fortunate enough to get some complimentary tickets to the Another London exhibition at the Tate Britain, so on Saturday we made our way into London for a day out. The tubes were pleasantly crowd-free, as we made our was around on the Circle line from Paddington to Victoria. From there it was only a short walk, through what was now surprisingly warm sunshine, despite the weather forecast. The exhibition had some incredible pictures from 1930 through to 1980. Great images of "british-ness" that you simply don't see any more, for example streets filled with bowler-hatted mean going to work in the city. In fact come to think about it, most of the photos included some for of head gear, whether that be a top hat, a bowler hat, a cloth cap, or a scarf.

After the exhibition we caught a bus to Kensington where we, thanks to some more free vouchers, we grabbed some lunch (we are not normally this frugal, but following our California blow out are taking things easy this month now). The food was ok, not brilliant, but unfoftunately just as we finished eating, the heavens opened up, and torrential rain came down, all mixed in with some thunder and lightening for good measure. We were quite "museumed out" after the exhibition of the morning, so after deciding not to go to any more, we caught a bus to get out of the rain. Although I know my way around London reasonably well, the bus we caught took us to somewhere I don't think I've ever really been ... Wandsworth. I had no idea what to expect but it almost had a village feel in places, but not quite so much as Battersea did, which was definitely a surprise to me. Plenty of scope for future visits I think, if only to check out some of the restaurants in Battersea Square, which confusingly seems more of a triangle than a square.

Between Wandsworth and Battersea we walked along the Thames, apart from when we were annoying diverted back in land (one of the most frustrating aspects of the Thames path is that it often strays away from the side of the river). We did get to see the London Heliport though, which I never even knew existed, so that was a bonus. We were also treated to the sight of a freight train on the London Overground line, as it crossed the Cremorne Bridge, heading south. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo, but instead took one from the other side of the bridge after it had gone across.

Boats moored by the Cremorne Bridge (aka Battersea Railway Bridge)

Despite the heavy downpour in the afternoon, we had a great day out, and got back home to catch some of the Reading Festival highlights on BBC 3 before taking our aching limbs off to bed.

Sunday was a different story, and with a much better weather forecast I decided to embark on a bike ride, looking to get some miles under the belt, rather than gruelling hill climbs. In the end I seem to have managed both, cycling out west towards Hungerford, through to Little Bedwyn and Froxfield, and then back via Littlecote, Chilton Foliat and Kintbury, covering 36.7 miles. It was a great ride, but I think I probably need to invest in some new padded shorts as I'm feeling a little tender today.

    

Post California blues

I've now been back from California for a week, but my holiday already feels like it was weeks ago. This past week at work has been especially manic, with interminable budget planning and re-planning, multiple iterations of management reports, and of course the email mountain I returned to. However, I did manage a couple of escapes during the week, both in London and at home. My London escape took me out to the Westbourne Park area again, mainly because it's close to the office, but also because there are still some areas within it I've yet to explore. Of particular interest is that I've come across roads with Russian names ... Moscow Road and St. Petersburgh Place. Some further research is needed here I think to find out what's behind this. But for now, here are a few photos I took on the walk.

Apartments on Moscow Road, London

 I'm always amazed at how many cobbled streets there still are in London. This one, just off the Moscow Road, looked stunning and was almost like stepping back in time.

Chapel Side, off Moscow Road

Chapel Side, off Moscow Road

Below are a few books which cover more of London's less known, quirky and long gone places.

    

Closer to home I have managed to get out on my mountain bike 3 times since returning from California in a desperate attempt to burn-off all the french toast, burgers, steaks, etc. My performance however has not returned to its pre-holiday status, and on some rides I am way off my personal best time.

More tales from the saddle, plus some more London mews

Wow! This year is racing by. I can't quite believe that we're almost at the end of April already. As expected, but not as hoped, my postings in this blog are not quite as regular as I'd have liked. Nevertheless I have some musings to share from events over the past few weeks.

The weather has been all over the place in recent weeks. Following the fantastic hot spell we had in March, we have definitely returned to having all seasons in the same day, with snow, hail, rain and sunshine. This has to some extent prevented my continued exploration of London mews, although I was fortunate enough to capture this one in the sun on my walk into the office. Just to the left of the covered entrance to the mews is a two storey building with the remains of a painted sign on the wall. If you look closely you can just make out the words coal, coke and wood, so I'm guessing this was some sort of coal merchant.

Chilworth Mews, London W2

Chilworth Mews, London W2

In other news, I've been able to get out and about on the mountain bike, in between hail storms. The picture below was taken yesterday morning on a bridleway between Boxford and Donnington, just outside Newbury, Berkshire.

Brideleway between Boxford and Donnington, near Newbury

On the music front, I went to see Wilko Johnson a couple of weeks back and it was great to see the local venue completely packed. The music was pretty good but I have to say the interaction with the crowd was pretty non-existent. In comparison to The Pretty Things who I saw at the same venue a couple of weeks earlier, Wilko was definitely a runner up.

As I have alluded to in previous blog posts, I am the world's most easily distracted reader. I have however now finished 11 Minutes Late and am now just starting to read On the Slow Train Again. Both these books are fantastic reads about the nostalgic days of Britain's golden railway age, its demise through neglect and the Beeching cuts, and a celebration of what's left and what has been preserved.

    

Bike rides and bubble baths

I'm almost coming to the end of the half-term break that I decided to take off. We've been to Shaftesbury for the day, visited granny, been up to the Picasso and Migrations exhibitions in the Tate Britain, and otherwise just generally chilled and relaxed. I did managed to get out on the mountain bike a couple of times, and have just returned from a pleasant 15 miler today. It was quite grey and overcast, and the 2 pictures below don't really do justice to the scenery ... even the snowdrops on the right-hand side of the path in the first one look a bit muted.

A bridleway near Great Gasson Copse, Hampshire

A bridleway near Great Gasson Copse, Hampshire

Musically this week has been a bit quiet. I have listened to the odd radio 6 broadcast, and whilst not doing that I listened to Peter Hammill - And Close As This, and by complete contrast Coil - And The Ambulance Died in His Arms.

I finally finished reading On the Slow Train and have now just started reading Eleven Minutes Late: A Train Journey to the Soul of Britain. In fact, I'm now beginning to feel a bit cold after having arrived home all hot and sweaty from my bike ride, so it's time to indulge in a bubble bath and read another chapter.

    

More tales from the (bike) saddle

I've now managed to get out on the mountain bike 4 times this year already. All 4 rides have been modest 12 - 15 milers but enjoyable nevertheless. This weekend's trip took me up through Penwood towards Bughclere, Old Burghclere, up on to the Whitway and home via Highclere. This picture was taken on a bridleway just outside Old Burghclere, and there's a deceptively steep hill just out of view.

Bridleway near Old Burghclere, Hampshire

I have finally finished David Byrne's excellent Bicycle Diaries and thought it was quite appropriate that soon after I had a good pedestrian vs. bad cyclist incident in London last week, that I read the chapter about the rules of the road. My incident involved me crossing a pedestrian crossing at which the green man was displaying, i.e. my right of way. I was just about to cross when someone on a fold up bike came speeding through what, for him, would have been a red light. My cry was half chastising him for his error, and half surprise that he nearly ran me down. Instead of an acknowledgement of error on his part I was greeted with a gruff "f*** off". I wasn't particularly shaken by the event, but very angry regarding this man's ignorance and arrogance. It's these sort of people who give other law abiding cyclists a bad name.

Fortunately I was en route to Notting Hill Gate where I rewarded myself with some CD retail therapy, picking up a couple Thing of the Past and Errant Charm bu Vetiver, Exile by Charalambides, along with CDs by Espers, Roedelius and Brian Eno

Anyway, having finished the David Byrne book, I am about to move on to a book I bought just before Christmas On the Slow Train. I've got a few trips to London this week so will hopefully manage to make some good progress during the train journeys.

    

Bicycles, books and music

My Christmas man-flu is unbelievably still lingering but at least it's nowhere near as bad as it was. Going back to work on Tuesday was a huge shock to the system, but fortunately I worked the first 2 days from home, before working in London for 2 days at the end of the week. Whilst in London I had intended to go CD shopping one evening after work but alas I ended up working late and by the time I got back to my hotel I needed food, and after that I had more work to do. However, I'm up in London again next week so hopefully will have another opportunity. I've also got a list of other places to visit this year but need to wait until the evenings are lighter for most of them.

I managed another modest 12 mile bike ride today, but this time on my own. I followed pretty much the same route as the one I did last week with my daughter, but added on a small loop around Highclere Church before heading home.

Decision point

I wasn't in the mood for the uphill trek to Ashmansworth so opted for the route to East End instead, where I was rewarded with my first sighting of a fox this year. Interesting over the last year I think I have seen more foxes in London that I have out in the country where I live. I guess the dustbins of the rich and famous are the star attraction.

Last night we watched the Inspector Morse prequel, Endeavour, which I though was well written and superbly acted. I'm hoping there will be a series based on the success of this. I also caught an hour or so of the Old Grey Whistle Test last night, featuring some brilliant 70's music from the quirkiness of Captain Beefheart to the pre-punk sounds of Patti Smith playing a track from here 1975 debut album Horses, and Dr Feelgood, and through to the post-punk/new wave era with The Talking Heads performing their seminal Psycho Killer, The Jam, Blondie and The Specials.

My reading is, as always, very slow and I'm still working my way through David Byrne's excellent Bicycle Diaries. In the book, he's now in San Francisco which, fingers-crossed, will be this year's summer holiday destination.

    

Berkshire Poppies

In addition to being the name of a great track by Traffic, Berkshire Poppies seemed to fit the title of today's post quite well, as the photos below will show. As I hadn't managed to get out at all during the week, I forced myself to do two mountain bike rides this weekend. Yesterday's took me up to Ashmansworth, down then up again into Faccombe, and looping back home via West Woodhay. A pleasant 17 miles despite the greyness and slight rain, and the bonus was coming across this beautiful roadside scene.

Berkshire Poppies

The weather for today's ride however was much better. After having watched The Truth About Widlife last week, it was pleasing to come across a farm which was making use of the financial incentives to devote parts of its farmland to wildlife. The photo below was taken near Hoe Benham and shows the scale of this farm's efforts, but what it doesn't show is the actual wildlife - it was however teeming with butterflies, bees and birds, so seems like the scheme is working.

    

Escaping in West Berkshire

Despite a long 2 week holiday, and only having been a 4 day week this week, I am still of course craving space. Wednesday evening saw me explore a part of London that I'd not paid much attention to before, Bloomsbury. The reason that I'd not spent much time there is most probably that there were no damp, second hand record shops to ferret around in. Anyway, I put this right on Wednesday and will be back for more as it seems like there's plenty to explore.

Both Thursday and Friday evening I managed a mountain bike ride. Thursday was a modest 10-miler with family friends involving a pub meal and a couple of pints. Friday was a more ambitious solo one of 23 miles where I'm continuing to discover new bridleways and sideroads in West Berkshire. Some of the scenery on this one is becoming one of my favourite rides.

The only 'downer' was getting a slow puncture toward the end of the ride, and also my favourite cycling top slipping off from around my waist and getting caught in the gears and brakes. It was so stuck I had to remove the back wheel to retrieve it, only to discover that it now has a bit hole in it - fortunately my arm was not in it at the time. Weather is set to break here tomight so unlikely to be doing another ride tomorrow, which is good news for my backside, and perhaps will give me time to finish the latest book I'm reading, Richard by Ben Myers, a novel about Richie Edwards from the Manic Street Preachers.

Bank holiday bike rides in Berkshire and Hampshire

Searching for space this week has taken me on some amazing bike rides, neatly coinciding with a pub lunch and a pint of best bitter. The first significant ride of the week was a 31 miler to Whitchurch and back, which involved a stop for coffee and cake in Whitchurch itself, and a pub lunch at the George in St. Marybourne, Hampshire. Most of the ride was on quiet side roads, or off-road on bridleways where, thanks to the recent dry weather, the cycling was easy (very different story when the ground is wet and sticky in the winter).

The second significant ride, a couple of days later, was a 20 miler in the opposite direction through Marsh Benham, Hoe Benham and cross-country towards Stockross, near Newbury, Berkshire, where another pint (Mr Chubbs) and pub lunch was eagerly consumed.

I've been fortunate enough to have been off work since 15th April. Going back on Tuesday 3rd is going to be a HUGE shock, but fortunately it's only a 4 day week, and only a few more weeks to wait until the next bank holiday.

All aboard - steam train at Winchcombe station

Once again it's been far too long since I updated this blog. However, with the splendid weather we've been having for the past few weeks I've been trying to spend as much time outdoors as possible. The vegetable patch is looking good, and I've also managed a few 30 mile+ bike rides now, which apart from the saddle sore, are finally becoming a bit easier. Over the bank holiday weekend I took my bike when we went visiting relatives and came across this fantastic sight at Winchcombe station in Gloucestershire, part of the restored Gloucestershire Warwickshire railway. Unfortunately the family's small blue camera appears to be (hopefully temporarily) missing in action, so all I've been able to use is my mobile phone, where the picture quality is a bit poor.

Further along the ride I came across an inviting cream tea offer at Beckford, but unfortunately it was too early in the day :-(

A pleasant evening bike ride

It's not often that I feel compelled to post twice in a day on this blog, but after my hard day battling the demons of finance processes, I managed to escape on a bike ride. Whilst I didn't have my camera with me again, I did have my phone which takes pictures ... sort of. These are not the best quality snaps in the world but they do convey the sense of space and wonderful weather we are enjoying at the moment. My bike ride was only 13 miles along a mix of road and off-road, but some sticky mud patches to negotiate along with some hills which I'm sure get steeper every time I go up them.

I might try and fit in a longer ride over the weekend but apparently the garage needs cleaning out !!

414 to Putney Bridge

Unfortunately this blog has been a bit neglected recently. It's been financial year end which has caused all sorts of madness at work, we've had a big family wedding, I've been out in the vegetable patch, and I've also been trying to fit in as many bikes rides as possible in the mild weather. I did manage to find some Space the week before last when, during my lunch break, I managed to escape to Hyde Park. I always find it incredible that this park is in the middle of London ... given this particular shot it could be anywhere.

Hyde Park, London, March 2011

As far as finding new spaces is concerned, I embarked on another of my bizarre pat times, random bus hopping. This week it was the 414 to Putney Bridge, as the recorded announcement rather annoyingly reminded me every 2 minutes. Sat in the front seat of the top deck of a London double-decker, this was an interesting bus journey passing Harrod's, the Victoria and Albert museum, and several other places I'd need to look up on the A-Z to remember. The bus stopped just before Putney Bridge, where I got off (sorry, that should be alighted or disembarked) and strolled across Putney Bridge. I had intended to take some photos but unfortunately I only had my blackberry and it was a bit hazy. I've made a note to revisit later in the year, armed with camera.

Music wise I am still tracking down CDs mentioned in Rob Young's excellent Electric Eden, and on the current playlist are Mr Fox and Bridget St John.

Here's a link to a few of my current favourite books and CDs

Viaducts of England #1 - Hurstbourne, Hampshire

Possibly a bit optimistic of me to start a series here as I have no idea when or where I'll see the next viaduct, but this one I came across today whilst out cycling seemed deserved of a blog post. This particular viaduct is between Hurstbourne Priors and St. Mary Bourne, Hampshire, and is still in operation as part of the London Waterloo to Exeter line, although the railway station at Hurstbourne is now a scrap metal dealers.

Viaduct near Hurstbourne Priors, Hampshire, March 2011

Making the most of the weather

I'm really glad that I managed to fit in both a bike ride and a walk yesterday while the weather was good, as today it's really horrible. The bike ride was a pleasant 24 miler across West Berkshire, with a few small hills but nothing too torturous ... although I do ache this morning, but that's probably more to do with my overall lack of fitness rather than over doing it yesterday. The birds were responding well to the change in weather and my favourite sighting of the day was a couple of nuthatches searching for insects on a tree trunk. Once again I seemed to have many of the roads and tracks to myself, which was surprising given the glorious day. Below are a few snaps I took on the ride ...

Lone wood

To road to somewhere

Silhouette of bare trees against winter sky

I have now installed a bird feeder in my front garden, which has cover provided by the buddleia, so hopefully the same goldfinches that are always feeding in the garden a few houses along the road will also visit mine.

Clear blue skies and goldfinches

What a marvellous day today - crisp and frosty to start with, then warming gently throughout the day but still with a nip in the air. I managed to find some 'space' today when I squeezed in a short lunchtime bike ride. A shame my time was limited as I'd have loved to have gone further. With the weather improving and the evenings becoming lighter, it will soon be time to get out in the garden and do the tidying that we never did in December because of the snow. I still have loads of twiggy dead-heads to remove but thought I'd take a quick picture of the one below before I did. We're not sure what this plant is, other than it's a bit like a cross between a teazel and a doc leaf, with yellow flowers. The birds love the seeds in the autumn/winter, and groups of ladybirds seem to hibernate amongst the seed heads in the winter.

Having spotted some Goldfinches in a neighbour's garden I am determined to get some in mine. My plan of attack is to place as additional bird feeder in the front garden, near the Buddlleia to give the birds some cover as they flit to and from the feeder, as I think the feeders in the back garden are too exposed ... watch this space.