Friday down the Vale, 30.12.22.

 Friday down the Vale. 30.12.22.

Decided to concentrate round the top and lower mill ponds on the day.
A nice wood pigeon.

If at first you don't succeed, try another way.

Lots of Tufted ducks about. 

A pair of Gadwall's

Ain't love grand.

The Male is more colourful, but the plumage on the female is beautiful too.

The Male.

A pair of little grebes on the lower mill pond.

This crafty one is waiting for the Gadwall to bring stuff up off the bottom and then nipping in to pinch it.

A group of Cormorants in various stages of plumage. 

Seems to be two Mutant Canadian geese

This one not quite as defined.

On Sunnyside pond watched this Little Grebe floating about in the stiff breeze, but always paddled back to the Mallards to keep the wind off, birds are not daft are they.

Fatty was waiting for me to see if I'd brought any monkey nuts with me.

Well its not been a bad year for me, hope yours was the same, only down side for me was having to lose Pepe in late November.

Got five Great Grandchildren now, which I met on Christmas day!.

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To bad all the people who know how to run the country are too busy driving taxis or cutting hair.

A problem shared is a problem halved, so is your problem really yours or just half of someone else's?.

The trouble with always being punctual is that people think you have nothing better to do.

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Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New year!.

Christmas day/Boxing day down the vale, 2022.

Christmas Day had a nice Christmas Dinner at my Son's with all the family, more than ever this year with the three Grand Children and their husbands/wives, there were 5 Great Grand Children as well this year.

Boxing Day had a walk round Reddish Vale to walk off my Christmas eats, it was quite sunny but still cold.

At Sunnyside pond there were no Kingfishers but plenty of Robins.

 On the top mill pond there was this Nuthatch.

A Great Tit.

 On the top mill pond there was the Swan family.

With two of their offspring.

Any food Mate?.

The other youngster was on the Lower mill pond.

For those of you interested in Leg tags, here is this ones.

Also on the lower mill pond there was this Cormorant drying out.

A nice pair of Goosanders.

The Male.

The female having a bad hair day.

A Gadwall, quite a bit smaller than a Mallard.

Last but not least a lot of tufted ducks.

Tuesday rained all day, so after lunch at McDonalds decided to give my good mate Bob a visit has it was his first Christmas on his own this year, having said that it was my first Christmas on my own as Pepe had been put to sleep in late November due to his various ailments finally catching up with him.

So not a bad Christmas, considering  the cold and the rain.

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Did you hear of the overweight ballerina?.

She had to wear a three three.

Perhaps Hollywood movies would be better if they shot less film and more producers.

Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped as gods,

Cats have never forgotten this.

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All washed and brushed and waiting to go for my Christmas dinner, so thought I would send you these greetings!.

I went to Reddish Vale Park on Friday even though it was drizzling a bit, thinking that it would stop by the time I got there.

No such luck, by the time I got there it was pouring down, you've heard of that saying "mad dogs and English men go out in the mid day sun" well, they go out in the pouring rain as well!.

Luckily I had on my Tilley Hat and new Camo jacket, so it was a good test for the jacket!, which stood up to the downpour very well!.

There wasn't much to see, but not surprising really with the weather.

The Robins didn't let me down and all came out for some treats.

 So it was a quick visit and then on the way back home called at Morrisons for some shopping, Don't forget they are closed for ONE day over the holidays!.

Back home I made a start on a jigsaw a friend had bought me.

Yes, my two favourite past times Jigsaws and Suduko!

Once you had done the jigsaw you had to solve the Suduko puzzle.

I took a picture of the puzzle and did it on a print out of it, as you can see there was a pen included with the puzzle but just in case it marked it too much "I did it my way", so now it can go to the charity shop as good as new.

 Well it's getting near time to be off so once again .

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The year you stop believing in Santa Claus is the year you start getting clothes for Christmas.

Why was Santa's little helper feeling depressed,

because he had low elf esteem.

What's the most popular Christmas wine,

I don't like Brussel Sprouts!.

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 Another meet at Pear Mill Café today. a day of drizzle but no problem when you have a nice place to meet your friends. we have even made new friends there over time.

Yesterday I had a walk in Reddish Vale park, there again have made quite a few friends over the years, don't forget strangers are friends you haven't met yet!.

Got to see the kingfisher again, though it wasn't too close so not a very good picture.

At least it survived the pond freezing over the past week.

This female Blackbird appreciated the seed I took. 

A Christmas Robin for you

 Another one.

I watched a program on the telly years ago where it showed you robins fighting over territory.

Just had it come back to me, the program was called "Who killed Cock Robin".

It doesn't seem to be a problem at the Vale, has there are lots of them about.

Plenty of Squirrel Nutkins about.

Love them or hate them they are so cute aren't they

I called at the Debdale Ressers on Tuesday for a quick walk and feed the wildlife, didn't stay long as it started to drizzle again.

But I managed to see eight Cormorants there, ducking, diving and drying out.

Male Tufted Duck

Female Tufted Duck.

That's it for now, might manage another post before Christmas, depends on the weather!.

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