Manor Farm Bird Fair

Waterside Natural History Society goes to a Bird Fair

We were due to go for a walk around Dibden Enclosure for this month’s outdoor meeting but we took the opportunity to visit a bird fair at Manor Farm Country Park instead.
Not many years ago a bird fair would mean the sale and exchange of chickens or game birds and their eggs but nowadays it is all about watching wild birds in the countryside. Bird watching has become ever more popular as the number of birds has declined. When sparrows and swallows crowded under the eaves of every house and wild birds cleaned up after the harvest most people thought birds were a nuisance and only small boys went out to gather birds eggs. The reason for their decline may be conveniently complex but if you have ever seen a meadow dying after been sprayed by herbicide the reason becomes all too clear. It is the loss of habitat and food that means birds cannot survive in the wild. Nevertheless people are rising to the challenge and going to ever greater lengths to spot birds in the wild and take their own photographs.
Birdwatching is becoming a big business. Wild bird food is sold in many outlets and highly technical photographic equipment is snapped up by the discerning amateur. You can now watch pigeons mating on your garden fence without having to look through the window.
On arrival at the bird fair we decided to go on one of the organised walks which was due to depart imminently. We would then have our lunch followed by a walk round the exhibits and if time allowed we would then walk on our own around the park. The guided walk was to be a stroll through the woods looking for birds and anything else that was brought to our attention. Unfortunately it is a bad time for bird spotting at the moment as leaves are still on the trees and many of the birds have started their migrations. It did not help either that the group consisted of over fifty people shuffling and talking their way behind the guides.
Birdspotting is rather an anomaly however and the poor viewing conditions did draw attention to the fact that birdhearing might just as easily be used. Identifying birds by their calls is a difficult skill to master. Even if your hearing is good you have to associate the sound with a particular bird and more importantly you have to remember the sound for the next time you hear it. Teaching music in schools is not regarded a priority these days but it would definitely be an advantage with bird identification. Fortunately the guides were skilled in this area and nuthatch, tree creeper and members of the tit family were all identified before they were seen.
There may be a shortage of bird sightings at the moment but this is compensated for by the abundance of fungi. One of our guides was able to identify a number of fungi from the many thousands that occur in the country and he pointed out that when starting to identify fungi the best idea is to first identify the group or species to which it belongs. It is also a good idea to know what to look for. Does the stem snap like chalk, is it tough and spindly or is it fibrous? Does the fungi have gills or is it spongy? One of the boletes turned from lime green to blue within seconds when cut with a knife and one called a beefsteak looked exactly like its namesake. The fly agaric is one that can be identified by most people and we were fortunate to find a perfect example as we neared the end of our walk. It is a good idea to assume all fungi are poisonous and wash your hands after handling.
The exhibits in the fair consisted of stalls representing the various countryside organisations such as the RSPB, Hampshire council and Hampshire and IOW wildlife trust. There were sales of bird food and refreshments but surprisingly none of birdwatching equipment. Demonstrations went on during the day but when we went round a tawny owl with its handler was the only sign of bird life.
One of the stalls had, as a means of attracting interest, a box of bird feathers and the stallholder asked passersby to identify from which bird they came. I thought this was quite difficult as none of the feathers were from common birds and lots of people did not even try. A young girl with her mother picked up one of the feathers and suggested tentatively what she thought it was and to everyone’s surprise it was correct. She then went on to correctly identify all the rest of the feathers in the box. One that she identified as a greater spotted woodpecker was in fact from a green woodpecker but was nevertheless pretty impressive. I had never thought that young people would be so interested in nature and that you had to be old to appreciate it but perhaps the future is in good hands after all.

Waverley Paddle Steamer

A short trip on the Waverley paddle steamer from Southampton
We noticed an advert for one day cruises on the Waverley paddle steamer in the local paper and decided that we might like to give it a try. The advert gave a price of £34 each with a second pensioner going half price but when we checked on the internet it gave a price of £37. On phoning they confirmed £37 was the correct price but with the half price second ticket we thought it was still worth it so we went ahead and booked.
All we had to worry about was the weather which a week ahead did not look good due to approaching high winds and rain. However nearer the day the forecast was for the bad weather to be postponed to later so we were looking forward to a pleasant trip.
On the day, which was a Saturday, we duly got up early and were in the car park at the dockside in Southampton with about 45minutes spare. We were expecting a high parking cost of about five pounds for the day so it was a bit of a shock to discover that it would be £10 payable on exit. The parking scales which were the highest for 5-24 hours looked to be specifically targeted to obtain the greatest return from day trip users. Luckily we found out about the charges before we got on board so made sure we had £10 in coins for our return. Other people were not so fortunate and had great trouble in feeding ten pound notes through the machine.
Our first impression on seeing the ship head on was that it was quite a small boat but sideways on the length makes it look a lot larger. It did not help that the dock level was above the boat deck due to the low tide. I had seen the Waverley some years before when it sailed from Largs on the west coast of Scotland so I was familiar with the two funnels and wide paddle chambers.
The trip was billed as ‘Yarmouth and the Needles’ but by the time of the trip we had forgotten the details and just looked forward to a cruise on the water. There were probably less than a hundred people boarding at Southampton so we had plenty of room to wander around the ship as we pleased and at the start we went on to the top observation deck. We were surprised how smoothly the ship reversed from the dockside and how quickly it gathered speed. Once out in the water it had to stop and manoeuvre to start its forward motion and this operation took some time with both the Isle of Wight and Hythe ferries waiting patiently for us to gather speed. We stayed on the top deck whilst the ship moved down Southampton Water and into the Solent on its way to Portsmouth.
During this part of the voyage we went down for a coffee and biscuit in the restaurant. The latte coffee turned out to be a bit of a disappointment probably due to the weak milk but the movement of the ship was barely noticeable so we could have been sitting in our own house. The furnishings of the restaurant and the ship in general were all of wood which gave it the appearance of an old railway carriage.
I took the opportunity of this quiet spell to have a look at the engine room which was open to view on the lower deck. The view was of three pistons driving the paddle wheels on either side of the ship. Although the sight was impressive after a while I began to think there must be more to it than at first sight and bought a small pamphlet from the onboard shop giving details of the mechanical arrangements. Sure enough there is considerably more than meets the eye. The ship is powered by two oil fired boilers; there was one originally with two exhausts hence the two funnels but this was replaced for a second time in 2000 by the two. The boilers supply steam at 150psi to the first piston. The exhaust steam from the first piston drives the second and the exhaust from the second drives the third at an inlet pressure of about 1.0psi. This exhausts to the condenser which is held at 25inches of vacuum by the air extraction equipment. The condenser is cooled by pumping sea water through the tubes. In addition there is equipment for pumping the condensate through the boilers, equipment for changing the speed of the paddles and equipment for steering. All this equipment would make up a power station on land so we were particularly impressed by the reliability and hard work that must go into maintaining and operating the ship.
The steering equipment means the ship can be operated from the bridge but there is an emergency steering wheel at the rear which had I not read the book I would assume was just there for decoration. The steady pounding noise of a diesel driven ship is not there in a paddle steamer and in general it was very quiet but after a while you recognise a dede dede dede-dede dede deda sort of musical sound that was rather comforting. I also noticed a couple of flat screen monitors on the bridge and one in the engine room which obviously were not there when it was built but then I suppose neither were the rules and regulations.
We returned to the outside deck area as the ship approached Portsmouth and manoeuvred past yachts, ferries and hovercraft. Portsmouth seems to be a busy dock area and especially so when there is a festival on the Isle of Wight. The movement of visitors to the ‘Bestival’ took precedence over our ship and we were not allowed to disembark or embark passengers through the dock terminal although we were allowed to dock. This meant that over two hundred passengers had to board a special Gosport ferry boat which left the dock for a few yards before it pulled alongside the Waverley so that the passengers could be transferred. The few passengers going to Portsmouth then went in the reverse direction. We also had to wait until the regular Gosport ferry had left before continuing on our journey.
Eventually we left Portsmouth about half an hour late and sailed back westwards near the coast of the Isle of Wight. The large number of passengers that boarded at Portsmouth meant that the ship was quite busy so we were a bit apprehensive about the queues at the restaurant. In the event we did not have to wait very long. The menu was rather confusing as it gave the lunch and dinner menus on the same sheet and it was not until we ordered that we found out that it was still on the lunch menu. We found the food adequate but nothing special; a typical ferry meal.
After lunch/dinner we went back on deck to see the sights as we sailed along the north coast of the Island. We cruised past Osborne House followed by Cowes were we manoeuvred past the ferries entering and leaving the port. The swell became greater the further west we went until as we approached Yarmouth it was quite choppy. The swell combined with the running tide meant that we could not enter Yarmouth so this part of the trip was cancelled which conveniently compensated for the delay we had at Portsmouth. Nevertheless we sailed on towards the Needles. As we rounded the lighthouse on the Needles we were exposed to the full force of the south westerly wind which produced a very choppy sea. The Waverley is not called an ocean going paddle steamer for nothing and coped with the seas quite well. That is until we decided to turn round when we got to Freshwater bay. We had just decided that the ship was going to go all along the south coast back to Portsmouth and went inside to escape the wind but at this point the ship turned round in the rough seas and we had great difficulty in keeping our feet. After we had managed this manoeuvre however the pitching of the ship returned to normal and we slowly returned and rounded the Needles once more. A few of the passengers were looking a bit apprehensive in the choppy seas and one was violently sick over the side of the ship. Luckily for her and those close to her the wind was blowing away from the deck. The surprising thing was that no one seemed to notice this episode and the woman herself walked back to her seat as if nothing had happened.
After returning round the Needles the sea become calmer in the shelter of the island and we sailed past Yarmouth once more. Having seen the sights on the way there we decided to return to the restaurant for an afternoon cup of coffee. This time I tried the cappuccino but it was very much like the latte in being made of weak milk. Once again we returned to the outside deck for our approach to Portsmouth. Passing the outside of the lounge windows we could not help but notice the same people who boarded at Portsmouth were still in the same seats not having moved throughout their journey. Whether this was from fear or to prevent anyone else claiming their seat was open to doubt.
The run in to Portsmouth was again busy with shipping including the large ferry from Spain which is due to be discontinued shortly. The passengers at Portsmouth were able to transfer straight to the dock terminal as normal so we did not have to wait long before our journey resumed. The ship seemed very quiet without the Portsmouth contingent and we were able to get a prime seat in one of the lounges for our return to Southampton. We had had a long and unusual day so we were quite tired when we eventually docked at Southampton. We were among the first to leave the ship handing in our tickets as we left. This was the first time that anyone had asked to see our tickets so we had boarded and had a full days cruising on trust that we had bought a ticket which was quite unusual in this day and age. We duly paid our parking ticket from the £10 in coins that we had saved all day and drove home.