 |
| nesting swan |
 |
| coot babies |
 |
| kingcups |
 |
| gunnera |
 |
| coot nest |
Spring is well under way now despite the chilly temperatures. We saw tiny coot babies this afternoon, three of them together, as well as nesting swans, moorhens and coots. We even got to watch some nest building by the partner of the coot in the last picture. He was bringing in dry grasses and helping Mrs Coot arrange it nicely ready for the chicks.
By the water the gunnera is starting to sprout and in the hedgerows things are turning ever greener. It was good to get outside and feel a little sunshine and listen to a little birdsong. Here in electronic land things are driving me bananas. There's some sort of email hiccup going on so that whenever I leave a comment on someone's blog I receive an email saying my email won't be delivered. So although I can comment on blogs, the email telling the blog owner I've commented isn't being sent. I've no idea how to fix it, and I've a horrible feeling I'll need to get a new email address and it will all be hideously complicated and make me Very Cross.
It's tempting to do nothing, but the pleasure of the blog world is in connecting with people, so if my emails are not going through that's a problem. If anyone has any suggestions they will be gratefully received, although I fear there are no quick fixes. I think the problem is that google thinks I'm sending spam. As I understand it, google particularly doesn't like yahoo addresses. I only have a yahoo address because I messed up getting a gmail address and couldn't fix it. Honestly, it's a wonder I have a blog at all.
There was great wildlife drama over breakfast the other day. A magpie ate a frog. He snatched him up, got him over to a raised bed and proceeded to stab him to death with his beak, thereby also getting to the juicy bits inside. The littlest boy was half out of the window trying to perform a late frog rescue, while the biggest boy (the birdwatcher) was shouting, "He needs the meat, he needs the meat". It was all a bit much over breakfast I can tell you. So we are one frog down now, which is good news for the slugs.
I'm off to glare at google and yahoo now and grind my teeth for a bit. It feels especially annoying being classed as spam when so much actual spam gets through. Hardly seems fair. Wishing you all a lovely relaxing Sunday in the sun. CJ xx
Sounds like an educational experience for all involved :-) xx
ReplyDeleteExcept the frog. :-)
DeleteI deep in the mire of technological wrangling myself at the moment...ironic, considering my General Loathing of all things electronic just now. I feel your pain. Especially where the Google Overlords are concerned. I only, grudgingly, went and got myself a gmail address after having deleted All Things Google in a fit of conspiracy-theory pique a while ago....but I couldn't easily comment on Blogger blogs without a Google account [see how they manipulate us?] and, like you say -- the only saving grace to the internets is the lovely connections. So I sucked it up and got one. None of which is at all helpful, other than in a commiserating sort of way. I hope you get it sorted. Being wrongfully accused of being spam would make me very indignant as well.
ReplyDeleteThe frog story is a bit grim. I have a Thing about squashed frogs so the vision of one being pecked and pierced is quite horrific. Biggest boy is right though. Sadly for the frog.
xo
Technology is wonderful until it inexplicably goes wrong -grrr. Not sure I could stomach frog massacre at breakfast!
ReplyDeleteIt's never dull at your house! We've got a boy here with a virus who is shooting out both ends. Wanna trade excitement? I am having dinner with Betsy, Gracie and Becky. :-) Wish me luck the virus steers clear of D and I. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem with blog comments over a year ago and found a fix. You can read how I solved the problem here: http://wyomingbreezes.blogspot.com/2015/03/cautiously-optimistic.html
ReplyDeleteOh CJ, I know how you feel, technology can be so frustrating but at least you've been out and about. Poor frog. I hope the jackdaws give up with their nest building as I don't fancy baby jackdaws and all the baby bird feeding and excreting coming down the chimney! Have a good Sunday - hope you see the sun.
ReplyDeleteThere are one or two of my commenters for whom .i don't receive an email notice but Imstill notice them.
ReplyDeleteI am having a technology problem myself. I create and maintain a website for a small business and have had to change software. The new software is refusing to accept the owner's email to receive responses from a contact form.
I don't know what to tell you about the emails, but I have noticed that I no longer receive an email when you leave a comment on my blog. Not that I'm sitting there watching to see who leaves comments, but you know what I mean. I only see that you have commented if I go back through the comments via the blog post. You're not the only one, though, so I think it must be a Blogger problem, nothing you did wrong. I'm sorry about the frog. I accidentally killed a toad once when I was a child. I caught it and put in a bucket. I had the idea that it wanted water in the bucket so I started filling the bucket from a hose that had been lying in the sun. The poor toad was scalded. :( I felt terrible. But now I realize the toad probably would have drowned in the water. I didn't know very much about wildlife. I hope you're having a good weekend, CJ.
ReplyDeleteCJ, I have been getting bounce back emails for months. My research so far suggests that , "in almost all cases, we recommend that you switch to sending mail from your own domain. " I purchased a domain, but do not know how to use it, and am still getting bounce back emails although my comments are being published. If you have success in solving this cyber frustration, please broadcast your findings, and I will do the same for you should I find the cure. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe cycle of life has its dramatic moments...a rather gut-wrenching way for the magpie and frog to start your day!
Hoping you have a good weekend anyway. xx
That's a lot of drama to have over breakfast! Poor frog; what a way to go. Love the photos - we spent ages watching a coot family at Dyrham Park last year - I remember being really impressed by what good parents they were. Good luck sorting out your email problem. Computers can be incredibly frustrating at times can't they? Sorry, I'm a complete technological dunce so have nothing helpful to suggest, I'm afraid. xx
ReplyDeletePoor you - IT problems can be particularly frustrating, and are not my speciality. I do sympathise. Lovely to see such spring-like bird activity. I find it amazing that they build their nests with just beaks - some of those nests are works of art. The frog demise is a bit of a grim way to start the day. Nature is certainly 'red in tooth and claw'.
ReplyDeleteCathy x
Technology is wonderful until it goes wrong, I am afraid I wouldn't have a clue how to help. Mother Nature at her finest, although a little grim for breakfast.
ReplyDeleteTechno problems drive me to despair. What really makes me mad are the help desks that quite frankly.. don't. Be brave CJ, get in there and sort them out. I have a Wordpress update glaring at me in bid red letters that I'm trying hard to ignore. The last time I did one of those it crashed my whole site. At least we now know how to do a complete restore..
ReplyDeleteOh CJ, you are so much more amusing than spam! (I mean that in a good way.) Thanks for sharing the frog tale - what a hoot!
ReplyDeleteI get those message all the time on my computer and I ignore them, not sure if that is what I am supposed to do but it works for me. Sounds like an interesting breakfast.....
ReplyDeleteHugs,
MEredith
Well my dear, I'm a tech dinosaur, wish I wasn't but I am! I know those who can't leave me comments tag onto someone else's via the reply box- worth a try. Spring is fab isn't it :) xxx
ReplyDeleteOh and as for dying frog stories, every year I got a bucket of frog spawn from my friends pond. I dutifully tended the tadpoles and baby frogs, making them a lovely home...one by one they hopped away, well so I thought, until I found my dog eating them! Delicacy in the dog world :(
ReplyDeleteI wasn't thinking about what turtles eat when I put a few bait fish in the aquarium. The turtle was a rescue, healing after an unfortunate incident with a lawnmower as she and her nest mates hatched. She was the only survivor. The bait fish? No survivors. I think being pecked to death must be a lot like being chunked out one bite at a time.
ReplyDeleteGood pictures. Sorry to see that you're having annoying email problems, but can't offer any advice how to sort it. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteNature in all it's gory (sorry, couldn't resist that!). A bit much over breakfast, though. Hope your email issues are resolved without any further gnashing of teeth. Tech stuff is mighty frustrating when it doesn't work properly. S x
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures! It's always fun watching the birds, but especially in the springtime. I have the same thing happening when I leave comments on blogs. It started a couple weeks ago, right after I signed up for Bloglovin. Are you using Bloglovin? It's driving me crazy too, and I did a bit of Googling and couldn't find an answer. Please let me know if you come up with a solution.
ReplyDeleteThe frog has probably already spawned... there will be plenty more. I am quite possibly a bit too matter of factly. I just visited Kristie at North of 49 and she seems to have the same problem, which she thinks have started after she started using Bloglovin. If you get a new email address, you will need to change the settings for your email and comments so the new address is used automatically (you can't change the primary email address for the blog, I tried). Choose 'settings', then 'email' and then change your 'comment notification email'. Maybe this helps, good luck. Wishing you a good week, with little drama (poor old frog) and lots of good weather for your gardening adventures. x
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much time we spend on time saving technology!Good luck. Poor frog. :( We have a sparrow hawk that thinks the bird feeders are a great source of fresh meat.
ReplyDeleteoh the coot babies are adorable x
ReplyDeleteThat was quite a gory accompaniment to your breakfast table! Sorry you are having such problems with your email. Technology is wonderful until it doesn't work properly! Sarah x
ReplyDeleteAn exciting breakfast event. I'm hoping a magpie hasn't eaten my toad now. He seems to be missing. I hope you get your tech problems sorted, I'm too much of an old fossil to offer any help xx
ReplyDeleteHey CJ,
ReplyDeleteComputers are actually the bane of my life. As is all the guff that come with them. However you at least will get to the bottom of the problem, where as I sit and sulk like a spoilt madam until someone fixes it for me. Usually Marc. I do make nice food though, so I guess it all balances itself out in the end. I chuckled at the frog story. Olly would have loved it. I'm afraid he's all about the tooth and claw bit of nature at the moment. I found a bird skull n the beach and bought it home for him today. He was fascinated by it, and spent a long time speculating how it may have died....
Have a lovely wee.
Leanne xx
Oh dear. Have a lovely week, dear CJ. I'm guessing the rest is really none of my business ;))
DeleteL xx
Beautiful photos of the wetlands where you live. Poor little frog, the cycle of Nature is cruel.
ReplyDeletexoxoxo ♡
Red in tooth and claw, eh? Xx
ReplyDeleteOoh that sounds like rather too much excitement at breakfast time. Poor frog. I'm not at all qualified to offer advice on the email problem as I am technological dangling by a thread here myself. When things go dicky here I log out of blogger, Google & bloglovin, clear cookies and turn and off again. I hope you manage to get it sorted without too much bother. xx
ReplyDeleteoh dear about the frog. I feel that way watching david Attenborough docos sometimes. I know it's nature but I hide behind my hands when the baby turtles are being eaten by the birds :-(
ReplyDeleteyour photos are fantastic. always!
I had the exact same email problem as you. I set up a Gmail account (which I really must remember to check as I tend to read the comments on the blog page, rather than by email) and any comments go there. But the whole thing really pissed me off, I loathe the technological side of blogging. Like you, it's about the connections, friendship and sharing of our lives and stories. Xx
ReplyDelete