Wild ducks reportedly pictured killing, eating small birds

FILE: Mallard ducks paddle on Faskally Loch in Pitlochry, Scotland,  (Reuters)

A team of zoologists filmed a group of mallard ducks attacking and eating other birds in Romania.

The BBC reported that the aggressiveness has never been documented before and could represent a new behavior.

One of the observers watched an adult female duck clamp down on a small grey wagtail and repeatedly submerge it in the water, the report said. Once the wagtail was dead, the duck ate it whole.-read more

Walk in Holsworthy

HEAT -OR IT WAS AN,T HALF HOT FOLKS.

Recently we had a mini heatwave in the u.k and even had the second hottest recorded day -The highest-ever temperature in Britain has been recorded, weather forecasters said.

A temperature of 37.4C (99.3F) was recorded at Heathrow around 1.30pm-yes it was great but as we are british we soon started to moan about the heat,think we would win a gold medal every time in Olympics .I remember the summer of 1976 -41 years ago i think?-when i had to wear a blazer and tie in that heat at school very uncool.

FLYING TEDDY BEAR SOLD FOR 5,000 POUNDS.

A 1908 Steiff Teddy Bear that was tied to a bi-plane during flight in World War 1 fetched the sum of 5,000 pounds in an auction in Newbury,Berk.

Film planned on Gaelic-speaking soldiers who fooled the Nazis

CASCADE

The story of soldiers who spoke Gaelic to trick their Nazi captors is being made into a film

Private William Kemp, Corporal Sandy MacDonald and Lance Corporal James “Ginger” Wilson engineered their escape across wartorn Europe in June 1940 by fooling the Germans into thinking they were from Ukraine.-read more

The Lochaber trio, who served in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, had weeks earlier seen their regiment surrender to Axis forces following five days of artillery bombardment.

MOVEMENTS OR TICS.

If you do not know i have movements of the body most of the time its small movements in legs and arms .I have worse what i call movement events when my arm will fly out or legs and arms move with me having no control  yes it is scary but i need to tell you dear reader i have the attitude that i am not the disease am me .

NO HOUSE PHONE.

It seems that no one likes to ring you on your home phone anymore is it due to mobile phones or e-mails .I think this is due that most mobile phones to other mobiles messages are free or cheaper and of course e -mail is  easier to add attachments or photos if required.My wife Enid does not like this as says harder to communicate if you dont  own a mobile.

SHIT HAPPENS.

It seems lately every week some report of a major event is being reported to the point i am beginning to think its the norm .Is it something in the air or a fact of the world we live in is getting a lot darker.

MY BLIND DATE EXPERIENCE -NOT THE SHOW.

Recently i watched the newer version of blind date which reminded me how i once some years ago put myself forward to get a girlfriend in a different way.I not the date i put an advert in a bikers mag called Back Street Hero,s in which i put myself up for sale hoping to get a reply.In total i got 3 reply's ,one was my future wife and the others are what is termed as time wasters .Am i glad i did this yes as me and Enid are next year in total been together for 30 years came to Devon in 1988-married 15 June   1991 not bad for an ex shy Essex boy.

SUN REPLIES TO MY EMAIL ABOUT MY S.V.D.

EMAIL SENT TO SUN NEWSPAPER-Hi I have small vessel disease of the brain which affects my cognitive skills and I am trying to find a support group without much luck. At moment awaiting more tests  as doctors looking at possible dementia or parkinsonism .so I  hope you print this type from mark Anthony  raines aka ghostman 

.REPLY FROM SUN NEWSPAPER -Dear Mr Anthony

Thank you for your email. Could you please supply the name of the town and county where you live which will help to identify if there is a support group locally. 

It would be helpful if you could clarify if your condition has an official medical name, or a special nickname/common name.

Kay Cox

Acting Letters Editor.                                                                                                                                   REPLY-live in holsworthy ,devon-Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD)-hope this helps you kay.thank you for replying from me mark aka ghostman

Frog or toad filmed at Holsworthy in my back garden at Glebelands.

How to keep your pet cool in the hot weather – tips and tricks for cats and dogs

BRITISH dog or cat owners basking in summer sun should put their pets first as temperatures rocket to 32 degrees this week. But what are the signs that your four-legged friend is struggling in heat – and how can you help them?

Our furry companions do have natural coping mechanisms that keep them cool, but it is still worth noting the following tips and tricks to support your pet this summer.-read more

LONG AND HAUNTING ROAD

The Wakehurst Parkway in Australia runs along the Deep Creek Reserve which is submerged in darkness at night and has been the site of several fatal car accidents, according to the Manly Daily.

The area was also the site of a particularly gruesome murder that saw Stephen Dempsey shot and dismembered in 1994.

He was killed using a bow and arrow by Richard William Leonard who then kept the mutilated body in a freezer before killing another man just months later-read more

INTERVIEW SELF ABOUT MY SMALL VESSEL DISEASE OF BRAIN

How does your small vessel disease of the brain affect me?well I have memory problems ;get confused; movements in body. .legs:arms..stutter; mood tends to be flat plus cognitive  skills what direction are the doctors looking at with your s.v.d? Looking at possible dementia or parkinsonism; awaiting more tests. How do cope with s.v.d? At first it got to me but now just deal with it as just part of me .I have tried to see if support group but no joy so I hope this helps you understand me better. Ps i am a diabetic 'asthma; arthritis, neurology problems; o.c.d so not much else to cope with a

EMMA WALKER : CELEBRANT Funeral celebrant for Essex

http://www.essexcelebrantemma.co.uk/-https://www.facebook.com/Emma-Walker-Funeral-Celebrant-342104222855252/

13.06.2017 ATTENDED FUNERAL OF MY MUM BARBARA ANN RAINES

Yesterday i started the day by getting up at 5.30am as par normal but with a sense of knowledge of was going to say goodbye to my mum. For the  journey i had to hire a rental car which my step daughers boyfriend drove to from Holsworthy to Southend on Sea essex and back in  same day .T he journey up ran very well untill hit a127 road towards Southend as usual traffic hold ups met we got to Southend around 2.30pm so mark drove down to Southend seafront to see the sights and pier.T hen we went to Sutton road crematorium Southend and waited in car park area untill others  arrived, i first saw  my uncle and auntie and my niece and boyfriend then i saw jo and her husband and Georgia then jayne and John and James, nicky and tony,xanthia, peter and girlfriend came later think had car trouble. Then the person doing the service Emma came and said hello, As usual you feel strange in situation as dont know what to expect or dicuss with others, saw my auntie Denise and husband and one of her sons nick then the funeral car came and we went into the chapel. Seeing the coffin was hard as then hit me our mum was no longer around we listened to the service i managed to get  the inner strength to  say my words to our mum,songs were played, poetry spoken, then it was time for the final goodbye which i took badly inside then we went outside to see the flowers. Then we went to restaurant for a meal were i was just unable to find the strength to find effort to speak to some who were making less of an effort, no names this time,then left to go back home, i only said a quick goodbye due to feeling like crap.O n journey home was diverted a couple of times, a hard and long day  which i did for the love of my mum who i will miss a lot, love you mum from your son mark

R.I.P ANDY CUNNINGHAM

-years ago i watched a show in the 90s called BODGER AND BADGER which ANDY CUNNINGHAM was creator and star .Andy played SIMON BODGER and had a sidekick known as BADGER - voiced by ANDY CUNNINGHAM -who loved mashed pototoes and the show ran for a decade on B.B.C .Andy worked on 1983 STAR WARS RETURN OF THE JEDI as an puppeteer.

Fossil mushroom discovered from the era of the dinosaurs

With a classic shape, gills and a sturdy stalk, it wouldn’t look out of place in a stir-fry – but in fact it’s the fossilised remains of a mushroom thought to have sprouted about 115m years ago. It is the world’s oldest known fossil mushroom, and it is remarkable that it was preserved at all.

“It is pretty astonishing,” said Sam Heads, a palaeontologist and co-author of the research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Mushrooms are really ephemeral in the sense that to begin with they sprout up, they grow and then usually they are gone within a few days – but they are not around for very long. Also when you consider their structure, they are very soft and fleshy and so they decay really rapidly, so the chances of one being preserved are pretty minuscule.”

While fossilised fungal filaments have previously been found dating back several hundreds of millions of years, only 10 fossil mushrooms, the fruiting body produced by some fungi, have ever been discovered – with the previous oldest dating to 99m years ago.

Study finds mushrooms are the safest recreational drug

 

Read more

What’s more, all of these previously discovered fossilised mushrooms were trapped in amber. “You imagine mushrooms are growing on the forest floor, resin drops out of the trees onto the forest floor – and encapsulates a mushroom,” said Heads. “That is a much more likely scenario than the scenario that we see with this mushroom.”READ MORE

Teacher bitten by shark in water off Devon beach is 'first surfer to be attacked in UK'

A surfer has described how he hit a shark on the head after it bit him on the leg while he was in the water off a Devon beach.

Teacher Rich Thomson, 30, estimated the shark was about 3ft (1m) long while experts said it was the first incident of its type involving surfers in UK waters.

Mr Thomson said the shark "grabbed me on the leg" at Bantham in South Devon and he turned to see a "little shark" on his thigh, wriggling it head from side to side.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "I hit it on the head and it swam off. My hand was cut to pieces.

Read more at http://www.devonlive.com/teacher-bitten-by-shark-in-water-off-devon-beach-is-first-surfer-to-be-attacked-in-uk-waters/story-30377570-detail/story.html#xWS4M5u560pPBVP4.99

MY POWERCUT EXPERIENCE AT HOLSWORTHY ,DEVON.

On the 5.-06-2017 around 12.15 midnight my wifes hospital alarm awoke us we found the house and outside in complete darkness which at first give me a fright due to just woke up.We then went on to have multiply mini power cuts and had to put on reserve candles and torch to hand ,we did all back to sleep.