Tag: Algea

July 17th – Working late again. I returned from Walsall, crawling wearily up through Rushall and Shelfield towards Brownhills in the last of the daylight. At the Black Cock Bridge, I hopped on the canal and headed homewards. It was grey, but oddly enough, not raining. The air felt warm, and the evening seemed oddly close. I stopped on the bend where the old Walsall Wood Colliery basins would have been. The water was clear, apart from lilies and the odd patch of algae. Everywhere was green, verdant and beautiful. Summer is sort of happening while we’re not watching. One thing I will say for it; it’s been a great year for foliage.

The area clumps bothered me; I don’t know if they’re blue-green or some other variety and the net isn’t much help. Probably best to watch your dog if they’re fond of a dip. If it is blue-green, it can be quite toxic to hounds.

January 23rd – Heading to Darlaston today, I ducked onto the canal as usual. I noted that the algae bloom that I speculated would be killed off by the cold spell was still apparently in rude health… last week, this spot was iced over. Today, the gloop is as thick and green as ever. It does move around, though. On windy days it disperses to little clumps at the banks and reed-beds. When conditions are more still, it regroups. Oddly hardy stuff, it would appear. Still none the wiser as to what it actually is. 

January 10th – Back in Darlaston, I enjoyed the morning commute. It was temperate and bright, and although there was a headwind, it felt good to be outdoors. I hopped on the canal in Walsall and cycled to Bentley Bridge. On the way through Pleck, I noticed that the peculiar algal bloom that Roger ‘Ziksby’ Jones had noticed on the Rushall canal, was now growing here, too. I suppose it must be the mild winter. I wonder what it is exactly, and why it suddenly proliferates like this?