Tag: Brownhills

#365daysofbiking A place of safety

July 22nd – In the middle of the canal at Catshill Junction, in the midst of the algae mat, a mother proudly sits on a nest. A nest built upon driftwood flotsam trapped in the algae.

I’ve been watching her a few days. You can see trails in the surface from her partner coming to feed her, or take his shift sitting.

Safe from foxes and other land predators, this moorhen mum’s got a relatively secure nest.

It’ll be interesting to see how this develops!

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#365daysofbiking A pair of characters

July 20th – Many of the ducks and smaller waterfowl are on second and in some cases I suspect – third clutches of the season. Up by Middleton Bridge I spotted momma and two ducklings.

The bond between the two chicks was very strong and they were characters and entertained me for some time.

One thing that occurs to me is I’ve never seen waterfowl – flightless until quite old – learning to fly I bet that’s something to witness.

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#365daysofbiking A different stripe

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July 16th – Oh dear. Catshill Junction’s cosy spot by the narrows, previously occupied by the black and white sleepyhead was this evening occupied by a new tenant, a rather splendid tabby sporting a rather fetching collar.

A fair sized puss in good condition, someone loves that cat without doubt.

I wonder if they have a timeshare arrangement?

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#365daysofbiking Fruitful endeavours

July 16th – We tend to think of summer as the flowering season, but really that’s only half true. Flowering is mainly spring and early summer, and from high summer on, it’s the time for fruiting.

Starting with cherries and rowan berries, fruits, nuts, haws, hips and seeds are now developing well. The green hawthorn berries are plentiful this year after a thin year last time; and blackberries look like they’ll be in good supply too.

Although this time of plenty should really be celebrated, it always makes me just a bit wistful for a summer passing.

But of course, the fruit will bring colour of it’s own to brighten my hedgerows and waysides for weeks to come.

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#365daysofbiking Thistle do

July 10th – Also wind seeding, but yet to go over are the many variety of thistle scattered about the verges, edgelands and hedgerows of the area at the moment.

One day I must look up what all these splendid and distinct variants of this beautiful plant are.

These ones found near the canal at Pier Street in Brownhills have tiny, light purple almost lavender blue flowers, whereas other type have larger, more purple blooms.

I get the feeling that thistles are far more complex than I imagine. Must look them up.

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#365daysofbiking Summer slumber

July 9th – Nice to see that with the sun continuing, so does the indolence of the local cat population.

Second night running this lovely puss was asleep in exactly the same spot by the narrows at Catshill Junction.

This time it was displaying a surplus of feet.

Sweet dreams, puss!

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#365daysofbiking The cycle


July 9th – I’m always interested in insect galls as regular readers will know and one of the most interesting in the UK is the robins pincushion gall, which affects wild and dog roses.

Forming the same way as oak galls – from a wasp injecting eggs into a plant bud which are coated in a plant DNA corrupting substance – pincushion galls are brightly coloured and made up of a solid nodule up to a inch or so diameter, covered in hairy spines, which if you look closely are miniature facsimiles of rose stalks, thorns and all.

Numerous larvae hatch in chambers within the gall, eating their way out as they mature.

This year on a rose where last year’s dead remains of a pincushion gall can be seen complete with cavities where the wasps emerged, there are two new ones growing about 12 inches further up the branch.

And so the lifecycle of a tiny but fascinating insect continues.

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#365daysofbiking Where there’s a will

July 6th – Spotted proudly sprouting from beneath the derelict coal chute at Anglesey Wharf, a bramble appears in rube health after somehow growing through the paper-tin gap between a bolt head and the base of the old chute.

It just went to show, considering my low mood, that nature – and goodness – always finds a way.

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#365daysofbiking The imperfection of being


July 6th – Feeling down, out for an evening ride to cheer myself up: Just a short loop up to Chasewater at dusk.

My stomach had been bad and I wasn’t feeling great, but the evening light did make me feel better at least.

Sometimes, in summer when the weather’s not great and you’re stuck in, it can be worse than being stuck in on a grey winter’s day. The feeling of a chance lost, of summer passing without you, can be painfully real.

But today, the sunset was beautiful, Chasewater and the canal did it’s best to catch my eye, and I remembered that after all, tomorrow is another, usually better, day.

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#365daysofbiking Growing fast

July 3rd – Ah, hello you guys.

The Watermead swan family – minus dad, as is so often the case these days – were grazing the algae with mum at Catshill Junction as I came home.

I can’t get over how fast these cygnets are growing!

Must be all the greens.

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