March 12th – I revised some old haunts tonight to try out the new camera on some familiar night shots. I’m astounded with the improvement in image quality of the TZ70 over the TZ60; the shots are far sharper and less noisy than I’m used to getting. Even the flats on the Watermead by Coopers Bridge are well defined and sharp.
They really let the unexpected beauty of Brownhills at night shine through.
March 8th – The year marches on, and so do the seasons. Slipping out into steady rain at lunchtime, I noted the Catshill swan couple seem to be returning to the old nest. One (probably the male) was loafing near the reeds, and the other was carefully weaving and packing torn fronds of rushes into a nest.
This seems way too early to me – but hen, they know what they’re doing, I guess. Wonder if they’ll top last year’s total of 8 cygnets?
March 7th – Spring was here. It was warm, but with some serious wind. I cyclied to Erdington through Sutton and Boldmere, then on through Witton and the canals; then back out of town via Saltley, Tyburn and up to Sutton via the Plants Brook cycleway and Pipe Hayes Park.
It was a great 44 mile ride in conditions that warmed the heart, as wells the face.
Georgina’s Way is just by Brookvale park: there’s a story there that should be known, I feel. Anyone know what it is?
March 6th – And elsewhere too, on the canal, signs of spring. At Walsall Wood bridge, butties are being loaded from a temporary, rough wharf from a derelict factory yard, ready to supply earth to a worksite near Catshill Junction. Growing from the brickwork canalside nearby, beautiful coltsfoot flowers in abundance, almost hidden from view.
At the new pond in Clayhanger, the scrub and copse still looks barren, but there’s a sense of anticipation, almost as if nature is waiting for the starting gun.
March 4th – A beautiful day, but still windy. The golden light of spring shone its benevolent best over the canal at Walsall, and it felt good. What was really impressive was that I saw the Pleck kingfisher again – well, actually kingfishers, as one seemed to be seeing another off the territory near the Scarborough Road bridge. I couldn’t get the camera out in time to take a picture, but there was no mistaking the twin cobalt blue flashes. They both seemed to go for cover in the trees somewhere in the bottom picture.
Interestingly, I rode the canal through to Goscote on the way home in the light, too, and saw one there. It’s clearly a great year for these beautiful little birds. I hope I get a good picture of one soon.
March 3rd – Cold, windy. Horrid journeys to work, fast and fun journeys back. It seems we’re in for a blustery spring, but it was light nearly all the way home tonight – another week, and I might get home in the light.
Ah, blessed light.
I’ve been fiddling with the new camera – astoundingly to me, these shots were all handheld (I don’t have steady hands). This one seems more sensitive, if that’s the word, and seems to select a faster shutter in lower light than previous models. I’m liking it a lot.
It was a fair sunset tonight, but clear, and harsh. I was glad to get in.
March 2nd – Fiddling with a next camera. After a brief flirtation with a Canon at Christmas – I hated it – I’ve just acquired the new Panasonic TZ70, the upgrade to last year’s TZ60. I’ll be twiddling with it for a while to find out what’s improved – and low light handheld images have definitely improved.
People often think I must carry a large camera around; I don’t – I just go for a little compact in my pocket, that’s easy to pull out and take spontaneous images with. I’ve tried big stuff in the past and find the size to be a hinderance.
No doubt for a few weeks I’ll be swearing at moved, changed or lost features – but having tried alternatives, I’m still resolutely a Panasonic chap.
As an aside, the works are very intense at Bentley Mill Way under the aqueduct – I won’t look at the plans as I want to gradually see the outcome. But that’s a very big culvert in there, I must say.
March 1st – On a distinctly un-springlike day, I headed into Pelsall in the morning, and came back along the canal via Nest Common. The canal here is as stark and beautiful as it every is; a shimmering sky-coloured ribbon stretching off on three directions. However, the journey back – along muddy, churned towpath until I reached the better surfaced part at Ryders Hayes – was awful.
Walsall Council and the Canal & River Trust are said to be investing, like Birmingham, in canal routes that don’t need surfacing, while ignoring spots like this and the canal through Rushall. It doesn’t make sense to me.
February 28th – Another grey, dull day, with a worsening wind. I had stuff to do in Walsall Wood and headed up the canal to get there. Between Cathshill Junction and Walsall Wood Bridge, work has been ongoing since summer on the eastern embankment. First, it was strengthened with sectional piling at the Black Cock Bridge, and the level raised; now soil has been added to some thickness along much of the stretch, presumably to provide better security agains overtopping and to counteract weather erosion.
I note that on the bend that was piled, staves have been driven into the bank, and reed beds planted behind, presumably to create a natural buffer against erosion in a particularly vulnerable spot.
Wonder if they’ll get round to fixing the brickwork and voids on the pedestrian side of the canal anytime soon?
February 21st – The weather really couldn’t make up its mind – today, in about 90 minutes, I experienced rain, hail, snow, wind and warm sunshine. Heading back up the canal to Brownhills from Burntwood, the skies were beautiful, as were the patches of sunshine and shadow that chased over the landscape.
The verdant green of the new crops and bright blue really do whisper of a nascent spring, but I must remember, some of the heaviest snows for years were at the end of March in 2013.
I don’t think winter has quite laid down yet…
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