Tag: canoe centre

#365daysofbiking Stopping to smell the flowers

May 26th – On a weary recovery day, I pottered to Brownhills on an errand, and passed the canoe centre at Silver Street.

Although not as beautifully maintained as it once was – the planted boat has been left to wild and weed over – the poppies and other flowers growing on the embankment are gorgeous.

Some days it’s about distance, some days it’s about stopping at the wayside to admire the flowers…

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May 20th – I popped out for a short run on shopping errands to Brownhills, in a gap in the rain. I caught up with the watered swan family on the ramp between the Canoe Centre and the basin on the corner – the youngsters, still numbering six, were lounging and taking naps under the watchful eye of mum and dad.

The adults weren’t at all aggressive with me, so they must be getting used to the human attention, but I was glad of the zoom to keep me out of pecking range.

It’s clearly very tiring work, being cute.

December 31st – I looped back into Brownhills, and took in one of my favourite night photography muses – Silver Street and the canal at night. I never get tired of this, the interaction of lights, architecture and water are always lovely.

Looking back to the flats, soon this view will change. The market place – deserted for 5 years – will be houses, and as the development towards the flats completes, life and light will return to the canal side, transforming the character once more.

Change is what I guess this journal is all about, and as ever, I welcome it, as I grudgingly welcome 2017.

Happy new year to all readers and followers. Here’s to peace, prosperity and happiness to you all, wherever you follow me from.

March 26th – Ah, spring’s escapement lurches, and the wheels of the season click forward a notch – the swans are nesting again at the Watermead Estate in Brownhills.

They seem to be in the same spot as last year, which is pretty well protected from vermin and out of reach of all but the most determined threat; I can’t be sure it’s the same birds, but it seems likely as a pair have nested here near the houses and canoe club for a good few years now. 

Last year’s brood was large and successful – let’s hope for the same this year, and mum seems to be sitting already!

August 13th – Nice to see the swan family at the slipway next to the canoe centre in Brownhills this afternoon. They are now healthy, large birds with some degree of attitude, and long may they display it.

I thought they’d been ringed, but only mum and dad have the ID, so this brood have yet to be tagged.

They tolerated my interest with only a small amount of hissing, and they feel like good friends these days. It’s always nice to see them.

August 12th – The photography was better, but I wasn’t.

Still pretty rough, and not really any better, I got out a little earlier and bumbled off to Chasewater to catch the sunset. Getting used to a new camera can be odd and the Nikon seems to have interesting habits; it doesn’t seem to do sunsets quite the same as the Panasonic, which tended to redden them, where as this one tends to pull out the pink aspect more. It worked better than I thought it had from the picture preview.

From there, I scooted back to Brownhills as it got dark. Some shots from Clayhanger’s railway bridge using a gorillapod allowed me to experiment and found that aperture priority allowed me to get the hash, sharp light pattern I like. That was a real discovery.

I was a lovely evening, and although I felt dreadful, I’d learned something, so it wasn’t a bad trip, really. 

And then there were the toads…

August 11th – I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m not very well. I’ve been off colour since the weekend and I’ve only got out for short runs; today a quick loop of central Brownhills just to get some fresh air after dark.

Still, it gave me chance to experiment with the Nikon a little more – none of these shots used a tripod, but handheld night mode on the camera. They’re OK but I’m not sure about the indistinct fuzz it makes of lights. 

Need to experiment another day when I’m well I think. Here’s to better days.

May 14th – Bittersweet. Also in the rain, the Brownhills Watermead swan family, I first took pictures of at the weekend – doing well, but down from seven cygnets to six. One will have been snatched by a predator, or may have been weak and died; but the rest look fine and are already growing. Out with mum and dad who were keeping a watchful eye, they were a lovely family. 

Such joy and sadness in nature.

April 18th – Not far today, I was busy and weary with a rough throat. I busied myself with spannering the bikes, which are still suffering from the winter. A little wheel truing; further brake tweaks and creak-hunting. Soon be top-notch again.

It was windy but warm as I headed into Brownhills for shopping, and as I passed the canal at Silver Street, I noticed that some embankment work was finally going on, and it’s be interesting to see if they do some of the really bad bits towards Catshill Junction and Clayhanger Bridge.

The gorse was flowering strongly, and the trees along the canal edge are just in blossom. The canoe centre was a hive of activity, which the swans nesting nearby kept a watchful eye on; although there was no need – the canoeists were giving the nest and patrolling dad plenty of space…

March 28th – Even on the greyest days, Brownhills has signs of life at this time of year. I set out for a short spin on a grey, showery afternoon, and was rewarded with a herd of red deer at the old clay pit, a nesting swan just by the canoe centre and watered, and a delightful grey wagtail at Anchor Bridge.

It took me a while to work out why the young stag’s coat was grey and oddly textured. He’s been rolling in clay mud. I know deer like to mud bathe, but that seems a little extreme… anyone seen this behaviour before? Is it harmful? 

I noted the deer were in moult, and wondered if the mud-rolling was a way of accelerating the shedding.