May 22nd – It’s always great to see the flag irises out along the canal banks for another season – such dramatic, beautiful yellow flowers that add real colour to urban and rural landscapes alike.
Only one snag: They really aggravate my hay fever. Looks like I’ll be sneezing my way along the canals for a wile then… but a price so worth paying.
May 4th – At last, the canal at the Black Cock Bridge, basking in warm, still air and the beginnings of a lovely golden hour.
This is what I’ve waited for and I aim to enjoy it.
So nice to be back in the light again.
May 2nd – A dreadful, rain-sodden and intemperate morning commute – possibly my worst ever set me up for a lousy day. But things got better, slowly, and when I returned, the sun came out.
Coming back on the canal, heading to Brownhills I noticed that a WalsalL Wood resident near the canalside have had a resident take possession of part of their garden, who will hopefully soon have a little family.
What a wonderful thing to have in your garden – perhaps not so much if you plan on getting out there, though…
My only concern is that nest is awfully vulnerable to beer fox…
May 1st – The ever-changing colours and beauty of Kings Hill Park, Blessed today with just a little sunshine.
That wildflower patch is absolutely gorgeous.
April 30th – Another sign of spring in the air is the re-emergence of the urban and urbane cat population. Indolent and mainly indoors during the cold months, characters you haven’t seen for months miraculously reappear in spring, owning their neighbourhoods like they were never gone at all.
I was particularly pleased to meet this venerable old gentleman in Kings Hill, taking the air. I now know his name is Sam and he’s the companion of an elderly lady who lives nearby. Sam himself is getting on, has no teeth and is generally a stern but authoritative figure, even when asleep on the grass around the flats where he lives.
I usually spot him inactive and dozing in summer, usually in some well-chosen, sun-dappled spot where he can curl up and dream of his kittenhood, and feel the warmth ease his old bones. Very rarely do I see him as I did today, up, about and alert.
Yet again, a lovely old lad enjoys one more spring. Welcome back, Sam.
April 30th – Yes, spring continues although the expected weather has still failed to turn up for the gig.
Spotted in Pleck, Walsall, near the Scarborough Road bridge, a momma Mallard proudly marshalls her new ducklings away from the inquisitive human and to apparent safety.
First hatchlings I’ve seen this year. Always a joy to the heart.
April 28th – A grey, cold afternoon at Chasewater with little to commend it: On a quick spin out shivering and cold, they light was hauntingly grey over the lake. I notice the water level is falling gradually now with it now being about 75mm below the outfall spillway weir.
The gorse is beautiful, the hedgerows verges and thickets were alive with flowers, birds and wildlife, but there was little colour because of the awful weather.
Come on spring, we won’t mind if you wake the sun up!
April 27th – I had to pop into Lichfield on my way home, and took the opportunity to nip to Waitrose for a bit of posh shopping.
In the fields surrounding the bypass and store, to the south of the Darwin Park estate, the fields are full of healthy, plump spring lambs and their mothers.
On a dull Friday afternoon they made for a lovely sight.
April 26th – Clayhanger Common,early morning, not long after dawn.
Yellow army I surreptitiously helped establish here is massing around the grassland. Standing proud, in defiance of the land’s former history as a rubbish tip.
These flowers are a symbol of great progress, undercover as bright yellow, beautiful spring sentries.
May their invasion recur every year without resistance being encountered.
April 25th – The weather is still quite intemperate, but improving. Temperatures climbed at the weekend, then sank again, but on the whole it’s been a drier week – but windier – although the sun too has been welcome.
This improvement has meant trees are now well into the greening phase and it’s starting to look like summer is coming.
With blue skies and emerald embankments and hedgerows, the canal is looking gorgeous again.
It’s a pleasure to see.
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