March 23rd – Passing through Brownhills in the morning, I paid a call on the Watermead swan couple. Not sure if there are any eggs yet, but the nest is looking good and a bird is clearly sitting.
I look forward to watching another batch of cygnets thrive and grow. Exciting times!
March 19th – Things that happen when you’re not looking….
Sunday must have been the mathematical vernal equinox: When day and night are equal in length at 12 hours. Today, with sunrise at 6:13 and sunset at 6:17, the day was longer than night by four minutes.
Of course, the equinox isn’t as simple as that; there’s a full explanation on Wikipedia here and the true astronomical equinox, when the earth’s equator passes the centreline of the sun, occurs on Tuesday 20th March this year (2018).
This is another little milestone to longer, better days; with the coming of British Summer Time on Sunday next weekend, it will feel like summer is just around the corner.
Hopefully, the weather will oblige too.
March 16th – There may be a return to winter forecast for the weekend, with impending snow and freezing temperatures, but on the canalside near the Watermead Estate in Brownhills, it’s spring and therefore reconstruction time again.
At dusk, the swan couple who have nested here in previous years were busily engaged in rest building, following their springtime imperative. Yes, it’ll be cold for them for a couple of days, but they know good weather and warm days are coming and they must prepare for this year’s brood.
I wish them warm days and good luck. I shall, as usual, watch with interest.
March 15th – Spring is in residence at Kings Hill Park, Darlaston.
The sun rises not long after six am, and sets not long after 6pm.
We are approaching the spring equinox.
Whatever the weather doom-mogers are saying, the light is here. There flowers are arriving. Spring is taking to her throne.
Welcome back, your majesty – it’s been a long winter.
March 14th – Returning home after a long day as dusk fell, I’d hit the canal at Walsall Wood, but the towpath was very muddy so I decided to hop back on the High Street at Anchor Bridge and continue by road.
Stopping near Chandlers Keep, I noticed the swan couple feeding, and they seem in separable at the moment. I’m hoping they might get the urge to nest build soon. I think they’re youngsters, so if the do nest, it could well be a dry run, but I’m always keen to see swans nesting locally.
We never saw swans on the canal when I was a kid. They’re still a treat.
March 11th – A ride out to a farmer’s market then on tho Middleton Hall for cake, and back via Hints and the A5. The day wasn’t the best of weathers, but is was pretty good, and I didn’t get rained on until very late in the ride.
I noticed the animals on this ride particularly: the first spring lambs up at Barracks Lane; the goose at Middleton Hall. But what stole it were the cats: the lovely chap drinking from the canal at Catshill Junction; the weary, wary looking farm cat at Raikes Lane; the black tiny one in Fazeley.
Spring must be coming, the cats are starting to emerge.
March 10th – I had to pop to the garden centre in Shenstone, which always grinds my gears, as there’s no suitable bike parking and the place seems to be cunningly and cynically engineered to hoover money out of the pockets of the older folk who seem to be it’s target customers, mostly in exchange for expensive items one could find cheaper elsewhere. Walking in with concessions of a pet shop, 3 or 4 clothing brands and other such stuff, the actual garden stuff seems a sideline.
I returned from the garden centre grumpy and decided to travel the length of the Lammas Land in Shestone, running from the Birmingham Road to just near Shenstone Station.
Spring is trying to start here, and pleasingly, the daffodils were out, but on the whole, the place was still very much of the winter. I stopped to look at the Shining Stone of Shenstone, which looks no less like a silver turd every time I see it. It’s a peculiar thing.
I was intrigued by the purple alder-like tree I found there – with purple male catkins and the familiar more globular female ones. If the leaves match that will be an extraordinary sight.
March 9th – Somehow without noticing, I have managed to slip the camera into 16:9 widescreen aspect, which takes me back ten years to using my first Panasonic camera, the peculiar little DMC-LX2 which was native 16:9 widescreen. That camera was limited, but bombproof, and I used it for years. I never quite loved it, but we had a close relationship.
It had been a wet commute home from Shenstone Station, and having to call into Stonnall I took the backlanes. The accidental 16:9 really suited the atmosphere: Although pre-sunset, it was dark, foreboding and grim.
But mercifully, also warm.
Spring seems reluctant to reveal herself this year.
March 7th – The weather is much warmer now and I’m desperately looking for signs of a nascent spring, which aren’t very forthcoming yet but the daylight is really lengthening now.
On the cycleway at goscote, some lovely colour in the moss and lichen growing on the tree, which I think is probably dead – making me wonder if the moss killed the tree or is a result of the decay?
Whatever, it’s fascinating.
March 6th – It was still not dark when I returned along the canal to Brownhills. There was none of the snow remaining which surprised med, but there was still quite dense ice on some sections of canal like Catshill Junction.
Things are still looking a bit grey and colourless apart from the early spring flowers, and I’m looking forward to seeing some signs of fresh green soon.
Won’t be too long now hopefully, before life becomes colourful once more. I’ve had it with all this grey.
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