May 10th – Ever get the feeling you’re being watched?
Returning after work to Brownhills down a sunny, limpid canal, I felt a wee bit like I wasn’t alone.
And then I spotted ginger, watching me from behind the reads by the new development at Silver Court Gardens.
That’s one gorgeous little cat.
May 9th – Spotted whilst riding to work in Shelfield, this lithe, glossy character who seemed very keen to keep a low profile.
Maybe a bit sensitive about the ostentatious collar, who knows?
A lovely puss going about it’s business is always a pleasure to see…
April 1st – Spotted in Weeford, this brisk tabby and white cat was annoyed that I disturbed it’s hunting activities.
It’s now spring, and the season of startling cats, lying peering into hedgerows intently is upon us.
When startled they always look at you with a mixture of nonchalance and irritation.
Bless. What a lovely puss.
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.
January 31st – Oh my days, or nights rather. We never get a normal moon anymore. All we get are ‘super moons’, or for some reason our already lovely satellite is pronounced unique by the media at any given time around on it’s 28 day appearance cycle.
I have to admit, this time it was impressive; a blue moon true enough – it’s second fullness in the month, but it was large and bright and shone out in the sky of an urban Walsall, guiding me as I cycled home.
It was beautiful, but then, it always has been. It is special every time, because it’s distant and mystical and humans went there once. And sometimes, on cold nights in late January, the thought that if humans can go all that way and return is very reassuring. If we can do that amazing feat, perhaps we can do anything, and life is not so bad after all.
I was not the only soul the moon was clearly guiding on; as I crossed the Black Cock bridge in Walsall Wood, I startled a small, brisk, nervous cat who was clearly up to important cat things, and had no wish to share them with a human on a strange mechanical contraption.
January 9th – Oh my, what a gorgeous puss this one is, a garden wall sentry in the Butts, Walsall.
Uninterested in me until I called, it was watching human proceedings down the street. An impressive neighbourhood presence, I suspect someone loves this one a great deal.
I think the cats must be emerging out of frustration. I later saw, but was unable to photograph a black puss hunting on the wasteland at Bentley Mill Way. I’m not used to seeing cats this active in the dead of winter.
Welcome though. Most welcome…
October 23rd – I was riding to work when I met a gorgeous little lady with a happy, proud brush of a tail. Trotting though The Butts, she meowed at me as I was answering a text and then hurried towards me, greedily accepting chin and ear tickles and nose boops.
Circling me and begging for more fuss, she was hard to photograph, but happily pottered off when she could see I needed to continue my journey.
A little bit of furry, tiny tabbyness on a damp Monday morning.
September 26th – Despite the colder, more inclement weather, the catroplis of Scarborough Road in Walsall continues to introduce new characters. This absolutely tiny, beautifully shaggy mature tabby was doing it’s best to ignore the nutty cycling guy but couldn’t resit a sniff from the safety underneath a nearby car.
And what a gorgeous set of whiskers!
August 31st – This week has been difficult as I’ve been in work very early and out very late, so stopping for photos has been a bit difficult, so I apologise for the limited range in the last couple of days.
On my way to work – thankfully still in daylight, despite the early hour – passing through Kings Hill I noted a lovely, lithe ginger puss, who meowed and wanted fuss. As I reached for the camera, this clearly very busy individual spotted something worth stalking the other side of a factory years fence, squeezed through and was off.
I hope we meet again – that’s a handsome tail for sure!
August 29th – A day of animals with no time to talk. I saw the tabby with the remarkably bush tail strolling purposefully down where else but the Catroplis that is Scarborough Road.
I suspect puss is female, and was having no truck with my sort. Despite calling, making gentle gestures and the like, she said me zero heed and continued her walk down the road.
The squirrel in Victoria Park was similarly busy, gathering and burying acorns, storing food for winter, or ay be just starting off new saplings, who knows?
Neither animal stopped long enough for a good photo, so sadly, you’ll have to make do with these snatches quick ones, because… they were so busy.
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