May 19th – A busy day at Chasewater. Linda Mason had posted some pictures of deer on the dam that morning, and I was surprised when I passed by late afternoon that they were still tree. Not at all nervous of their occasional audience, they browsed the scrub, nibbling the shoots off the birch saplings and generally got on with things.
If anyone had told me 20 years ago there would be red deer here, and they’d be this fearless I’d never have believed them. Beautiful.
April 27th – Still sore, I slid out in the afternoon and checked out the canal to Wharf Lane. Just at the old quarry access road there, I noticed a few white hyacinths growing there. They smelled divine, and were gorgeous in the sunshine.
You don’t see many of those in the wild. I’d guess they’re the result of dumping garden waste.
Beautiful, whatever the origin…
March 17th – I haven’t seen the local deer for a while. I know they’ve been about from the reports of others, but my path and theirs hasn’t crossed. This is unusual, and I’ve missed seeing them. I like the red deer a lot, and feel quite some attachment. I think it’s partially due to the fact that they wander so freely, and pretty much appeared unannounced. They’re like odd, brown, cervine ghosts; you see them often enough to know they’re there, but the movements they make from place to place are unseen and mysterious. Recently, they’ve been on Clayhanger Common. One has to wonder how they got there… you can’t enter clay hanger without crossing the canal.
Today, they were on the fields of the former Highfields Farm, south of the M6 Toll near Chasewater. I spotted them first from near the Poole Crescent footbridge, and then got closer shots from the roadside near the old farm. The group of does – I think there were about 15 in total – were loafing and grazing, and were not disturbed by my presence.
I love these graceful, beautiful animals. It’s lovely that we have them here. Such unexpected, wild beauty in a postindustrial place.
October 19th – Working from home today, I spun out late afternoon on errands and to get some shopping. It was misty and grey, but all the same, I headed to Chasewater to check out the levels. It was pretty deserted at 5pm, and the boating lake was a peaceful soup of wildfowl, who flocked around me hoping I had food. The sheer variety in the duck population – domestic, blended with mallard, crossed with tufted ad infinitum – was fascinating. Ducks will mate with just about anything they can, and the diversity here is illuminating.
I see the domestic white geese are still terrorising visitors, too, the aggressive devils. Goose bills are the stuff of nightmares, eh? Look at all those serrations…
April 30th – I was going to break up today’s images into groups, and then I thought better of it. Today’s theme was clearly late spring, early summer, and an utter contrast to the previous day. I left mid-morning for a short meeting in Telford with the sun on my back and wind in my face. The damp landscape hummed with life of all kinds. The rustling of new foliage, the splash of water draining away in roadside ditches, the song of finches and blackbirds, busy in the hedgerows. At Stafford Park in Telford, a line of cherry tress had me stunned, and closer to home at Little Aston and Stonnall, wildflowers brightened the verges, field margins and spinneys. The lanes were crisp and bright, the scent of oilseed rape had risen and everything smelt delightful.
Are days like this better for the preceding bad ones, or do they always seem this good?
I’d appreciate ID help with the flowers, please, if anyone knows.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 