Tag: wildlife

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 5th – Heading to work on a bright, sunny and very warm morning, with the snow melting heavily, I was enjoying the warmth and thaw, with the icy remnants of the weekend now confined to the verges.

Looking over to Jockey Meadows, I noticed a herd of red deer grazing the goat field. Sadly, I couldn’t get closer due to the wet ground, but what a lovely way to perk up a Monday Morning ride to work!

March 3rd – I found a herd of 19 fit-looking red deer in the scrub near the outdoor education centre. They were relaxed, browsing the heather and not at all skittish. A fine sight.

I love how thick and woolly their coats seemed, and the occasional snow on the nose. It’s good to know these fine creatures are faring well in the snow.

March 3rd – A mixed-mode day following some of the heaviest, driest falls of snow I’ve ever seen. Like 2013, snow was drifting deeply, but unlike then, the snow was powered and mobile, and it was very cold.

I cycled and walked. Desperate to get out, the canal to Chasewater from Catshill Junction was very nearly impassible on foot, but wonderfully dramatic. Chasewater itself was beautiful and stark, and spotting the lapwing in a colourless landscape was wonderful.

I say colourless, but the gorse was at least trying hard.

February 28th – A day with two of the harshest commutes I’ve ever known – both sub zero, both punctuated by snowstorms and ferocious winds.

On the way to work, I followed the canal somewhat unusually for me, all the way down through Moxley, and on the way noted the dagger-like icicles on Scarborough Road Bridge in Pleck, and the hardiness of the animals I saw – mainly birdlife defying Dry Marland’s IC scale, but also a sad but stoical horse tethered by the Black Country Route. At least it had plenty of hay to eat, poor thing.

Snow squalls came and went, but during them, visibility was poor. I don’t think I’ve ever known commuting on a bike this hard. The winter as it moved on from Christmas has been bloody endless. 

Enough already.

December 20th – A day of horrid weather – wet snow and cold winds. I stayed indoors after an awful night’s sleep, waiting until dusk to dash out on a circuit of Brownhills, which I have to say, against expectations, I enjoyed.

I passed the Watermead Estate swan couple, preening and feeding in the snow. They seemed unconcerned by the cold, which I guess they don’t feel. But I wonder if it annoys them?

It’s almost like they don’t notice it. Birds are odd.

December 26th – I met this interesting fellow on the way back from Chasewater. I guess it was hunting frogs and amphibians in the marsh there, as there’s no real open water – but of course, an adult frog must contain plenty of sustenance for an adult grey heron in winter.

Whatever it was expecting for lunch, it was a handsome and healthy looking bird and totally unexpected there. A nice treat.

December 26th – I headed to Chasewater, which was brooding and quiet. 

Quiet that is, apart from the bickering, squabbling flock of waterfowl of every shape and size gathering around the boardwalk balcony as someone fed them seed.

The water boiled with desperate pecks and defensive wing flaps. There were fights, squabbles, pecked heads and nipped tails.

We all love these lakeside clowns. But man alive, they have no manners…

December 10th – I continued from Chasewater up around Engine Lane and down to old railway trail to the old cement works bridge overlooking the council depot, where gritters and ploughs were coming and going in a constant stream.

There was a lot of angst on social media about grit, road treatment and ploughing, and as ever, I felt particularly for the poor folk doing this hard, almost thankless task.

Elsewhere, the swans weren’t bother by the cold from what I could tell, and Morris seemed happy with his new white mantel.

Temperatures were dropping as it got dark and it would be interesting to see what happened next day as the freeze deepened.

November 27th – A snatched, quick photo taken just after dawn in Jockey Meadows, between Shelfield and Walsall Wood. A pair of grey partridges, fluffed up in the cold, and sheltering from the wind in a tracker tire-rut.

It’s been years since I noticed partridges up here. Good to see them on a Monday morning.