Tag: wildlife

July 9th – On the canal near Ogley Junction, one of my favourite mad fishermen was stalking the bank, looking as eccentric and slightly dishevelled as ever.

I adore herons. This one seems unusually dark in colour, and was very bold, not moving on until I got very close. Is it possible a juvenile?

Wonderful birds, but probably not if you keep a fishpond…

July 6th – I had to pass through Sutton Park in the early evening, and as I cycled by Longmoor Pool, I was pleased to note it had a family of resident swans, with as far as I could tell, seven cygnets. The youngsters were asleep on the water, and only awoke when the parents showed interest in me. That did;t last long when they realised I had no food to offer them.

Something about the light seems to have made this look quite dramatic…

July 5th – Coppice Woods, or to give this small copse it’s proper name, Goblins Pit Wood is what I believe to be the last remnant of the holly and oak woodlands that used to cover our area before the industrial revolution. Quite why it survived, I don’t know, but now part of the Jockey Meadows SSSI, the future of this woodland seems secure.

There’s still plenty of oak and holly, but other deciduous trees make for a variety of habitats for bats, mustelids, rodents, birds and insects.

On this sunny evening ride home, Coppice Woods were a peaceful, sleepy sanctuary from the rush-hour traffic on Green Lane.

June 25th – Swans are inscrutable, they really are. On the Nine-Foot Pool at Chasewater, with the level still just about overflowing, a pair of birds sleep on the concrete spillway weir, seemingly oblivious to the natural plant detritus around them.

To me, the spot they doze in looks uncomfortable, chilly and precarious, but to them, it’s clearly just the right place to get some shut-eye.

Occasionally, I realise how much I don’t know about wildlife.

June 25th – Out late after a busy day working at home. It was a pleasant evening as I spun up to Chasewater along the canal from Ogley Junction.

I must say, that view of Hammerwich over the Warrenhouse still stuns me after all these years – and with the grass high in the meadow like a gently rippling sea, it’s even more beautiful.

Another lovely thing (though perhaps not if you grow veg!) is the burgeoning rabbit population along the canal and around Chasewater Dam. As you ride on a quiet afternoon, bunnies scuttle for cover from the towpath, nearby scrubs and gardens. They look healthy, and seem to be doing well, which is good news after myxomatosis wiped out the warren at the Chase Road Bridge a few years ago.

A nice afternoon’s bimble.

June 21st – It may be the solstice, but the mating behaviour continues on the canal. With many mallards now on second broods, I noticed this industrious moorhen building a huge nest on the canal at Pleck.

She was very busy and the structure contains some interesting items. I’ll be intrigued to see if she uses it.

June 18th – I passed through Hints late afternoon and stopped off at the church, as I always do. I was sad to note the churchyard looking so scruffy – it never used to be so overgrown, but the fact that it is is probably much better of the wildlife.

Talking of which, for as long as I’ve been coming here – 35 years or more – the south gable of the church has been hime to honeybees in summer, and this year is no different. The creatures swoop and buzz amongst the gravestones, and make an appreciable sound that fills the air. 

I love to see them and the constancy of their annual return is a joy to the heart.

June 10th – I slipped out of work for the day near lunchtime, and pottered through the Black Country down the canals into Brum, then back home on the waterways to Aldridge. Unlike Brownhills, I had a mostly dry, temperate afternoon, and life is everywhere, from the lounging cat to the aggressive geese. Flowers and greenery are everywhere, and as ever, the landscape was the star.

It wasn’t a long ride at 35 miles, but the stop at a favourite Jamaican cafe for curried mutton, rice and peas and a good mooch around the architecture was good for my soul.

A lovely afternoon.

June 9th – I have no idea about Lepidoptera, but spotted this lovely moth (I think) in the flowers near the new pond in Clayhanger. It was beautiful and very active – and along with the bees and a whole host of other bugs, shows why margins and scrubs left to run wild are so very important for biodiversity.