Tag: wildlife

April 16th – Heading up the canal toward Newtown, on the bend just past the old mill, a relaxing couple on a sunny afternoon. I’ve not seen the swans do this on the canal bank here before, and this one has me a little puzzled, but they were utterly relaxed and convinced the spot was just right for them.

A lovely sight, but I know the one that was ostensibly asleep was totally aware of my presence. 

April 12th – On the Walsall Canal where the Anson Brach used to spur off between Bentley Bridge and Bentley Mill Way Aqueduct, the swans who I think nested in the abandoned basin last year are nesting anew. 

Sadly, the nest isn’t well protected this year and I think an enterprising fox or heron – who fish here regularly – may end up with cygnet tea.

That’s if the phantom bread-flinger does’t chock the wee ones – sadly, the message that bread isn’t good for waterfowl doesn’t seem to be reaching all quarters. I know these folk mean well, but it’s not good for them. 

Please, if you feed them, seed or greens instead.

April 11th – I spotted him near the Bentley Mill Way Aqueduct, perched in a tree. I haven’t seen many herons of late, so it was nice to see this neat, healthy looking specimen looking for a meal. This was very near where the swans are currently nesting and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was hoping to bag a cygnet for lunch.

As is usual with these wonderful birds, I scared him and he flew 30 metres or so down the canal, landing well away from me.

I love these wonderful, eccentric-seeming birds.

April 10th – Nice to see a thriving bunny population around the dam and Anglesey Wharf and basin at Chasewater.

There were a large group cropping the turf at the back of the dam cottage, sadly they were skittish and I scared all but this pair away.

They look healthy though. Good to see them after the myxomatosis outbreak near Newtown ended the warren there.

April 4th – An odd day – heavy showers in the morning interspersed with bright, warm sunny periods, and a nightmare, torrential-rain soaked ride home. At lunchtime on an errand from work into Walsall, I have no idea what the pigeon was thinking, but it seemed happy. Walsall dripped, sparkled and glistened, and the swans at Bentley Bridge didn’t seem bothered. 

The homeward trip was fun, but very wet. Flash floods hit the main roads and drains blew their covers. It was warm though, so not too bad.

I guess this are April showers, then…

April 3rd – The curious textures and contour-following lines of a ploughed and planted potato field seen today near Shenstone. The almost Moire-like visual disturbance this causes is fascinating, and really shows the undulations in any landscape.

Particularly impressive was the single cock pheasant clearly feeling a bit superior in the centre. Not the brightest birds but certainly very beautiful.

April 2nd – A cracking day. My seasonal clock a bit on the krunk, I went again to Shire Oak Nature Reserve to see if there were amorous amphibians getting busy, only to find none, but some spawn remaining. Clearly, I missed frog soup this year; however, some spawn under the overhanging trees that clearly couldn’t be reached by the dining heron I sacred off was, remarkably, hatching.

Yup, tadpoles are hatched.

There’s a running joke amongst my pals that one should be careful to check my hands for tadpoles and other wildlife slimies before shaking hands.

The cycle of life continues in a small corner of the town, largely undisturbed, as it has done for decades here. Poor heron had to go somewhere else for his tapioca meal, though…

March 30th – I stopped to take a look at the new pond at Clayhanger, which to my surprise, still looks very wintery. It was  far too wet to go down to the water or ride round, and from my vantage point I couldn’t see if the swans were nesting on the island this year.

There were signs of spring, however, in the track adjacent which was of course the line of the mineral railway that served Walsall Wood Colliery. The hedgerows and scrubs forming a woodland tunnel were looking fresh with a smattering of emerald green, fresh growth for the season ahead.

It’s hard to imagine that this time three years ago in 2013, there was still thick snow on the ground – in places several feet deep – that would last for a week or more.

March 28th – On my return, I popped through a very boggy Shire Oak Park to see if the frogs were busy mating here yet – sadly no evidence of that (although they may have been and gone, the spawn here tends to get eaten by foxed and corvids pretty quickly) but spring is here with green shoots, bright yellow gorse and a lovely, warming atmosphere.

This really is a gem of a place and so little known. Visit if you can, it’s well worth the time.