Galleries

August 21st – It was a grey, damp Friday afternoon, and it felt more like October than August, and after a few grey, wet days I noticed the little meadow near the new pond at Clayhanger had lost all of it’s summer colour suddenly, like switching off a light.

All was not lost, though, as there are still wildflowers nearby – toadflax and honeysuckle are still showing well, and damsons and apples are adding autumn colour. Even a confused lupin was bright in the gloom.

Autumn can wait just a little while, can’t it?

August 21st – I had stuff to do in Aldridge on the way home, and Northgate was solid with traffic, so I cut down past the back of the Vigo landfill to hop on the canal at Brickyard Road. I noticed that the final work seems to be going on with sealing this immense refuse tip. It was capped with a top layer of marl a while ago, and landfill gas is still being abstracted and used to power a large generating set, supplying power to the national grid; but amongst the bulkheads and snaking pipes, a plastic membrane has been laid and it’s being covered in topsoil, prior to final landscaping.

The membrane prevents rainwater from getting through the cap and soaking through the refuse, where it would be extracted and disposed of as a toxic brew called leachate, which is an ongoing, expensive operation.

Reducing leachate production also lowers the future chances of groundwater pollution.

Landfill is quite a high-tech operation these days, if carried out properly.

August 20th – had o nip on an errand, and left during daylight, and returned at dusk. On both outward and return, I crossed the old cement works bridge.

I took a photo towards Pelsall on my way out, and a photo towards Brownhills on my way back.

I don’t know why, but I’m fascinated by the change in light and atmosphere.

August 18th – The poor acorns are really hampered this year – the gall wasps really seem to have affected them. These seem very like knopper galls, which are caused by the wasp injecting a chemical encased egg into the acorn bud when it’s forming. The chemical causes the acorn to mutate, and inside, the wasp larvae hates and feeds.

There are now a good few healthy acorns, though, so perhaps it’s not as bad as I feared, but I do wonder why it just seems to be oaks that are tortured so.

August 18th – I was on the lookout for kingfishers – I’d seen a couple flying down the canal this week, and one tantalisingly perched, who scarpered quickly when my camera beeped as it switched on. Today though, in Pleck, I was having no luck.

Then I spotted why.

A patch of white was twitching and moving in the long grass on the far side of the canal – and on closer inspection turned out to be a tabby and white puss with a remarkable tail engaged in stalking something.

I don’t know what was holding the cat in such rapt attention, but it didn’t even turn to look at me when called. 

My search for a good kingfisher photo opportunity continues…

August 17th – Between Darlaston and Pleck on the Walsall Canal, near James Bridge, the old turnover bridge for the defunct Anson Branch. It’s just as well the line is truncated now, as that huge pipe renders the turnover aspect of the crossing pointless. 

It’s fascinating to see the bracken, buddleia and other weeds gradually dismantling the blue bricks. Gentle, oh so gentle hydraulic pressure gradually and steadily cleaving mortar from brick, using any crack or fissure where a scrap of nourishment can be found.

Nature is remarkable in it’s determination.

August 16th – I spotted him near the Marina at Northwood Bridge in Aldridge. Clearly en repose, hunting seemed to be done for the day and this elderly heron was content to let me take photos without being disturbed.

There’s definitely an Eddie Cochran thing going on there. You don’t see much of that sort of thing in the local avian community, to be honest.

August 16th – Feeling better, I pottered off to Aldridge to do some shopping on Sunday afternoon. On the canal near Northwood Bridge, an unusual sight; a dense, thick patch of what looks like miniature buddleia, but is in fact wild mint.

It smells gorgeous, and the bees are loving it. I never knew mint had such gorgeous flowers.

Meanwhile, near Clayhanger, another reminder of Autumn: Haws ripening well. They look plum and will see many songbirds though winter, with luck.

August 15th – Returning by train because I was short of time, I cycled from Blake Street through the backlanes of Footherley and Stonnall on a beautiful, slightly chilly evening. My energy reserves were very low, and the ride was hard going, which can only have been due to the recent ill-health.

Still, the sun set fire a glorious golden hour and the fields were rendered beautiful. Even the horse chestnuts hit by leaf miners were gorgeous in the late sunlight.

Is that autumn’s breath I can feel on my shoulder?

August 15th – A run into Birmingham in the afternoon on an errand saw me take a route down through Witton Lakes. In the small patch of grass that links Witton to Brookvale Park, a curious thing: a metre-wide, undulating band of wheat and wildflowers has been planted. It’s full of bugs and bees, and poppies and cornflowers proliferate. 

It’s a nice thing – and the lakes were as lovely as ever, too.

My compliments to the people who planned and planted it.