Galleries

April 20th – A shock this morning. I had a train to catch so left as the sun rose. It was very, very cold with a light ground frost, inadequate a significant mist. Still, it shrouded Grove Hill in Stonnall beautifully, and gave the pylons at Mill Green an other-worldly, sinister presence, and the sun soon burned it off.

April 19th – I still wasn’t feeling great, and added to which I was having trouble with the computer, so I slid out on a changeable, but mostly sunny afternoon for a scoot over to Chasewater, Lichfield, Wall, Chesterfield and back home. It cheered me up no end – the oilseed rape was just coming into flower, and it was one of those high-contrast days that make for dramatics skies and nice photos.

I love how the tulip looks like it’s got a tiny, tarantula-type creature inside. 

April 19th – Sometimes it’s necessary to point out the less pleasant side of nature. Sorry.

I occasionally get messages and mail from people worried, because they’ve seen pairs of almost intact bird wings at Chasewater or near other places where water bird congregate. The finders of these grisly leftovers sometimes think these are signs of human cruelty.

Relax, they aren’t – but they are a sign that nature is red in tooth an claw. Foxes and avian predators will take birds who roost close to the edge of the lake, or in the case of raptors, take birds on the surface – gulls, ducks, small geese, even swans on occasion in the case of Reynard if he’s hungry and brave enough. 

There isn’t much meat in the wings, which are mostly bone, skin, feather and sinew, so they are discarded as being not worth the effort. Experienced predators cut them off cleanly, and one often finds them discarded. This pair, I think maybe from a gull, were near the dam on Pool Road. I’ve seen 7 pairs so far this year.

Nature is horrid sometimes.

April 18th – Not far today, I was busy and weary with a rough throat. I busied myself with spannering the bikes, which are still suffering from the winter. A little wheel truing; further brake tweaks and creak-hunting. Soon be top-notch again.

It was windy but warm as I headed into Brownhills for shopping, and as I passed the canal at Silver Street, I noticed that some embankment work was finally going on, and it’s be interesting to see if they do some of the really bad bits towards Catshill Junction and Clayhanger Bridge.

The gorse was flowering strongly, and the trees along the canal edge are just in blossom. The canoe centre was a hive of activity, which the swans nesting nearby kept a watchful eye on; although there was no need – the canoeists were giving the nest and patrolling dad plenty of space…

April 17th – Another harbinger of spring: bluebells. First I’ve seen this year, spotted under a hedgerow in Shelfield. OK, they’re imported Spanish ones rather than the more traditional English variety, but they’re coming… and in the same patch, a few white ones for good measure.

Great to see.

April 16th – Jockey Meadows between Sheffield and Walsall Wood are also greening well – and early – this year. As I rode past on a warm but breezy evening in pleasant sunshine, I noticed that way over by the marsh, red deer were grazing – which must be a sign that the sedges and moss they like to eat best must be growing again.

Jockey Meadows are always beautiful, and unexpectedly so, wedged in between two urban areas – as a notified Site of Special Scientific Interest they’re well worth a visit – but take some wellies!

April 15th – Shelfied, just on the marooned triangle of land where there was once a railway bridge, a beautiful display of daffodils, better than ever I remember them.

Every year these gorgeous flowers drag me into spring. They are a joy to the heart. My best wishes and thanks to those at Walsall Council who planted and look after them.

April 15th – On my commute home, on the Walsall Canal. in a disused, fenced-off wharf arm off the mainline, a mother swan watches me carefully from her nest in the reeds.

It may look a bit polluted, but she’s fairly safe there: there’s a palisade fence and factory yard around, and it’s a brave fox would try to get to that nest.

Security. It’ll be interesting to watch her progress.