Parched

My two favourite trees again... It's interesting to keep documenting the differences. After the very dry summer, the grass around them is parched a dusty yellow. The cows were taking shelter in the shade under the tree in the top field. The trees themselves look healthy for now but the drought must be stressing them, I think.  And I now have to stand on tiptoe to see over the recently planted hedge at the field boundary. I'm all for mixed hedges so it's good that it's been planted but I'm a bit sad that the view I've enjoyed for years is gradually disappearing! 

Sunshine and celandines

This last week it has really felt like spring, with warm sunshine and a fresh feeling in the air. I spent the morning of 17 March at the 'Listening for Life' centre at the hospital, having intensive hearing tests and discussing cochlear implants (no decision made yet!) so a de-stressing walk in the afternoon made perfect sense. The TV weatherman said it was the 'Spring equilux' in the UK, when day and night are both 12 hours (not to be confused with the Vernal equinox, which was on 20 March). I have to confess I'd never heard the term equilux before; I learn something every day. 

In the woods, the celandines have suddenly burst into flower, a cheerful yellow carpet of stars, here and there brightened by milky white wood anemones. 

Blue and yellow are very much the colours of spring and the Aire Rowing Club on the far side of the river is decked out accordingly. 

The absence of foliage means you can see things that are hidden in summer. This bridge (below) is the aqueduct that carries the Leeds-Liverpool Canal over the River Aire, and a trick of the light meant it was much more obvious than usual. It actually has seven arches but the river now only flows through two or three of them and the others are silted up. 

My favourite trees were surrounded by dairy cows - and soaring overhead there were two red kites (birds), though you can barely see them in the photo. At one time red kites were nearing extinction in the UK but a protection and reintroduction programme has been very successful, numbers increasing by 2,464% between 1995 and 2023. They're now a common sight around here but nonetheless thrilling to see, soaring on the warm thermal currents. 

In Roberts Park, the young cherry trees are flowering, a pretty addition to the bottom meadow, planted only in the last two or three years. 

Magnolias have suddenly burst into blossom, so I hope we don't get any frosts. Those on the park promenade (below) are not fully out yet, as they don't get so much sun.

I'm not sure what the white blossom is... some kind of cherry I suppose. 

I enjoyed my walk and certainly felt more relaxed and peaceful as a result. 

A wander: wildlife and wonder

     

The dry, bright days are such a relief and a blessing. They've been few and far between this winter, so it's been important to make use of them. Thankfully I have many beautiful places I can easily walk, so one day I chose a longer circuit along the river and canal. There was lots to notice - some marcescent beech leaves added a touch of copper to the canalside.

I was delighted to spot a female kingfisher (identifiable by her red 'lipstick' beak; the males' beaks are all black). Usually you just see a blue flash whizzing past at speed but, surprisingly, this one was content to sit on a branch for ages, only occasionally flying off but then returning to more or less the same spot. This is the best photo I've managed of one in a while, given that I don't have a long telephoto lens. 

Not far away, I was entranced by a flock of long-tailed tits. These are my absolute favourite bird. You rarely see just one; they like to forage in busy little groups, maybe half a dozen or so in a small area. About the size of a great tit, they are prettily coloured with pink, black and white plumage and a noticeably long tail. They really are sweet little floofballs. 

My two favourite trees again: I just love their shape; I think they have beautiful winter skeletons.

And a partridge?

My two favourites trees in their winter plumage, playing host (though you probably can't spot them on a small photo) to:

Eight magpies - 

'One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret never to be told, Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten for a bird you must not miss.'

Four jackdaws and

Four wood pigeons.

(All on the ground.) 

 

I couldn't see a partridge and they're not pear trees, so there the similarity ends! But we can all have a wish...

Two favourite trees

Here are my two favourite trees again, in full summer plumage. I took a slightly wider angle on them than I usually do, mainly because the sky was rather wonderful. In the foreground, the hedge that was planted a couple of years ago along the canal side is now beginning to grow strongly. It's good news for wildlife - a healthy, mixed hedge of native species. Bad news, however, for photographers (me) because it will, before long, grow tall enough to obscure this lovely view. I shall have to take a stepladder along with me! 😂

(Click the two trees label below for more pics of them)

Towards Dowley Gap

If I walk along the canal or river about a mile out of Saltaire, I arrive at Dowley Gap, one of the many locks on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. The lock itself is just beyond the bridge in the picture above. It's all very familiar and yet manages to be different each time I come here. The red creeper on that wall was just stunning in the early morning sunshine. 

The sun was just picking out the South Lodge, once a gatehouse for the Milner Field estate.

My two favourite trees, often photographed, looked just a bit different with the mist swirling around. 

The Seven Arches Aqueduct, which carries the canal over the river, is hardly beautiful but I think it's interesting and quite remarkable. Built in 1773, it has over the years received hefty amounts of concrete on the towpaths. I don't often photograph it from this side. See HERE for a view from the other side and the story of when it was drained for repairs. 

 

Friday round up

Friday has come round again, and I still have no hint of a moving date. This is getting extremely frustrating but there is little I can do about it. 

I always start a New Year with good intentions, usually related to taking more exercise, so I've had a walk most days this week. It's one way to take my mind off things. I am still finding bits and bobs to drop off at the charity shops. I must have halved my book collection over the last few months. Gordon Terrace in Saltaire happens to have a thriving Children's Society bookshop (apparently one of the most successful charity bookshops in the county) so most of my surplus volumes have ended up there. Walking home down Victoria Road there was a lovely sky and mist wreathing around Hope Hill in the distance. 

I also had a walk one day from Burnsall, along the River Wharfe. Again, there was a good sky, though the terrain was so muddy that most of my attention was on the ground, not the sky! I did look up enough to glimpse a splash of sunshine on the distant hills; that's been a rare sight this winter! 

So much rain in recent days has swelled the River Aire afresh. It was about as full as it could be without overtopping its banks and the riverside path was very muddy indeed, despite having been relaid and resurfaced during 2023.  The water was flowing fast but silently. It made me think of a slithering snake, and there was a slight sense of menace about it.  Not that the mallard ducks seemed to mind, gliding along on the current.

I made it to the aqueduct without mishap, thankfully. My two favourite trees are skeletal though no less beautiful in their winter tracery. They had company: a small herd of cattle. Milner Field Farm is a dairy farm but these looked like calves rather than dairy cows. Not that I'm an expert! 

I returned along the canal towpath - whilst I still can. As the sign declares, they are starting remedial work on the stretch from Shipley (Otley Road) to Hirst Lock, which will be closed from mid January until mid March. More on this HERE.  Once I've moved house, it will be easy enough for me to walk down to Hirst Lock and along the canal towards the aqueduct, before following the river path to Saltaire, so I'll still be able to do a circular walk. 

Two trees

Here are my two favourite trees again, in glorious technicolour among the buttercups. (The greens really are this bright!) They're in the meadows belonging to Milner Field Farm, adjacent to the canal at Dowley Gap. I've lost count of the number of times I've photographed them, in all seasons and all weathers. Click on the 'two trees' label and you'll see some more images. 

Snow!

It snowed heavily overnight on Thursday so that by Friday morning we'd had about four inches down here in the valley. (Clearly much more on higher ground.) I obviously needed to get out there with my camera! Good snow is quite a rare event these days round here, it seems. I had a pleasant walk; it wasn't really cold and, indeed, by the time I returned home the sun was out and it was thawing rapidly. 

Midsummer dream

High summer 2022 and it's sometimes been overly warm and far too dry. The grassland is parched and yellowing (though not nearly as arid as further south). The foliage has, by and large, adopted that dull, dusty green that isn't especially appealing in photographs  - and, indeed, turns some photographers off completely, so that they don't even venture out with a camera at this time of year. The hedgerows are full of seedheads, parachuting around in the breeze. (Bizarrely, it has often been quite windy. Walking around in it is like being blasted by a hairdryer on its warm setting.) We've had some interesting skies though. Personally, I do like a bit of blue and white fluffiness. I still find beauty in a scene like this. It's my two favourite trees, from a wider angle of view than I sometimes take. You can just about see the cows grazing under the farthest one.

By the way, if anyone is interested, I've started a new, more personal and a little more creative (hopefully) blog, just for fun and to stretch myself in a different way. I shall only post occasionally and it won't accept comments, but you're welcome to view it. It's HERE. 

Blue sky and mares’ tails

The weather of late seems to have been a lively mixture of bright sunshine and heavy showers, so that you don't really know what to wear (layers!) or how to plan (expect the unexpected!)  A recent walk along the canal to Dowley Gap lock was a good example. The high, wispy, cirrus uncinus clouds look as though they should be a harbinger of good weather but in fact presage rain. Never mind, the sun/rain combo is very good for nature and the bright spring green foliage and grasses are flourishing. My two favourite trees look very happy among the buttercups. 

"Mares' tails and mackerel scales make lofty ships to carry low sails."

Two trees in Spring

I haven't visited my two favourite trees for a while. Here they are in their spring finery, with carpets of buttercups all around. I only had my phone with me so I ended up taking a wider angle shot than I normally do when I photograph them but it does show off the lovely clouds too. 

It's a pretty meadow, sloping down towards the canal near Dowley Gap. Here it is from a different angle: 

Circle of gold

On the days when I don't really have anything planned or anywhere special to go (a lot, this year!) I fall back on what I think of as 'my usual walk'. With minor variations, that is down through Saltaire, out along the canal to the lock, through the woods and back along the canal, or along the canal to the aqueduct and then back along the river bank. I count myself lucky to have such a pleasant, circular walk with its several possible minor variations. It doesn't seem to get boring (to me) and the options take account of the light/weather, general muddiness of the terrain and time available. I sometimes take photos, often don't. Some days it all seems a bit dull and I'm doing it for the sake of exercise rather than anything - but then there are the days when it all looks so very beautiful that I am stopping every few steps to marvel and enjoy. 

Here are the photos from one such late afternoon recently, when the whole circuit was bathed in gold.