My Walk this Week 248 – End of the Day

Posted on 12/03/202110/03/2021 by Alastair

My walk this week was a much needed one towards the end of the day – a day on which I had spent all my time on the computer.

It is the sounds enjoyed on this walk that are most important to me but the images and video give a visual context to it as well.

The robin and the blackbird seem to be having a conversation – and the sheep have something to say too.

Birds and Sheep

The walk took me up a familiar footpath where I noticed things I hadn’t really paid attention to previously – such as the arboreal elbow of a tree or the integration of another tree and old build wall. Perhaps I should describe this as a take over of man-made by natural.

And from my elevation with views I descended a steep track to the valley floor and the river I have so often featured here.

Click the play button for the sound file and then the first image to view the images in sequence.

Landscape, river and route

My Walk this Week 226 – Spectacular Sunsets

Posted on 02/10/202030/09/2020 by Alastair

On my walk this week I want to share some of my favourite photos of spectacular sunsets from the two weeks I spent in Scotland. The videos I posted while there could not follow the ever changing light for more than a few moments and the atmosphere created by the setting sun on successive evenings was literally awesome.

From the pastel tints and shades looking in one direction to the drama of a fiery sky in another, the reflections on clouds above and water below never ceases to amaze me.

However, I couldn’t photograph one of the most impressive evening skies I have ever seen. I was driving home at the time and as we crossed the border into Wales the sunset was unbelievable, unrealistic even! Yet it was real and will be one that lives on in my memory – it was a good way to arrive back from a much needed and, in spite of Covid-19, much enjoyed holiday. And we were back just in time for another lockdown!

Evening Soundscape – Curlews Calling

A couple of the curlews calling in the soundscape above are from one of the videos I posted previously – the others were separately recorded and are a natural (and phenomenal, to my mind) part of the evening landscapes/seascapes in the photos.

Click the play button for the soundscape and then click the first image below to see the full images larger.

My Walk this Week 224 – Away with Peace and the Birds

Posted on 18/09/202029/09/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week comes from Scotland and it is not so much a walk as a simple record of the stillness, peace and quiet we have been experiencing in this first week away.

Three short iPhone videos tell the story – listen out for the cries of curlews in the evening – there is nothing else like them.

Post and all videos/images created on my phone.

My Walk this Week 217 – An Evening on the Marshes

Posted on 24/07/202022/07/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is back on my local salt marshes where the evening was still and the midges were out in their millions.

I went down there for the sunset and then had my back turned, recording sound, when it actually dipped below the horizon.

It was a still evening and there were not many birds singing but as always in this environment, there are gates – specifically four, but there were more people using them than just myself. I have included four in the soundscape but had I included all the instances of use on this short walk there would have been the sound of at least ten!

I understand and accept that by now you may think me obsessed with gates, and you wouldn’t be far wrong. Aside from the individual audio characteristics they have which I enjoy, they are symbolic of so much. They are way markers, milestones, entrances and exits simultaneously, thresholds, limitations, invitations – and they come in so many designs!

There is a bird that appears in the recording at about 01:10 – it was in the woods at the edge of the marsh but I do not know what it is. If anyone can tell me, I would be pleased to know. The Covid-eased traffic is ever present on the motorway but I have focused more on the other sounds in the trees and on the marshes.

Marshes Evening Soundscape

The images below seem not to show on the WordPress Reader any more, though the audio player does, so if using the reader, please visit the website by clicking on the three vertical dots on the right of the blog name to bring up a menu allowing you to visit the post on the website.

second gate

across the salt marshes

marsh grasses

light reflections

midges

fotbridge with gates

marsh wildflowers

tall marsh grasses

footpath route

sunset

silhouettes

evening light

calm river

rosebay willow herb

pond at dusk

My Walk this Week 206 – I should have been here now

Posted on 08/05/202004/05/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is a re-post of one I made two years ago in the place we should have been now – SW Scotland. But due to the Covid-19 lock down, all holidays were cancelled and so we can only visit virtually.

The evening light in my selected shots of sunsets in SW Scotland show the changing scene from day to day from different viewpoints. Almost all the photos were taken on different evenings but it is easy to take many, many photographs throughout just one evening as the sun sinks down and the light and shade and colours change above in the sky and below in the bay.

Fewer clouds this year might have meant less drama, but I don’t think that is ever the case in this place. The skyscape / landscape / seascape is always mesmerising and holds my attention,
in awe again and again at the yellows and reds, greens and blues, and on one occasion pink and grey. The peacefulness is unparalleled at times like these.

Evening Soundscape

This soundscape is not from the same post but is certainly from the same place.

NB The place we stay with these wonderful views is called High Tide. It has been in my family since my grandfather built it in 1937 and although it is currently closed due to Covid-19, we do accept bookings from people other than family and friends. Watch the website for updates on the situation with regards to booking.

evening light

Low tide and lowering sun

late evening Galloway hills

clear sunset

Sunset Scotland

yellow sky

Golden sea

pink and grey

My Walk this week 189 – First of the Decade

Posted on 10/01/202003/02/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week was taken on the first day of January, 2020, and therefore my first of a new year and decade. Being very familiar with the place and the featured suburban lake, I knew that towards the end of a clear day the sun would be low and creating a beautiful, if cold, atmosphere.

The walk was part of a shorter than usual visit to family and I had not brought any of my kit with me – not even my laptop! Both the photos and the sound recording were therefore made on my iPhone. Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 188 – Revisiting York

Posted on 03/01/202025/12/2019 by Alastair

For my walk this week I am revisiting York by reposting a walk I took round York University campus at this time of year in 2017.

Campus Evening – Reviewing the Walk

My Walk this Week 185 – Frost As It Was

Posted on 13/12/201909/12/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week is again from three years ago, when it seems as though the weather was colder and there was thick frost on the ground – we haven’t really had that yet this year.

The walk was in Penclawdd on the North Gower Peninsula and my selected images and soundscape below tell something of the atmosphere of the place as it looks out across the Loughor Estuary and Burry Inlet to Carmarthenshire.

The clear sky and open space is something I really appreciate at the moment, working indoors in a warehouse all the time as I am, and not seeing much daylight.Continue reading→

Tag Archives: evening