My Walk this Week 239 – Happy New Year

Posted on 01/01/202129/12/2020 by Alastair

Happy New Year to all my StillWalks® followers and visitors. My walk this week is a hopeful one that takes you out of the woods and into the open.

The sound track for this short video was not going to be as it is. When recording the short clip in the woods at Llyn Llech Owain a helicopter flew overhead (as you can hear) – this prompted me to record a separate sound clip after it had passed.

However, it occurred to me that the helicopter might be considered symbolic of the past year in that it was likely to be an emergency flight taking someone to hospital. I doubt very much that we are out of the woods yet with the coronavirus. Even with the vaccine it will take time to immunise the population and we need to keep our fingers crossed that the vaccine will do the trick.

So out of the woods and into the open . . . Llyn Llech Owain is a local country park on one of those currently rare bright cold days, we and other families carefully kept socially distanced as we enjoyed the sounds of the geese on the lake, the peace of no traffic in the background, and the moon rising as the sun set (at the end of the video in the top left corner).

My Walk this Week 238 – Urban Lakeside

Posted on 26/12/202026/12/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is around an urban lakeside in a brief window of it not raining.

The clouds were threatening, or perhaps I should say promising, to rain – and of course they kept their promise, but not until after my walk.

I was going to say something here about Fendrod Lake in Swansea’s Enterprise Park, but hopefully the video and soundscape above and the images below will give all the information about the value of a place like this in an urban landscape.

It has certainly been valuable to me at this time of tier 4 Covid-19 lockdown just before Christmas. This time at the end of this year is very different to the norm and I am increasingly wondering if the whole thing is a natural warning to us from the planet to wise up and stop being so selfish. An attempt to get through to all of us that we are just a small part of the entire ecosystem and universe. It will be ourselves that we destroy, not the planet, if we carry on disregarding the myriad interconnections we have with all else on Earth and the cosmos. We affect everything and everything affects us. No matter how small or large, our actions individually and collectively have consequences and we had better take note.

OK, that’s the lecture finished – see and hear the sights and sounds both here and around you and enjoy the end of this year as much as you can.

My Walk this Week 198 – Gnoll Country Park

Posted on 13/03/202009/03/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is from Gnoll Country Park in the Neath Valley, South Wales. It is a beautiful park on the edge of Neath and is enjoyed by many of the local inhabitants, including the wildlife. Where this blog post is concerned, the wildlife is the birds – mostly aquatic.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 186 – Following a Theme

Posted on 20/12/201916/12/2019 by Alastair

Following my theme of late, to publish a new take on an old post about walks at this time of year from three years ago, my walk this week looks back at an urban lakeside amble which I remember enjoying in between meetings on a working day.

I can’t help feeling that the southern European habit of having a siesta – a reasonable break in the middle of the working day – and then extending that day by an hour or two at the end, is healthier for both mind and body than the 10 – 12 hour shifts we do with just 15 minutes break in every five hours.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 135 – St James’s Park, London

Posted on 30/11/201829/11/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week is in St James’ Park, which I visited during some spare time on a recent trip to London. There were plenty of people out and about enjoying the colours and textures of Autumn leaves, squirrels, a range of geese, swans, ducks, gulls, herons, pelicans, the inevitable pigeons, and a bird I could not identify.

The black, white and brown bird in the middle of the sequence below shows a waterfowl which I would like to identify – if anyone can help with this, I would be very grateful.

I have visited London many times over the years and it is a fantastic place to explore with its parks and architecture, culture and the arts. However, I found the number of people there a little overwhelming, though I know it wasn’t as busy as it can be and my visit was not spoiled in any way. I guess I am just not used to it, living in a small town as I do.

Click the play button and then the first image to listen and look through the features of my walk this week.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 130 – Damp Autumn Walk

Posted on 22/10/201819/10/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week is on a damp Autumn morning. You can’t see it in these photos but the valley was full of mist and the clouds low overhead. The seasons are changing and while bright sunny days can be the most enjoyable, there is also a fantastic range of beauty to be experienced on damp days like this.

The geese and ducks were clearly enjoying the water both in the air and under them and the dampness did not take away the crunchiness of fresh fallen Autumn leaves underfoot. The light, however, was dim and it is that more than anything else that makes a sunny day enjoyable.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week – Welsh Valley Alpacas

Posted on 11/06/201810/06/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week includes alpacas! My friends Steve and Sue Heatherington run Welsh Valley Alpacas and, as the name suggests, they are situated in a Welsh valley. The alpacas are wonderful creatures and the valley is beautiful.

I cannot tell you the names of those featured here but Sue and Steve know every one of the 39 (approx) alpacas individually by name and character. They are fascinating animals but not the only ones in the valley. The family of geese have been watched closely from when they started looking for a suitable nesting site toContinue reading→

Watery Park – Fighting in the Floods

Posted on 18/04/201815/04/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week features the effect of the flooding River Ouse on Rowntree Park in York. The park was closed due to the excess of water but the cafe overlooking the watery scene was not and so I was able to sit with a coffee and observe.

I don’t think it was the stress of too much water that set the Canada Geese fighting – more likely it was the time of year. It provided some action entertainmentContinue reading→

Tag Archives: geese