This bird has a very distinctive voice but I would need my bird expert, Martin Humphreys, to identify it for me.
I thought I was getting better at bird identification from their songs but it seems there doesn’t need to be much of a gap in practice for the knowledge gained to all go out the window.
I usually take some extra shots when I am doing equestrian photography and last weekend I was looking at the opposite end to what I would normally.
More equestrian photography can be seen on the StillWalks Photography website.
And the rain came down! What more can I say. My equestrian photography at the weekend was shortened by the weather. The morning Dressage show was cancelled but they were able to go ahead with the jumping in the afternoon. Forunately it wasn’t like this for more than a few minutes but during that time, everyone got soaked!
Riding in the Rain
Under Wraps
I have been told that the thing to do is to climb Kilvey Hill at the end of the day when the sun is going down and enjoy the spectacle not only of the sunset but of Swansea gradually lighting up.
We were already half way down the hill when this was said so I will have to wait a little longer for this experience – I just need to make sure it doesn’t take me another 30 years! (see Friday’s post – Ticking the List).
In these photos you can see Mumbles Lighthouse in the background, Swansea just beginning to light up and the Meridian Tower with the bay behind. The full collection can be seen (and bought) on the StillWalks Photography website.
Walking down Kilvey Hill – Mumbles in the distance
Mumbles in the Background
The Lights are Coming On
Meridian Tower
These photos are more about the light than they are about Swansea, except that they were taken from the top of Kilvey Hill, an urban woodland that is surrounded by the city.
It was a beautiful evening when I took these pictures but even then the clouds were heralding yet another a change in the weather. Constant change may be something we have to accept in the weather these days, but fortunately there can be as much beauty in those changes as in the pleasure we feel in the sunshine – when we get it.
There are many more beautiful images to be seen from Kilvey Hill on the StillWalks Photography website.
Kilvey Hill is a large (3 square kilometres) urban woodland in Swansea, South Wales. The hill is surrounded on all sides by housing, industry and businesses and its top is, of course, a perfect site for TV transmitters, mobile phone masts, etc.
It is also a great place for wildlife and plants like bog cotton and blueberries and I understand there are hares to be seen if you are patient enough to wait for them.
There are fantastic views in all directions and here, today, is a taster. I will be putting more up later in the week or you can visit the StillWalks Photography website to view them all now.
Finally, at last, after nearly 30 years, I have climbed Kilvey Hill in Swansea! It is one of those things I have meant to do since moving to the area but just never managed to get round to, even though it is almost on my doorstep.
The Transition Swansea group, which I signed up to last November, arranged a walk up the hill on Wednesday evening and it was all I needed to make the move. I had spent most of the day driving and so it was a welcome change of activity and well worth it for the views.
Over the next few days I am going to post some of the photos I took on the walk but they can all be seen (and bought) anytime through the StillWalks Photography website.
Swansea Harbour
Swansea Bay
Mumbles Lighthouse
Walking up the Kilvey Hill
This post is pretty much just what it says on the tin!
Using the excellent RODE recording app for iPhone (though not their iPhone mic) I got, precisely, the sound of the wind in the marsh grass when out walking in the evening recently. I held the iPhone right in amongst the grasses which had the added advantage of muffling the sound of traffic on the motorway as well as stopping the rumble effect of the wind directly on the mic.
These field recordings on their own are not going to be for everyone but I enjoyed listening to the changing sounds of the grasses as the wind strength changed and find, as with the recording I do for StillWalks videos, that the sound does so much to help visualize the memory.
