Category Archives: Nature

Frilly Fungi on the Footpath

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One of the good things about my walk this week being the reverse of the same route taken a couple of weeks ago, is that I noticed different things. I must have passed this big tree stump with the frilly patterns of fungi all over it on my previous walk here, but if I looked in that direction as I walked, then I didn’t “see” it and subsequently made no note of it in my mind. Nor did I notice the rhododendron which seemed to stand out to me with its bright colour – it is of course possible that the flower was not there two weeks ago!

valley footpath

fungi patterns

Rhododendron

Water Under the Bridge

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The old iron railing on the footbridge which I crossed on my walk this week will be familiar to those who saw my posts a couple of weeks ago about my previous walk on this route. I wasn’t originally going to include the sound clip below because it’s just water flowing under the bridge – but then on listening to it again, I changed my mind!

The sounds of that flow have three distinct stages: the first part has a lot of bubbly texture to it, including trickles and tickles, gloops and bloops, splashes and plashes (in preference to more technical language), the second is more even with those highlights less noticeable, and the ambience of the third stage has greater weight on the right hand speaker but with a gloopy base returning in the background – and then the sound fades to my footsteps climbing a dry leafy slope.

cwm-dulais-16

Water Under the Bridge

My Walk this Week – Reversing the Scene

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My walk this week is the same but different to one I posted about just a couple of weeks ago – I walked the same route but in reverse, starting where I finished previously. This is a simple technique commonly used to provide a different perspective on familiar things, but I am sure you will recognise some of the features.

There were other differences of course – this version of the walk took place on a bright frosty morning whereas previously the light had been more muted. Unfortunately I forgot the windshield for my Edirol sound recorder, so there will be less to a soundscape this time round. However, starting in the valley as I did, there was very little wind anyway.

cam dulls

Starting the Walk – Water and Gate

Looking Through the Leaves

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Heading back to Blackpill in Swansea Bay on my walk this week with the Swansea Health and Wellbeing Walk I looked out across the bay from time to time and enjoyed the colours in the sea and sky. The weather being good and Autumn not being too far advance at that time, there were still many green leaves on the trees and the sunlight shining through them created some beautiful overlapping patterns.

bayview

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Love and Natural Patterns

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Heading back from one of my shore walks during our holiday in Scotland I came across these two dragonfly lovers who were obliging enough to stay still while I did my best with my iPhone to get in close – I guess they were too preoccupied to bother about me. I had been taking photos of rock patterns but much as I enjoyed doing that, this opportunity was one not to be missed and made my day.

dragon flies

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Wildness Becalmed

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The wind that produced the wildness in the growth of this tree was becalmed on this day of our holiday in Scotland. The wild hawthorn trees that take this form are wonderful descriptions of the weather and the bleak looking hill in the background are not a place you would wish to be in foul weather.

But this day was completely still and everything in the landscape and seascape held a tranquility and peace that for all we knew could have been the precursor to a storm.

calm-day-3

Cloudscapes and Reflections

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Equal to the spectacular sunsets we had on holiday in Galloway, Scotland, were the cloudscapes. Some, as with this the photos below, appeared at the end of the day. Further into the night the clouds continued to provide us with atmosphere in front of the moon, to say nothing of the reflections in water.

cloudscape