Category Archives: Nature

beech nut opening

My Walk this Week 127 – A Seed in Time

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The seed in question on my walk this week is a beech nut – perhaps I should say hundreds of beech nuts as the forest floor was covered in them.

spiky Autumn detail

Whoops! I have been rightly corrected about them being beech nuts – in fact they are sweet chestnuts . . . but there were lots of beechnuts in the woods as well so maybe I can be forgiven 😉

There are seemingly many more squirrels this year as well, so how many beech nuts go on, or grow on, to become new trees may be in part a result of the the number consumed by the local wildlife.

hidden concrete

My Walk this Week 125 – Concrete and Trees

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Looking for urban woodland on my walk this week, perhaps inevitably, I found concrete and trees. While trying to keep to the narrow wooded area behind York University, I intentionally crossed a road via an underpass in order to find the castle-like structure I had spotted on Googlemaps.

light and shade

Similar in design to Clifford’s Tower in the centre of York, the structure was much larger than that, and made of concrete. From the ground it was well camouflaged by the foliage patterns of light and shade cast by tall trees and the sun on the imposing walls and rusty windows.

It wasn’t a brutalist modern day castle, butContinue reading→

dinner time

Fauna Findings 3 in Scotland – Feeding Frenzy

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A feeding frenzy of young swallows was one of the most impressive dramas of our stay on the South West coast of Scotland last month. The young birds were fledging and the aerobatics the parents performed to catch insects in flight for their offspring was utterly amazing. Time and time again they would wheel and dive and change direction so abruptly you would think they would leave their brains behind, let alone their stomachs.

house martins

These aerobatics went on for a day or two and then the young ones took to the sky and there was even more drama as their parents fed them on the wing andContinue reading→

adder

Fauna Findings 2 in Scotland – Wildlife

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We spotted a wide range of wildlife during the hot weather in Scotland last month with multiple spotting of deer in the fields and on the beach, a pair of pheasants calling to each other regularly, an adder crossing a hot footpath, many different birds (even more than usual), and a couple of field mice under the hedge came out each evening to share the food put out for the birds.

deer in the distance

As well as the images I have selected below, we also witnessed dramatic but unsuccessful chases by weasels of small rabbits – one of them ended right at my feet! On hearingContinue reading→

crow in flight

Fauna Findings 1 in Scotland – Birds on the Shore

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Like this solitary crow, I enjoy my solitary walks, but this is far from the only species of fauna I found when in Scotland last month. I approached it quietly to try and get a closer shot but was spotted, naturally, and it it took to the air, flying across the bay to meet its partner.

I've been spotted

There is a quiet bay, an old disused harbour, along the shore from us where the gulls and oystercatchers – and on this occasion, swans – gather and sit quietly on the water or by its edge andContinue reading→

on the top of rocks

Floral Findings 3 – Growing on the Edge

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I’m not sure that I can truthfully say that this clump of thrift, on the edge of rocks looking out over the sea, is actually growing. The year has been so dry and they are clearly past their colourful flowering stage . . . but still I find them very attractive!

on the edge

The shoreline has as much to enjoy by way of plants as the coast has just a few yards inland. The fact that they all have a slightly different annual cycle to their growth patterns makes them that much more interesting.Continue reading→

golden yellow

Floral Findings 2 – Golden Yellow at Cally

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A visit to Cally Gardens near Gatehouse of Fleet is always a must for us when in Scotland. We were concerned for it last year after the owner, Michael Wickenden, died whilst flower hunting in Myanmar, but the place has been taken over by a like minded person who knew Michael and is developing the place in keeping with his philosophy.

Cally Gardens

It is probably the golden yellow flower that is most striking in these photos but I particularly like the fall of light and shade in the image above as well.

I cannot name the few plants I have picked out below but they are certainly different to the wildflowers of Britain presented in my previous post. For me, I do not need to know the names of plants orContinue reading→

vetch

Floral Findings 1 in South West Scotland

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This week I though I would bring you just a snippet of my floral findings while we were away in South West Scotland. Mostly they are common wildflowers but there was one where the location must remain hidden!

Pyramidal Orchid

The Pyramidal Orchid above was kindly pointed out to me by a fellow walker I met along my route. I might easily have taken it for clover as there was plenty of that about – Continue reading→