Such as it is, the colour in the sky on this night walk round Hemlington Lake is a reflection of the urban lights in Middlesbrough. Despite travelling north east for the new year, the weather didn’t improve much for us and so the street lamps had plenty of cloud cover to reflect their yellow-orange glow.
It didn’t actually rain much on me during this walk and I really enjoyed the subdued colours, the silhouettes of trees and the night sounds of coots on the water.
My walk this week is in the same place as last week except that it is at night. I had expected that, during the New Year break, I would get the opportunity for a walk here. I had not expected it to be at night but what with all the seasonal activity, our visit was almost over before the chance arose for a short walk.
The footpath lights are only on one side of the lake, so the photos may get darker through the week and were taken on my iPhone.
Whatever you thought about my walk around this suburban lake during daytime, this night time walk is quite different. I wasn’t the only person out for a walk and judging from the sounds there was other local games activity too.
Night Walk Sample
If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.
While my walk this week has not appeared very wintry, the photos were taken and the sound recorded in January and though there is no ice or snow to be seen, it seems that mild winters are now a feature of the seasons in many parts of Britain.
I hope you have enjoyed the first of my walks in 2016 and I look forward to posting many more this year.
Try listening to the soundscape of the walk while viewing the images in sequence – click the play button and then the first thumbnail below.
Suburban Lakeside Soundscape Sample
If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.
Changeable weather can make it difficult to predict the conditions and therefore what to wear on a walk – rain and sunshine can be expected as well as rapidly changing temperatures. It can also mean that the colours to be seen in the landscape change dramatically and so winter colours can include the deep shadows of cloud and simultaneously the bright colours of nature reflected in sunlight.
These images just begin to show this effect with the colour in the bare branches and twigs of the tree or the reflective feathers of the ducks set against the slate grey of the water
The footbridge over Bluebell Beck where it feeds into Hemlington Lake has a great sound underfoot. Being a simple metal construction, it produces a kind of hollow echoing sound as you cross it. It is also a good place to stop, look at the details of the surrounding winter vegetation and watch birds approaching the bridge from further up the beck.
You can hear this sound below and again in this Sunday’s soundscape from part of the StillWalks sequence.
Footsteps on Footbridge
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Liquid patterns in water can be mesmerising but I also love the patterns created by these platform stanchions in their different states at the edge of Hemlington Lake. I guess those twisting in a double row along the lakeside are from previous fishing platforms, although their arrangement suggests the platform was a continuous structure, perhaps a boardwalk.
The light in these scenes suggests the normal changeable weather conditions of Britain but it is also reflective of the time of day and season. The first shot is from an early stage of this wintertime production walk. The other photos are from later on in the walk and the light in the last two reveals the cloud cover overhead and potentially impending rain.
Looking at this suburban lake as I walk around its periphery, I find myself thinking about the interventions that man has made in the interests of maintaining a dialogue between human and natural environment.
The fishing platforms that jut out into the water at the lakeside have a straightforward function, but the mid lake platform on which the gulls are resting is more abstract. I don’t know what it has been constructed from but with little or no vegetation forming a part of it, there is no disguising the man made materials. It seems to be a welcome haven for the birds at any rate.
My third photo today shows the patterns of construction materials of an outlet in the lake that I guess must be required as the streams feeding the lake doesn’t appear to have any other natural continuation point.
Walking round this suburban lake during the winter months can be very entertaining for many reasons. The main performers providing the entertainment are of course our feathered friends, the local avian residents. The variety of birds here may be common but are of no less interest for that.
Judging by the shot below it seems that size is relevant, with the small gulls waiting patiently and hopefully for a share of the fare on offer.
The entertainment is not only in the shape, colour and behaviour of the birds – it also comes in the form of sound. Listen to the sound clip below for a taste of the calls and conversations in the bird community at the lakeside.
Suburban Lakeside Birds
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