Park path and wildflowers

Enjoying the Springtime Morning Chorus

My walk this week through the woodland of my local park was early in the morning and the Springtime birds were still singing their morning chorus. The sun was up and the day was bright and there is nothing like woodland sights and sounds to lift the heart.

Across the pond

As I circled round the far side of the pond and approached the children’s playground the birds and squirrels were going crazy. There were no children up early to play on the hoops and bridges, swings and slides of the playground, but a Blue Tit hopped around the bright painted apparatus andContinue reading

blue woodland

The Temptation of Bluebells

One reason for my walk this week through the woodland of my local park was to see the Bluebells that have grown up profusely in the past few years since the park has been managed by the Friends of Coedbach with the support of the council’s Parks Department. The temptation with bluebells when photographing them is to exaggerate the saturation of colour in an effort to replicate the impact a carpet of blue in woodland has on our senses as we walk amongst the trees.

woodland colour

They are amazing but however anyone processes or presents a photograph of them, the reality is that, at best, the image will provide a good memory of the last time you saw bluebells in the real world. I have tried to avoid exaggerating the colour in my photography of this phenomenon but looked instead for anglesContinue reading

Woodland backdrop

My Walk this Week – Spring Walk in A Woodland Park

My walk this week is in my local park – it’s a beautiful place and in recent years has been managed and developed by a volunteer group. I am ashamed to say I have not contributed my time to this group unless you include the promotion of the place via this blog.

Woodland Reflections

The management and development of the woodland and other areas is a good thing in many respects, certainly it is if it gets more people using and benefiting from it. For myself, I love it now and I loved it before just as much. I suspect the birdsContinue reading

My Walk this Week – Winter Frost and Sunshine

My walk this week is one with winter frost and sunshine in abundance – it was very enjoyable. I did not have the inclination to climb on this particular morning and so took to the local park and from there headed down to the river. The tide was not high and there was little or no wind so the river Loughor and its marshy estuary were still and bright.

River Loughor and swan

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Underfoot and Overhead

Completing the meandering loop of this week’s walk brought me to the oak woods of Coedbach Park.  It looks like there is plenty underfoot to keep the squirrels going through the winter. Overhead the twisting branches of these wonderful crooked trees will provide progressively less shade from the weather as the season moves on. Whatever weather the seasons bring, it is unlikely to stop me enjoying the sights and sounds I encounter on my walks.

acorns

crooked oak trees

Day To Day Walk

My walk this week is another one I take quite frequently – I know it well but there is always something new to look at or listen to. The start of the walk goes through our local park and as can be seen, the rain has finally arrived with the colours of Autumn.

You must not let a little rain put you off walking in this country (or a lot of rain for that matter). Indeed, it is the damp weather we so often seem to have that provides us with so many wonderful mosses and lichens.

Coedbach Park

mossy tree

lichen