In the land of the Living

Posted on 15/10/201608/10/2016 by Alastair

During my woodland walk this week it was easy to forget that anyone else existed while in amongst the trees – except for the background sound of human activity. The traffic of a suburban area on the edge of farmland was not really significant – more-so was the rising and falling volume of the tractor at work in the fields, recorded on my iPhone 6s. This, however, could not detract from the enjoyment of the woodland environment on a peaceful end-of-summer day just prior to our holiday in Scotland.

Stainton Woods – Traffic and Tractor

Into the Interior

Posted on 12/10/201608/10/2016 by Alastair

The second area of woodland I enjoyed on my walk this week is just a few yards across the road from the first in Stainton, Middlesbrough, but it is quite different. Walking into the interior it becomes clear (though not from these three photos) that the woodland was planned and the arrangement of trees is distinct.

This was the first time I walked in these woods for a number of years – the last time being not long after many of the trees had been planted, so it was good to see how the woodland environment had developed. Naturally there is little or no grass growing in the interior of the wood and this is reflected in the texture of the sound of my footsteps in the sound clip below.

Stainton Woods

My Walk this Week – Suburban Woodlands

Posted on 10/10/201608/10/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week features two different suburban woodlands which are very close to each other and through which I have not walked for a number of years. They have developed in the meantime.

The woods are in Stainton, on the outskirts of Middlesbrough in the north east of England. As with any conurbation there was the constant background sound of traffic but as the woods edge farm fields, there was also the thrum of a tractor engine throughout my walk. Neither of these things detracted from the sound of the birds oe my footsteps on the varying surfaces of the woodland. You may gather from this that my walk this week does have some sound clips to accompany the images and a short soundscape at the the end of the week.

All photographs and sound clips throughout my walk this week were made using my iPhone 6s.

Stainton Woods

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Natural Congregation and Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 02/10/201603/09/2016 by Alastair

This arc of pigeons arranged on the railings at the end of my walk this week in Roath Park, Cardiff, give the appearance of spectators at an event – but what is the event? I am pretty sure there was nothing going on out of our view here, that it is just a natural congregation of birds probably having a bit of siesta in the early afternoon, but your guess is as good as mine. Anyone got any suggestions?

pigeons

Play the soundscape below and click the first thumbnail of selected images from this week’s posts to watch them in sequence.

Roath Park Soundscape

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Swans taking flight

Walkers, joggers and pram pushers

Sitting ducks

green lake

Feeding Frenzy

Kittywake

Mothers in the park

railings and boats

Roath’s Pride

Monument – Scott Memorial Lighthouse

taking a nap

Roath Park, Cardiff

cormorant concentrating

Spectating

Stepping Down for an Overflow Drink

Posted on 30/09/201602/09/2016 by Alastair

Walking along the southern end of Roath Park lake on my walk this week, I wonder if there is a particular attraction to this duck of the water falling down the lake’s overflow. Does it taste better than that in the lake itself? Perhaps it has a need for extra oxygen – who knows? It’s probably just a whim.

Overflow

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taking a nap

Classic profile

Railings perspective

Terra Nova Cafe

Taking a drink

Roath Park, Cardiff

Feeding Frenzy

Posted on 28/09/201602/09/2016 by Alastair

Walking round Roath Park lake in Cardiff there were many opportunities to photograph the birds – trouble is they will insist on moving! Fast shutter speeds and quick reflexes will suffice but you still have to take a load of pulse shots to have any hope of freezing there sometimes frenzied motion – particularly when they are fighting over food.

More relaxed are the mothers and their their babies enjoying the natural environment in the centre of a busy city.

I think this is a Kittywake

Feeding Frenzy

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Feeding Frenzy

Kittywake

Early Autumn colour

Mothers in the park

My Walk this Week – Roath Park

Posted on 26/09/201602/09/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week is from September last year. I had given my daughter a lift to Cardiff and while she did her thing I did mine, namely a walk round the lake in Roath Park.

It is a beautiful and popular park with many different birds, people and dogs all enjoying an opportunity to walk, jog, run, play, cycle, fly, feed, look, listen or just sit and take it all in.

Ducks and Dogs in Roath Park

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Swans taking flight

mother and child walking the dog

Walkers, joggers and pram pushers

Taste of Gower, Penclawdd – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 25/09/201601/09/2016 by Alastair

To mark the end of each Taste of Gower walk we visit a local cafe, hence the name “Taste of Gower”. The Gower Landscape Partnership pays for the teas and coffees but there are always many other good things to be eaten as well, and that was no less the case for the Cariad Cafe in Penclawdd as it is for any of the other Taste of Gower walk locations.

The next Taste of Gower walk will be at Port Eynon on Friday 30th September (that’s next week). Details can be found here.