Two of a Trio – Unexpected Horses

Posted on 25/06/201620/06/2016 by Alastair

Almost full circle on my walk this week and I get to meet two of the trio of horses mentioned at the start of this week. There is no equine element to The Waterside so I was surprised to be met by this pair.

It turned out that they had wandered here from several miles away and had to be rounded up at the crack of dawn. The owners were eventually rounded up as well but although they arrived in time to witness the birth of the new alpaca (see Monday’s post), they were not able to arrange for the horses to be collected until the end of the day. This was perhaps most significant for the mare (on the left) as the stallion . . . well, I will leave that to your imagination!

horses grazing

stallion and mare

The horses were in the field next to the outflow stream from the lake. I stopped to record a short sound clip to use in the soundscape for my walk this week which will be posted tomorrow as usual. The last time I recorded this water flow it was more of a torrent.

waterflow

Focusing minds, making connections

Posted on 24/06/201620/06/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week is follows the lakeside at The Waterside, a place ideal for focusing your mind, making connections and reflecting on the discoveries that can be made there. Discoveries may be as straightforward as observations of the nature in this hidden Welsh valley – more likely they will be deeper still than that.

Whether I am simply amused by the alpacas or excited by the play of light on water in either rain or shine, the conversations I have here are always valuable. Being away from the normal working environment (however much I like my studio) and coming to a place where new and different connections can be seen and made all around me, helps to bring clarity to my mind. I look forward to my next visit on 1st July, another First Friday event.

Focusing minds, making connections

I produced the first 4k version of a StillWalks video and I can’t wait to see it on The Waterside’s 55″ UHD screen!

Distant Voices Across the Water

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Focusing minds, making connections

Lakeside reeds

mid lake reeds

Lakeside Reflections

What’s going on here then? Who are you?

Posted on 23/06/201620/06/2016 by Alastair

Surprised alpacas! They weren’t expecting me and I didn’t have a familiar face so I guess surprise should be expected. Or maybe I was wearing my hat – I’m told they don’t like hats.

Having crossed the footbridge to the western side of the lake at The Waterside I was entertained by some of the alpacas that are kept here (Welsh Valley Alpacas) and reminded of their fluffy faces by the bullrushes revealing their fluffy seeds on the lakeside.

Alpaca – mid chew!

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Alpaca – mid chew!

What’s going on here then? Who are you?

Bullrush

Lakeside bullrushes

A Sparkle of Sunlight

Posted on 22/06/201620/06/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week around the lake at The Waterside revealed some truly beautiful patterns of sunlight. That’s not to say these effects of light have not been seen before, I’m sure they have – however, that does not make them any less remarkable. I don’t think I could ever get tired of the wonders of nature, however small or common they may be, they still connect with my brain and spark my synapses to produce a sense of wonder.

A Sparkle of Sunlight

After climbing the lakeside steps and shooting a mother duck and her single duckling (photographically speaking of course), I came upon the footbridge seen the background of one of yesterday’s images.

Crossing the Footbridge

Looking closely at the water flowing into the lake the sun glinting off the ripples made me pause and shoot again. My first shot was underexposed but just like the overexposed photo I posted during my walk last week, the effect was quite powerful.

The correctly exposed image is the first of the flowing water shots in the gallery below and this presented an interesting phenomenon – a bubble on the surface of the water appears not to be affected by the fast flow. I guess it was only there for the split second I took the shot. The underexposed image is the last in this sequence and I further enhanced the effect of light and dark, but only a little.

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Stepping Up

Mother and Child

Flowing Water Patterns

A Sparkle of Sunlight

Riverlight 1

Riverlight 2

Light and Dark

Wildflowers Down by The Waterside

Posted on 21/06/201620/06/2016 by Alastair

While the drama of a new alpaca being born was going on “back at the ranch” (see yesterday’s post), I was enjoying a very peaceful stroll around the lake at The Waterside. While there is so much growth during this time of year, the specific time cycle of development is slightly different for each plant and many wildflowers and this will vary further according to the conditions from year to year and location to location.

So we see here in this hidden South Wales valley the foxgloves in full bloom but the thistle flowers just coming through, the dandelions seeding and the bullrushes getting ready to disperse their seed. There seems to be so much going on – as I have said in previous posts, nature has pounced!

Bullrushes by the lake

Lakeside Birds

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Foxgloves

Thistle

wildflowers

Dandelion clocks

waterside grasses

Bullrushes by the lake

My Walk this Week – Back at The Waterside with a Newborn Alpaca

Posted on 20/06/201617/06/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week started with a couple of surprises! There was more than tadpoles to see and on my arrival at The Waterside Firstly I was unexpectedly met by a couple of horses, but more of them later in the week.

The real excitement came when just before setting out on a walk round the lake with my camera and sound kit, Steve ran over to tell everyone that a new arrival in the form of an alpaca was on its way.

Tadpoles

It was difficult to know how long the delivery was going to take but it wasn’t going to be immediate so rather than hang around in a small crowd of spectators, I set off round the lake. I was back in time to see the new alpaca just after its birth. You can see it staggering around its mother in the video clip and photos below. Introducing newborn Caleb!

new born alpaca

Tadpoles

Return Route – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 19/06/201613/06/2016 by Alastair

Looking back on my walk this week with the Taste of Gower group at Llanmadoc, we were very lucky with the weather. We saw both sunshine and clouds over the beautiful open space of the beach at Whitford Point with the old Victorian lighthouse not quite clear of the tide. Having said that, one of the main reasons we have such a green and luscious land in Wales is the amount of rainfall we get. It is less predictable where it is going to fall these days and looking again at the dark clouds and sun bleached beach, that is why I say we were so lucky not to be rained on until the end of the walk.

return route

My soundscape for this walk is about the same length as usual (around 4 mins) but I could easily have made it twice that length or more. I may decide to produce a StillWalks video from the photos and sounds I have collected on this walk but it will have to wait in line with the others I have not yet post produced.

Llanmadoc Walk Soundscape

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Cefyn enjoying the water

Walkers on the Beach

Cefyn enjoying the sea

calm before the storm

Oystercatchers

Bleached Beach

Beach Pebbles

Shoreline

Yellow Flag

Bare feet

Tree Bark

Walkers in the wet

return route

Underfoot

Posted on 17/06/201613/06/2016 by Alastair

Moving up from the beach at Whitford Point my walk this week with the Taste of Gower walkers meandered through the woods to continue this circular walk from Llanmadoc on the northern tip of the Gower Peninsula.

The ground underfoot was now mostly a soft carpet of pine needles and so for those walking barefoot (just one, not me), the transition from the sand of the beach would have been a relatively comfortable one. I was tempted to go barefoot myself, remembering the experience being described by Nan Shepherd and Robert MacFarlane in their books as one which puts you in contact with the ground (literally) in a way that walking in boots cannot, however sensitive and sympathetic you are to the land.