December, the last month of the year and a last walk from my local forest. Not all photos are from the same walk as with approximately 150 walks there over the year, the selection of images used over the past two weeks have inevitable been taken from more than one walk in each month.
It’s a steep path into the forest from the road but during a murky November when the days are getting very short the stillness that can be found there when the wind isn’t blowing is a real treat. Don’t get me wrong, I like the sound of the wind, but I also like the quiet peacefulness amongst the trees of this small forest when the sound of the motorway to the west is not carried over the hill. Even in the upper, thinner parts of this woodland, in amongst the spiky gorse, the air can be still and the sound of the conversing birds carries through the trees.
The light in September was fantastic! Its a time of year when its not too difficult to get up and catch the sun rising and a mist lingering in the valley. But it is the sounds I recorded during this month that I really love. Below is a short clip from a soundscape I am reserving for the first day of the New Year. It features my footsteps on the forest floor with leaves underfoot and the passing of early morning traffic in the background.
Moving into the second half of my year of forest walks in a local woodland the place is dark with dappled shade from canopy of foliage. This is a mixed woodland with both broad leaved trees and coniferous. The two types of tree tend to stay with their own and so the sound of the wind can be, if not distinctly different as it blows through either needles or leaves, certainly discernible, though perhaps not in the short sound clip below.
My forest walks in May were typical for this time of year in Wales – everything was very green – except for the yellow buttercups or dandelions!
To judge by my photos from my forest walks in April, the weather was good that month – at least some of the time. However, evidence both in the puddle below in which the trees are reflected, and the pattern of pine needles on the footpath in shot 3, would suggest that we had plenty of rain in April as well. The sunlight that is prompting the young fern to unfurl in shot 5 proves the advantage of having both light and water.
Looking back at a year of walks through my local forest, today takes me to February when there was fog and frost and fungi to be seen on my early morning walks.
Fallen Autumn leaves were well spread out on the ground underfoot on my walk this week around the enterprise zone lake in Swansea and it was a pleasure to walk through them. The soundscape around the lake held the things you might expect in this environment including the voices of various ducks, geese, swans, gulls and other birds.
