Author: bish
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Frogal Lengths
I spotted this frog bravely if futily guarding a section of the main pond. There’s spawn now in the smaller pond, but if they decide to spread any in here it will only add a little xtra tastiness to the diet of the patrolling koi and other pond fish. I decided to take substantially the…
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Erupting Magnolia
There’s something almost erotic about the way Magnolia bursts into flower, as if it just can’t keep it locked down any more… or maybe that’s just me. I guess these shots are as much about the welcome blue sky and the fantastic bokeh as they are the flowers. Spring is sprung!
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Now is Imbolc here…
The eightfold year is a decent enough model in which to build a cycle of celebratory ritual, but it doesn’t have to require the strictest adherence to the calendar… For me, at least, there are little markers and pointers; indications that the time has come. For Imbolc and for spring in general, to me that…
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Postcards from Anglesey
On a trip up to North Wales to assist my mum during her cataract operation, we nipped over to RSPB South Stack on Anglesey, or Ynys Mon. Later, we also had a brief wander around RSPB Conwy. The weather was highly localised, and we could walk into and out of snow and sunshine almost at…
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Greylag and Bewicks over the Severn
I’m so very grateful to be living so close to the river Severn, with all the sights she offers. Brown and fearsomely tidal, she is home to so many creatures. Here are a couple of shots from a walk the other day. The ancestor of most domestic geese, the greylag is the largest and bulkiest…
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Water Rail
Water Rails are shy birds, and I was delighted to see one emerge from the reedbeds and cautiously dig around for breakfast… Not the first time of seeing for me, but this time it came right out and had a swim in the very flooded wetlands around Slimbridge WWT. It looks very diffferent in swim…
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Blue Badge
I’m working up an annoyance into a rant, with a view to evolving it into a solution. If you’re not in the UK (and other regions may have similar systems), the Blue Badge is a permit that allows disabled drivers and or passengers to park more easily, including in places otherwise restricted. For some, that…
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Pedestrian
We’ve not really been out much over the past few days… the brief snowfall earlier in the week and then the consistently below zero days (it’s currently minus six and destined to be minus nine tonight) has meant walking is more hazardous than driving – and driving on minor roads isn’t great. But just look…
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Winter arrived!
I smile at the title of the previous post… “winter arrives” it proclaimed. But it hadn’t. It has now. For all its beauty it’s brutal for anyone, human or non-human, without a warm nest to snuggle into. UK or Ukraine, there are people out there making the best of a dreadful existence. May peace return,…
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Winter arrives
The summer seemed unending, and it felt almost inconceivable that we might slip back into winter, but the planet’s tilt will not be ignored no matter how much carbon we throw into the air. Winter is here. I woke to -6ºC this morning, and a bright crisp frost under the bluest sky. The village lay…