Showers at Shibden

I met my daughter and granddaughters (and their dog!) at Shibden Park recently, for a couple of hours. We had a great time, exploring the park and the playground. There was opportunity for that ageless tradition of 'feeding the ducks' - and yes, we used proper bird food, not bread. It was a windy day and there were some very sharp showers but we managed to dodge the worst of them.

Then we had a ride on the little train, which happily has started running again with suitable modifications to promote hygiene during this time of coronavirus. They were spreading families out in separate carriages and staff were disinfecting the seats between trips. It is quite hard, I find, to remember to keep sanitising hands and so on. The little ones are better drilled in it than I am - but then, I rarely touch things when I'm out, whereas they were using the play equipment and so on.

My youngest granddaughter, in particular, has always been super-excited by this little train, ever since she was tiny - but for all of us, it was refreshing to do something 'normal' and joyful for a change.

We tried a 'selfie'... It wasn't especially successful as I had the phone on the wrong setting - doh! But then, these days, I am better a little blurred!

A visit to Harlow Carr

Visitor attractions are gradually starting to reopen in the UK, mostly with booking systems and social distancing measures. It wasn't a hard decision for me to make my first proper trip out a visit to the RHS gardens at Harlow Carr. It is, after all, one of my favourite places and usually furnishes me with some reasonable photos. Of course, when you book ahead, you can't rely on the weather and it was disappointingly drizzly and cold. Never mind, the gardens are looking wonderful and it was worth making the journey. 

I don't recall seeing the stag sculpture before. I really liked it. On the other side of the path there were similar sculptures of a doe and a fawn but, without the dark background, they didn't show up well enough for a photo.  

The long borders are starting to fill out and the streamside is at its best right now, with huge candelabra primulas providing some colour.  

A moorhen chick had boldly strayed quite a long way from its parent.

There are some new beds full of 'annual' mixes - rather prettily colour-restricted: one predominantly blue and white; another blue, white and yellow; another yellow and purple - all very effective in such large drifts. 

There are attractive little 'set pieces' all around too; I liked the solid pot and the soft grasses together. 

Old stone steps leading up to a bench were hard to capture in a photo as it was a dark little corner, so I am quite pleased with this one after some careful processing. 

One of those days!

The rain came, after a spell of hot, sunny weather, and not just rain but wind and thunderstorms too. It wasn't enticing to go out. On top of that I had a few days of feeling rather fatigued and achey - nothing serious and hard to tell if it was actual or simply a result of feeling fed up of the pandemic and the world in general... Anyhow, when I felt a little better and the rain stopped, I decided I should make myself have a walk, just my usual local circuit of river and canal, travelling light with only my phone. 

I read somewhere recently that you can take photos on an iPhone by pressing the volume control. I decided that might be easier in some situations than reaching for the white 'blob', so I tried it. It was only when I got home that I realised I'd taken screen shots and not proper photos. Doh! Never mind, they weren't going to be masterpieces anyway. 

Hirst Weir was in full flow after the rain and a group of kayakers were having a well-earned break after battling the river. I wonder if they carried the boats past the weir or if they tried white-water rafting? I hope not the latter, as it must be quite a dangerous spot with so many rocks and no clear channel through.

My walk threw up a few mildly interesting nature notes: 

a tall and striking plant by the river's edge that I didn't recognise, in appearance not unlike a foxglove but with bell-shaped flowers. It appears (after consulting my wild flower book) to be a giant bellflower. (I might have guessed!)

The local cormorant had taken up a roost in the river by Roberts Park.

The new nature reserve's wildflower meadow is rampant, though hard to tell if there are any interesting species yet. It seemed to be mostly thistles and ox-eye daisies. 

As I was returning along the canal towpath I spotted another tree newly collapsed and blocking much of the width of the waterway;  a victim, perhaps, to the recent drought followed by the strong wind and rain.  The kayakers, by now on their return journey and choosing the canal rather than battling upstream against the fast-flowing river, were having a little difficulty finding a way past the obstruction. 

Near Silsden

This is still the Leeds-Liverpool Canal but it's a stretch some ten miles up the valley from Saltaire, near the little town of Silsden. With some shops and services beginning to re-open, I finally managed to get my car booked in for the service that had been cancelled when the coronavirus lockdown was first imposed in late March. My garage is in Silsden so I took the opportunity for a walk whilst I was waiting. I think I've walked this part, from Silsden towards Riddlesden, only once before but it's quite a nice walk. The towpath is tarmac and easy to navigate compared with some of my more local bits that tend to be rough and stony or muddy. The canal winds through farm fields and woodland, with an open aspect giving some nice views of this broad, flat part of the Aire valley. The dry, sunny weather that we've enjoyed right through April and May has finally broken. It was cooler, a very pleasant temperature for a walk, and I only got slightly damp from a brief light shower. It's actually quite a nice change to see some clouds in the sky. Unbroken blue sky isn't really all that great for photos.

I wonder how many herons live on the banks of the canal? Each stretch seems to be patrolled by its own resident bird. This one was huddled up, its neck retracted. I think it had already had its breakfast and was settled down for a snooze.

The Quiet Eye 2

Another meditative walk along the canal bank... I was walking so quietly and calmly that the sleepy heron didn't stir. I have noticed this year, more than usually, when the different plants appear. There was early blossom: blackthorn and cherry, then bluebells, wild garlic, hawthorn blossom. Now the hawthorn blossom has disappeared and we have the lacy white of elderflowers. They make lovely cordial and wine but the smell is so disgusting (cat pee!) that it puts me off picking it. It's pretty though.

Foxgloves are beginning to flower, and I love watching the fat bees crawling into the trumpets.

On the field edges there is red clover, with its attractively marked leaves:

and buttercups. The brown spiky things are, I think, some kind of plantain.

The bracken has grown high, quite suddenly, its curly tendrils unfurling.

I don't think I've ever really bothered to study grasses before but, even in a short stretch along the canal edge, there were lots of different kinds, all rather attractive when you look closely.

I found a discarded downy feather, perhaps from the swan that was gliding alongside me looking hopefully for some food. There had just been a gentle rain shower, leaving droplets of water on the barbs. The way the barbs interlock like zips has always fascinated me.

Cow parsley is in bloom. Some of its alternative names are prettier: lady lace, Queen Anne's lace, fairy lace.

and ox-eye daisies - a favourite of mine.

The spring-born lambs are growing fast and fattening up. There was just one black sheep in a field full of white - the product, I think of a recessive gene even though its parents may both have been white. The wool was (is?) considered less valuable as it can't be dyed, so 'black sheep' has become a derogatory term - someone who is a disappointment or a disgrace in a family. Personally, I thought this one was really cute.

Nature in the heart of town

It always surprises me just how pretty and natural-looking the canal is through the centre of Bingley. Surprising because it is so urban, cutting right through the centre of the town, and surprising because this is a relatively new stretch. The canal was moved sideways in 2003 to make room for the new, congestion-relieving 'bypass' - a fast dual-carriageway that also slices right through the town! Here there are reedbeds, right beside the old mill buildings, with yellow flag iris blooming and a lone swan gliding serenely.

The cow parsley nods along the water's edge, its lacy white flower heads showing up well against the dark water.

There are wild pink roses:

and some red valerian, a garden escape rather than a native British wildflower, but now naturalised and very common in our urban spaces, flowering in bright drifts and splashes of red and pink.

(All phone pics - not great quality when you zoom in!)

Roaming along the river

I don't often explore the Aire river bank beyond Hirst Woods towards Bingley. The path is narrower and it's neither as picturesque nor as easy to access and navigate as my more local stretch but sometimes it's good to make the effort. I was rewarded with the sight of a mother goosander and her four chicks, sunbathing on rocks. I haven't spotted many tiny ducklings and suddenly they all seem to be more visible and growing fast.

I managed to pass under the railway bridge without being spooked by the noise of a train overhead.

Back in the familiar local patch, it has all become noticeably leafier and more verdant in the last week or two and the bluebells here, among the first to reveal themselves, have all long since faded. I wonder how long it will be before the rowers get back on the river? It's quiet without the gentle splashing of their oars up and down this stretch.

Nature notes 12 April

A few days of warm sunshine have seen nature ramping up for spring. The geese in Roberts Park have free rein over the grass now there are fewer people sitting around in the sunshine.

In Hirst Woods, the early adopters among the trees - principally the birches, sycamores and hawthorn - have unfurled fresh green leaves. The bigger trees like oak, beech and chestnut are slower to react. The beech leaves are all still tightly coiled like little bronze daggers on the twigs. 

Wood anemone and lesser celandine lift their sweet faces to the sun.

On the south-facing slopes by the river, early bluebells are in flower. Those in the shadier woodland are still a few weeks away from their peak; they have plenty of leaves but few flowers as yet.

The sunshine has made dandelions spring up everywhere, their bright yellow discs looking fresh and clean. They have a bad press for some reason, but unless they happen to be rooted in your pristine lawn, I think they're very cheerful.

And finally, I have heard that the lockdown is having a beneficial effect on pollution and wildlife. Even so, I didn't expect to spot a crocodile in the River Aire... !

Swansong?

As the global coronavirus pandemic gathers speed, I wonder how much longer I'll be able to keep up a flow of new photos on my blog. We've been asked (we may be ordered) to stay at home where possible. Attractions are closed. The countryside is 'open' so far but, as my own emotions rise and plunge in hope and despair, I may not always have the motivation to make the effort to get out. I will do what I can and I guess, anyway, that others are in just the same boat. Stay safe and well, everyone.

Talking of boats, there were none on the canal when I walked down there recently, apart from the ever-present ice-cream boat in the distance. I haven't seen that open yet this year and I suppose it will be a long time before it can trade again. There were two swans gliding around hungrily. They were chasing me in the hope I'd provide food but I didn't take any with me.

It's a long time since I did a texturised photo of Saltaire, in this case the classic view of the two mills: Salts on the left and the New Mill on the right. I've added a coloured texture layer and a bit of 'glow' to lift the scene as it was quite a dull day and the original image lacked a bit of oomph. Now, I quite like it.