Sunday 21st February 2021, 11.45am (day 3,468)
“Whaddya mean, in nine and a half years you’ve never had a pig on this blog thing of yours?”
“Nope, never.”
“I wanna be FIRST. (Oink.)”
Debutant pig
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Category Archives: Flora/Fauna
Snowdrops
Thursday 18th February 2021, 2.30pm (day 3,465)
These are little light bulbs, surely; strung up by Whomever to anticipate of the coming of spring. Will this be one of those years where it arrives and stays, or one where we don’t see it until May? The fun thing is, in Britain, you never can be sure.
Vantage point
Wednesday 17th February 2021, 3.40pm (day 3,464)
Life plods on, with little to do for entertainment except watch the local birdlife. The gulls (you can’t really call them seagulls: here, we’re about as far as you can get from the sea in northern England) seemed this afternoon to be making an intervention, for one side or the other, in the ongoing pigeon-duck war. This one uses a street light as a vantage point, moments before swooping down to pick up some spoils.
The sun comes out, briefly
Monday 15th February 2021, 1.20pm (day 3,462)
It was about 12ºC today, compared with -2ºC on Saturday. The sun shone for a couple of hours in the afternoon and, just for a moment, there were intimations of spring. This lady appears to be enjoying it, albeit from behind glass.
Icicle creature
Sunday 14th February 2021, 11.35am (day 3,461)
I wouldn’t call this winter harsh, but it has been cold, at least by local standards. Yes, I’m sure those of you who live in places like Montana or Trondheim would laugh at our definition of real winter, but hey, that’s a maritime, Gulf Stream climate for you.
And the creature? Well, a face perhaps. It’s certainly got two eyes, and a pendulous, possibly melting face.
Geese and snow
Sunday 7th February 2021, 12.50pm (day 3,454)
More waterfowl. Then again, more snow. Recurring themes, but everything is recurring. Overhead cables of whatever kind are usually an irritant, but I don’t mind them here.
Duck shake
Saturday 6th February 2021, 11.10am (day 3,453)
I wouldn’t usually put up a shot that was so out of focus but it certainly sums up the weather, and it made me smile that I had captured this duck shaking off the rain that fell constantly today. A smile was needed — life is run, at the moment, according to the whim of the weather and this was the most depressing of ‘weekend’ days thanks to the rain. A shame I couldn’t call this page ‘drake shake’ though.
Snow day
Tuesday 2nd February 2021, 10.05am (day 3,449)
Groundhog Day…. and as for Bill Murray, the snow came down, in Hebden Bridge anyway. Otherwise it was much the same as every other day recently.
Maris again, unflatteringly
Thursday 21st January 2021, 12.25pm (day 3,437)
Today, it seems, was the 21st day in the 21st year of the 21st century; and that’s about as exciting as it got. Maris Crane (and it is her: the knees are a dead giveaway) was perched on a roof instead of stood in the river at lunchtime, as the water is still flowing pretty fast, though had fortunately retreated from yesterday’s peak. This is far from a flattering shot I know, but I like the shape she makes. (Actually I have no idea whether this bird is male or female, but the identity is fixed for me now.)
Cheap squirrel shot (campus)
Thursday 14th January 2021, 11.05am (day 3,430)
Cheap this may be, but ths squirrel was virtually posing for the camera, if a little nervously. It was one of the few signs of life on campus today, or even in the whole of Manchester.
Being 42 