Tag Archives: nature

Feb 19 2014
1 Comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Cherry blossom (definitively)

Wednesday 19th February 2014, 11.50am (day 909)

Cherry blossom, 19/2/14

Now I said back in December that I thought I had seen very, very early blossom on the University of Manchester campus, but it turned out to be a winter flowering cherry. However, this, definitively, is traditional, spring cherry blossom in flower on 19th February; they are in the courtyard within my office building on the campus. Well, I said it’d been a very mild winter — unlike in North America where the Great Lakes are almost fully frozen, and very unlike last year here.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Jan 19 2014
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna, Hebden Bridge

The next allotment

Sunday 19th January 2014, 2.50pm (day 878)

Allotment, 19/1/14

Glorious afternoon today, with sunlight streaming onto the allotments in late afternoon. Our neighbours (garden-wise) are much more organised than us. The green netting is evidence of that alone, but look — they have poultry. Why don’t we have poultry?

Tagged , , , , , ,
Dec 30 2013
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Rooks taking off

Monday 30th December 2013, 11.00am (day 858)

Rooks, 30/12/13Birds, again, but hey. So it goes. We could have a New Year challenge, see if your count of the rooks on this photo (in flight or still in the tree) matches mine. For what it’s worth I get it to over 100, and all were circling over Hebden Bridge town centre this morning in a mildly ominous way.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Sep 08 2013
1 Comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Entwood

Sunday 8th September 2013, 2.40pm (day 745)

Entwood, 8/9/13

Sometimes there are places — like this — that are less than five minutes’ walk from your house, that you walk or drive all around most of the time, yet never actually set foot in from one year to the next. This little wood clings to the side of a very steep hill, the trees grasping on for dear life with these claw-like roots, and the image of them as Ents (the walking trees from Lord of the Rings) was made that little bit more believable by catching flare in the lens as purple light above.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Jun 09 2012
4 Comments
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Arachnophobes: don’t scroll down

Saturday 9th June 2012, 11.55am (day 289)

Spider in shed, 9/6/12

You were warned. But I think this is a beautiful creature; currently living in the shed outside our front door. Rarely have I seen a bigger one, and certainly not in England. I won’t get a better photo today so I’m posting this now. (I haven’t been able to identify the species, not for certain: if anyone can help, leave a comment…)

Postscript: Thanks to Gary, a nice man at UKsafari.com, I’ve been told it’s a Cave Spider: see this page. Species either Meta menardi or Meta bourneti, but it’s impossible to tell which one exactly without capturing it and using a magnifying glass…which I am not going to do.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Newer posts →