Seasonal Differences

Walking the Nutbrook Trail, I was struck by the differences in scene from season to season. Where, just a few weeks ago there was frost, ice and lifeless trees, there are now green leaves, burgeoning wild flowers, singing birds and baby rabbits. The differences are strikingly obvious when you look back at a picture I took at the end of November last year and compare it to the same scene taken a couple of days ago. Firstly the wintry scene...

Compare to the recent image....

The area in question is known locally as the 'Beauty Spot'. Historically very significant, this was once a reservoir supplying drinking water to Ilkeston until the early 20th century. The water came from several sources including the Oakwell Stream, pumped water from the Kirk Hallam Colliery and water from the Nutbrook. After this period, the area was used for recreation. Boating, walking and even occasional firework displays and concerts.

Cherry Pink....

.... and apple blossom white, as the old song goes. Judging by these apple blossom flowers however, the lyricist seems to have forgotten to inform mother nature of the way things should be.

They look rather pink to me and as we saw a little while ago, the cherry flowers were whiter than white. It seems that the local insects are particularly fond of the apple blossom too.

Further round the parkland and on towards Osbourne's Pond and the water lilies are beginning to lift their leaves to the sun. Hopefully it will not be too long before the flowers follow.

A Riot of Colour

More from yesterday's walk around Shipley Hill. In the sunshine, the Rhododendrons and Azaleas were looking at their best. The colours seeming to glow among the dark leaves and branches.

Seen against the blue sky, these bright orange beauties looked as fine as any exotic bloom.

Carrying on through the woodland atop the hill, we came across a couple of 'woodland folk'. Seemingly keeping a silent eye on the goings on of the Shipley Estate they might hark back to a time of Green Men and woodland spirits.

Originally seen as a sign of rebirth and the coming Springtime plenty, the Green Man has been around for well over 1000 years. Green Women are rarer but there seems to be one in Shipley Woods.

The Long View

The view from near the top of Shipley Hill this morning, was clear and far-reaching. It got me thinking that a panoramic picture would be nice. I cobbled this picture together from six separate photos and have annotated it with some of the sky-line features seen from the hill, along with their approximate distances. Click on the picture to be taken to the larger version.

Tadpole

A delightful walk around Osbourne's Pond this morning, afforded us the sight of masses of tadpoles swimming around the shallows.

The aquatic, larval stage of most amphibians, tadpoles are familiar to us all. The romantic image of small children with jam jars full of these tiny creatures, is one of the most enduring of the British Springtime. The numbers of tadpoles in Osbourne's Pond this morning would suggest a good year for frogs and toads - supposing they all reach maturity. Something of a forlorn hope here as the enormous carp swimming around will undoubtedly take their fair share.

Straw's Bridge

A short walk this morning down to Straw's Bridge. This very popular, small lake on the edge of Shipley Park was formed from an old open-cast coal mine. Known locally as Swan Lake, it is a favourite feeding post for Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Black-Headed Gulls, an occasional Pochard, Great Crested Grebe and many more.

More surprising than the waterfowl is the sight, when the light is right and the water surface is calm enough, of some enormous Koi swimming around the shallows at the edge of the lake.

These two individuals hoved into view this morning just below the surface and caused quite a lot of interest among those who were there to feed the ducks.

It's impossible to judge the size of these fish from the pictures, but the larger of the two pictured here had to be about 2ft long (no kidding - this is no fisherman's tale about the 'one that got away').
Koi (Japanese word for carp) were developed in Japan in the 1820's, bred from common Carp for decorative purposes. They remain popular today in domestic tanks and garden ponds as well as larger ponds and lakes. Where these particular individuals came from is a matter of supposition, but Malcolm and I think they must have been introduced to the lake from someones garden pond.

The small, black specs on the water surface are flies and mosquitoes, perfect fish food! No doubt one of the reasons why the Koi have grown so large.

Flutterby

Lots of small butterflies are to be seen fluttering among the flowering plants at this time of year. Sadly, the numbers of butterflies has plummeted in recent years but some little gems are still to be found. This Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines) was seen - briefly - settled on a dandelion just long enough to take a snap.

Only the male of the species has orange tips to its wings. The females are far more plain and look more like Small 'cabbage' Whites. They are to be seen mostly flitting around Cuckoo Flowers (Lady's Smock), Garlic Mustard and other members of the cabbage family as they lay their eggs on them.
Rather 'browner' and less showy are the Speckled Wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria).

These little fellows' caterpillars feed on various types of grass and are still fairly common in Britain. The eye spots on the wings are there to fool birds and other predators. Any attacker going for these 'eyes' will do the butterfly no harm at all (except for ruining the neat edges of it's wings).