Primrose Path

This morning's walk took in part of the old Nottingham Canal.  The air was filled with birdsong and the hedgerows full of flowers.  Among the most abundant of these flowers were the Primroses (Primula vulgaris).

They were seemingly everywhere as we walked along and carpeted the ground between the trees.

The plants are hermaphrodite, but the flowers display two distinct types and are known as Heterostylous.  This is a complicated term and is best described if you click HERE.

The yellow theme was continued as a lone Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) was singing from the top of a tree nearby.  A little tricky to spot as he was quite a long way away, but there he is...

The song of the Yellowhammer was probably the first one I was able to identify as a small child and still brings back memories of long, hot, dusty summer days in Norfolk listening to their "little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese" song.
Typically a bird of arable farmland, they are not seen often round these parts.  Coupled with the crash in their numbers in recent years, so it was a great treat to hear this one - and to see him - this morning.  Click on the pictures to get a closer look and you will see the flies flitting around the bird's head too.

Violet

A short walk around the ponds of Straw's Bridge today.  It was good to see more and more Cowslips opening their flowers and creating a brilliant display amid the grasses.  Under the trees, we found a few Common Dog Violets (Viola riviniana).

As with other plants which have the prefix 'Dog', they seem to get the name from the fact that they are scentless and therefore somehow inferior.  Although, what could be said to be inferior about these little blue gems, I cannot think.

The Common Dog Violet is the 'County Flower' of Lincolnshire!

Attenborough

Malcolm and I had a walk around the nature reserve of Attenborough near Nottingham this morning and among the nesting Herons, squabbling Coots and honking Geese, two species stood out.  Firstly, the Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus).

More closely related to the Shelducks than to 'real' geese, this is an exotic-looking introduction to the British fauna.  It has been part of our countryside since it was introduced into parks and stately gardens in the 18th century, but only officially as a British breeding bird since 1971.  This one was not at all put out by having a camera pointed at it, indeed it seemed rather contemptuous of me as it waded in the shallows.

The second of the birds which caught our eye, was a pair of Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina).  I have mentioned these before having seen them occasionally on the lakes of Straw's Bridge, but we have rarely been lucky enough to get as good a view as this.  This was the female, busy diving for food, so had to be 'snapped' as she popped up again.

The name 'Red-crested' is more obvious when looking at the male.  This one was resplendent in his breeding plumage and with a bright, wax-red bill shining in the sunlight.  What a glorious bird.

Colour

You can travel all over the world and not find anything more bright and colourful as you will find in the UK.  It's always worth looking again at some of the more 'mundane' wildlife on our own doorsteps.  For starters, how about the Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs).  This one was singing his heart out on a hedge as we passed on our walk this morning.

Britain's second most numerous bird, with a breeding population of close to 6,000,000 pairs, it is easy to overlook this most beautiful bird, simply because it is so familiar.

Familiarity should not always breed contempt and a closer look at our back garden proves this.  There can be few plants so well known and so hated by gardeners as the Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).  How wrong can we be.  Just look at this stunner.

Looking more closely, it is every bit as beautiful as those large-flowered, in-curved Chrysanthemums which gardeners will spend so much time and money growing - and these are free!

Still beautiful

Once again, the weather is being good to us.  This morning, we needed to go into town so abandoned our usual countryside ramble for the 'joys' of the Saturday high street.  What a delight...!
More pics from yesterday's walk to restore the balance of mind.  Starting with a sight which was rather less than tranquil.  From our back garden we were afforded a good view of a Buzzard being mobbed by Crows.

The poor Buzzard looked bored with it all rather than annoyed and continued to circle round doing his best to ignore the noisy neighbour Crows.

Walking around Shipley Park in the general direction of Mapperley, we had some good views of Shipley Hill. This was also the view which the Longhorn Cattle had from their field.  Not a bad outlook.

Getting up close to the woodland on the hill, the sun was shining through the trees sending pools of light onto the woodland floor.  The new, fresh foliage glowing a pale greenish yellow amid the branches of the still bare trees.  Very poetic!

Reaching the other side of the woods, we looked back toward home from beneath the large, old Beech Trees.  You always get a good view from here.

Glorious

What a morning!  The sun was shining, the birds were singing and our walk along the site of the long-gone West Hallam Colliery was absolutely glorious.  Among the first things we noticed was the wonderful cherry blossom in the sun and against a blue sky.

Later, we got a closer look at a different cherry tree, growing on Shipley Hill.  Breathtakingly gorgeous and at it's best on a morning like this.

I have mentioned the small herd of Longhorn Cattle which live in a field in Mapperley Village on previous occasions.  But the appearance of a couple of calves looking sleepy as they lie next to their mothers, is just too good not to mention again.

Walking through the woods as we approached the village, there were one or two Lords-and-Ladies (Arum maculatum) plants just about ready to open their flowers.  A strange looking flower before it opens (and no less strange when it does), it was sticking up out of the ground like a pale green spike among the ivy leaves

I mentioned the birds singing and we were treated to the sounds of spring all around this morning.  We heard, among others, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Crows, Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Robins, Canada Geese, Mallards, Coots, Great-crested Grebes, Blackcaps, Green Woodpeckers, Wood Pigeons, etc, etc, etc...  A fine day for a walk!

Reservoir

A longer walk for Malcolm and I this morning.  The weather was pretty good and it was dry under foot, so off we went, through Shipley Park in the direction of Mapperley Village.  It has been a while since we had a walk around the reservoir there, so thought it was about time we rectified matters.  Walking through the woodland around Mapperley Reservoir, there was a large Blackthorn tree in full bloom.  Not anything unusual at this time of year, but the amount of flower on this particular tree was almost unbelievable.  In the dim light of the wood, they almost glowed like snow-covered branches.

Looking down, the ground was also worth looking at as the Lesser Celandines (Ranunculus ficaria) were lifting their flowers to the sky in search of the sun.

A treat was awaiting us as we looked out over the water.  While looking for the large fish which glide through the muddy waters at one end of the reservoir, my attention was caught by a small duck on the other side.  Too far away get a good picture, it is nevertheless, able to identify this as a Common Teal (Anas crecca).  The first time I've seen one of these colourful little ducks around these parts.  This was a male bird and was soon joined by his less colourful mate, before flying off in a whir of wings and water.