Bright and Beautiful

More pictures today from our bright, sunny and rather beautiful walk around Shipley Park on Friday, starting with some reflected scenes at Shipley Lake. The water had a covering of thin ice but there was still a little clear water to reflect the trees.

The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has done a lot of work around this area, clearing scrub, erecting fences and constructing viewing platforms. Perfect for looking at the reflections.

It looks as if the photo is upside down!

In the woodland on Shipley Hill, a strange fungus was growing on a tree trunk. Political correctness raises it's ugly head here as this fungus used to be called Jews' Ear Fungus (Auricularia auricula-judae), but in these PC days, it tends to be known simply as Ear Fungus! Either way, it's an odd looking, jelly-like organism.

Back to Normal

Things have been rather difficult lately. Yesterday, we said a last 'goodbye' to my mother who sadly passed away last week following a short illness.

Getting things back to normal is never easy, but a beautiful, sunny walk through Shipley Country Park this morning, cheered the spirits somewhat, particularly as the Snowdrops are looking at their best right now.

These are to be found growing on the slope known as 'beggar's walk' in the woodland of Shipley Hill.

Bright blue skies accompanied us on our walk and the views across to the village of Smalley and the farmland which lies between, were a joy this morning.

Ice on the surface of Mapperley Reservoir, provided a place to stand for the Black-headed Gulls which are always present there. How they manage to stand on ice without getting cold feet, simply boggles the mind, but they seem to come to no harm.

It was nice to get out and about in the sun this morning, getting back to a little normality after a sad time.

Clearances

It was bitterly cold this morning, but as Malcolm and I set out for Mapperley Village along Slack Lane, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. At Mapperley reservoir the stiff breeze was enough to cut your face off.

Along the water's edge evidence of yesterday's snow showers was still visible and the water itself was as brown and dirty as ever.

Moving on through Shipley Woods, we approached Shipley Lake and were greeted by the sound of chainsaws and heavy equipment, busy clearing the trees and scrub around the lake. All this clearing seems to be part of the preliminary works before construction starts on the lake-side redevelopment.

Across the lake, it is now possible to see the old pumping shed and head-stock left over from when this area was part of the Shipley Woodside Colliery. It is also possible to see the houses of School Woods Close, Shipley Village.

It's always a shame to see trees being felled to make way for housing developments. In this case it seems worse because almost all the wildfowl of the lake have obviously had enough of the noise and disturbance and have flown away, leaving the lake almost devoid of life. Clearances indeed!

Sting in the tail

Another beautiful day today. The sun was shining again as we walked out towards Mapperley Village, along Slack Lane and once again, it was rather chilly. Having passed Mapperley and the reservoir, we climbed Shipley Hill to have another check on the Snowdrops.

With a little sunshine on them, they were beginning to open their petals and look all the better for it.

These Snowdrops were growing in small clumps on the western edge of Shipley Hill.

I find you can never tire of Snowdrops....

Now for the reason this blog post is called 'Sting in the Tail' (time to look away Malcolm).
A couple of days ago we had a visitor arrive in our back garden. Despite it being winter, we had a large Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) on the patio.

Much to Malcolm's consternation, I managed to snap a few pictures of the wasp before it warmed up enough to fly off again. It all goes to show just how mild this winter has been. Judging by it's size, I think this was a Queen Wasp, no doubt looking for somewhere to start a new colony - something that is usually done around April! No wonder this one was looking a little disorientated.

Spring-like

The weather these last couple of days, has improved somewhat. So yesterday, we set out for a stroll to Straw's Bridge with the sun shining and the birds singing. Bright, sunny days in winter usually mean frosty mornings and although not exactly frosty, it was certainly a bit colder than of late.

The hedgerows are beginning to bloom with Blackthorn blossom which always gives good value but this year, being so much earlier than usual and seen against a beautiful blue sky, it looks fabulous.

We were not the only ones to appreciate the blooming Blackthorn. As we walked past, a glorious, male Bullfinch was busy helping himself to the flower buds.

Bullfinches (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) are famous for their love of flower buds. As a result, they have had rather a strained relationship with growers of fruit trees in particular.

The female Bullfinch is rather drab in colour compared to the more flashy male bird. Indeed, it is often said that British birds are a little dull compared with some of the more exotic species to be found around the world. But, what could be more spectacular than a male Bullfinch in full fig such as this one?

Simply beautiful!

Reservoir

With the weather still very grey this morning, we made the most of things and set out for the small reservoir known as Osborne's Pond. Even the water was looking grey, the result of so much mud being washed in  by all the rain we've had.

The Pines overlooking this end of the reservoir, were doing their best to add a little greenery to the landscape, but they struggled to make any difference to the overall greyness of the scene.

An Oak which keeps the pines company, was already beginning to show some swelling buds, despite the fact that Oaks always seem to be among the last to unfurl their leaves in the spring. Yet more signs of an early start to things this year.

Even a Coot, busy preening itself by the water's edge, seemed to think that Spring was on its way.

We stood watching it for some seconds before it noticed we were there...

Then went back to the more important task of feather maintenance.

Gorse

It is said that somewhere in Britain, Gorse (Ulex europaeus) will be in flower every day of the year. Certainly, it seems to be as happy blooming in mid winter as it is in high summer and so it was this morning as Malcolm and I strolled along Slack Lane, their brightly coloured flowers were highlighting the otherwise drab hedgerows.

Without the sunshine to warm the flowers, there was no sign of the coconut fragrance which usually accompanies gorse flowers, but the colour alone was a welcome sight at this time of year.

We encountered the Gorse on our way back home having already been to check on the Snowdrops on Shipley Hill. Having started so quickly, the Snowdrops seem to have stalled a little, but some are still making a very brave effort to brighten up the woodland floor.

Much chillier this morning, we headed home for a hot coffee to warm us up.