images from today's walk:frog spawn

our very own parish frog spawn, early or not I am not sure

images from today's walk:tree

this beautiful mixture of colours in the early morning sun caught my eye.

images from today's walk:squirrel

flying fox caught in the act

images from today's walk:butterbur

butterbur, the only thing growing at this time of the year on the ground, underneath some balsamic poplars.

images from today's walk:misty river

the Inny, and a little leet dating from Victorian times.

images from today's walk:campion

campion seems to be in flower all the year round now.

snowdrops 08

Snowdrops are out in abundance at my favourite snowdrop site in Trecombe woods below Carthamartha. These are the ordinary wild snowdrops which are tall and slender. Nearer the banks of the Inny there are lots of the complex variety (floccon de neige .... the translation seems tautological to me) as usual although they are not yet fully out. See last year's photo (link)

early celandines

Having survived the crises of the last two weeks we went out for a proper walk today. These battered looking flowers are some very early celandines, they must have been out for several days to look so weary. And it is reported that the ponds in Harrow Barrow are full of frog spawn since last week although we haven't seen any yet on this, the colder, side of Kit Hill.

more camelias

early flowering camelia by Stoke Climsland Church so at least some colour is returning now. It looks to me as if whoever planted the camelia in our garden took a cutting from this one. The daffodils are looking very splendid in the clean bright air when (ie very occasionally) the sun gets out.

Monks Cross

dawn over Monks Cross (and a local accident black spot) near Kit Hill. As always at dawn the rooks are doing their morning sun worshipping rituals without which, of course, the sun would stay put.

Saturday 12/01/08 before the fire storm began.

more from the spoil heap

there are several different species of moss growing even in this hostile soil (see link).

spoil heap colours

the striking colours on this spoil heap (near Old Mill) may be something to do with the toxic metals (arsenic, copper, cadmium, etc) to be found in the waste from the mines in this part of Cornwall. The striking moss may be an ornamental escapee but it is clearly flourishing on this wasteland. Barbed wire and moss sandwich is a local delicacy.

jays

we had the unusual pleasure today of watching this jay for about ten minutes as it furtively retrieved acorns hidden away earlier. They are usually very shy and difficult to follow although you can always hear them in the woods (as Simon Barnes wrote recently there is no such thing as a small emergency for a jay). So we often see flashes of their startling plumage but they never seem to pause to pose for photos.

hello 2008

a very very early camellia (for this particular specimen). Our summer rose is also about to bloom again. These are very unseasonal signs of the changing climate.

farewell 2007

goodbye and, for most of the people Spot cares about, good riddance to 2007, and hello 2008. Happy New Year to everyone, may peace and goodwill prevail.

blackbird

no more buzzard pictures I promise

christmas log

happy christmas everyone from Spot's blog's dogs and logs, and Harriet.

more images from a Sunday morning walk

ice and water; quartz veins in the bed of the Inny.

images from a Sunday morning walk VI

two siskins and a chaffinch

images from a Sunday morning walk V

this fragile, wispy fungus looks just like clumps of thawing snow of the floor of the wood. I cannot identify it.

images from a Sunday morning walk IV

deciduous trees in Inny valley

images from a Sunday morning walk III

Inny valley

images from a Sunday morning walk II

barn by the Inny

images from a Sunday morning walk

Venterdon

winter solstice

well not quite because tomorrow is the shortest day, but the sunset tonight was a fitting marker for mid winter and the promise of the return of the light. The weather was very similar last year, it seems that these calm dry cold days are common around Christmas time.

supper

I saw this buzzard fly down and land next to the pheasant; I think it was considering eating it but flew away when it saw us. The pheasant seemed totally unconcerned. Poor light explains poor photo!

little and large

broadgate

near Luckett on a sunny December day

sunset by Kit Hill

Kit Hill, on one of those inky winter evenings when the sun dawdles on the skyline.

buzz off

buzzards hate being watched

stormy waters

the Tamar in spate this morning. The tree on the bank above the ladder is a useful reference point for comparison with calmer days (qv) at the same spot.

doves

a cheeky collared dove seeking shelter from the rain and stormy winds.

a pause in blogging

Spot and I apologise for the paucity of new pages recently but we have been on very few walks. With any luck things will be back to normal sooner or later, probably in the New Year. In the meantime if you are interested in local colour and views please explore the archives or try the labels for areas of interest.

Remember, things could be worse (we could be posting daily)!!

happy ewes

autumn is coming to an end. Contented ewes taking it easy near Trecombe.

Tamar dogs

Harriet meets Frank, and is determined not to let him get away.

more brackets

another type of bracket fungus, again growing on a fallen silver birch

spot chills out

for all his adoring fans

Nature notes - November 2007

Those of you not on the enormous circulation list of the Old School News (our local newspaper covering the parish of Stoke Climsland) may not know that each edition contains a short piece on local fauna and flora plus a photograph (colour if we are feeling very rich) (and much else besides). To find out more use link to the Old school (see local links to left). Here is the offering for November 2007

The long dry early autumn period has produced a fantastic display of colour in the local woods though it looks as if it will be short lived. It remains a very barren time for mushrooms although just recently a few have started to appear.

I have noticed that often I see things in photographs that I failed to notice at the time. For example the spot of ‘milk’ on the underside of a milk-cap mushroom. This illustrates the difference between looking and seeing. Konrad Lorenz, the father of animal ethology, encouraged his students to learn simply by looking, for example at a bowl of goldfish, for months on end, so that they would learn to ‘see’ behaviour. It took me a long time to realise that there are two species of butterfly orchid in Greenscoombe woods that look very similar, but now I have learnt to see them and the many subtle differences between the two. Seeing is the prelude to knowledge.

Animals must have brain states without thoughts (cognitions in the jargon), a state of perpetual looking. We have thoughts that allow us to ‘see’ into the world although our thinking can sometimes interfere with experiencing. Perhaps the best mental state that a naturalist can achieve is to experience the world with knowledge but without thought, the aim of meditation. And thus I can recommend the former in the pursuit of the latter.

And so as our summer visitors depart, and our winter visitors arrive, and the newts look for safe hideaways, the last red admirals bathe in the sun and the myriad leaves carpet the ground, there is much to see and experience. Try it.

nothing goes to waste

brackets growing on the trunk of a dead silver birch tree, making it look like some exotic jungle flower

the DVD - reflections:- images from a cornish parish

DVD (for TV) now available. Eight audio visual shows, combining photographs and music on the themes of wild flowers, wildlife, the rivers and landscapes of Cornwall in the Tamar Valley in the area of Stoke Climsland (plus pictures not available on this blog).

Reflections on:-

blue (7.13 mins) all things blue
water (8.48 minutes) all things watery
yellow (5.08 minutes) all things yellow
spring (3.46 minutes)
summer (9.01 minutes)
autumn (12.49 minutes)
spiritus (3.11 minutes) the church in the land
rubbish (2.36 minutes) bad behaviour views

more than 50 minutes of scenes, flora and fauna, combining the tranquil beauty of the Tamar Valley with pleasant music. Only £10, on request (use Spot's email address at spot.wildflowers@btinternet.com). Ideal Christmas presents.

starlings

the starlings are back in great numbers. It is strange how they seem to disappear in the summer, and then return for autumn. The absence of posts recently is due to computer problems and no walks, but with any luck we will be fully functional again after tomorrow.

mushrooms and other fungi

many zoned polyphore, very common, very variable colours, set off against the vivid green of sphagnum moss.

fly agaric

fly agaric just appearing above the ground (in exactly the same place as last year, see link)

foam monster

I noticed this little patch of foam at the base of a small pine tree in a dark patch of conifers. I have no idea what it is due to but presumably there is a bug of some sort making it.