St David's day

not our native daffodils, but a celebration of St David's day anyway at the entrance to Khyl Cober, a little housing estate on the way into the village

a very small visitor

a wren, posing for a quick portrait before getting on with whatever it is doing ...eating insects or nesting?

primroses

primroses have been adding a splash of yellow for some time. And today, in the milder weather, the first celandines have appeared

at the end of the road

by some happy chance there was gold at the end of the lane this evening.

stackins

more catkins (nothing else wild is out yet except snowdrops, of which we have blogged enough for this year)

green tips

the greening effect of the metals in the spoil tip is very obvious at this time of year.

inner piece

freshly laid in a puddle full of it, I wonder.

more about addicroft

well, here is a testament to the power of the web. By looking up Addicroft and coming across this site (link) about memories of Cornwall, I discovered that Addicroft Mill was the home of Thelwell, the amazing cartoonist (this is a link to his site which is well worth a visit if you need cheering up) of fat ponies and oversized riders, amongst much else. His autobiography, which I have not read, is entitled "A millstone round my neck" about this very place. I confess to borrowing this picture from his web site, but I hope it will introduce more people to his humour.

four finches and a moon

Spring remains in abeyance and as a result there isn't much to photograph just yet. Nevertheless these male chaffinches are polishing up their plumage for the mating season and hanging out together looking for trouble, just like the kids on the block. We have just finished watching the story of Luna, the orca together (dogs and humans that is). We all share the view that there are deep connections between us that transcend the barrier created by spoken language. It has made me think about the meaning of sentimental(ity). I tend to use it I think to disparage feeling. It is derived from the latin word sentire, to feel. Maybe if it is used to mean feeling or sensitivity to the mental state of others without words it is in fact a very useful concept.

post script (25/Feb/10) .... after orca eats woman story from Sea World, Florida today, I wouldn't have let my 7 year olds stroke Luna no matter how sentimental I felt.

Addicroft

Addicroft is a little hamlet in the Lynher valley between Kerney bridge at Golberdon, and Rilla Mill, just above Plushabridge. This is one of the quietest and prettiest places in the valley. There is nothing to say what this old ruin was, and it is not marked on the OS map. Maybe it is the site of the old mill even though it is well above the river.

almost there

the catkins (lambs' tails) are well out now although everything else is waiting for something ... like a bit of warmth.

a lovely evening

of snowdrops and molehills

it is not only above the ground that we can see some signs of life flowing back into the cold blue veins of Winter's dead hand upon the landscape. Below the ground some small folk are becoming very active. This molehill is enormous and suggests that the builder was unimpressed by any metaphorical reference to a certain lack of ambition by moles and was single handedly setting out to change the world. In the top picture note the hairy dugong in the Inny.

on the road to Horsebridge

two views of lanes, one to the major metropolis of Pempwell (top), the other (bottom pic) to the ancient bridge over the Tamar (Horsebridge, or Horsa's bridge) across which lies the equally ancient hostelry, the Royal Inn, in Devon, England (Dartmoor is visible on the horizon). Just to the right of the lower picture you can see another of our little finger posts.

the crocus is out

whatever the weather, the crocuses are out. Crocus is also slang for a quack doctor.

frozen spawn

there was a sudden profusion of frog spawn about 10 days ago in every puddle and ditch. Today they are all frozen solid. I hope this does no harm. I doubt it; if they were that sensitive they would never survive the average English Spring.

Down House Snowdrops

snowdrops on the drive to Down House

flow

this picture captures better than most the hectic flow in our little babbling brooks. My friend Brian , who occasionally makes an appearance in the comment columns as the Rationalist, and who is, I have just learnt, the celebrated author of the seminal work on de-umbilification, drew my attention to a passage in the Book of Silence by Sara Maitland which I want to quote in its entirety because it describes what we seek on our walks and occasionally find.

" And there, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, I slipped a gear, or something like that. There was not me and the landscape, but a kind of oneness: a connection as though my skin had been blown off. More than that - as though the molecules and atoms I am made of had reunited themselves with the molecules and atoms that the rest of the world is made of. I felt absolutely connected to everything. It was very brief, but it was a total moment."

For me these moments seem timeless, and above all I feel present and deeply interconnected, the boundaries have dissolved, but it is wordless, pre-verbal; and Spot shares this with me. It is not thought free, in fact it feels deeply thoughtful but wordless, unconstructed, unlabelled. I think it must be how we thought before we used names to crystallise out the world around us, and perhaps is similar to the inner mental space of other creatures like Spot.

life in a snowdrop

we have been out experimenting with a long neglected Sigma 105 macro lens. It is very different. The snowdrop is one of the complex multi flowered heads that grow wild locally, the drop is for fun although it gives me the germ of an idea.

bird counting day

It is the RSPB's bird counting day today. You spend one hour watching the birds in the garden and record the maximum number at any one time. Of course, everyone puts out lots of bird food and as a result our garden is unusually empty. I am not sure whether or not we can count the buzzard sitting on the roof of Kitt's Cottage as in our garden. I have never before seen a buzzard sitting like this in the middle of our village, they usually avoid people at all costs; it is another sign I think that their behaviour is changing because of the cold, or else they were aware that it was bird watch day and decided to join in.

snow drops and snowdrops

some pictures from our walk today. The snowdrops are very nearly out, and the snow was falling once again.

pet twig returns to life

tions

it is that time of year again. Cold and still conditions have induced our pet twig to start flowering again (see link). I am not convinced that I understand this process.

first signs

It is always interesting, and up-lifting, to see the first signs of the new year's resurgence. Frog spawn appeared on 21/01 which is about a week earlier than last year despite the cold weather

my lane, goodnight, my lane

I'll see you in my dreams

Cornish cattle egrets

and on the way back, there was a little group of cattle egrets standing around in a field (full of cattle). These egrets used to be quite rare but are seen increasingly often in the South West (although probably still quite unusual, see link). They have distinctly yellow beaks, and yellow legs (except in the breeding season when they go red). The last time we saw cattle egrets was in Borneo a year ago in the blazing equatorial sun!

Trenant woods

we were gifted some trees planted in Trenant Wood, a woodland trust wood near Looe so we went for a walk there today to visit them. It is hard going at first but the views are spectacular, down the river Looe to the Looe and the sea. The picture is badly over exposed at the top (it was a very sunny day today) but gives a good impression of the tidal flats above Looe, with the wooded valley on either side.

Cadsonbury Hill 2

to get to Cadsonbury one can walk along the bank of the Lynher. This is a smaller, narrower river than the Tamar and the flowing water has a distinctly different sound. It has been very cold recently but the trees are full of birds, including one of my favourites, the long tailed tit making its characteristic 'si si' call. These are sociable birds which fly around in small flocks and chatter away incessantly to each other. (also see this previous page from the blog).
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Cadsonbury Hill

Cadsonbury Hill is an iron age hill fort and compound that stands over the Lynher river just southwest of New bridge (so called when it was built in the fifteenth century) over the Lynher, on the road from Callington to Liskeard (see link). This is the view looking up the Lynher valley towards Kit Hill. The rampart and ditch are still very well preserved. Like Silbury, the hill on which the fort stands looks very odd in the surrounding landscape and is clearly man made to some degree. The slopes are very steep. Spot and Harriet are pleased to demonstrate.



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last of the winter sun

freezing fog in the valleys, and just visible to the top left, bathed in evening sun, the tower of Stoke Climsland church

icefall

the water in Kit Hill quarry has frozen solid but no dogs were allowed to try it out given recent tragic events. It is so cold that an icefall has formed on the quarry face. (OK, the blue is cheating)

going home

a flock of starlings going home to roost.

making tracks

does anyone have any idea what might have made these tracks, meandering from one small clump of snow covered grass to another. The larger tracks (to the left, and top) are made by rabbits, but what walks in a straight line by placing one dainty foot in front of another. It doesn't look like the tracks of a bird. A very small rabbit maybe?

snipe over Dartmoor, and Venterdon

snipe (dot in sky in top picture) are easily startled and very quick through the air, but have a characteristically over long beak for their small bodies. They often live in the fields in the winter but it is extremely difficult to catch them in a photograph, they're gone before the camera can focus.

some hungry visitors

this is the first song thrush we have seen in the garden for a long time (top two photos). The song thrush is a much browner looking bird than the mistle thrush which is greyer and has a lighter face. The blackbird is also a member of the thrush family and the brown female (third photo) has very thrush like mottled breast feathers

the fields of gold

another strange day with a golden sunset across freezing fog creating an eerie and magical world of soft suffused light; it reminded me for some reason of the song, but fields of miscanthus not barley.