Springing into Spring

White blackthorn blossom overhanging a path

Blackthorn blossom at SGCR 220323

Inspired by The Resurgence Trust’s latest Spring Equinox celebration on Zoom (21st March 2023), led by Georgie Gilmore, this week’s blog post looks at springing into the new season with an open heart and a sense of trying to find balance in life. The dark days of winter have receded, and the lighter mornings mean, for me, earlier awakenings and more of an impetus to get out into nature, to find the signs of spring that enliven and delight. Continue reading

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A Day in the (Urban Wild) Life

Graffiti of owls on a whitewashed wall

Owls in the Baltic Triangle – image taken May 2021

This week’s blog post is on urban wildlife; what the big city has to offer that could possibly compare to the natural world of our green and pleasant spaces. Continue reading

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Winter on the Allotment

An allotment on a sunny winter's day - bare soil and bare cherry and other trees

The allotment in winter

A (rather large) snapshot of life on the allotment over winter. Continue reading

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Within Way and Hale Shore, 14th February 2023

Sunlight through heavy white cloud cover, with a green field and trees

Sunlight over the fields seen from Within Way 140223

The weather forecast had promised another beautiful sunny day, so I had made plans to re-visit Within Way and Hale Shore; however, the morning dawned cold, grey and misty – but I still went out, wondering if much would be visible. Luckily, the sun did struggle through from time to time. Continue reading

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Royden Park and Thurstaston Hill, 13th February 2023

Blue-painted metal gate to a miniature railway

Ornate gate to the miniature railway at Royden Park 130223

On a beautiful February morning, I headed over the water to the Wirral and Royden Park – which is more of a parkland and woodland than your standard urban park. There’s a walled garden and a miniature railway, and a lake, Roodee Mere. There weren’t many birds around, though. This was my second visit to the park, before I started this blog, and so I have included my photos from the first visit, 1st June 2022. Continue reading

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A Poem Inspired by Celebrating Imbolc with the Resurgence Trust

A large clump of snowdrops in leaf litter

Allotment Snowdrops on St Brigid’s Day

Something a little different for this blog… I have always been a person who likes facts, and this is represented in my writing, but I do tend to the ‘flowery prose’ side of things as well, although I feel hesitant about sharing this side of my writing, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, as the saying goes, so for this week’s blog post I am sharing a poem I wrote on 1st February, St Brigid’s Day, inspired by an online gathering held by the Resurgence Trust. Continue reading

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An Early February Walk around Speke Hall and Speke-Garston Coastal Reserve

Clear blue sky, pine trees, grass lawn and Speke Hall in the distance

A distant Speke Hall on a glorious February morning

It is a beautiful early February morning of azure, cloud-free sky and a silvery frost on the ground, and after seeing a raven yesterday I have a desire to go and visit the pair that call Speke Hall their home, to see how they are getting on with their nest-building. Continue reading

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A Review of Recent Radio Programmes on the Right to Roam

Barbed wire, gate with PRIVATE sign on it and green fields behind

Private – No Public Right of Way – image by Andrew Martin from Pixabay

BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast a number of programmes focusing on the ‘right to roam’ that people in England still don’t have – as we saw in January, with the court ruling in favour of the Dartmoor landowner who wanted to ban wild camping from ‘his’ land. The programmes were all engaging in their own way, and I hope this review will encourage you to listen to some – or all – of them. And check out The Right To Roam website: https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/. Continue reading

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Parkgate High Tide Watch, 24th January 2023

The marsh at Parkgate from The Parade

On a beautiful late January morning, I headed to Parkgate on the Wirral for the high tide watch: the spring tide would be around the 10-metre mark at 1pm, although with the weather conditions (specifically, no wind) it would not reach the wall and make for the amazing spectacle that can take place during these events. However, it was a fantastic few hours’ birding anyway. Continue reading

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Birding at Calderstones Park, 21-22 January 2023

Bare trees and grey sky

The strip of woodland where the small birds like to forage

It was a game of two halves, birding at Calderstones Park last weekend: the weather on the Saturday was awful – freezing cold, very dull – whilst on the Sunday it had improved, but the birds were out in force both days, trying to keep themselves well fed against the cold. I was looking in particular for siskin, which have been thin on the ground (or alder, one of their favourite trees) here so far this winter. Continue reading

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