Tuesday 18 February 2014

Share your signs of Spring!

We had a brief,  but much appreciated break from rain on Sunday! The sun came out and it was dry for several hours; it was a great opportunity to go for a walk without getting drenched or blown away. The rhines (dredging channels for the marshland near us) are full to the brim. Luckily, they work really well draining off all the extra water, I'm very glad to say!

I saw my first celandines of the year on this bank,  peeking through the new shoots of greenery. I love their cheery little golden faces, which always seem to glow in delight at the sunlight. See how clear the water is; the rain has cleared a lot of the surface weeds. Little birds constantly flew down to drink, and their song was all around us.

Lots of wildlife use the rhines. Last week I was thrilled to catch sight of a Roe deer doe, slipping out of the undergrowth to take a drink. There are some deer here living on the marshland and in the woods on the hill, but they are really secretive.

 'A little mouse with clogs on, Well I declare, going clip clipetty clop on the stair.... '

Well, we have a windmill. Six, to be more precise. There's a wind farm at Avonmouth, and this path leads us almost underneath one of these giants. We're very fond of 'our'  windmills, (we can see 4 from our windows) whirling around, providing green energy . They aren't noisy and wildlife doesn't mind them at all.

To prove that point, just round the bend we found the Mute swan family,  munching a late breakfast.  Mum and dad still have one daughter with them from last year's brood of cygnets.  You can tell by her brownish markings and much paler beak. The boys get chased off  first, but the girls are often allowed to stay with their parents, even up until the next breeding season. The stormy weather has blown some rubbish into the water, but they seemed not to mind, thoroughly enjoying their weedy snack!

Just dried reeds and grasses, but this could almost be tropical rain forest;  the fantastic reflections caught my eye.

On our return journey, the swans had found somewhere much more attractive to finish their meal. It always amazes me how they appear so pristine and snowy white.

Then as we finally turned for home, one of our local herons (who I've been trying to photograph for ever),  flew across our path and kindly landed close by, allowing me to get several good pictures, including this one.  He's preparing for a fish (or frog) supper.

I love the way he's juxtaposed against the cold, sharp winter grassland, and I really want to use this image for something creative. I'm just not quite sure what...yet!

Now we're back to grey skies, wind and rain, so I'm very grateful for our little taste of spring. 

What's going in in your part of the world?  Have you posted about anything spring like which has cheered, and  maybe, inspired you creatively? If you have - please share it!  Just leave a link in the comments for this post. x

13 comments:

  1. Good morning, I love your spring photos, how wonderful to view swans! I hope all the flooding stops soon
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a gorgeous day! looks like the animals couldn't resist a day out either - you captured so many wonderful photos of them. I've been considering a spring post myself - will have to go out hunting with my camera! thank you for sharing your beautiful walk :))

    ReplyDelete
  3. How do you fancy doing your heron in stumpwork?

    Love the reflection of the blue sky in the rhine, by the way..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for this lovely spring greeting. Yes, I have seen on TV with concern of too much water with you ...
    Today I worked in the gardens, trimmed hedges and shrubs and found lots of snowdrops and even first flowering muscari.
    But for fotos I was too busy ... -

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for sharing your lovely pictures with us :-) It was a such a nice day today, did not get dark till much later then on wet days and the blackbird was singing his heart out until very late. A chance for an early spring?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I so enjoyed your spring post and all the sights you shared. Alas, here, we are far from spring with a foot-and-a-half of snow still on the ground and more in the forecast for the next 5 days. Some days I fear spring will never come, but I know that it just seems to take so long because we are sich of winter.
    Love your swap with Starr-- it's a beautiful exchange.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for showing us some signs of spring.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I loved your photos of Spring. Our Spring is but a memory, we are hanging out for Autumn. I'm so over Summer with hot 100+ degrees temperatures every day, we rely on our air-conditioner to get through each day and night..........so roll on Autumn and Winter, I can hardly wait.

    ReplyDelete
  9. have so enjoyed a walk with you in the comfort of my own home, you adnd Starr are so good at telling a nature story. Good to see that following all the rain the streams are running clear and not dirty brown water.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful post - I love all the signs of spring. Those swans are gorgeous, they certainly seem to be enjoying the beautiful day.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Glad you got some sunshine sweets. It's so pretty where you live. Can't wait to walk there with you one day!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lovely photos Jules and no Spring here I'm afraid to say. I'll just have to enjoy it vicariously through your pretty pictures :O)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Alas, not a sign of spring in the air here in New Hampshire! Several feet of snow on the ground still and the temperatures just dropped back down into the brrrrr level of 20 F and below! I am quite finished with winter I must admit and really, really , really want it to go away now. I want to be able to open the windows and the porch up to the fresh air! Whine, whimper, whimper :D
    Clearly you are doing much better in the green department!
    Hugs my sweet friend,
    Beth P

    ReplyDelete

If you have time please leave me a comment. I love to hear what you think.x