The Mere Cremone Gardens

To continue my stroll by the side of The Mere from the previous post I'll start with this Wood Pigeon chilling out.

The sun was against me to capture 'Secure' (made of steel and oak) by Nick Horrigan so maybe I'll pass the view off as moody.  Next

Its so quiet -sshhh. 

The artist John Merrill was inspired to create the wooden SShhh by the peace and quiet of the beech avenue at the end of Cremone Gardens. Originally made of local lime wood the weather eventually took its toll so he has re-carved and replaced the letters in good old sturdy oak. The utility vehicle was also quiet however its driver was hard at work with a leaf blower keeping the path clear. He had come prepared for in the yellow bucket was something most welcome on a chilly and windy day, a hot drinks flask. His leaf blower was turned off when we reached the sculpture and he

waited until I had taken a picture of the decorated holly tree and passed him to retrace our steps

for the path beyond in the woods was very muddy not the place for someone wearing the wrong footwear.

Or to go beyond the gate to the Fishing Pod to gaze over the waters. I believe there is a family of otters living on The Mere - no need for them to join the EAC (Ellesmere Angling Club) for these natural catchers of fish have carte blanche

Links

Ellesmere Sculpture Trail - John Merrill
Ellesmere Sculpture Trail - Nick Horrigan with a much better photo.

Summer in Willeskop Nature Reserve

Hollandse IJselpad Sign

A little bit of watery delight in the Green Heart of the Netherlands Willeskop Nature Reserve invites one in.

We gazed across the lake at the hundreds of water birds while a pair of hen harriers wheel overhead.

The path leads us through trees and dozens of red admiral butterflies most hiding in plain sight as they merge with the tree bark.

Past wild flowers the bright light of high summer making a large white butterfly almost transparent.

Greylag Goose

The lake comes into view again

If you live in a land flat as a pancake then build your own viewpoint. A tower to take in the polder landscape

Irresistible to visit

Yes you can see for miles and miles

Wave to the dog walkers.

Return to earth and cross over to the other side of the lake

We were fascinated by the integrated step stile on the gates.

Enjoy the shade of the trees

Try to pass by a pair of swans taking their ease on the path with their lone chick, one swan hisses a scary warning. I would guess they have lost all their other offspring so of course highly protective of their only child. Eventually they take to the water and we continue on our way.

Go over a bridge

and yes another one

This is a one way bridge for the farmer to gain access to his fields.

These cows were mooing to their compatriots two lines of water away

Who were calling back, probably wishing there were cow bridges.

The polder windmill at rest no raging torrents to move.

Our enjoyable nature walk now comes to an end.

Blue Tailed Damselfly

A blissful time in the polder landscape.

Willeskop Nature Reserve footpaths 

Craning

The contented Grey Crowned Crane considers the human with the camera. Its range is from the Congo to South Africa and is the national bird of Uganda.  The only crane species to roost in trees. Its omnivorous diet is perfect for its habitat of grassland and wetland but these are under threat from drainage, overgrazing and pesticides. This one is living in the Bird Garden of Harewood House in Yorkshire as part of their conservation project.

So what other cranes can I show you?

Yes we are in homonym land, words with the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings. Must be a nightmare for those who first language is not English because there are an awful lot of them. You would have to crane your neck to look up at these big 'birds'. The cranes are moving goods in the Prince of Wales Docks, Workington.

 Here on the Cumbrian coast my viewpoint is Town Quay where a fishing boat is coasting in from the sea perhaps after casting their net.  The morning clouds spread over the sky but they would soon clear to a blue sky day.

It was a family boat and here father and daughter concentrate on cleaning and untangling the net while winding it back on the drum. The day was clear and calm with no wind.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet this week sojourning at C here.

    

Oystercatchers

Oystercatchers in their favourite place between mud, sand,  rocks and sea. Does it ever open an oyster?  I don't know, but it cleverly forces back the valves of mussels and small bivalves.  It will knock a limpet from rock with ease.  Walking on the Cumbria coast in July they were at their most flighty.  Gathering together at the edge of the sea, pic-pic-pic they chatter,  but come too close and

away they fly skimming the waves,

Showing off the distinctive V shape feathers. Present all around the British coast it is also increasingly found in the summer inland on the moors. I am always a surprise when I hear a slow call, pleee-ah, plee-ah and see a lone oystercatcher roller-coasting low over the land.  Happily when sometimes all one hears are about declining numbers of species the Oystercatcher bucks the trend and numbers have increased in the last fifty years.  Where once there were 30,000 breeding pairs there are now estimated to be 98,000 in the summer, (probably why some move inland to breed) but in the winter they all gather around the coast and estuaries

to be joined by visitors from Norway when the numbers swell to about 320,000.  Watch out bivalves, they're  coming. 

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet -  this week sojourning at O

 

Mussel In

This juvenile maritime gull could not have posed in a better place for a photograph.  Is it trying to hitch a ride or just waiting for something tasty.

Perhaps some mussels though it would be disappointed in these for they are made of Kerry limestone.  Created by the stone sculptor Graeme Micheson in 2007 they stand on the Conwy quayside and called by their Latin name Mytilus Edulis but the real thing, the Blue Mussel, has many more hues. To the right of the sculpture is Conwy Mussels who hand rake (in wooden boats) the shellfish where they naturally grow on the seabed, and where the Conwy river meets the ocean.  This sustainable fishing make them larger in size than rope grown mussels.  The mussel season runs from 1st September until the end of April when they are sent to the fish markets  in something faster than this

Ye Olde Mail Coach, Conwy

 They are rarely disturbed in summer when they breed so maybe that is when they mail out publicity

Castle Street, Conwy

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey though the alphabet, this week sojourning at M

Fair Fowls and Flamigo

Fabulous flamingos living by the side of the lake at Harewood House Bird Garden take time out to have a preen. The gardens are a fascinating place to see unfamiliar birds to these shores.   At the moment the Chilean Flamingos total 17 adults and one juvenile in the flock.  They stopped breeding when a storm brought trees down on their nesting site but a recent creation of a new nesting island for them resulted in a baby flamingo.  While watching them I spotted this 

nest but perhaps this collection of twigs belongs to this fellow

who was keeping an eye out for something tasty to eat

Meanwhile the Guinea Fowl were taking a stroll but this most gregarious of birds

 

prefer to do it in groups and this photograph shows of their fine feathers to full effect.  There looks to be tasty treats in the grass on which they have free range but not

here in the walled garden where the fear factor tries to keep away birds from the newly planted seeds.

An entry to ABC Wednesday - a journey through the alphabet

No Fishing?

No Fishing?  Surely not, perhaps because this pool is on a golf course but

Little Egret

nearby is the Marshside Nature Reserve where it is a free for all

Dunlin

 

and all that is required is a long beak

No nets needed

or other fishing accoutrements necessary. And definitely, no matter how pretty it looks,  no more snow until next winter please. 

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey though the alphabet..