Yesterday's Wanderings

A few pictures from a walk around my local area yesterday, carrying nothing but my Canon 40D and a Tamron 90mm macro lens.

One of the commonest plants growing in the sandy soils bordering my local beach is the Burnet Rose. The typical plants have whitish-yellow flowers:

However, there is a large clump with these pinkish flowers, which is apparantly a rare variant:

This flower had attracted this green beetle (if anyone knows the species, please let me know):

Ox-eye Daisies were growing by the beach:

This tallish plant was growing en masse in the dunes at the top of the beach. (Is it Mouse-ear Hawkweed?):

Here's a close-up of one of the flower heads:

I walked up into Clyne Gardens, where these Orange Hawkweeds were growing in the wildflower meadow with their commoner cousins:

There was still plenty of Germander Speedwell in flower in the grassland:

This exotic primula:

had flowers quite similar to the native Red Campion:

Also growing in the wildflower area were these orchids (anyone know the species?):

No, not Niagara Falls, but part of a small waterfall that flows from a pond into a stream which runs through Clyne Gardens:

The brilliant blue of this iris caught my eye:

As did the striking colour combination of yellow primulas and blue irises:

I thought a 'Monet' treatment might suit the subject:

Back to the dunes, where I saw this broomrape species growing:

As I walked back through the suburban streets, I noticed the naturalised Red Valerian decorating the garden walls:

To end on a romantic note (!), this single red rose was drawing attention to itself in the Botanic Gardens of Singleton Park:

Recent Pictures

I haven't posted recently due to some computer problems. All sorted out now, so here are a few pictures I've taken recently.

The first five are shots of vegetation growing in a small stream that flows into the sea at Blackpill Beach, Swansea, taken as the sun was setting, and going in and out behind clouds:

Blackpill is a well-known birding spot, as many waders and gulls gather here at high tide, particularly in Winter. However, at this time of year, there are rather fewer birds, and, on this particular evening, this single Whimbrel, passing through on its migration, was one of the few birds of note:

As the sun set, and turned the sea a subtle pinkish hue, this group of Shelducks drifted past on the calm water:

A Great Crested Grebe was also present:

Moving on to the Gower Peninsula, this was the scene at Pennard Cliffs, looking west across the flowering Gorse towards Oxwich Beach in the distance:

I was able to sneak up to this Raven, as it perched on the cliff edge:

Early Purple Orchids were growing in profusion nearby:

Back to Swansea, and I made a visit to Clyne Gardens, a large area accessed from Swansea seafront, which is a mixture of exotic plants and native species. Here, I photographed this Ramson plant:

and this Bluebell:

and these Dandelion 'clocks':

There is a semi-natural Bluebell wood at the top of the park. I took a couple of 'straight' shots of this typically-British Springtime sight:

as well as a couple of more 'abstract' pictures:

On one recent sunny morning, I climbed up a hill to the north of my house. There is a mixture of grassland, woodland, scrub, and farmland, up here, and it affords wonderful views of Swansea Bay:

In the last year, the local farmer has ploughed up one some scrub and created a grassy field from some rough grassland, which has led to a reduction in small birds which were previously here: Yellowhammers, Stonechats, Whitethroats, Linnets, Grasshopper Warblers, etc. However, there does seem to have been an increase in the number of Pheasants, including this dark bird which I was able to sneak close enough to to photograph:

I also spotted a Red-legged Partridge in another ploughed field, although I couldn't get close enough for any decent photos. Instead, I contented myself with a couple of low-perspective, wide-angle views of these Meadow Buttercups:

Here's yet another blur shot of Oxwich Woods:

And here's a shot of a Burnet Rose growing in the nearby sand dunes: