New paintings and regular art updates.
Duck and drake Mallards. The male duck was doing some duck diving. The lake was so beautiful and the reflection was sparkling. The duck dived and I grabbed a shot of it. Ripples circled it. The water almost looks like quicksilver. Worth going for a walk to catch this. X
We bought this tree about 25 years ago as a sapling from Plymouth and planted it in our garden. It is now as tall as our house but as the garden slopes you could probably add another five or six foot to its growth. Since it was quite young it has produced walnuts which the local squirrels collect and store over winter. That has resulted in some unwanted saplings which we have dug up and given away. Walnuts don’t do well if their branches are cut. The sap tends to flow freely and can cause the tree to bleed sap. This can also allow infections which can damage the trees. Walnut wood is apparently very good for carpentry, but I intend to leave well alone. If it can get that big in twenty five years how big will it get in fifty…
This morning I saw a woodpecker in our garden. I’d never seen one in real life and I’m not sure what type it was but it was climbing up our willow tree, pecking at the bark. Looking for insects? I hope it comes back tomorrow. If it does I will try and get a photo then try and identify it. We do have lots of trees in the garden even though we are in the centre of a city. I guess we are trying to do our bit for the environment.
Can we survive global warming? As the world joins in a conference about it this November, reports continue about wildfires, carbon dioxide and methane emissions and damage to our natural environment.
Big business still seems to want to expand their production. Buy more stuff… Sell more cars… But using energy and resources is not going to help.
If temperatures go higher the worry is that there will be a runaway greenhouse effect. The result is a degradation of our environment. Water shortages, increased air pollution, damage to the health of not just us, but the whole planet. We are currently using more resources than the planet can provide.
I think humans can be incredibly generous, thoughtful, considerate. We can work together to stop the damage. Not in the future, but now. I do hope we realise that before it’s too late.
Walking past these tonight, they hissed a bit, warning us off from their brood of goslings. It’s a good place to be bringing up young. I think they are greylag geese….? I shall have to see if I can find out. Different looking to the Canada geese that usually inhabit the area..
One day I will find out and learn where they come from and what type they are?
Rain rain go away come again another day, or go to where its needed on the West Coast of the United States and Canada. I don’t think I’ll be walking far this afternoon. Watching the tour de France on the TV… And it’s raining heavily there too.
Thunderstorms are forecast here later in the day.
It’s amazing how much heavier rain seems these days, I remember rain in the past being relatively light compared with this! We live on a hill but the road looked like a river a few minutes ago (OK that’s overdoing it, a small stream). Off to get a towel to dry off!
Once you see something it’s hard not to see it. You ‘get your eye in’. I’ve recently seen a few different ones on various walks and I can’t resist taking photos of them. This could be a duck or a pigeon feather? I don’t know. I remember learning how feathers have thin strands with little hooks on them so when a bird preens it’s feathers the hooks can sort of zip the feathers up and hold the strands of the feathers together? I don’t know exactly how it works. I guess I should look it up on line or find a book with details in it. It is fascinating to think about the mechanics of birds wings.
A joy of Coots
Baby chicks
Cheeping and calling
Rushing across a pool
Blue footed parents
White shield on their heads
Dark chicks
Scattered yellow feathers
Round their heads
And red beaks.
How do they morph
From chick to Coot?
Today’s #bandofsketchers challenge was to draw nature. I looked out of my window. There was the tangle of trees and vegitation out there plus bright blue sky and white rooves covered in snow. The ivy is scrambling up the trees and the buddliea bushes need cutting back….
Watercolour sketch.
Now the UK has left the European Union it looks like our government may allow the use of nicotinoid pesticides again.
Worrying that the government has ‘taken back control’ and can now do what the hell it likes.
We are not in a position where we should be killing insects. Certainly not killing Bees. They are tied into the pollination of food crops, of flowers, of fruit. Why would we want them killed? Madness….
Mallaband-Brown