20/02/2021 Last weeks walk

 Maximum temperature here today 16⁰C, minimum 10⁰C.  Dry but very grey skies.  21km/h South-Westerly winds with gusts up to 74 km/h. 

I have not been out walking since last week when these photos were taken.  The very high winds have been a problem and my eyes, despite wraparound glasses,  just water all the time and I cannot focus on where I am going let alone focus on the camera.

At home the Viburnum tinus is in flower.

and the first crocuses.

Out walking it was a little misty to begin with but it soon cleared.

The lambs were playing...

as above...

As above...

Looking over the local town.

Seen outside somebodies house.

The little stream is still flowing very fast.

Muddy puddles everywhere....

and the cattle are still standing in mud.

A pleasant surprise was seeing about 8 Brimstone butterflies at various places along the walk, only one settled long enough for me to get a photo. (Gonepteryx rhamni).

Many hundreds of Cranes (Grus grus) were flying overhead, but I was only carrying the Nikon Coolpix so photos were not easy to get.  Even more so because most of my walk was through the woods and the trees were in the way!  Good to see them returning to the North.

Some of the track where I was walking.

Seen in somebodies smallholding. With thanks to Richard we believe them to be Emperor Geese (Anser canagicus), presumably, these have been domesticated. 

Flowers were in abundance, Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) above with a bug.

Gorse (Ulex europaeus).

Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna)

Persian Speedwell (Veronica persica)

Sun Spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia).

Unknown fungus.

And a sunset that surprised me at the end of the day.

Take care everybody, keep well and stay safe.

My local list of wildflowers. (90 Species 23/08/2020).

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World.

28/01/2021 Just another walk a couple of days back (13 .1 kms).....

Maximum temperature here today 13⁰C, minimum 10⁰C.  11 mm rain measured this morning and it has not stopped raining since then!  23km/h South-Westerly winds with gusts up to 67 km/h.   90% chance of rain forecast for the next 7 days!!!! Not sure when I will be walking again!!

The small stream that generally 'trickles' through our local village. Glad we do not live closeby!

Narrow streets.

Looking across the fields.

Wet tracks.

A drier patch of road with Rapeseed (Brassica napus) planted on the left.

Cattle paddling in the mud, not good for their feet.

Cattle being fed in a barn.

One lone Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus).

Old man's beard · (Clematis vitalba).

I think this is Oakmoss (Evernia prunastri).

Possibly, Common tamarisk moss (Thuidium tamariscinum).

Teasels (Dipsacus).

I suspect this logging is being done by a paper mill.

At the 8km point, I met up with this over the road, the track I need to get to is on the other side...

I sneaked sort of around the banks on the righthand side, this was looking down the stream.  The last 5kms I walked in wet, muddy squelchy shoes.  Isn't mud supposed to be good for the skin 😊

Take care everybody, keep well and stay safe.

My local list of wildflowers. (90 Species 23/08/2020).

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World.

23/03/2020 The rest of the photos from the last walk.

Maximum temperature here today 19C, minimum 9C. Dry.  Frosts forecast for later this week and all our fruit trees are in blossom!!   14km/h South-easterly wind with gusts up to 34 km/h.  

Apologies for the delay in posting this, the sun has been shining and we have both been working in the garden.  Time has been limited at the computer, especially as I have also been inventing meals with what we have available.  We have not been out now for 10 days but will try to get a few necessary items from the supermarket tomorrow, not forgetting to carry our travel permit with us or we could be heavily fined!!

Walkers on the railway line.  Good job this part of the track has been closed for a while!

Forsythia.

Under observation.

What I think is Hawks-beard (Crepis tectorum) with a bumblebee.

Now I wonder who lives here.

Wondering if this giant snail is a deterrent to the smaller ones!

Squirrels on gateposts.

Fast-flowing ditches. 

Reflections in a dam.

  Le Logis de Saint Vincent. Logis (lojh-ee) means "home" or "dwelling" in French. Whilst these walls now enclose the premises of a company whose business is concerned with drainage equipment, we do know that in the 1940's, the large multi-storey complex was used as a type of orphanage. This may have been the original purpose of the building, as it was clearly built much more than a century ago.   The only reason we know it was an orphanage, is because one of the child occupants who now lives in the USA contacted me when he saw a previous post of mine. Interesting to say the least of it

Derelict a little further up the road.  This was a thriving farmhouse in the 40's, the orphan that contacted me re the above, said he was often brought up here when the adults were all playing belote - a French card game.

Returning back home this was the sunset that appeared in the evening.

Back home in the garden the tulips are blooming...

and the few days of sunshine has seen the return of the Common Wall Lizards.

See also my

 Bird blog