The last bloom of Nightjar’s early winter flowers series and it’s a beauty.
Speedwell (Veronica sp.),©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Thanks, Nightjar. It’s been lovely to have so much sunshine and colour at this time of year.
©voyager, all rights reserved
Jack and I put on our voyageur berets this morning and went hunting for beavers in the wetlands of Canada. The morning air was frosty and a constant westerly wind bit at our cheeks as it blew past us. Conditions on the ground were challenging with large muddy areas lightly covered by a wafer thin sheet of snow and ice that easily buckled under the weight of the dog. We picked our way upstream with me slipping and sliding and Jack looking anxiously over his shoulder to make sure I was still upright. We didn’t get too far though when the route became clogged with tangled brush and reeds that ultimately forced us to retrace our steps in retreat. I think we were getting close to the lodge in this area. We found several gnawed trees and a whole patch of gnawed off saplings. At first, I thought the sapling patch would lead straight to the den, but nope. The beavers haven’t set up shop here, but I think they’re close by. Maybe tomorrow we’ll try the other bank of the river to see if we can get farther.
Welcome to the next chapter of Nightjar’s series about exploring the hills near her home in Portugal.
Limestone may not be the prettiest of rocks, but I really like rocks, and images such as this make me happy. The other side of this limestone formation, facing a neighbouring village, is currently being explored for cement production. On “our” side there is only evidence of the work of stonemasons who used to sculpt the rock in place and carry their works downhill. Word has it that some people have found sculptures among the piles of rocks on the top of the hill, but I never found anything. Just rocks, really.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
I thought that Nightjar’s sunny Marigold photo from yesterday couldn’t be beat, but today she’s sent us an entire field of bright yellow Marigolds. I love the way the focus fades and the flowers start to look like bright yellow balloons bobbing in the breeze.
Marigolds (Calendula arvensis), ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Thanks, Nightjar
Well nested, ©voyager, all rights reserved
This tree sits at the crossroad of several paths and is obviously well-favoured by some type of smallish bird. Jack and I pass this way often, but we’ve never seen an actual bird here only the nests. Maybe the birds are tucked up inside or maybe they’re out searching for food or maybe they’ve gone to Florida and won’t return until spring. We’ll keep looking, but something tells me I won’t see birds here any time soon.
Well, actually a lot of snow. These breathtaking photos are from DavidinOz.
…here are some photos from when I lived in New Zealand. They are from Tekapo in McKenzie Country on the South Island.
1 & 3 are the Church of the Good Shepherd exterior, while No 2 is the view through the window behind the altar. How could anyone listen to a sermon with that view? I am sure they must have drawn a curtain. The last 3 are taken from the top of Mount John, site of an observatory. The sky at Tekapo is so clear it is now listed as a world heritage area to protect it from light pollution.
It is a magical place, one I was pleased to see in all seasons.
Tekapo 1. ©David Brindley, all rights reserved
A gorgeous, bright yellow Marigold from Nightjar’s series of photos, Early Winter Flowers from Portugal. This photo even a wee visitor taking advantage of all that sweet, sticky pollen.
Marigold (Calendula arvensis), ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Thanks, Nightjar.
Even my favorite resting spot seems uninviting today. ©voyager, all rights reserved
The warm, welcome sunshine of yesterday has given way to dark and gloomy skies today. It’s hard to tell what time it is outside because it always looks the same. There isn’t even any grainy mist or fog to enhance the mood. It didn’t seem worth going back to the river because the ground is still muddy so Jack and I went exploring around the neighbourhood instead. I hope it gets colder soon (wow, I can’t believe I just said that!) because I think I know which direction the beaver den is, but I need firmer ground to get there. It’s winter. In Canada. It’s supposed to be cold.
Nightjar has been working hard on a new series for us which is making its debut today. We’ll be posting a new chapter every other day, which will include weekends, so be sure to check in often because you won’t want to miss a single post. The first chapter is about trees which makes Tuesday the right day to begin, so I invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy exploring a bit of Portugal with Nightjar.
This series was inspired by both Ice Swimmer’s “Harakka Island” series (starting here) and a post by rq on the Macedonian rocks that made her homesick, here. . I have no islands nearby to visit but I do have hills with rocks. In fact, I live between two hills that are very different from each other and both mean a lot to me, bringing childhood memories of fossil and rock hunting with my family and childhood friends. I do not go up the hills as often as I used to, but they really aren’t far from home and an afternoon is more than enough to explore one of them. In a November afternoon I went East and had fun among limestone. In a December afternoon I went West and had fun among phyllites and quartz. And yes, my pockets were heavy on my way back home. I can’t resist it. But let’s start our journey… let’s go East! [Read more…]
Another of Nightjar’s beautiful winter flowers from Portugal.
Hawkweed, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Gorgeous. Thanks, Nightjar.
From Lofty,
A series of the small patch of forest that was selectively burned, one year on.
©Lofty, all rights reserved
©Lofty, all rights reserved
©Lofty, all rights reserved
What a difference a year can make. The area doesn’t look fire ravaged at all. Maybe it’s because of the regrowth on the tall trees,. That’s not something I’ve seen before and it’s fascinating. Thanks for sharing. Lofty.
The mark of the Eager Beaver, ©voyager, all rights reserved
Jack and I went down to the river today looking for beavers, but we didn’t have any luck. It was just too difficult to get off the path because the area is quite boggy right now. I fell 3 times (I’m dirty, but OK) before I finally decided to try again another day. We did see evidence of beavers, though, including this tree that some eager beaver started to gnaw and then abandoned. Maybe he’s coming back with a few friends to help. That looks like a mighty big tree for a single beaver to fell, even if it is an eager beaver.
A magical double rainbow from Jazzlet.
“This is the view from my bedroom window, lovely isn’t it? It’s a bit deceptive, you can’t see that beyond the end of the garden there is a steep slope down to a field, which is where we most often walk the dogs, beyond that is the Peak Forest Canal, then a local railway line – you can see that if you know where to look. The real deception though is the way it appears that we live in the country, when we live in a suburb, but like many northern cities there are fingers of countryside that reach into the urban area, and we are lucky enough to live on the edge of one of those fingers. When I’m on my laptop typing comments I’m in the room below our bedroom, the view isn’t quite as good as it’s blocked by our extension and by our neighbour’s enormous hedge on the left, and by the other neighbour’s conservatory on the right, but it’s still pretty amazing. The valley runs north/south and we can often see the weather blowing up it, maybe sheets of rain, sometimes the valley fills with mist and looks as if it’s boiling up before spilling over into the garden, occasionally the cloud drops right down and we can’t see to the end of the garden, let alone Top O’ The Hill. Yes that wee hill is known as Top O’ The Hill.”
©Jazzlet, all rights reserved
Breathtaking. Thanks for sharing Jazzlet.
