In A Walled Garden

Today, and over the next few days I am going to be posting images from the Walled Garden at Royden Park with the theme of signs of spring.

The bench in the first picture is set under a wooden arbour just inside the garden, in the summer it will be a mass of colour when the Wisteria is in full bloom, but for now it is just a peaceful spot to sit and listen to the birds which are becoming more active and vocal as spring approaches.

The Robin in the second picture is a case in point, it sat there singing at the top of it's voice, probably as a warning to the other birds in the garden that I was there.

The final two pictures today feature a rockery which has been planted with Daffodils one of which is already fully open giving promise of a burst of golden flowers in the weeks to come.

I hope you enjoy these pictures and feel a little lift in the knowledge that spring is definitely on it's way...

Over the Dee

So a real feast of photos today in this the last in the current series of shots from Hilbre Island.  

I picked these pictures for the dramatic sky and the depth of colours on the rocks. I also love the reflections in the creeks and pools of the light coming through the clouds.  All of these pictures show how wonderful this area is and how lucky I am to have this on my doorstep. 

Seabirds

The pictures today are of some of the birds that regularly visit Hilbre Island.  I wasn't able to get as close as I would have liked and all of the above pictures were taken using a Tamron 70 - 300mm telephoto lens at 300mm.

Pictures 1, 2 and 4 are (I think) of Barnacle Geese, picture 3 are Knot and picture 5 is of Oyster Catchers. My favourite shots are pictures 3 & 4, let me know which you like best in the comments below.

Erosion

More photos from Hilbre Island, today the theme is erosion and the pictures speak for themselves. Let me know which you like best...

More from Hilbre

Having made a brief detour to Birmingham for yesterday's blog, today I return to Hilbre Island for the shots above.  

The first is a view towards Flintshire across the River Dee with the Sun's rays piercing the clouds, and the others highlight the ripples in the sand around the island.

More from Hilbre tomorrow...

view from a window

This evening I am staying in Birmingham overnight for a conference tomorrow.  I don't have access to my laptop or hard drive with all my photos so I have taken a few random pictures on my phone so that I can keep up with the daily blog.  I'm not going to pretend that these are great pictures by any standard but taken together they tell the story of my day.

They're in reverse order in that pictures 3 and 4 were taken from the train as we crossed a bridge over the River Mersey and I think as we passed through Crewe.  The second picture is the view from my hotel window, 7 floors up and the first picture is one of a number of quirky lights in an underpass on the way to the hotel.

On the beach

Today's pictures were taken back in 2009 during a walk across to Hilbre Island. 
The first picture shows one of the many buoys that dot the beach on the way across to the islands.  I think that from this angle what is a fairly mundane object becomes quite interesting.

The second picture is of the the first in the small group of islands called Little Eye which almost completely disappears when the tide is high.  It is the point at which walkers from the mainland turn left and follow the rock pools and shoreline towards the other islands.

The third picture shows a view between the islands and the mainland looking towards Liverpool in the far distance.  You can see from this shot how oppressive the sky was on this particular day  but even when the sun isn't out "cracking the flags" Hilbre Island is a fantastic place to visit.

London Landmarks

Following from yesterday here are a few more shots of familiar London landmarks taken from interesting perspectives...  I have chosen black and white for added effect.

I think the second picture is my favourite, which one is yours?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Capital Views

For today here are a few shots from London.  The first two are of St Paul's Cathedral and the third is a view of the Guards Division Memorial through the archway to Horse Guards Parade.

Although there will be many pictures of these sights I have tried to show them from a different perspective.  I hope you will agree that they are interesting pictures.

Texture

Today's pictures are three different shots of the same tree.  I have posted two in monochrome because I think they show the texture and patterns of the bark to good effect and the third picture I chose to highlight the rich warm colours.

Signs of Spring

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of some Lichen growing on a rock to show the rich warm colours, the first two pictures today are of new lichen growth on the branches of a fruit tree. We tend to overlook these small plants but they really do deserve a closer a look, the colours and intricate shapes are quite spectacular.

The next two pictures are of Witch Hazel blossom which in the winter garden at Chirk provided a real burst of colour and a light fragrance.

Taken together these pictures show that spring really is on it's way...

In A Winter Garden...

I know that Robin's are popular and so I was really pleased to capture the picture at the top of the page given that this little critter wouldn't stay still for very long.

The other two images were much easier to get because the subjects stayed still.  Picture two is of the first new leaves of a rose which in reality were not much bigger than the top of my thumb.  I like the colour of the fresh new shoots and the way the light catches on the dew settled on the leaves.

The final picture is of a sycamore seed which has landed on a yew hedge, I like the lacy structure of the veins.

My favourite picture though, is definitely the Robin.  What's yours?

Snowdrops #2

Working on the principle that you can't have too much of a good thing I thought I would share some more pictures of snowdrops.  There are three different varieties in close up and then to finish off I have chosen a picture of the woodland floor.  In the background you can just make out a woodsman's hut which was a nice spot for a break.  There was a lovely wood fire burning in the hearth and hot chocolate to warm up with before setting off again into the woods.

Although the main flowers on display were the snowdrops there were other signs of spring which I will be showing tomorrow so come back then.

Please feel free to leave a comment...