Tag: wildlife

A Wander around our Garden in August

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 25, 2012
5 Comments on A Wander around our Garden in August

Our garden in August is a bright, colourful place full of lush growth, rich scent and so much wildlife to enjoy. Our wild birds are mostly quiet at present as August is the time when they hide away as they go through their annual moult. They have gone to ground and gone silent.

Above our heads however avian activity is busy and exciting. The Swallows and House Martins are feeding up in anticipation of their migration south. The sky is full of them, but the screaching of Swifts is absent as they began their own long journey a few weeks ago. For a few days there is a gap in the sounds – we miss them for their excited calls and aerial displays.

The calls of the young Buzzards can be heard above the Swallows and Martins, as they excitedly search out thermals and discover the joy of riding them. The Peregrines have reappeared now that their breeding season is over so we can watch the adult pairs rising in ever-higher circles until they disappear from view. Our eyes become incapable of seeing them as they become smaller, become dots and are then gone. They have the luxury of far better long distance vision than us – they will see the movement of their prey from hundreds of feet up in the air. A real treat is to spot them as they stoop, travelling down at speeds of over 200 miles per hour with a pigeon in their sights.

Yesterday when deadheading in one of our borders we were surprised by a low-flying, high speed Green Woodpecker who zoomed close to us, just a few feet away. A real treat!

Insect life is flourishing. On any warm bright day a variety of insects can be seen hunting out nectar and pollen. Butterflies, bees and hoverflies are attracted to Buddleias, Alliums, Salvias, Nepetas, Lavenders and Echinops. There are so many Peacock Butterflies around at the moment but you can’t have too many of them. The Holly Blues are much scarcer and flit continuously rarely seeming to settle.

Bees and hoverflies are attracted to our Lavender hedge which borders the lane which passes in front of our garden.

The ponds are full of life with shoals of young fish basking in the shallows, diving Beetles and Boatmen moving up to the surface and back to the bottom regularly. On the surface Pondskaters pace out the length and breadth of the pond surface. Young newts regularly appear at the surface take a gulp of air and drop back down. When Jude the Undergardener nets the duckweed and blanket weed from the pond she catches newts every time. She is delighted with every newt that graces her net. I am convinced that removing the weed is an excuse for her newt catching exploits. In August the majority of newts Jude catches are youngsters.

The front garden is looking good! So much colour! The Hot Border is HOT!

The “Beth Chatto Garden”, our gravel garden, is full of interest with Agapanthus taking centre stage. These Agapanthus were actually bought from the Beth Chattos Gardens nursery.

Early in August the front garden was dominated by yellow – even Jude the Undergardener was wearing yellow – but after a few weeks all the other colours caught up.

In the back garden the growth in our Secret Garden is exuberant to say the least. The foxgloves are going over but the achilleas, lychnis and alliums are still giving us a full performance.

Elsewhere in the borders of the back garden the seedheads of our Snakebark Acer add rich reds, Crocosmias give every shade of yellow, orange and red, Achilleas add subtlety and the spiky Erigeron flowers provide silver.

In the greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers and capsicums are adding sweetness and freshness to the cut-and-come-again mixed leaves of ours summer salads.

The world beyond our garden is changing this month as in our borrowed landscape the hay in the paddock has been cut and baled and the wheat fields turn gold and are being harvested one by one. By the time my September garden wander comes around the skys will seem empty as the Swallows and Martins will be on their way to warmer climes, but the garden will be getting busier with mixed feeding flocks of titmice and Goldcrests, and others of mixed finches.

bird watching birds climbing plants conservation photography Shropshire Shropshire Wildlife Trust trees wildlife woodland

Wandering in a Wet Woodland

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 20, 2012
9 Comments on Wandering in a Wet Woodland

It is pouring with rain – continuous heavy miserable rain pouring down from a dark grey headache-inducing sky. Humidity clings to us. Too wet even for us rain-defying gardeners to get out and garden, too hot and humid to work in the greenhouse. so what to do today? Go for a walk and just get wet of course.

So off for a half hour drive down flower edged lanes to a wood on Wenlock Edge, a place enjoyed when our two children were young. Edge Wood. We park the car in a clearing – it is so dark and the rain continues to bang on the roof of Jude’s little car.

Waterproofs are donned and the camera hangs around my neck hidden from the rain under my jacket. We set off along rutted paths, the mud has been churned up by the hooves of horses so we struggle through mud and deep ruts off into the canopy of trees, taking dark photos of a dark day.

Every leaf surface is shining with wetness and the tip of every leaf has a droplet of rain hanging waiting to drip, matching the drips on the edge of the peak of my cap and on the end of my nose.

The wet surface of foliage serves to emphasise their textures and shapes, increasing their individual beauty.

This little wood is home to 250 different wildflowers but today only a handful are in evidence. It is late in the season and the darkness is not enticing buds to open and display their flowers.

The Woodbine, our native Honeysuckle, clambers up many of the tree trunks and display flowers at nose height encouraging us to enjoy their scent. But in the daytime the scent is hardly discernible from the wet wood smells, for it does not give off scent for us, it will wait until the evening draws in and intensify the scent, a special scent to draw in night-flying moths who will do the Woodbine’s bidding and pollinate the blooms.

This little white gem shone like stars in the night sky – Gipsy Wort. The green of the foliage is so fresh and whitens the flowers even more.

The most floriferous of all plants in the wood in August are the grasses and sedges displaying a rich diversity of shapes and structures in their flowering.

There are signs of man’s influence hidden away in the wood, evidence of coppicing, an old hedgerow, layered hedging gone wild and trees felled. There are clues of man’s past presence, working woodsman and farmers. The hand of man is now being rubbed out by the heart of nature.

As we wander through the wet wood we get regular glimpses of the Shropshire countryside through gateways and gaps in the hedges and trees. The rain is softening the landscape and hiding hills from view.

The wood is home to a couple of rare mammals, dormice and the Yellow-necked Mice. Nestboxes are provided to encourage the dormice to breed and roost.

The tree canopy is mostly silent, the birds in moult keep out of sight ashamed of their scruffy appearance and worried that they are more susceptible to predators. In odd places the calls of small birds show they are moving about high above us, Goldcrests, Treecreepers, Siskin and Titmice in variety.

The paths lead us through the wood almost around its perimeter.

At times little cameos of nature’s work present themselves to us, little details giving glimpses of woodland beauty.

Sometimes being in a dark wood getting wet is the best place to be!

Tags birds, conservation, Dormice, foliage, grasses, South Shropshire, trees, Wenlcok Edge, wildlife

bird watching birds National Trust photography Shropshire wildlife

A Wild Mountain Pool

Wildmoor Pool sits alone up on the top of the Long Mynd amongst open moorland. We live on the northern edge of the South Shropshire Hills and we need to drive only a short distance to the Long Mynd at the southern edge of the South Shropshire Hills. On a very hot and humid day we decided to take our books, a flask of coffee and some fruit and seek out the cooler air atop the Long Mynd. We had never been to the Wildmoor Pool before and we were stunned by its beauty and isolation as it came into sight. A triangle of clear water tinged brown by peat.

It is described in my book on the Long Mynd as a place to sit and wait for the wildlife to arrive. This proved to be so true. On our arrival we spotted lots of different Damsel Flies and Dragonflies in a myriad of sparkling colours, but little else, no birds to be seen or heard in the sky, on the bushes or amongst the bracken and heathers. These dragonflies have such evocative names – Black Darters, Common Hawkers, Golden-ringed Dragonfly.

So we sat, got comfortable, poured coffees and got out our books to enjoy in the peace up on the long mountain. The silence and still warm air created an atmosphere of calm and peacefulness – and above all contentment. This silence was only occasionally interrupted by tiny splashes of water as fingerling Brown Trout plucked flies from the mirrored surface and sent ripples out in concentric rings moving slowly outwards towards the edge of the pool. Deep throated croaks from frogs emerged from deep within the reeds. The surface dwellers barely make a sound or a ripple, the Water Measurers, Pondskaters fail to break the surface. Water Beetles and Water Boatmen pierce through the surface to collect bubbles of oxygen.

Reflections decorated the pool’s surface. When the Brownies’ ripples reached them they shimmered but otherwise they were still as the mountain air.

The slopes of the mountain here were decorated with bracken and heather and little else, so the tiny simple blooms of the Tomentil shone like golden stars in a clear sky. Yellow glows in so much green. Close to the pool edge the bracken is joined by tough sedges such as Bottle Sedge, rushes such as Common Spike Rush, with Yellow Flag and Mountain Thistles punctuating them with colour. Further from the bank Bogbeans and Bog Pondweed flourish.

Water plants often take a pool over trying to cover it and dominate, but here the National Trust manage the amount of growth and keep a good percentage of water clear. This allows us to appreciate the large white flowers of the Waterlilies pushing through the surface amongst their flat circular plate-like leaves. As far as we know we have only two native waterlilies, one little yellow one and a larger white one but this one was the palest shade of pink, which confused us.

The clear air up here encourages lichens and mosses to grow on any suitable surface. Around the pool and roadside they colonise fenceposts of concrete and wood.

After sitting quietly for a while and enjoying a coffee we became aware of a deep rumbling a little like distant farm machinery at work or a distant hovering helicopter, and after a while we realised this incongruous sound was under the road where it skirted the pool. After a little exploration we discovered that the sound was that of the water overflowing from the pool through a pipe passing under the road. The water drains from the peaty slopes and seeps into the pool. The road acts as a dam and on the far side the overflow bursts from a pipe rumbling and roaring into a tiny stream which disappears into the valley. From the pool side the water disappears beneath a grated hole before rumbling and bubbling its way underground.

After a while we began to hear bird calls and to see the occasional one in the sky passing over our heads or perching atop the tallest fronds of bracken. The smaller birds prove mostly to be Meadow Pipits. But two scarcer species the Stonechats and Whinchats share the same silhouette so are difficult to differentiate when perched on tall strands of bracken. But when they move and their colours and markings become clearer we can see that the Whinchats have definite eye-stripes and the Stonechats black heads. The chest of the Stonechat is more colourful being more pure orange than the buff-orange breast plumage of the Whinchat. This area suits them well as they like steep hillsides covered in bracken with a good understory and enjoy being near water.

Big birds are less frequent, probably the commonest being the large black Ravens which pass high over us nearly always in pairs and cronking deeply. Although we love seeing the dragonflies and their cousins the damsel flies and the small songbirds we are equally enthralled with the sight of their predators. While watching a male Kestrel hovering above the hillside vegetation and admiring his russet and grey tones, I was distracted by the site of a rapidly flying tiny bird of prey, the Hobby. I followed him as he flew to the damp area above the Wild Pool where dense clumps of reed and rush are interspersed with small pools of water. Here he hunts the dragonflies and damselflies. What a flying display!They look like a cross between a Swift and a Peregrine Falcon.

Even smaller is the Merlin, Britain’s smallest bird of prey which we watched as it hunted for the Meadow Pipits just feet above the bracken. They are now rearing their second batch of youngsters so are hunting here and when successful flying off to the nearest trees and small woods lower down the mountain.

As the afternoon wore on the heat increased alongside the humidity and the slopes became quiet. We returned to sitting and admiring the very special pool.

Tags birds, damselflies, dragonflies, Hobby, Kestrel, Long Mynd, Merlin, National Trust, South Shropshire Hills, stonechat, whinchat, wildlife

photography Shropshire trees wildlife

A Walk along the Montgomery Canal – There and Back – Part 2 Back

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 17, 2012
2 Comments on A Walk along the Montgomery Canal – There and Back – Part 2 Back

My last ramblings left us just as we retreated into the shelter of the wooded bank of the canal, through the little wooden gate. Inviting as the shelter was I was tempted to linger and photograph the silvered wood and rusted, pitted ironwork on the gate.

It always surprises me just how different a return journey can be. Different things catch the eye, different sounds invade the ear, different scents entice the nose for a closer appreciation. We found wild flowers, trees and bushes that we had not spotted on our way and enjoyed different reflections on the mirrored surface of the canal.

When we reached the spot where we had stopped for a coffee break on the way we stopped once again and leant on the same gate, but it was not quite a case of deju vu.

From our coffee-drinking, gate-leaning vantage point we watched sheep grazing on the field beyond the far-bank trees and spotted a long, low red-bricked barn half way up the sloping field.

The footbridge that passed over our heads provided ample opportunities for some creative picture-taking.

These little banded snails with their glossy coloured shells decorated with chocolate or black bands which followed the spiralling shape of their shell homes, began to appear after the shower of rain.

Canalside paraphernalia draws attention along any towpath walk, bringing to mind queries and questions of their uses and names. This first object was a simple arch of iron appearing from the ground and disappearing about a dozen feet further along the towpath. We couldn’t work out what its purpose could possibly be but it did present a graceful archway in the grass.

As we follow the last stretch of the Montgomery Canal back to our starting point of a few hours earlier we can look at the different native plants we found and views of the canal that we enjoyed.

What an inspiring way to spend an afternoon that presented us with uninspiring weather. We enjoyed this wander very much were saddened to see that in such a beautiful place the selfishness and laziness of a few can leave their mark – plastic litter, probably one of the most damaging marks of man’s existence.

Tags canals, foliage, Welshpool, wildfowl, wildlife

birds photography Shropshire trees wildlife woodland

A Walk along the Montgomery Canal – There and Back. – Part 1 There

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 16, 2012
4 Comments on A Walk along the Montgomery Canal – There and Back. – Part 1 There

Fed up with the constant rain yesterday we decided we would defy it once again, get our walking boots and waterproof jackets on and go for a walk. We felt like wandering alongside water but as the nearby River Severn and Rea Brook were both flooded we set off for the Montgomery Canal. A half hour drive took us to Welshpool, just into Wales, and surprisingly as we got nearer the rain gave over and we were treated to a dry walk. Dry overhead but very wet and muddy underfoot. I had new walking boots to settle in and make sure they didn’t look new. This was just perfect conditions to knock the shine off them and make them look a bit more lived in and more loved.

The tiny car park at Buttington Wharf holds a half-dozen or so cars and we were surprised to find three others parked up before us. Other lovers of the great outdoors fed up with the rain? On the banks of the canal just through the trees we spied this sculpture of a jolly looking character – David Jones. He was a lime-kiln owner and coal merchant back in the early 1800’s, and we found signs of the kilns nearby. No wonder he looked jolly – he must have been a rich man. A symbol based on his working lime kilns was cut out of the metal information board.

In the surrounding greenery, well-hidden under trees and bushes we found some old brickwork, the remains of the kiln entrances.

After this discovery we set off along the mud of the towpath under the trees dripping with rain. It looked so inviting. It didn’t disappoint!

The canal side was lined with trees and mature hedgerows, which occasionally opened up to give windows onto the local Welsh countryside.

After the rough weather in the morning wildlife was not much in evidence, the skies empty and the trees quiet but this female Mallard fed busily in the far reed-lined margin. But as the day moved on and with the passing of time the weather improved, birds re-appeared and their celebratory song accompanied us for the rest of our waterside wandering. The Mallard created shimmering shapes in the reflections as she busied herself.

The wild flowers decorating the towpath and canal banks were like sparkling jewels glowing in the dull light.

One wild flower shone out like a yellow globe having burst through the surface of the water – one of our native waterlilies.

As we walked, on the light changed and the canal surface reflected the bankside vegetation, the boats moored up against its side and the canal structures.

Half way along our outward journey a coffee stop called and we leant on a gate near a swing bridge and rested awhile.

As we ambled onwards the land alongside the canal opened up and through bankside trees we could view farmland. The thin line of trees appeared as silhouetted sinuous shapes, emphasised by their reflections mirrored on the water. My camera and I enjoyed the challenge presented when trying to get a reasonable shot of reflections.

The countryside changed as we continued our ramblings and each opportunity of a broad landscape view, afforded us by breaks in the vegetation was appreciated.

We reached the lock at Pool Quay, the point in our walk where we decided to turn back.

As we enjoyed our exploration of Pool Quay lock and the break from walking the rain returned. The little wooden gate invited us to begin our journey back especially as the tree-lined bank promised shelter.

Tags birds, canals, roses, towpaths, Welshpool, wildlife

National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs photography Shropshire The National Trust trees wildlife woodland

Defy the rain – just go out!

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 4, 2012
2 Comments on Defy the rain – just go out!

A morning of showers turned into an afternoon of rain. We donned our boots and waterproofs and defied it. We weren’t going to let it stop us going for a wander in the riverside woods.

We started with lattes in the coffee shop at Attingham Park, our closest National trust property and they set us up for defiantly walking into the wood.

We had hoped that a few minutes indulging in our favourite pastime of coffee drinking would give the rain time to stop or at least subside. Our hopes were dashed as we carried on into the woods towards the river the rain fell upon us. We were waylaid by these pretty cows who demanded attention by looking at us under their long eye lashes.

After giving the cows a stroke we moved on alongside the riverbank where the woodland started.

This woodland contains many unusual and non-native specimen trees but there are no labels so we find many we can’t identify. Several seem familiar especially their fruit and leaves, so we presume they are related to natives such as oaks, chestnuts and alders. One of these days we shall be wise and remember to pop an ID book into a pocket.

Even as the rain was falling and dark clouds skidded across the sky patches of woodland were lit up. They acted as spotlights drawing us to the pink of the foxgloves and the pale creamy fungi.

This strange but delightful light had a brightness we did not expect. Underneath the dark canopy of thick foliage the trunks of the trees seemed to attract light and they appeared more patterned and textured.

The ferns enjoyed the darker areas and the moisture brought by the rain, but their enjoyment was not shared by the wood’s mammal residents. The usual squirrels and rabbits were nowhere to be seen. Every rabbit burrow we came across showed no sign of life.

Rain drops landed on the purple, glossy leaves of the copper beech and light glowed through the “helicopter” seeds of maples. Overhead thrushes sang enthusiastically. The loud powerful song of the Mistle Thrush overpowered those of the more tuneful delicate Song Thrush.

Although no thunder rumbled above the tree tops today it has done so recently as witnessed by this tree displaying lightning strike burns. While studying this damaged tree our attention was drawn to movement in small trees close by, where a pair of tree creepers fed on the bark, moving like scurrying mice head first up the trunk. The blue tits fed differently as they searched for their insect prey under the wet leaves of the same tree.

As we continued along the path below the trees we took a short detour through the walled garden where the herbaceous borders on either side of the wide central path made a colourful picture.

As our woodland wander came to an end we had to stop and enjoy another couple of lattes just to check that they still tasted so good. They did! As we enjoyed our coffees we were entertained by a very intelligent ladybird who was reading the label of his orange juice checking its ingredients out to make sure they were fully organic.

We were not the only ones out and about enjoying a walk in the rain today and certainly not the only ones enjoying coffees. As educationalists in our pre-retirement days, we were pleased to see several young families out exploring the woods. Two families enjoyed their coffees as their toddlers enjoyed playing in the courtyard driving ride-on John Deere tractors in the mud and on the slippery grass, even revelling in falling off. They jumped in the puddles and splashed each other. Real childhood treats!

Tags birds, foliage, garden photography, gardening, National Trust, ornamental trees, trees, wildlife

allotments birds community gardening conservation fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials Land Art meadows natural pest control ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography poppies roses Shropshire shrubs spring gardening wildlife

A Wander around the Allotments in June

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 30, 2012
4 Comments on A Wander around the Allotments in June

Here we are at the half way point of the year in the June allotment wanderings. As usual we shall start on our own plot to see what has been going on. Our little wildlife pond is beginning to look more established and the tadpoles are growing well. We hope the frogs stay on our plot and eat up all the slugs. As you can see we provided a little wooden ramp to help them get in and out of the water.

Heartsease self seed around the plot sometimes landing in suitable places arriving in a wide range of colours. This one seeded into the soil behind the green bench.

Our strip of wildflowers, a little piece of meadow, is beginning to flower. This Opium Poppy surprised us with its deep pink coloured petals.

Moon Daisies and Cornflowers.

Just as flowers feature strongly on our own plot so they do on other members’ plots and in the Green Space borders. In the Autumn Garden Achilleas are the stars.

Calendulas feature on many plots as they look so good, and work hard as part of companion planting helping to attract beneficial insects.

Our first “Buddleja Bed” planted to attract wildlife now looks colourful and full of life. After losing some of our Buddlejas in the dry last year when Shropshire experienced months of drought after two extremely cold winters, the name for these borders currently looks a little inappropriate.

Our wildflower bank sloping up towards one of our orchards is now looking more established as we have added plants that members have donated to add interest.

The Edible Hedge is now fruiting providing sustenance to birds and small mammals. Flowers in the borders at the base bring in bees, butterflies and beneficial insects. Beetles enjoy the long grass and we like them to be there as they feed on slugs.

The most colourful garden on site at the moment is the Spring Garden which still displays much interest as we move into the summer months. This garden is maintained by volunteers, Jill and Geoff who spend many an hour planting, dead heading and weeding.

Geoff and Jill’s plot is renown for its weed free neatness and precision planting.

The Summer Garden is not to be outdone though as the roses are coming into flower and beautiful scents greet us as we sit on the nearby picnic benches. The lavenders, geraniums and grasses planted between the roses add further interest and textures.

As June moves towards July our meadows really come into their own. Plot holders love to walk through them and a wide variety of birds, bees, butterflies, grass hoppers and every sort of mini-beast visit.

I shall finish with a shot of the plot we have nominated for this year’s Shrewsbury Town Allotment Competition and one of our grass spiral which currently looks most inviting.

Tags allotments, birds, community gardening, conservation, David Austin, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, grown your own, insects, meadows, organic gardening, poppies, roses, wildlife

allotments community gardening fruit and veg garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials meadows National Trust natural pest control photography The National Trust wildlife

Clumber Park – The Walled Garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 25, 2012

We have watched over the last few years how the walled garden at Clumber Park has been brought back to life. Although it is a few hours from home we visit at least once a year.

Now it is a peaceful place to wander around admiring the vegetable growing techniques, the orchards and the meadows beneath, the long flower borders, the trained fruit on the walls themselves and the national collection of rhubarb.

We were very lucky on this recent visit as we had our own personal guide who came around with us. He was grey haired and didn’t say a lot but he didn’t mind when I took his portrait.

We like to approach it along the dramatic avenue of cedars where the enticing view of the distant old gates within the warm red of the tall brick walls draws us in. The cedars themselves have such sculptural qualities and an air of mystery pervades the shadows under their glaucous sweeping branches some scooping down to touch the grass below.

The tall warm bricked walls are now protecting skilfully trained apples, pears, peaches, cherries and figs. In the open a collection local varieties of fruit are being established and in the borders below the walls herbaceous plants, herbs and the National Collection of Rhubarb varieties flourish.

The wide central gravel path that bisects the walled garden runs from the main gates to the greenhouse. It runs between a colourful double herbaceous border.

Old fruit trees remain to give a sense of continuity and sit comfortably amongst gently swaying meadows. We were delighted to see a Medlar in flower.

We enjoyed discovering ideas to take home with us as we moved within the vegetable growing areas, such these rustic supports for peas and sweetpeas made from birch prunings. Much of the productive planting was done in neat, long and impressively straight lines.

Being run along totally organic lines the walled garden was well-provided with bird nesting boxes and insect shelters to attract beneficial insects.

As we wandered around we noticed amongst the productive rows of veggies, this beautiful Victorian glass and metal cloche still in regular use. It performed as well now as it always has done just like the walled garden itself.

As we prepared for our journey back to Shropshire, our helpful little cheery guide waved a small wave and wandered off.

garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening hardy perennials ornamental grasses photography poppies Shropshire wildlife

Happy Birthday to My Blog

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 16, 2012
15 Comments on Happy Birthday to My Blog

Greenbenchramblings is one year old today! Yes, I have been rambling away from my old green bench on my allotment for a year to the day. Each time I celebrate a birthday with a nought in it I give myself a challenge. When I was 30 I decided to get up before first light, taking a not so willing family with me, travel to a nearby area of deciduous woodland and await the dawn chorus. It was pure magic! The song of each bird as it awoke joined in the chorus until the wood reverberated with song celebrating the new day. The atmosphere was electric – an unforgettable experience.

When I reached 40 I decided to buy some new walking boots as a stimulus to get out into the beautiful Shropshire countryside more.

At 50 I began studying a garden design course.

A year ago I reached 60 and decided to start my Greenbenchramblings blog, to record my musings and photos related to our garden, our allotment, gardening and wildlife. So Happy Birthday Blog! I have been delighted with the response to it, enjoyed the comments and feel I have met new friends from almost every continent. I share all my gardening visiting, my lottie gardening, the development and maintenance of the garden at home and the walks in the countryside with Jude, also known as The Undergardener or Mrs Greenbenchrambler.

The surprise of the blogging year was when Willow Cottage Gardeners nominated my blog for a Versatile Blogger Award, hence the rather handsome green logo on the top right of my blogs. As a part of this award I have to write a list of 7 things about myself that readers of my blog might not know and suggest 15 blogs for nomination for the award.

So here goes with the 7 things you might not know about me;

1.Forty years ago I had an altercation with a lorry and the lorry came out best. I was put back together and I am now registered “Bionic”.

2,My favourite gardeners are Beth Chatto, Dan Hinckley, Carol Klein and Monty Don.

3.I have had allotments for over 20 years.

4.I have been a fisherman since I was 4 years old. When I retired my ambition was to catch a 30 pound carp. The biggest so far is 29 pound 15 ounces.

5.I talk to my chickens and they talk back.

6.My favourite garden designers are Dan Pearson, Piet Oudolf, Tom Stuart-Smith and Cleve West.

7.If I could choose anywhere in the world to live it would be in the South Shropshire Hills. I live in the South Shropshire Hills!

My 15 nominated blogs;

1. www.lensandpensbysally.wordpress.com

2. www.aerialediblegardening.wordpress.com

3. www.latebloomerbuds.wordpress.com

4. www.fennelandfern.co.uk/blog

5. www.soulsbyfarm.wordpress.com

6. www.gardeninginthelines.wordpress.com

7. www.mytinyplot.wordpress.com

8. www.gettingfreshblog.wordpress.com

9. www.gardeningcanuck.wordpress.com

10. www.100squaremetres.wordpress.com

11. www.pbmgarden.wordpress.com

12. www.arignagardener.wordpress.com

13. www.grandparentsplus2.wordpress.com

14. www.wanderingwoody.wordpress.com

15. www.indiansummerfarm.wordpress.com

As followers of greenbenchramblings know I carry a camera around with me wherever we go and my favourite subjects are plants, especially plant portraits, allotment gardening, and the creatures who live in our gardens, on our allotment and on the plants. It seems apt to finish this One Year On posting with a few pics of these favourite subjects.

Tags foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, grown your own, insects, poppies, wildlife

bird watching birds conservation National Trust photography Shropshire The National Trust trees wildlife woodland

A Wander by the River Severn

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 3, 2012
10 Comments on A Wander by the River Severn

Shropshire’s largest river is the Severn, one of the most impressive and longest in the UK. We usually walk its banks in our county town of Shrewsbury, for being strongly averse to towns and cities we need the riverside walk as an antidote. But today we decided to go a few miles southwards and find it as it meanders through the beautiful south Shropshire countryside. We parked up near Alveley and ambled our way down towards the river and the woodland on the lower slopes of its valley. The area is a country park jointly maintained by the National Trust and Shropshire Council so there is good parking and a small visitor centre with cafe. But walk a hundred metres or so from the centre and you are right out in the countryside away from signs of civilisation, except for the occasional sound of the steam engines running through the valley on the Severn Valley Railway, the chugging sounds of the engine working hard to get up slopes and the regular hooting as it crosses level crossings.

The walk down to the river is a gentle sloping pathway through young woodland interrupted by occasional areas of old industrial landscape which is being reclaimed by mother Nature. Unusual small plants are colonising and tree seedlings only a few inches tall are making inroads into man’s mess. Here a Pied Wagtail deviated from its tail wagging zig zag amble to catch an insect above a clump of tough grass. A true surprise met our eyes – a Black Redstart a bird I had not seen for decades and one Jude had never seen before. They inhabit areas of rubble and human disturbance so this is just perfect hangout for them.

DSC_0001-3 — The candle shaped flower cluster of a Horse Chestnut Tree.

DSC_0008-4 — New foliage of Oak tinged with bronze.

DSC_0005-3 — A view from the path into the wooded valley side.

A clearing revealed a view of the Shropshire countryside.

The footbridge over the river is an impressive curving structure, but not as impressive as the views up and down river. The Severn here is wide, tree-lined, deep and slow-moving and home to a family of Mute Swan with six cygnets. We did not spot the keenly anticipated Kingfishers, but that was the only disappointment of the day.

DSC_0018-4 — A rather smart bridge carries the path over the Severn.

Once over the bridge we entered woodland, good native hardwood woodland. Here the only sound was our footsteps and bird song and calls. The unpleasant mechanical rasp of Pheasants permeated the trees, but we concentrated on the tuneful songs of Robin, Thrush, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Garden Warbler.

DSC_0022-4 — The path turns into the darkness of the wooded valley side.

DSC_0024-4 — Flowering plants took advantage wherever light shone through.

DSC_0030-4 — A shaft of sunlight pierced the valley side.

On the slopes Jays in their smart plumage of pinks, greys and highlights of blue, fed voraciously on acorns and beech mast. They were over-confident and took little notice of our intrusion into their territory as groups of seven or so foraged on the leaf littered slope.

DSC_0028-4 — The path became a tunnel of trees.

At one time this valley was the centre of industry and clues still appear now and again as the woods are explored. Surprising man-made artefacts appeared as contradictions to the gentle beauty of the art of Mother Nature.

DSC_0021-3 — A sign of past industrial activity.

DSC_0035-1 — Signs of an old trackway alongside the path.

DSC_0011-1 — Some plants choose to grow on the rubble slopes of old industry.

Light pierced through the trees from the nearby clearing.

DSC_0040-2 — Looking from the clearing back into the woodland.

We took advantage of the sunshine in the clearing with its conveniently placed bench. We listened to bird song and watched Blackcaps as they flitted amongst the tree tops. They stopped and perched occasionally to give us a short performance of their enjoyable song. The cerise-breasted Bullfinch caught our eye as he hovered alongside the clock seedhead of a Dandelion, until he grasped a seed in his beak took it to a low branch of a Hawthorn. He enjoyed it, unaware that two people were watching him.

DSC_0041-3 — Sunshine lights up the clearing and invites us to picnic.

DSC_0043-1 — Magical light through the trees.

DSC_0045-3 — The Severn glimpsed through clumps of Comfrey plants.

As we followed our path back down to the riverside we noticed a change in wildflower species. Here Comfrey dominated and filled the open ground between the willows and alders and our track took us through lush grassed areas. Kestrels and Sparrowhawks hunted along the riverside slopes causing consternation to the nesting Blackbirds, Thrushes and Warblers.

DSC_0046-1 — The cotton wool like mass on the willow confused us. Was it hiding caterpillars or young spiders?

In the depth of the shadow under the trees we spotted this Badger Sett.

DSC_0057-1 — A glimpse of Shropshire countryside over the river.

DSC_0060-1 — The gentle climb back up the valley side to the car park provided plenty of benches to rest on and admire the views.

In the wooded edge of the picnic site back near the car park we found these amazing wood carvings representing the wildlife of the area.

The carvings emphasised what a special place we had just explored. We enjoyed the changing light as we moved in and out of the woods, the variety of flowers and birds and the joy of walking alongside our local river