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Tree following link box for April 2023

April 7, 2023 by squirrelbasket

New growth on a self-seeded wild cherry tree in a pot in my garden – I doubt if it will ever flower

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Welcome to the April 2023 tree-following get-together. Spring has come to the northern hemisphere and I look forward to seeing everyone’s news and pictures once again.

Here in South Wales after a very wet March the weather is changeable again for April.

It’s the Easter Bank Holiday weekend so I hope to visit the sycamore I am following in Llandaff Fields this week. If the greenery in my garden is anything to go by the tree should be well into leaf by now. We shall see.

I’m sure you regular tree followers will have something to report. Point to any tree-related post you would like to share, using the link box below. And please don’t forget to leave a comment.

The link box is now open for contributions and will stay open until 7pm GMT on April 14.

If you are new to tree following, read all about the idea here, although, as I continue to say, I really must update that page when I have the chance!

Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment »

Snapshots of the day: Spring colour

April 2, 2023 by squirrelbasket

Primroses in the garden on April 1 – they have been in bloom for quite a while

I apologise for neglecting my blog lately – I am still ridiculously busy and on top of that we have been decluttering and decorating a study / box room for a few weeks so I haven’t really had any down time to “play”.

Three years after the first coronavirus lockdown and my move to working from home I feel like I am still more or less “shielding”. I go out rarely but at least I have stopped wearing a face mask when I catch a bus into the city centre occasionally.

Luckily the garden still gives some solace as Spring arrives. The plants are waking up and the songbirds have been very vocal – blackbirds (Turdus merula), song thrushes (Turdus philomelos), robins (Erithacus rubecula) and notably a blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla). The long-tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus) visit almost daily, a pair of goldcrests (Regulus regulus) come at least weekly and one morning I heard the chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) for the first time this year.

I still think of this bleeding heart as Dicentra spectabilis, but the new name is apparently the cumbersome Lamprocapnos spectabilis – I bought this plant at the Cardiff RHS Show many years ago and it still flowers every Spring

Self-seeded violet in a pot – we have lots of these and they are messy but cheerful

The jay has been in the garden more often this year

Posted in My garden, Photography, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

2023 tree following 3: Green is busting out all over

March 14, 2023 by squirrelbasket

The sycamore in the distance, framed by alder catkins

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Well, I’m really cutting this fine – just in time to publish my tree-following blog post for the month.

I had hoped to visit the sycamore in Llandaff Fields when it snowed last week, but the snow only lasted an hour or two before it turned to rain.

So I ended up visiting today, as the cold and snowy weather from the north and warmer, wetter weather from the south competed and left South Wales with a window of a few hours of sunshine.

Here are my photos from a visit today (March 14)… Continue Reading »

Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments »

Tree following link box for March 2023

March 7, 2023 by squirrelbasket

Birch in March

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Welcome to the March 2023 tree-following gathering. I look forward to seeing everyone’s news and pictures once again. Spring is on its way, so if you haven’t chosen a tree to follow for the year yet, now seems like a good time.

Here in South Wales as March begins it is mostly cold and dry with easterly winds – although snow has been forecast for some areas later in the week.

I hope to visit the sycamore in Llandaff Fields this week and it would be wonderful to picture it in snow – but we rarely have a covering of the white stuff so near the warm coast of the Bristol Channel.

I’m sure you regular tree followers will have something to report. Point to any tree-related post you would like to share, using the link box below. And please don’t forget to leave a comment.

The link box is now open for contributions and will stay open until 7pm GMT on March 14.

If you are new to tree following, read all about the idea here, although, as I have been saying for ages, I must update that page when I have the chance. Maybe this year!

Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 8 Comments »

Snapshots of the day: Footway find

February 23, 2023 by squirrelbasket

Little man on the pavement, about two inches tall…

I am always looking down at the pavement – partly so that I don’t trip over anything. But I also like to spot unusual things. I wondered what this little plastic person was and when I passed it a second time I flipped it over…

…it looked like a Christmas elf decoration of some sort

Posted in Photography, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments »

2023 tree following 2: Long shadows

February 12, 2023 by squirrelbasket

Shadow of the sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) in Llandaff Fields, Cardiff

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After a wet and then frosty January, February has started with some drizzle and mist and quite a few fine late-winter days.

I visited the sycamore I am following in Llandaff Fields on another lovely day – from my photos you would think the sun always shines in Cardiff!

A reminder that in America this would be called a sycamore maple but in the UK it’s simply a sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus). Continue Reading »

Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 6 Comments »

Tree following link box for February 2023

February 7, 2023 by squirrelbasket

Ash branches against a cold February sky

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Welcome to the February 2023 tree-following gathering. I look forward to seeing everyone’s news and pictures once again. Newcomers are always welcome and I see some of the usual followers are already looking for a new tree.

Here in South Wales in January we had some very wet weather followed by some very frosty weather – with temperatures at night falling to minus 5 degrees. That’s unusual for Cardiff, as shown by the fact that in one street the paving slabs lifted apart all along the middle of the footway because of “frost heave”, caused by expansion of wet ground below.

Since then the weather has been alternating between mild and damp and cold and dry as the Atlantic jet stream moves to the north or south of the UK.

I hope to visit the sycamore in Llandaff Fields this week while the weather is again crisp.

I’m sure you regular tree followers will have something to report. Point to any tree-related post you would like to share, using the link box below. And please don’t forget to leave a comment.

The link box is now open for contributions and will stay open until 7pm GMT on February 14.

If you are new to tree following, read all about the idea here, although, as I have been saying for years, I must update that page when I have the chance!

Posted in Nature, Trees | Tagged , | 8 Comments »

Snapshots of the day: Yawning jay

February 6, 2023 by squirrelbasket

The bright blue and white flashes on the wing of this jay (Garrulus glandarius) attracted my attention when I was sitting at my desk by the window the other day. It was yawning as it sat on a branch, nodding off to sleep and then opening its eyes again

We used to see jays a lot in our garden, which is next to a park, but for a few years they had gone missing. Happily I have seen them again recently and I was very pleased when one showed itself just in time for the recent RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch (2022 results here).

A closer look…

Posted in Birds, Nature, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 5 Comments »

Snapshots of the day: Surprise snowdrops

January 29, 2023 by squirrelbasket

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) in the garden today

I forgot that we had snowdrops in the garden but they were revealed yesterday after we cleared away fallen twigs and debris following winter wind and rain.

We now have four clumps, all apparently spread by seeds from the original group.

A bit out of focus, but there were soft raindrops on the flowers after earlier drizzle

Posted in Gardening, My garden, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

Llandaff Fields in January

January 19, 2023 by squirrelbasket

This knitted snowman was possibly part of a winter trail for the youngsters in Llandaff Fields, Cardiff

A couple of weeks ago I visited Llandaff Fields for a walk for the first time in several years – since the Covid-19 lockdown, I guess. Here are my photos… Continue Reading »

Posted in Cardiff, Nature, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

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