AN OUTDOOR LIFE

A solitary cormorant fishing in fresh water on the Western Cleddau. Many times I have seen them over 40 miles from the sea (rivers Wye and Tweed). Their fishing prowess on non-tidal waters has provoked human fishing interests worldwide  to cull these birds extensively.  Photo © Leila Marie Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

More than one month before St David's Day these clusters of daffodils are preparing to bloom. It won't be long before they will be "t ossing their heads in sprightly dance".  Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

This poster is appearing the length and breadth of the UK - I have seen them from Shetland to Somerset. I remain unconvinced as to the poster's effectiveness - such is the forcefulness of both the image and the wording that it may be for many otherwise law abiding citizens it actually produces the opposite effect. How else can the inexplicable habit of bagging your dog's poo then draping the full poo-bag, in full view, on the branches of a nearby bush or tree be explained?

This notice is issued in the name of Wessex Water, which has been owned by YTL since 2002. This Malaysian-based conglomerate owns utilities around the world and controls all the water supplies and access to associated facilities in the south-west of England.  Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

High in the branches of a bush a robin throws back his head and warbles a territorial song in between searches for insects. Buds are beginning to show on the ends and nodes of the branches in this black and white lattice.  Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

Winter sun illuminating the bare branches of deciduous trees one month after the winter solstice. With their trunks swathed in ivy as symbiotic overcoats they seem to be stretching their branches in preparation for the coming of spring.  Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

Winter sunset over the Quantock Hills, Somerset, England. This is an area of outstanding natural beauty with a diversity and richness of landscape and history that provides tranquility and respite for both humans and other wild creatures. Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

Snug in the arms of the Quantock Hills and fed by the catchment area of Peart Water this small reservoir provides drinking water for the inhabitants of Bridgewater and a winter home for more than a hundred Canada geese.  Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

Snowdrops are starting to bloom in the churchyards and hedgerows of southwest England and Wales. Encouraged by the return of mild weather and spurred by several days of winter sun, these milk-flowers are appearing - fragile in appearance but resilient in their reliability as early indicators of spring.  Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

With understated modesty, typical of the borders-bred Scotsman, the source of the River Tweed is revealed as being indistinguishable from any other upland tract of boggy grassland.  Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

The exquisite arch of Old Melrose Bridge erected in 1762 from local sandstone and known locally as "Bottle Bridge".  The patterned stonework on this arch in contrasting colours is understated and characteristic of the aesthetic apex achieved by classic Georgian architecture.  Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

The River Tweed is crossed by many ancient and elegant bridges. This is another 17th century-built beauty spanning the swift snow-melt flow at Fairnilee. Little did those steady stonemasons of yesteryear think that their sturdy construction would still be standing strong over 300 years later.  Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

One of the characteristics of the River Tweed is that it is always moving. There is no slack water  and throughout its length the river has a restless energy swirling and surging over its stoney bed, twisting and turning on its descent through fields, banks and braes, past woodland, shrubbery and alluvial cliffs of graduated glacier debris.  Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

The 14th Century tower of Neidpath Castle sits in an imposing position above the swirling waters of the upper Tweed. Mary Queen of Scots, Wordsworth and Sir Walter Scott have all stayed in this dramatic pile of sandstone and rubble (not at the same time). Featuring in a number of films and TV shows this haunted castle is now a private home for private people. Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

Old Manor Brig built in 1702 over Manor Water, a tributary of the upper River Tweed. This is a natural crossing place and carried the old road into Peebles, a self-contained wee toon in the heart of the Scottish Borders. This peaceful pool is traditionally the start of the descent of the River Tweed by canoe. Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

There are still berries about in the middle of the harshest season for wildlife.  The weather has turned mild again and these berries will be welcome food for birds and rodents. Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

Primroses blooming in the churchyard - evidence of global warming? Maybe ... but certainly earlier than I have seen on the 15 January and well established in a number of sunny sheltered locations. Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

We travelled inland to the Preseli Mountains and started to walk to the summit of Cerrig Lladron and possibly catch a glimpse of a sunset. The heavy blanket of cloud lifted slightly for a minute or two to reward us with a narrow band of pink and yellow far away in the west towards the islands. Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

The reflection of light on water brings the surface to life, enhancing movement and glittering in the darkness of a winter night. The patterns of colour can resemble fireworks, sparks in the heat-haze above a campfire, the sheen of an otter's fur as it rises or the sparkle of a leaping salmon homing to spawn.  Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

Bands of dark clouds like advancing waves scudding across the nearly full moon. These may be the foreboders of snow, which is on its way but the cloud pattern reminded me of the ripple pattern in sand when it's washed by shallow waves. Nature repeats patterns and reflects images both when viewed from afar and from close up. Extraordinary views of the earth looking down from the sky resembling the patterns in decaying or burnt wood.  Sent from my Raspberry  ®  mobile device

So often the last hour of the day rewards us with memorable moments - sightings of birds and animals using the dusk to scurry for shelter or start their nocturnal roaming, sunsets of rare earth colours and clouds as flaming streams from the dying day. Stillness and a scarlet glow spreading across the western sky and reflected in the calm river without flow at the moment when the spring tide reached its peak, held for a few moments in my sight before dissolving into darkness. Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

Where has all the rain gone? Investigating this on an upstream excursion I came across this tranquil scene. The meandering river, winding through meadows, woodland and shrubbery and with the level of the flow relatively untouched - this is where all the rain that has fallen in the past few days has been soaked up. Above the town is an unspoilt floodplain and this moderates and evens out the erratic volume of rainfall allowing a moderate flow through the built-up area downstream for most of the time.... Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

An abundance of green and grey lichens all over the trees in a small plantation close to the reed beds south of town. Extraordinary the way that zooming in on this complexity of colour, shape and form reveals another world within a world - each zoom producing a new view as does any close examination of the natural world.  So often we only see the first view but if we take the time to look more closely, then closer still, then use a magnifying glass, then a microscope... or spend time drawing or painting rather than snapping a quick photo, how much more we would see. Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

The Dragon Tree is fenced in for its own protection - hidden in the hedgerow on the ancient coffin route between Urzmaston and Haverfordwest, high above the Western Cleddau. In the summer vegetation almost obscures the dragon but when the trees are bare of leaves the dragon shows itself to fright and not to heed especially as the day darkens into night. Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

High in the Preseli Hills with all of Pembrokeshire spread out below me - the wind chill had lowered the temperature sufficiently to freeze the water in the puddles and the flow of streams on the flank of Cerrig Lladron. This chill factor had turned the track into an icy road to the west leading to the large Bronze Age cairn built 4000 years ago on the summit. In those days the climate was warmer and the winters were ice-free - people could walk around lightly clothed in animal skins. Only 6000 years before that everything was covered in ice. What will our future bring? Already we can comfortably wear shorts all the year round. Sent from my Raspberry  ® mobile device -- Posted By Big Bad Bob to AN OUTDOOR LIFE on 1/06/2017 01:50 : 00 pm

The last of the seasonal port wine was swirled in the sky at the end of the day and then slowly slipped down the throat of the far horizon. A few minutes later each day ... and now we can detect, with standing stones aligned with landmarks on the horizon, that the earth has started to tilt back towards the sun. Here is an alignment of cliff-top, island and landmark by the hamlet of St Brides in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK that shows the position of the sunset, which has moved towards the north. Using such methods of transiting shaman from long ago were able to confidently predict that the sun was coming back and with it the Spring, then the Summer and they then knew that the world would continue to provide warmth, growth and survival. Can we say the same? Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

The quay-side at Haverfordwest viewed at night at the top of the first spring ride of the new year on a still January evening.  This is where the packet steamer departed for Bristol, hence the pub and restaurant "The Bristol Trader", several times a week - to and from both ports carrying goods and passengers from medieval times until the Second World War. In the 60s the new bypass blocked access for all high vessels via the River Cleddau and roads and railway had for some time taken over from boats completely. The broad deep river was filled in from the east bank, now the site of the Pembrokeshire County Council's offices, and the quayside gradually became more and more rundown. However, tonight in the dark of a winter's night it looks as if it could be waiting for the arrival of the Bristol Packet Steamer, the "Lady Margaret", loaded with valuable cargo and eager passengers waiting to alight and drink a toast to the end of a safe and rewarding journ...

Timber in the form of logs and branches frequently gets washed down by the river and then jams downstream where the river is shallow or there is an underwater obstruction. The wood, originating from trees, would stay put withstanding flood after flood, sometimes for months until eventually becoming dislodged and floating off downstream. This process demonstrates in a microcosm the macro processes of nature where mountains are gradually washed away to the sea and then reformed into new mountains by the movement of plate tectonics just as the tree becomes driftwood that provides shelter for the fish that provide food for the cormorant that spreads its wings to dry as it rests on the branches of the tree that it fertilises as it sits... a picture speaks a thousand words. Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device

Starting the new year of 2017 beside the Western Cleddau looking towards Haverfordwest. The gorse is flowering, cormorants are fishing in the river and I am coming out of hibernation. Sent from my Blueberry  ®  mobile device