A Wood Pigeon Waits for Spring

What more is there to say?

Pied Wagtail

It is usually magpies and crows that I see outside my window these days, but on Tuesday a pied wagtail came to visit. I grabbed my camera and just managed to get two shots.


For more information about pied wagtails visit the RSPB website.

Hyde Holidays: Day Trip to Lytham

Whilst I am away on holiday, Rune from Visual Norway is minding the blog for me. I have scheduled some special posts for the period taking readers on day trips to the West.

Our last stop on the Fylde Coast is at Lytham. Though often linked with its Northern neighbour (Lytham St Annes often forming a joint administrative or political area) it has a separate identity. Its parish church is St Cuthbert's, built in 1834.


Fishermen go searching off nearby Church Scar for mussels in the Ribble estuary whilst flocks of dunlin fly through the air.



For more L posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Meadow Street

This is Meadow street.

I suppose there must have been a green field around here sometime.

One side of the street is lined with terraced houses, the other with various industrial units.

Behind me are more workshops and a car showroom.

Across the end of the road is the Clarkes Arms on the corner of Lumn Road.

The bird is probably on its way from Hyde Cemetery to St George's Church.

Market Street Chimney Pots

Today's photograph was taken on the same windy day as the one of the Town Hall Flag.

What drew my attention to these chimney pots were the starlings alighting thereon. There are a few similar chimneys on the late 19th century buildings along Market Street, but they seemed to be aiming for this one in particular.

At least three birds are here, maybe four.

Starling's Feet

Whilst waiting for a bus at the heritage stop recently, I was distracted by the starlings clambering on the roof of the bus stop canopy.

A fuller view of the roof is on Hyde DP Xtra.

Ducks Round the Bend

Another photograph from the day I saw the heron on the canal.

I also saw these ducks in the stretch by the end of Canal Street opposite where I saw the fishermen last year.

Heron on the Peak Forest Canal

As promised yesterday, two pictures of the Peak Forest Canal.

It was a pleasantly mild spring morning and I saw a heron fly across the canal from the animal shelter at the end of Raglan Street.


I stopped and took a couple of photographs from some distance away before walking towards it. The heron ignored me for a while and I took two more from a little closer. As I got to about fifty feet away it took off and flew around the bend.

Crawing over the price of petrol

I don't know if this is the same rook that I saw dancing on market stall roofs a few weeks back, but recently I saw it crawing over the price of petrol at Morrisons supermarket.

Here in January 2007 unleaded was 85.9 pence per litre and city diesel 89.9 ppl. By December 2007 the cost had risen 15p & 16p to 100.9 and 105.9 ppl. Now it is up a further 7p and 13p to 107.9 and 118.9 ppl respectively.

The price of petrol (or gas as the Americans call it) is a recurring theme among CDPBs. As a non-car-driver these days it doesn't directly concern me on a daily basis, but I do notice the rises.

Broad Mills Pond

This pond was constructed in the 19th century to feed the waterwheel that drove the cotton mills at Broadbottom.

Within the Broad Mills Heritage Site, today it is a pleasant respite for ducks.

Wet Wednesday Market

Another wet Wednesday afternoon on Hyde market.

Actually, this is another photograph from several weeks ago, the same afternoon I took the pictures of the rook on the roof of a stall and the pigeons under the roof of a stall.

A Rook on the Roof

This rook on the roof of one of the market stalls is a frequent visitor I'm told.

I took several photographs of it when I saw it a couple of months ago. I published one of them on my blog Ackworth born, gone West and another on my photoblog Sithenah.

Market Stall Roofs

Regular viewers will be familiar with the bright coloured roofs of the stalls on Hyde Market.

Here is a close-up of the underside of a stall roof. As you can see, it is well insulated, illuminated and loved by the local pigeons.

Manchester Road Bridge

Remember the traffic jam outside the Cheshire Ring I showed last week.

Once the traffic lights changed it soon cleared. The bus I was travelling on moved closer and I took this view of the Manchester Road Railway Bridge.

Apart from the usual pigeon what else do you notice when you click on the picture and enlarge it? No, this isn't the query competition post. That's tomorrow.

Bird in the Bush

Since it is the end of May and we are supposedly well past Spring and into Summer, I thought I'd end the month with a picture of this pretty little bird sitting on the rose bush outside my window.

It's Nelson again

Nelson is a two-year old parrot who loves to go walking around the Market Place.

We last saw him a year ago outside a florists.

Heron at Stonepit

As I promised here is a close-up of the heron I spotted at Stonepit recently.

Previous photographs of Stonepit Reservoir.

• July 20th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir
• September 6th 2006 Twigs & Barbed Wire
• September 14th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir Again
• December 14th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir Yet Again
• December 22nd 2006 A Glimpse of Stonepit Reservoir
• January 11th 2007 Reservoir Filling Up
• May 15th 2007 Reservoir Nearly Ready
• July 7th 2007 Waterfall flowing at Stonepit
• August 11th 2007 Stonepit Reservoir Not Quite Ready
• September 17th 2007 Missed the Birdie
• November 2nd 2007 A Licence to Fish
• November 23rd 2007 Another Sign at Stonepit
• February 27th 2008 A Frosty Morning at Stonepit Reservoir
• April 20th 2008 April Morning at Stonepit

An April Morning at Stonepit

Stonepit Reservoir has been open for fishing again some weeks now. A few mornings ago I noticed that the Weak Bridge Sign had been covered up by another notice.

Regular readers will recall that last September I had missed taking a picture of a bird I'd seen.

Well I've got the birdie this time, except that I had no idea it was there until I downloaded the picture on to the computer. I shall show you closer pictures of both the bird and the sign at a later date.

Previous photographs of Stonepit Reservoir.

• Jul 20th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir
• Sep 6th 2006 Twigs & Barbed Wire
• Sep 14th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir Again
• Dec 14th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir Yet Again
• Dec 22nd 2006 A Glimpse of Stonepit Reservoir
• Jan 11th 2007 Reservoir Filling Up
• May 15th 2007 Reservoir Nearly Ready
• July 7th 2007 Waterfall flowing at Stonepit
• August 11th 2007 Stonepit Reservoir Not Quite Ready
• September 17th 2007 Missed the Birdie
• November 2nd 2007 A Licence to Fish
• November 23rd 2007 Another Sign at Stonepit
• February 27th 2008 A Frosty Morning at Stonepit Reservoir

Two Little Crows

As the sun melted the snow that fell on Easter Sunday, I watched these two crows frollicking on the chimney pots across the street.

Under the Roving Bridge

This is the underside of the Manchester Road Roving Canal Bridge.

The pigeon I previously showed you waiting here probably wasn't ready to fly out into the light but return to its perch.

Today's post is our contribution to Broer som Binder [Bridges between]. More details and links to other participents can be found on Runes TX-Blog