the great crested newt and the cable

my daily walk is currently interrupted by the cable for the offshore windfarm in two places. it seems it has to be diverted to our side of the Cromer-Holt ridge to find solid subsoil for it to pass under the A148 without causing a collapse.

herpetosure

although I thought this worse than a nuisance there has been a bright side – herpetology! newt and reptile mitigation is being seen to by enclosing the path of the cable within one hundred and fifty metres of ponds or watery places with newts in them, with newt and reptile proof fencing, placing bucket and carpet traps inside the area, and then placing all retrieved animals outside the fence. so far five great crested newts have been found in Bale.

newt

apologies for the poor quality, the camera phone is not always reliable. this newt is a yearling, they live about ten years and grow to about ten inches long.

lambs

meanwhile, Spring rolls on – in Clip street as well as newts there are baby lambs just turned out with their mums, lots of leaping and high-pitched baaing.

violetmat

there are banks of sweet violets, from white to deepest purple, Clip street does seem to be a favoured place for them. on a sunny day you can catch a waft of sweetness from them. the unscented sort, dog violets, flower later, in May and June.

primrosebank

everywhere thick clumps of primroses, this is from Cakes lane.

greenlanepurple

while we are still waiting for trees to come into leaf the wild cherry trees are flowering

aldercat

alder casting off their bright pink  catkins

ashflower

and the ash trees are all in flower with these weird knobbly looking growths;

if they come into leaf before the oak, we are in for a soak, goes the old rhyme.

ashinflower

Bullfer grove is dark green with bluebells, not yet in flower except for a favoured spot, a south-west facing bank.

bluebellwood

sunshine was slow in bringing warmth, the nights have been cold.

bluesky

two weeks ago I heard the first chiffchaff, newly arrived from Spain, and now the black caps are starting to sing. I haven’t heard a whitethroat yet, but our local bullfinches are busy in the hedges, and the yellowhammers have been singing for a couple of weeks now.

hunt

soon willow warblers, and then garden warblers will arrive.

yellowfield

the rape is already in flower but hasn’t reached its full strength yet.

wildpansies

where the field drains have broken and there’s no crop there are hundreds of these wild pansies.

wildflowerseeds

in my garden I have sown wild flower and grass mixes on the bare ground. it’s been so dry I will be watering them this week.

seeds

along with the vegtable beds. there’s a patch of love in the mist between them, looking very healthy.

buds

buds opening, blossom flowering, and the garden is habitable again.

 

 

 

 

2 Comments

  1. Lovely spring flowers it looks so peaceful,no siren wailing the buzz of incessant traffic,it makes your Heartease .Lovely words too.tim

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