Monthly Report, January 2023

A month of two parts - firstly a gentle start to the new year (there must be some bonus to being retired!), followed by a return to the Cairngorms to revisit some old walks and to walk a bit of the Speyside Way.

Reporting Days: 31

Location: Mostly Oxford plus a few days in the Cairngorms

Miles Walked: 192

Miles Driven: 807

Gardens Tended: 2 (a little bit of labouring, plus frequent bird feeder refilling)

Photographs Taken: Hundreds (an awful lot of trees!)

Oxford-based

Cold, Clear & Flooded, Port Meadow, Oxford

RSPB Otmoor

London Day Trip

Old Oak, en route to BBOWT Sydlings Copse

The Windmill @ Great Haseley, Oxfordshire

Freezing Fog, Bury Knowle Park, Oxford

Just Freezing, Bury Knowle Park, Oxford

Revisiting Aviemore

I've lost track of number of times I've visited Aviemore. There were lots of family visits there in the 1970s,  there were several student-days visits in the 80s and more recently I visited every month in 2015 and several times since to photograph the annual sled dog races and to walk in the Rothiemurchus Estate and into the Lairig Ghru.  It has been about four years since I visited, so I decided to stop off in Aviemore for a few days en route to Shetland - stayed in my favourite wee hotel (The Rowan Tree) and did four walks - up into the Lairig Ghru from Loch an Eilein, up to the Ryvoan Bothy from Glenmore (both walks I've done many times before) and north from Aviemore to Boat of Garten and south to Kingussie along the Speyside Way.

Loch an Eilein, Rothiemurchus Estate

Ryvoan Pass, Glenmore Forest

On the Speyside Way, heading into Boat of Garten

Next Month

Having driven as far as Aviemore, it seemed like a good idea to head on to Aberdeen and get the boat up to Shetland - more on that next time, but it is safe to assume (not really a spoiler) that there will fewer trees in next months report and a lot more waves!

Monthly Report, December 2022

To round off 2022, time spent based in the far south (of England) - mostly around Oxford but with the additional attractions of doing a bit more of the Thames Path and a long weekend around Bristol revisiting old haunts.

Reporting Days: 31

Location: Mostly Oxford

Miles walked: 191

Miles driven: 438

Gardens Tended: 2 (assuming that keeping the bird feeders filled counts as 'tending')

Photographs Taken: Hundreds (mostly trees)

Trees

Trees are always my stand-by photographic subject when I'm in the south of England - they tell the story of the year. December took us from golden leaves to bare branches and to freezing fog.

Autumn Colours in Bury Knowle Park, Oxford

Silver Birch at Sydlings Copse, just outside Oxford

Teasels in Freezing Fog at RSPB Otmoor

Freezing Fog at RSPB Otmoor

Oxford Canal

Oxford is rubbish for beaches but it does have both river and canal.

Ice on the Oxford Canal

Ice on the Oxford Canal

Thames Path

Long long ago, I decided to walk the Thames Path - I walked east and west from Oxford in 2018, I walked down to Teddington in 2020 and this month I walked through central London down to the Thames Barrier. Hopefully, I'll get to do the last bit (from Lechlade to the source) in 2023....

Tower Bridge from the Thames Path

Thames Barrier from the Thames Path

Bristol

And even longer ago I spent almost 7 years in Bristol, it's quite galling to realise that those 7 years ended more than 36 years ago.  It is always good to get the chance to spend a few days back in Bristol. And given the proximity of Bristol to the sea - it seemed right to round off the visit with a wander on Clevedon Pier.

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Clevedon Pier

2022 - Twelve Pictures of the Month

I'm coming to the conclusion that every year is weird, and every year has a mix of good bits and not-so-good bits. 

I'm not going to dwell on the NSG bits of 2022 - but in the good bits column I've got (i) taking yet another 365 Pictures of the Day, (ii) getting back to walking the Thames Path (I've walked almost 1700 miles this year), (iii) starting to get back to planning international travel (trains, not planes) and (iv) spending almost six months hanging out with the auks around Sumburgh Head on Shetland.

And from the 365 Pictures of the Day,  I've picked 12 Pictures of the Month.

January - Aberdeen Sunrise

February - Stoke Place Snowdrops

March - Lye Valley Frogs

April - Sumburgh Head Puffins

May - Nest Building at Sumburgh Head

June - Fishing Season at Sumburgh Head

July - Sumburgh Razorbills

August - End of Season Burrow Maintenance 

September - Quendale Bay Sunset

October - Autumn Storms on Scat Ness

November - Crooklets Beach, Bude, Cornwall

December - Thames Barrier in the Sunshine

And as for setting objectives for the 2023, lets just roll with it - there'll probably be a mix of good and NSG bits..

Monthly Report, November 2022

After a lot of Shetland-centric months, this month had a distinctly southern flavour, mostly spent in and around Oxford with a wee road trip to the south west of England to check out the North Devon beaches.

Reporting Days: 30

Location: Mostly Oxford

Miles walked: 156

Miles driven: 1329

Gardens Tended: 2

Photographs Taken: Hundreds (mostly trees with a few beaches for good measure)

Trees & Leaves

Still plenty of colour in trees even well into what can only be called a mild autumn (or perhaps a worryingly warm autumn).

Through the trees at Sydlings Copse nature reserve

Green Lane still has hints of green

Colourful Puddles in Bury Knowle Park

Bare Trees (and blue skies) in Bury Knowle Park

Beaches

We used to spend a lot of time around the North Devon coastline - but for the last few years we've spent rather more time hanging out on the Shetland beaches.  It's always good to get a fix of sea air.

Weston super Mare

Woolacombe Sands

Crooklets Beach, Bude (just over the border into Cornwall)

Combe Martin

Riverside

And even though Oxford doesn't have much in the way beach walks, it does make up for it (a bit at least) by offering a choice of riverside walks.

Parson's Pleasure

Looking over Magdalen Bridge

  And (spoiler alert) December's report is very likely to include both riverside and harbourside pictures

Monthly Report, October 2022

Another dual-location month - first week in the soft South, the rest in the wild North.

By the Numbers.

Reporting Days: 31

Location: Oxford and Shetland

Miles Walked: 123 (plus 75 miles rowed - on a rowing machine!)

Miles Driven: 875

Gardens Tended: 1

Photographs Taken: Thousands (mostly waves)

Hints of Autumn

In early October definite hints of Autumn around Oxford - at both Sydlings Copse and along the river Cherwell in Mesopotamia.

Sydlings Copse

Mesopotamia

Waves & Surfers

October on Shetland brings both wild seas and skies and sometimes gentle waves too.  And just occasionally surfers turn up to check out the waves.

Wild waves on Scat Ness

Wild seas at Sumburgh Head

West Voe Beach

Scottish Surfing Championships at West Voe Beach

Sky Watch

It's always worth looking up - some mornings start with red skies, other days end with a fine sunset, and after sunset the skies can sometimes provide a stage for the Mirrie Dancers.

Sunrise at the Pool of Virkie

Sunset at Quendale Bay

Northern Lights over Quendale

Around the Lighthouse

The light is always changing at the Sumburgh Head light house

Morning Light at Sumburgh Head

Sumburgh Fog Horn

Evening Light at Sumburgh Head

And the most memorable October day on Shetland in 2022?

That was probably day the internet stopped.  By quirk of fate (or Russian interference, if you're a conspiracy theorist) both of Shetland's links to the outside world were damaged within a few days of each other. So, no internet, no mobile phones and no landlines.  Strange day.