Gotta start somewhere, so here’s where I’m going to talk about things that are happening for me.
The enforced solitude caused by Covid has given us time to step back and enjoy the natural environment around us – and Northumberland has its fair share of nature. I’ve taken hundreds of shots with my phone on walks around woodland that is just 3 minutes from my back door. I’ve seen roe deer and other wildlife: I’ve seen blue tits, great tits, coal tits, long tailed tits, gold finches and even a booby of nuthatches noisily attacking the bird feeders in our gardens; I’ve seen dippers and swallows and pied wagtails down by the river; but the highlight has definitely been so many sightings of kingfishers. Until last year the only kingfisher I’d ever seen in the wild and been a fleeting glimpse 30 years ago in the Yorkshire Dales. They are fast, and no matter how still and quietly you sit in anticipation of a flash of iridescent blue, an iPhone camera is just not equipped to capture the beauty of its appearance.
The flora of the woods has been equally as stunning. We’re in the wild garlic flowering season now, but if you braved the knee deep mud of the woodland footpaths earlier this spring you’d have enjoyed swathes of wood anemones and bluebells. I’ve taken many pictures but here’s not the place to show them all so watch this space for details of an instagram account I’ll be setting up for that purpose. You could also take a look at the sorry Youtube chanel I set up earlier. I tried an experimental walk through Borough Woods, taking video as I walked, but unfortunately my camera battery gave up just 3 minutes from the end of the walk! You live and learn. It also took many hours to upload — so there’s another technical challenge to master.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these images and check back in the future for a look through my eyes at the beauty of Northumberland and all things aesthetically pleasing.