Tuesday 27 January 2009

My garden has become modeled on the Groundhogs song, Garden, where the singers garden returns to the days before agricultural land. Where a hundred birds nest in the trees.
Google earth shows a line of neatly tended gardens in a row of nice houses and there in the middle is this little patch of seeming neglect. That is where I live. 

But it isn't neglected, far from it, in fact it has more attention paid to it than most gardens. 
Presently it is home to a substantial flock of Reed Buntings, not normally a garden bird, but I get dozens of them. 

I get Stock Doves, in addition to Wood Pigeons and Collared doves












Stock Doves are easily overlooked, but they are a really nice bird to have in the garden. There are many other birds at this time of year, and it has become such an important source of food that I try not to go out there during the day so that I don't cause any disturbance.
All the food is of course put there by me, so it is relatively artificial.
Despite the trays of food and the feeders full of seed I almost never get House  Sparrows.

I went to Lousehill copse on Sunday, an interesting old woodland on the side of a steep hill between three housing estates.
It was raining and the numerous little streams bubbled down the hillsides, and one of them flows through a lovely little valley to end in a pond.
the dogs had a great time in the pond




Lots of wildlife especially high up in the trees, mostly small birds and the occasional Woodpecker, including the scarce Lesser Spotted. 
I enjoyed walking around in a woodland in one of the more densely populated bits of Reading for a couple of hours without seeing a soul all morning




Friday 16 January 2009

One of the joys of Reading is getting about it by bike. Sure the cycle routes are crap. They are among the crappest anywhere. But if you use all the No cycling signs as a pointer to a good cycle route, and the "cyclist dismount signs" as an incitement to civil disobedience you can have a lot of fun. 
The roads aren't bad either. They are generally so clogged during the day that cyclists easily have the upper hand. 
But alongside the rivers there are some great
 paths. From the western side of town, right to the east you can ride all the way along the side of the River Thames. You can join the Kennet and Avon canal and cycle right alongside that until way beyond Reading.
Cycling with the river at your side is such a pleasure. On one side you have a changing land of industry housing greenery or shopping. On the other a ribbon of water with birds weeds and fish. As the river changes, sometimes flooded but never dry, you can keep a track of the seasons. You can watch all sorts of events, follow the life of the family of swans, spot the fist Sedge Warbler of spring, the first Sand Martin, see the angler catch a little fish, say hello to a boater cruising past. In Reading it is almost entirely traffic free. Within a hundred yards of most of it is a seething mass of cars and trucks. 
Despite their virtues many of the paths are neglected. While the council invests money in pedestrians bus lanes and car parks the riverside paths go uncared for and unloved. Except by cyclists, dog walkers fishermen and bird watchers. And a few graffiti artists (who I have never
 seen) and some odd fugitives from civilization in general.
In some ways I sort of like the paths being a bit run down, they are a bit like a secret part of Reading that most people don't know about. I have got to know a lot of people on these paths over the years, which is never going to happen on the roads.
But the big obvious paths, the ones alongside the Thames are popular and important. So it has come as a huge shock that Reading borough council have chosen to not designate part of it so that cyclists can use it, and this will soon lead to cyclists being banned from it. 
This shows again how unwilling the council are to do anything to help cyclists. I am sure they would rather have everyone driving.

A faithful friend



My trips into the countryside are either on foot or by bike. If on foot I have with me my dogs, a motley pack rescued from The Dogs Trust.

If I didn’t have dogs, and the discipline of taking them for a walk twice a day then I would to be honest see far less of the countryside.

There are no excuses, no options, and nobody in the house can stop me. The deal with a dog is that you take it for a walk in the morning and again in the evening.

It can be a chore, but once you accept that, it is pretty straight forward.

I delight in training them. To have a dog that will do what you want when required is pretty important too. If I want to stop and watch birds I want the dog to stop too. If I want to avoid disturbing something I want the dog to walk right next to me, without me having to call it.

For the last few years I have had the company of Jez, a thoroughbred dog, who

 was initially owned by someone irresponsible. She became the most well behaved and sweet natured dog who followed me like a shadow.

The rest of the family were not as enamoured with her as I was. She had a mischievous streak that took a bit of handling. So if I went away I had to take her with me, and we went far and wide together. She looked big and scary, and initially she was, but she gave me a sense of security. I would happily tackle someone dropping litter, racing around on a motorbike or otherwise spoiling the countryside.

She grew into a big softy, and even as she reached old age she was still very fit. Fit enough to chase a ball and occasionally beat the little terriers to it.

Above all else she was my loyal companion, and no matter what, we never argued. We were the very best of friends

But all good things come to an end and very suddenly she fell ill and almost before I realised what was happening the vet put her down.

Most of my walks cover the same ground, wherever I go I remember things that Jez and I did. The first place she swam, where we sat and watched the deer, where she first came face to face with a fox.

If you have ever had your shadow removed you might begin to know how I feel right now. 

Sleep well old girl