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Category Archives: weather

The big wet

19 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in weather, winter

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flooding, reflections, reflections in water, reflections of trees, surface flooding

We’re half way through Storm Christoph – it drenched much of the country last night and is forecast to blast us again later today and all of tomorrow. It’s times like these I am thankful I live in a town that’s mostly built on a clifftop, though even here the heavy rainfall has caused surface flooding on the already sodden ground. I can enjoy the reflections but my thoughts are with those much less fortunate.

210119 big wet (3)

210119 big wet (1)
210119 big wet (2)

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Freezing

09 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds, weather, winter

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birding, black-headed gulls, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, frozen lake, wintry weather

We’ve been experiencing sub-zero overnight temperatures over the past week or so and, some days, when the cloud or fog is particularly thick and dense, the daytime temperatures have also been very low. Still, I was surprised to see, on Thursday’s walk, when freezing fog had rolled in off the Bristol Channel, that the west lake at Cosmeston had partly frozen over. The birds looked a little confused by the conditions as well.

210109 freezing

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329/366 Raindrops …

24 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, plants, weather

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

moss, raindrops, raindrops on moss

… on mosses.

201124 raindrops on mosses

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309/366 Seedheads, 4

04 Wednesday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, plants, weather, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, seedheads, seeds, water on seedheads, wet weather

If you thought I’d exaggerated about how wet last month was, it’s official – Derek, the Welsh BBC weatherman, yesterday tweeted that ‘October was wetter than average in Wales with 208mm of rain’. Temperatures and sunshine were also below normal, and, having just returned from a long local walk, I can tell you it’s very squelchy out there. Still, the wet has its compensations as today’s seedheads testify.

201104 seedhead (1)201104 seedhead (2)201104 seedhead (3)201104 seedhead (4)

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262/366 Webs

18 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, weather

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cobwebs, fog, spiders' webs, water droplets on webs

It was early Tuesday morning and the landscape was muffled by a dense layer of fog but there was magic happening in the fields, amongst the plants, as the power of fog droplets illuminated the industrious efforts of the spider kingdom.

200918 cobwebs (1)200918 cobwebs (2)200918 cobwebs (3)200918 cobwebs (4)200918 cobwebs (5)200918 cobwebs (6)200918 cobwebs (7)

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256/366 Bespangling dew

12 Saturday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, weather

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

autumn morning, dew, dew on feather, dew on seedhead, morning dew

‘Get up, sweet Slug-a-bed, and see
The dew bespangling herb and tree.’

200912 dew on seedhead

‘… the childhood of the day has kept,
Against you come, some orient pearls unwept.
Come, and receive them while the light
Hangs on the dew-locks of the night’

200912 dew on feather

~  lines from the poem ‘Corinna’s Going a-Maying’, Robert Herrick, Hesperides

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119/366 Sheltering

28 Tuesday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, weather

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Jackaws sheltering from rain, jackdaw, rain

My local Jackdaws are excellent weather indicators. If I haven’t already realised how wet it is outside, I have only to glance out my bedroom window to see where they are. If they’re sitting under the eaves on the old-fashioned gutter supports, then I know it must be teaming down.

200428 jackdaws (1)200428 jackdaws (2)

Sometimes they look really miserable sitting there, each on their own bracket. Other times, they snooze, or use the opportunity for a groom and feather spruce up.

200428 jackdaws (3)200428 jackdaws (4)

I have to be careful trying to get photos of them, as those alert blue eyes are always aware of what’s happening around them, even when I think they’re not.

200428 jackdaws (5)200428 jackdaws (6)

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47/366 Reflections

16 Sunday Feb 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, weather, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

flooding, rain, reflections in water, Storm Dennis, surface flooding

Storm Dennis has dumped a huge amount of rain across Wales this weekend, on to ground already saturated by the rain from Storm Ciara and, sadly, this has led to severe flooding in some south Wales communities. I am fortunate to live in a town which, although by the sea, is mostly built upon the clifftops, between 30 and 70 metres above sea level, so we have escaped with just a little surface flooding. And that, as you can see, can provide some very attractive reflections.

200216 reflections after rain (1)200216 reflections after rain (2)

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43/366 Hail and snow

12 Wednesday Feb 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, weather, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cold weather, hail, snow, unmelted hail

Before you think you’re reading the wrong blog, this is not a weather report!

200212 hail (1)

It’s just that I was surprised during today’s woodland walk (in sunshine, though with a very chilly breeze blowing) to see that smatterings of yesterday’s hail were still lying amongst the vegetation in more sheltered areas.

200212 hail (2)

And, not only that, but there were also two small drifts, a couple of feet across, of the snow that must have fallen on Monday night while I was sleeping. I noticed traces of it on some shady rooftops yesterday but thought it would all have melted away by now.

200212 snow

The fact that both hail and snow have survived is certainly proof, which today’s numb fingertips can confirm, that the temperatures have been much cooler this week.

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19/366 Crisper

19 Sunday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in fungi, nature, weather, winter

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

frost, frosty fungi, ice crystals, ice on fungi, icy fungi

200119 frosty fungi (3)

We had another very frosty morning, crisper underfoot than yesterday, and I was delighted to find these fungi, covered in beautiful ice crystals.

200119 frosty fungi (1)200119 frosty fungi (2)200119 frosty fungi (4)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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