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~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: Bristol Channel

A new seaweed

15 Tuesday Oct 2024

Posted by sconzani in seaweed

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Tags

Ascophyllum nodosum, Bristol Channel, British seaweeds, Knotted wrack, Severn Estuary

Although I live in a coastal town, it’s not exactly a seaside town, as the waterway immediately offshore is officially part of the Severn Estuary, which becomes the Bristol Channel just a mile or so downstream. However, the Severn Estuary is still home to at least 100 different species of seaweed and, during a recent walk, I found a couple of species I hadn’t noticed before.

241015 knotted wrack (1)

This one is, I think, Knotted wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum). It certainly fits the description on the Marine Conservation Society website: ‘Knotted wrack has narrow, strap-like fronds with large single air bladders’, and looks like their photo. (The reason I sound hesitant is because I found a very similar photo on another website which was labelled Channel wrack).

241015 knotted wrack (2)

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Penarth: Fog, 1

25 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by sconzani in nature, weather, winter

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Bristol Channel, fog, fog horns, freezing fog, Penarth, Severn Estuary, winter weather

For those who don’t know Wales, the town I’ve just moved to, Penarth, sits on the northern shores of the Severn Estuary, which eventually becomes the Bristol Channel, which eventually becomes the Celtic Sea, which eventually becomes the North Atlantic Ocean, which is all to explain that Penarth is, essentially, a seaside town and therefore gets seaside-type weather.

170125-penarth-fog-1

Yesterday the whole area was shrouded in heavy, freezing fog and, as my flat is only about one kilometre from the water, as the seagull flies, I could hear the fog horns blasting all day. It may have been cold but it was actually quite wonderful and brought back happy memories of my years living near the harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, when I would also hear the horns on foggy wintery days. I was stuck indoors waiting on a delivery most of the day but, when that finally came late afternoon, I headed out for a quick wander. As I stood in the centre of this field, on the clifftops, the fog swirled eerily back and forth, sometimes blotting out this lone tree and the houses beyond, sometimes almost clearing. The fog was like a living entity dancing around me – it was just magical! I’m already looking forward to the next fog to come rolling in from the ocean.

170125-penarth-fog-2

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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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