Category: Great Ayton
-
Fly Agaric
A damp stroll this morning. Most toadstools I come across are usually past their sell-by date. Dirty, forlorn, and partially eaten by insects. This one seems pristine and the classic toadstool as drawn in children’s books; the Fly Agaric or Amanita muscaria, poisonous twice over. One poison is muscarine, causing nausea and vomiting eventually leading…
-
Great Ayton and the Kindertransport
80 years ago today Jewish, Quaker and other Christian leaders met with Neville Chamberlain, the Prime Minister, to appeal to him to offer help to Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. This was just five days after Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass, the anti-Jewish riots in Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia when synagogues, shops and…
-
Bramble leaves
Battered by Storm Callum. Ninety minutes running with eyes down glimpsing the occasional red leaf amongst the browns and yellows. The red of the bramble must be my favourite autumnal colour. Anthocyanins are chemicals found in the blackberries and synthesise in some of its leaves when sugar levels increase in the Autumn, giving them their…
-
Coal Tit
An early stroll in the sunshine with the dog. This little tit caught my eye, performing acrobatics on the downy seed heads of a thistle. It didn’t stay long before dashing off only to return a moment later; repeated this several times in the brief period I watched. Constantly on the go. I’m pretty sure…
-
Wakey, wakey, campers
Out and about in Cliff Rigg Wood early on a lovely fresh morning, the start of the weekend, but then I smelt smoke, and then a red mist covered my eyes. But maybe the tents won’t be torched, easier than packing, the brown stuff on the baby wipes on the path is only just chocolate,…
-
Robin’s pincushion
Every so often nature springs a surprise. This dog rose in Cliff Ridge Wood appears to have grown some pretty little red “flowers”. These are in fact galls, a reaction in the plant tissue to the laying of eggs in the leaf buds by a gall wasp, Diplolepis rosae. The wasp lays up to 60…
-
Synchronised swimming
Except that one member of the quintet needs a bit more practice. Canada geese are more often associated with larger bodies of water but this flock has taken up residence on the River Leven by the Low Green in the village. And already there are complaints about their droppings on the green. Canada geese are…
-
Middlesbrough Sunset
It’s been a while since I posted a sunset. A refreshingly cool dog walk provided the opportunity. Very hazy, probably the sea fret that’s been hugging the northeast coast, I thought the sun would fizzle out but with just a pinprick of sun left, I think it turned out alright. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
-
Capt. Cook’s Monument
A hostile environment of supercooled ice crystals, 20º below freezing. And 20,000′ below those cirrus clouds, it’s the hottest day of the year. Capt. Cook’s Monument, the obelisk on Easby Moor, that’s visible for miles around, towers above a group of schoolchildren enjoying being outside. It’s great to see some schools still value outdoor education.…
-
Common spotted orchid
Out litter picking after a hot weekend and came across this orchid. The name suggests it may be common but finding it growing in abundance in an abandoned quarry well used as a playground by BMX bikers is heartening. Open Space Web-Map builder Code