Sid the Squirrel

Sid the Squirrel spotted in Aberdare Park today… looking much thinner than last year.

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Pigeon School in the Park

Fifteen pigeons sunbathing in the sun under large conifer tree behind the Park Rangers Office.

They looked so content.

They were lying partly in the shade and in the dry soil below a large conifer tree. Taking a dust bath one presumes.

An hour and a half later and there are twelve left. Perhaps this is really a Pigeon School ?

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Aberdare Park Road Races 2009

Found a very recent video compilation on Youtube of the July 2009 Aberdare Park Road Races.

YouTube Direktvideo link

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Share Photos of Aberdare Park

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Blushers in Aberdare Park

Spotted a group of fungi in Aberdare Park this week. Looked it up in a book on fungi and it seems they were the Blusher (Amanita rubescens)

See Wikipedia article here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blusher

It’s a pity there are no ‘fungi’ wild food course being run locally… I would love to pick some wild mushrooms for eating but like many people am very wary of doing this without some expert advice.

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In That Sweet Mood

William Wordsworth’s poem Nutting reminds me of times spent in Aberdare Park.

–It seems a day,
One of those heavenly days which cannot die,
When forth I sallied from our cottage-door,
And with a wallet o’er my shoulder slung,
A nutting crook in hand, I turn’d my steps
Towards the distant woods, a Figure quaint,
Trick’d out in proud disguise of Beggar’s weeds
Put on for the occasion, by advice
And exhortation of my frugal Dame.

Motley accoutrements! of power to smile
At thorns, and brakes, and brambles, and, in truth,
More ragged than need was. Among the woods,
And o’er the pathless rocks, I forc’d my way
Until, at length, I came to one dear nook
Unvisited, where not a broken bough
Droop’d with its wither’d leaves, ungracious sign
Of devastation, but the hazels rose
Tall and erect, with milk-white clusters hung,
A virgin scene!–A little while I stood,
Breathing with such suppression of the heart
As joy delights in; and with wise restraint
Voluptuous, fearless of a rival, eyed
The banquet, or beneath the trees I sate
Among the flowers, and with the flowers I play’d;
A temper known to those, who, after long
And weary expectation, have been bless’d
With sudden happiness beyond all hope.–
–Perhaps it was a bower beneath whose leaves
The violets of five seasons re-appear
And fade, unseen by any human eye,
Where fairy water-breaks do murmur on
For ever, and I saw the sparkling foam,
And with my cheek on one of those green stones
That, fleec’d with moss, beneath the shady trees,
Lay round me scatter’d like a flock of sheep,
I heard the murmur and the murmuring sound,
In that sweet mood when pleasure loves to pay
Tribute to ease, and, of its joy secure
The heart luxuriates with indifferent things,
Wasting its kindliness on stocks and stones,
And on the vacant air. Then up I rose,
And dragg’d to earth both branch and bough, with crash
And merciless ravage; and the shady nook
Of hazels, and the green and mossy bower
Deform’d and sullied, patiently gave up
Their quiet being: and unless I now
Confound my present feelings with the past,
Even then, when, from the bower I turn’d away,
Exulting, rich beyond the wealth of kings
I felt a sense of pain when I beheld
The silent trees and the intruding sky.–

Then, dearest Maiden! move along these shades
In gentleness of heart with gentle hand
Touch,–for there is a Spirit in the woods.

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How to Warm the Cockles of your Heart

It’s brrrrrrrr verrrry verrrry cold in Aberdare today.

Treat yourself to a large mug of cocoa, sit back comfortably and watch these nutty Aberdare Park folk.

Imagine yourself as a furry four-legged critter scampering about Aberdare Park.

Close your eyes and try to imagine under which tree you buried that great big acorn.

Are you feeling any warmer yet after all that exercise ?

Oer ym Mharc Aberdar

Brrrrr … mae hi’n oer iawn ym Mharc Aberdar heddiw.

Meet Cute Creatures in Aberdare

Meet cute creatures in Aberdare today… on Aberdare Blog.

Furryness also comes as standard with all Aberdare Park photos.

Find that special four-legged friend… and feed him some nuts.

It’s going to be a cold, hard winter… warm your soul by scampering about in your imagination from the comfort of your armchair today.

View the Aberdare Blog Gallery here

Extreme Weather Warning for Photographers

The Aberdare Blog Met Office is warning that severe weather is forecast in the next fortnight causing scenes of extreme beauty.

Local trees will be transformed into bright and eye-catching colours.

Several millimeters of leaves could accumulate in many parks and other public places.

Photographers are advised to take extra care.

In the photograph : Aberdare Park after extreme weather last year.

Playing Peekaboo in Aberdare Park

What better way to unwind in these unusually balmy days than a prance around Aberdare Park playing peekaboo with the squirrels…

Click on the Photo and play Find the Squirrel in the Photo on Flickr…

Monkey Business in Aberdare Park

Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana) at Aberdare Park.

A fascinating specimen in Aberdare Park.

From the Wikipedia encyclopaedia, the tree is described as an “evergreen tree growing to 40 m tall and 2 m trunk diameter. Because of species’ great age it is sometimes described as a living fossil. Araucaria araucana is the national tree of Chile.

The leaves are thick, tough and scale-like, triangular, 3-4 cm long, 1-3 cm broad at the base, and with razor-sharp edges and tip. They persist for 10-15 years or more, so cover most of the tree except for the older branches…

It is a popular garden tree, planted for its unusual effect of the thick, ‘reptilian’ branches with a very symmetrical appearance….

The origin of the popular English name Monkey-puzzle derives from its early cultivation in Britain in about 1850, when the species was still very rare in gardens and not widely known. The proud owner of a young specimen at Pencarrow garden near Bodmin in Cornwall was showing it to a group of friends, and one made the remark “It would puzzle a monkey to climb that”; as the species had no existing popular name, first ‘monkey-puzzler’, then ‘monkey-puzzle’ stuck (Mitchell 1996).

Click on the Thumbnail image for a larger photo

Green Elephant in Aberdare Park

Have you seen the Green Elephant in Aberdare Park ?

Click on the photo for a larger version.

It is located roughly in the centre of Aberdare Park. Enter the Park via the gates opposite the Comin School, head north and it’s on your left.

It looks like a weeping taxus, but until we can find out what variety of tree it is, we shall dub it “the Green Elephant tree”.

Mwynhau’r Haul a Llygad y Dydd

Gad fi’n llonydd…

Rwy’n mwynhau gwres yr Haul

a Llygad y Dydd

ym mis Mai

ym Mharc Aberdar.

Y tu hwnt i’r waliau

clywaf Byd Dynol Aberdar

yn rasio ceir a pheiriannau

yn rhy brysur i werthfawrogi

yr hyn sydd ar gael

yn rhad ac am ddim…

yn nhawelwch y dydd.

Evening Blossom at Aberdare Park Lane gates

Some evening photos taken of the blossoming Japanese Flowering Cherry (Prunus serrulata) trees at the north gates of Aberdare Park, near Park Lane, Trecynon.

Photo taken on April 1st 2008, around 7 pm.

Are we being obsessed by the blossom and trees at Aberdare Park ? No, not really.

We are learning to enjoy and appreciate the here and the now of this little nature reserve on our doorstep.

The more time we spend time through the seasons in Aberdare Park, the more life we discover…