After the Storm...

 We have a proverb in Swedish that is probably used in English as well: "After the rain comes the sun". Looking it up now, I learn that the origin is Latin: "Post nubila phoebus" ("after the clouds, the sun"). 

On Tuesday Storm Dave had moved on. It left quite a bit of debris behind, but in my immediate neighbourhood, and along the way I chose to walk into town, only "minor" stuff. (I.e. while there was still a mess of minor broken branches etc here and there, I saw no fallen trees, or roofs blown off, etc. - Our local newspaper has reported some such events as well, though, from other parts of town and its surroundings.)

When I approached the city centre yesterday, it seemed that the winds from the coast had also brought (or been followed by) a sure sign of spring, though: The seagulls are here now, and making their voices heard to let us know. There was a whole flock of them circling over that footbridge in the photo above - but before I got the camera up, they had temporarily scattered...

Branches/trees decorated with feathers are an old tradition and probably still the most common Easter decoration here (besides eggs). I noticed these outside an hotel near that bridge. (There were two of them, one on each side of the entrance, but I found it made better photo to just focus on one of them.)

My main purpose for the walk into town was not to take photos, though, but to get a haircut. I had called my hairdresser in the morning and asked if the could fit me in, and she could. 

I walked both into town and back, which means around 3+ km or 2 miles; which is still enough to make not only my left knee but also the rest of me tired. So not a whole lot more got done yesterday. 

Today was another sunny day, but a short walk to the nearest corner shop for some bananas felt like enough. Later I put some energy into cleaning the outside of the windows in my living room, from the balcony outside. The Easter rain had somehow managed to make those dirty rather than clean them. I also gave the (metal) floor out there a brief mopping while I was at it. If the sun continues to shine for few more days, I might even bring my foldable chair up from the storage room... 

 

Sea Gulls

 

It's the time of year when there are not just a lot of birds in the air, but also young ones walking about on the ground. A comment on my post yesterday (about oystercatchers) also reminded me of these photos of a young sea gull that I snapped on my way back from town on Monday. 

A number of sea gulls (Larus canus) always come up the river from the coast in spring to nest and bring up their young here over summer. For me their arrival is always a sign of spring... They can indeed be a bit *too* noisy sometimes - not least in their "parenting" season when they hover above their young ones walking about on the ground. And no doubt probably also sometimes a bit too bold when it comes to snatching scraps of food from outdoor restaurants, or picnics in the park... Now and then our local newspaper reports complaints about them. I think I'd actually miss them if they weren't here in summer, though. It's a bit like they bring a whiff of the seaside to our inland town, for us who don't get to travel to the coast ourselves all that often. :)

Adult gull swimming in the river (photo from 2021) 

 

Links to some previous posts of mine about sea gulls:

Baby News  (16 June 2015)

 

They Grow Up so Fast (22 June 2015) 

 

Young Gulls-Part 3 (17 July 2015)

 

Progress of Spring

Most of last week was sunny and warm, and it almost became a tough job to keep up with the progress of spring! 

Last Thursday, April 3rd, I found that the wood anemones had shown up in a half-wild woodland spot that I sometimes walk by.

 

Scilla could also be seen here and there, and I also spotted the first dandelions.

And freshly painted park benches turned up here and there around the estate where I live!
 

On Friday I walked into town for a dentist appointment, and in the city park, I found various bulbous plants in bloom in the flower beds along the river, and also the big old magnolia tree.

 

 

Alas the pollen season is also here... (witch hazel tree in the park)

On my way back, I found cemetery staff busy planting pansies.

Another sign of spring is that the sea gulls arrived from the coast on 1 April.

 
Two gulls zoomed in from home, sitting on the roof of a neighbouring building. 

Over the weekend it turned a lot colder again, though. Still sunny, but frosty nights, and it was back to wearing a winter coat for walks in the day time, too. (Typical of April here: Almost summer temperatures sometimes in the afternoon, but still high risk of frosty nights, and might even snow a bit, even if it won't stay long on the ground...)

Spring in the Air

 

I went for a walk to the park downtown, and discovered that they'd filled the flower beds there with pansies and hyacints.

 

The seagulls arrived inland from the coast just before Easter... Always a sign of spring here!

Daffodils are in bloom...

 

... and I found some Tussilago (or Coltsfoot) too.

Keep Your Distance, Please (Skywatch Friday)

Spring is here - and so are the seagulls (also always a sign of spring here in my inland town). Only one of them seemed to have caught up with the current rules about social distancing... 

Alas, to me it also seemed like there were too many people sitting outside some of the restaurants across the river. They are allowed to keep open, but have to follow restrictions like only serving at tables, and keeping customers further apart than usual - both indoors and outdoors. I did not zoom in or take any photos of that (feeling too much like a spy if I had!) - but to me it looked like two places out of three were not really adhering to the rules... (At one place, though, they seemed to have left one empty table between each small company of guests.) 

All in all, there were more people out and about in the city than I had expected on Good Friday. And who am I to blame them - obviously being there myself! I kept walking, though, and tried to stay away from people.

I think I'll probably take my walks in some other direction the rest of the weekend, though.

 

'Where have all the birdies gone?'

Went for a walk to the 'bird sanctuary' lake today. It's been a while since I was last there. A couple of years ago the rare birds were moved to new homes, while they (people - not the birds!) were laying down pipes for long-distance heating around/across/beneath this lake. 

I was curious to see what it looked like now. I found that the foot path along the lake had been restored; but the old bird sanctuary enclosure is still empty. At the moment, the only birds to be seen were ordinary mallards and seagulls.  

The mallards were quite keen to pose for photos, though.

Hello! Are you looking for us? Just wait a moment...

Let us tidy ourselves up a bit...

  

 Getting ready for the duck-walk...

 

A bit further along the shore, there was also a Mum with ducklings. (I zoomed them in from a distance, not to disturb them.)

 
The gulls like to sit on the poles supporting a net used to fence off the part of the lake where the rare birds used to live.

The bird sanctuary (built in 1926) is empty at the moment. The only "exciting" thing about it just now is that you're allowed to walk in and get a closer look at some of the buildings.

 

 Looking rather sad and abandoned at the moment, though.

 PS. If you click on the label 'bird sanctuary' you will find earlier posts from the same place.