All Change



Time has passed so fast in May with daily changes on the new roads that I've not been able to keep up with nature observations.  Looking at my photos, of which there are hundreds, I find they were mostly

 taken to report rubbish and other matters to the council and contractors.  This post therefore is mostly for the benefit of my distant friends who don't live locally yet follow this blog faithfully.  So I hope you get a picture of the changes to the landscape.  In this picture is the newly dug section of stream, and beyond the bridge is the original channel.  Recently, I stood on this attractive wooden bridge between 9.00pm and 10.00pm and observed bats flying around me, just as they used to do.  According to the survey done in 2010 these are common pipistrelle.

Looking in the opposite direction towards the Parkside Link bridge showing the black poplar just peeping over the fencing.  Lots of cyclists, including me, have been enjoying the wide, sloping cycle paths alongside the roads.  The crossings are wide and spacious too, good for pedestrians and cyclists.

This is the Parkside Link and bridge over the stream.  The doggy bin is a marker for where the hedge used to be and where it should be replanted.  Remember this?

I wonder how long it will take to grow back to this? 

A forest of lampposts lines the NCN6 cycle path alongside the stream, beyond which is the borrow pit then the M1.  Photo taken from the bridge over the stream. 

As nature takes over, I fear a lot of items like this cone discarded by the contractors will just become part of the new landscape, or get buried under topsoil being prepared for planting trees, wildflower meadows, shrubs and scrub plants. 

Red admiral loves this sunny brick wall, but it needs flowers to feed on.  The wildflower meadows promised have still to be sown.  Is your garden butterfly friendly?

 

 

Broomrape on Shanly fields.  It lives on other plants and doesn't make its own food, hence the lack of green.  It is an unusual plant and I saw a lot before the digging started. 

 

An early morning view of the group of black poplars, with Blows Down behind and an inviting footpath. This has not changed, though a hedge has gone which means the houses on Pastures Way are now more visible.  There are still a few small spots like this where the camera may select a familiar favourite view without new sights intruding. 

With all three new roads open, one might hope the end of the works might be in sight but far from it, the landscaping has a long way to go, the large areas of topsoil asking to be planted up with trees and shrubs to screen the future developments and existing housing from the roads.