April 12

Sunday twelfth of April

April’s birth flowers are the daisy and sweet pea. The birthstone for April is the diamond which symbolizes innocence. 

April was originally the second month of the year in early versions of the Roman calendar and consisted of 30 days. It became the fourth month consisting of only 29 days when January was designated the first month of the year around 450 BCE. 

The month became 30 days long again when Julius Caesar reformed the calendar.

Old English - April or Aprilis 

Latin name - Aprilis or Aperit - to open 

Greek - Aphro - short for Aphrodite

April is the birth month of my oldest friend - for slightly less than a month she's two years younger than me - in May she'll revert to being three years younger.

Sad news: Tim Brooke-Taylor has died after contracting covid-19.

Saw him in January when he was the only original member of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue in the show at Sheffield City Hall (to be broadcast next month I believe).

ISIHAC is, I believe, the best thing left of the Python era - all episodes can be found here. It's possibly not for general consumption, being: 

a) very British, 

b) from time to time rather topical so if you weren't around then it might be obscure, 

c) rather 'in crowdy' in that you need to have listened to a good few shows to realise what the joke is.

Much of the attraction of ISIHAC is in the repetition of jokes and 'rounds' from over forty years of programmes.

The first episode of ISIHAC was in 1972 and it's still going, how it will cope with Tim's death is a mystery - it might fold.

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My first daily view of the pond - fifty feet from my front door.

Anyhow; on with today's pics:

The back of a muscovy duck.

Muscovy ducks are native to central and south America. They can be crossed with most domestic ducks, which are usually mallard derived, to produce mostly sterile offspring. This is usually done to create meat birds with better growth rates and leaner meat than normal domesticated ducks.

This one apparently flew off from a farm at Shireoaks.

There are more geese on the pond than I have known heretofore. There's a couple of canadas and several of these greylags.

(this pic is intentionally out of focus - it's 'arty')

Wasn't sure what this bird was at first - thought it was a dunnock but the beak looked a little too fat. numerous twitterati have assured me that it is a dunnock.

The pen is still on the nest so it would seem that she's incubating.

Cardamine pratensis

Cuckoo flower or lady's smock flourishes in the grass around the rugby field. Its delicate white, pink or light violet flowers stand out against the surrounding greenery. Caterpillars of the orange tip and green veined white butterflies feed on the leaves.

There's a large cherry tree in the corner of the rugby field. At the moment it's covered with blossom. There are butterflies and bees scattered throughout its branches. Sadly the cherries aren't edible, being small and sour - I've tried 'em.

Alder leaf beetles

Alder beetles were considered extinct in the UK as there were no recorded sightings between 1946 and 2003. Round here they're now as common as muck, every alder tree has its population of beetles, many of which will be making more alder beetles like this pair.

I've never noticed as many peacock butterflies around as this year. 

This couple were playing 'chase me' for at least ten minutes without ever mating, at least as far as I could tell.

Willow catkins are photogenic

There's a couple of terrapins on the pond. They like to bask in the sun, here's one of 'em today (12th) ...

... and here's both of them yesterday.

Godfrey's Pond

or as it's apparently to be known now 

Sandhill Lake.

I'm told that 'Godfrey' was the owner of the lake who resolutely chased off unauthorised anglers. I've heard that there was a butcher's about where my flat is where maggots were bred for sale to anglers.

The pond was originally a sand quarry, there are traces of a wharf on the canal but no-one seems to know anything about it.

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