Seasonal Splash: Snow Photo on Golau Cancer Centre Website

Sunlight, Swansea Marina

 I am delighted to have a 'chilly' winter photo of Mumbles on the home page of the Golau Cancer Foundation in Wales.

The photograph, which you will see if you click here, was taken two winters ago from my upstairs study in our Swansea home. We looked out over the tower of Singleton Hospital and on to the Mumbles (featured in the photo) and then out across the Severn Estuary to Exmoor.

So what is the The Golau Cancer Foundation? What does it do?

It is the new name for fundraising for the South West Wales Cancer Centre, which is a part of the South Wales Cancer Network and is the second largest non-surgical Cancer Centre in the country. It cares for people living in Bridgend up to Aberystwyth, and across all of West Wales, supporting a population of more than 800,000 people.

The Golau Cancer Foundation gives over 45,000 treatments to people every year, helping tens of thousands of people and their families through the fight against Cancer.

The Cancer Centre, based at Singleton Hospital in Swansea, has patients referred for treatment from across the network: Neath Port Talbot, Morriston, Prince Phillip, West Wales General, Withybush and Bronglas.  The work of the Centre includes:

• Local chemotherapy units
• Chemotherapy Day Unit (based at Singleton)
• Radiotherapy
• In patient treatments and specialised cancer care wards

 And incidentally, the Golau Christmas card range can be found here. I particularly like the 'Robin Red Breast' card!

Beautiful Birds (41): Plus a Hoverfly ... Calendar Photos

I was delighted to receive two contributor copies of the Swansea Vale Resource Centre calendar today. My wildlife photographs represent ...

• April - Puffins and a Gannet
• May - Mumbles Pier, with its Kittiwakes
• July - the Hoverfly you see above

The calendar was part of the COASTAL Project, 'Life through a Lens'.

Arachnida (1): Who's been hiding in the Escallonia?

An early morning visitor to our garden!

Beautiful Birds (18): WWT Llanelli

Shelduck ...

... on the look-out.

Little Egret: grooming time!

The majestic Mute Swan

A Tufted Duck ...

... and a Shoveler.

Cormorant ... off-duty!

Sunrise and Sunset (2): Swansea Sunset

After a gloomy sky yesterday, we enjoyed a colourful sunset this evening.

I think we may be in for a frost before morning.

Safari shades?

We are now over a month on from the shortest day, and sunset is definitely much later.

My thanks to David for this last shot.

The current high pressure is particularly welcome since there have been severe flood warnings in some parts of Wales. You can read about these on the BBC Wales Weather blog here. R.S. Thomas, the poet, was Vicar of Aberdaron (one of the flooded areas) from 1967-1978.

On a totally unrelated topic, don't miss Adam Tilt's post on a local Sea Mouse ...

Mustelidae (3): Mink alert!

I have never to my knowledge seen a Mink, so I don't have a photograph to post. I was amazed, however, to read on Professor P. Brain's blog that one of these creatures had put in an appearance in my neck of the woods, in the Swansea Bay area of South Wales, UK.

It was spotted by Dr Dan W. Forman. You can read about the unusual (and many would say 'undesirable') visitor here on Professor P. Brain's blog.

Swansea Bay, with the University of Swansea just off to the left

Minks were brought to Britain from America in the 1920s. Their coats are dark brown and glossy, often with white areas. These creatures are smaller than the Otter but larger than the Weasel, despite the fact that they are small enough to squeeze into a Water Vole hole in pursuit of prey. You can see from the map that Mink are found in most areas of the British Isles.

Seasonal Splash (3): Snow on Snow

The shortest day, and I took this sunset-like photo after lunch at 2.15 pm - a very strange light

One of the Starlings: look at his hooked claw!

The intricacies of ice: hoar frost on a leaf

Starling Roost

Sunrise Colours

Sunrise over Mumbles

Jack Frost Patterns

'Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird . . .' Eleanor Farjeon

Feathery Trees . . .

Wales, a Winter Wonderland

Icicles!

A welcome Song Thrush . . .

The scene from Swansea, looking towards Mumbles, and across the Severn Estuary to the snowy hills of Exmoor

A Chaffinch - we have two who like to sit in this Larch

The poor spider!

Surreal snowbound Swansea! It's rare to have snow on the beach . . .

 *

I hope you like my miscellany of winter scenes on this, the shortest day of the year!

You might enjoy this winter poem by Robert Frost. 

• Total Lunar Eclipse coincides with Winter Equinox - here at Leaves 'n Bloom
• and here at Crafty Green Poet  
• and here with Derek Brockway on BBC Wales (along with a chilly weather forecast)