In the Gold Mines

When the weather is this wonderful, and you live somewhere this beautiful how could you not sneak off from work and get out to enjoy the spring?
This photo is taken just north of Dolgellau, looking south towards Cadair Idris, with the Mawddach Estuary below. You can just make out the wooden toll bridge that crosses the river at Penmaenpool.

We parked at the valley bottom, and you then have to climb up hill very steeply through the woodland. 

You end up in an RSPB reserve which is also a former gold mine. The remains of the mine buildings are slowly being hidden away by the woodland.

This was the real reason for visiting though. I remembered from a few years ago that there was a beautiful bluebell glade.

The perfect spot for a bit of doggy posing... and joyous rampaging when they'd been told they'd sat for long enough!

It's a beautiful spot for a walk, filled with very ancient woodland, including some stunning oak trees.

For now, it's back to work, though at least I only have to turn my head to see some beautiful scenery, and marvel at nature. This weekend a pair of house martins started making their nest just above my office door. Wonderful to watch, though the splats of mud they're dropping on my freshly cleaned window are less appreciated!

Something that pops up on my twitter feed occasionally is discussions about how we only show edited glimpses of our lives online. I like sharing the pretty photos, but I also happen to find the less pretty ones equally interesting, even if they are more graphic. With that in mind, if you don't want to see what happens to a vole when it dies stop reading now... With my scientist head firmly screwed on I find it fascinating, and I suspect others will too.




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This shrew is going to provide food for all sorts of wildlife. The orange and black spotted beetle is a Sexton beetle, the black ones might also be a different type of sexton beetle, but they don't seem to be the right shape for the photos I can see, and my google-fu is failing me, they also look like dung beetles, but dung beetles eat poo, and not flesh. The little rolled up ball at the bottom left is a pill millipede.