Category Archives: Wildlife

Symi, Stockport: Then, now and soon-to-be

Posted on March 13, 2022 by BarryH

The Brexit Bonus has nowhere-near met cynically manipulated expectations. Quite the opposite. It has fallen far short and a realistic assessment is that it will continue to do so, despite the Ress-Mogg Magic Wand. One of the negative impacts, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Nature, Photography, Spring, Wildlife | Tagged Abney Hall Park, Brexit, Flora, Greece, Heaton Mersey Common, Red Elf Cups, spring flowers, Stockport, Symi, trees, Ukriane, uncertainty | 1 Comment

Symi: Autumn life

Posted on November 24, 2021 by BarryH

Back home in Grey Britain now. Warmer than average for this time of year, cloud acting as insulating blanket kept temperatures up through much of November – but spirits down. Mostly between what mountaineers call ‘claggy’ and ‘very claggy’ – … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Greece, Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged Autumn Crocuses, biarum marmarisense, Colchicum Autumnale, Greece, Symi, tortoise | 1 Comment

Rambling through the grey and rising above it …… occasionally

Posted on February 8, 2021 by BarryH

I’ve written before on the psychology of time, about which I read initially in Thomas Mann’s book ‘The Magic Mountain’ when I was in the 6th form and more recently in Claudia Hammond’s ‘Time Warped’, published 2012, exactly 100 years … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Weather, Wildlife, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, Covid Pandemic, Gwent, Holiday Paradox, Jackdaws, Magic Mountain, mist, Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, philosophy of time, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, snow, Thomas Mann | 2 Comments

Greece, Symi: here’s hoping

Posted on August 17, 2020 by BarryH

I usually come back from Greece to the UK for August, partly because of the heat but mostly in order to sort out my garden, harvest fruit and veg and store it away for the winter months. In the throes … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Greece, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Reflections, Uncategorized, Weather, Wildlife | Tagged autumn, autumn crocus, biarum marmarisense, Covid-19, fauna, Flora, Greece, Sea squill, Symi | 4 Comments

Virtual Symi: Summer solstice and Covid optimism

Posted on June 22, 2020 by BarryH

Summer solstice, 21 June, and for the last 10 years I have been in Greece to celebrate it. With the sun at its highest, at the zenith (13.00 with adjustment for summer time) I’ve made a point of taking a … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Health and humour, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Weather, Wildlife | Tagged air-bridges, Covid-19, fauna, Flora, Greece, international flights, Summer solstice, Symi | Leave a comment

Symi: virtually

Posted on April 15, 2020 by BarryH

Symi in April is very different from the island which most people see in the heat of Summer. Sadly, thanks to Covid-19 there is no possibility of going there this month, or next, or for the foreseeable. Not only are … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Spring, Weather, Wildlife | Tagged Covid-19, Flora, Greece, Greek Islands, spring flowers, Symi, wild flowers | 4 Comments

Greece, Nisyros: up close and personal.

Posted on September 13, 2019 by BarryH

There are great walks on many of the Greek islands I know. Symi, Tilos, Kalymnos, Amorgos, Hydra ……… However, I have often said, become a bit boring about it maybe, that the most spectacular walking/trekking I know is on Nisyros. … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged craters, desert, fumaroles, gas, Greece, Nikia, Nisyros, Snake, Stefanos, sulphur, Volcano | 1 Comment

Greece, Symi: Up, along a bit, and down

Posted on July 27, 2019 by BarryH

The temperature was pushing up to 40 degrees in the shade. The previous afternoon, a friend with a thermometer on his balcony had recorded 58.7 in the sun at 13.00 – hottest part of the day is a couple of … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Weather, Wildlife | Tagged dragonflies, Greece, Horio, marked routes, Panagia Hamon, paths, Pedi, Red Darter, Symi | 4 Comments

Say it with flowers

Posted on May 19, 2019 by BarryH

Sadly, I have been revisited by the misfiring which struck at Easter 2016 (see). It has now been sorted and I’m firing on all cylinders again. But it prevented my return to Greece for Easter this year ….. and then … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Spring, Wales, Weather, Wildlife, Winter | Tagged aquilegia, autumn leaves, collar dove, crocus, Flora, fruit, gooseberries, Pontypool, prickly pear cactus, snow, spring flowers, tulips, Wales, wild garlic | 1 Comment

Canadian Rockies: what to do when you’re not skiing

Posted on March 13, 2019 by BarryH

Spring is on its way and I’ll soon be heading for Greece again, but before I get there, a last look back to winter and the Canadian Rockies. One of the great things about Banff, apart from the skiing, is … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Weather, Wildlife, Winter | Tagged Banff, Bow River, Canada, canadian rockies, frozen rivers, snow, snowshoeing, Spray River, trekking | Leave a comment