Quack Echos

Out walking the dogs tonight, we noticed a large gathering of ducks.
It was nice to see Bernard (son of Gerard the Albino Canard).
Bernard is a black duck with a distinctive white head that hovers around Uppermill, and seems to have his dad's stalking technique down to a tee.

Anyway, I digress. One of the ducks was particularly vocal with very loud quacks, that did distinctly echo around the area, thereby dismissing the urban legend that duck's quacks do not echo.

A little research on the Internet showed those clever chappies at Salford uni have already done some extensive research into this

Uppermill Canal WIFI

I was wondering about offering a WIFI (Wireless Network) connection that could give users near CanalCam in Uppermill (mainly Narrowboat users) some Internet access.

But I'm wondering what's the demand like?
Do a lot of Narrowboat owners want wireless Internet access or are they happy to use other methods, as suggested by the nice crew of No Problem.

Please post a comment and let me know your thoughts either about WIFI demand or the pros/cons of sharing your Internet connection with strangers.

Google Advertisements

You may notice Google Advertisements appearing at the top of this blog and a Google search on the CanalCam page.

This is because Google pay for these advertisements to appear (if you click on them) and I want to use the funds to buy a better webcam to improve CanalCam (I think this could take a while)

So, if you like CanalCam, and you'd like to see it improve, please click on the Google sponsored links that should take you to interested related content and use the Google Search on the CanalCam Page

Wild Goose Chase

As it turns out, even the geese have been getting into the Spring spirit of things.
It's really nice to see a small gaggle of goslings (is that the right collective noun?)
Sadly it was quite dark when I spotted them, so the pictures aren't the best.

Here's hoping for a dry bright day this weekend when I can find them or then again, maybe the goslings will turn out to be as elusive as their parents in flight!

Spring is in the Air

Ah, Spring is in the air and the canal wildlife seem to be in the spirit if things.

Lots of little baby ducklings are out on the canal - very cute.

The same walk revealed lots of other excellent wildlife and I really feel we've seen the end of winter now

The fairly dull looking thumbnail of water is actually some swallows diving around, click for a larger image to see what's going on

English Mist

Hello to my friends in Japan who browsed CanalCam and said how it reminded them how beautiful England is with its mist.

I'm very pleased to encourage people's thoughts of England's beauty, but sadly CanalCam has become a bit damaged after pointing outdoors into the sunlight for a few years, and the mist is actually just the effect of a worn out camera!!!

CANALCAM CHALLENGE

OK, I'm opening up a challenge to everyone:

Send in a picture of yourself waving at CanalCam.

You'll have to figure out for yourselves exactly where CanalCam is. It's triggered by large amounts of movement such as boats or groups of people going past.

The CanalCam site holds the last 10 triggered pictures so you might have to rush home to get your picture sent - or alternatively phone a friend whilst you're in shot.

You'll need to take a screen print, or copy of the CanalCam image and email it to canalcam@tinterweb.com

Successful entries will be posted on the blog

Wait on, Winter's back!

Well, Spring may have sprung, but just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, the Snow Queen reminds us all that she's still got some fight in her yet.
Yes, hail and snow!

Spring has finally Sprung

I'm pleased to say that Mother Nature seems to have accepted that Spring has finally arrived in Saddleworth. All Along the canal saplings are beginning to sprout

Attack Goose

I thought I was going to get my elusive flying goose picture today, I guess these do count, but far more exciting was what this incoming goose did to a seemingly innocent bystanding goose
Innocent bystanding(attacked) goose seemed very forgiving and happily flew off with his would be assailant and another innocent bystander.

Sun, Snow & Ice

I had to take advantage of the excellent lighting and icy conditions. It seems to do something magical and although snow and ice is far from rare in Saddleworth, it is something special and worthy of publishing these photos

I love the shadow of the landing duck - that unusual wing shape reminds me of some 1980's arcade game!

Winter in March

Recent cold weather has frozen over the canal, adding a little snow frosting on top has really made the place look quite pretty. Just that it's March and it's about time Spring (the Fall) was coming round!

Going Down!

Those of you with a keen eye may have noticed that the waterlevel dropped today.

No idea what's about to happen but it does explain the disappearance of Chug and another narrowboat on this section of the canal.

Stay tuned for more of this unmissable Huddersfield Narrow CanalCam excitement!

Quiet Again

Sorry, it's been quiet again for a while now, I've been rather busy going places - see Nick's Lifeblog for details.

This weekend was especially damp too - so anyway, here's a couple of pics from the archives, just to whet your appetite for the spring and summer canal photo extravaganza!

OK, maybe not quite an extravaganza, but at least a little bit more exciting than it has been over the winter.

Sorry about the exposure on the squirrel - pesky little blighter saw the camera and made a dash for it!

Ready, set, go!

This was just one of those mad "It probably won't work, but I'll try it like this anyway" photos, that I don't do half as often as I should, given the convenience of a digital camera.

It's nothing special, but it's started me thinking about taking photos from a different perspective.
More on this soon.

Tree Streetmap

Have you ever thought about a mental map of where you live?
It's all pretty geometrical, streets go off at right angles, roads are straight

Then you look at a streetmap programme like Google Maps , and all of a sudden it seems a bit chaotic, and you wonder why people would ever build something so irregular.

I happened to take this picture today looking up the trunk of a small tree, and then realised how much the small branches look just like a streemap.

There's some kind of uncanny connection here, but it's too deep for me to work out, so I'll leave the fractal mathmatics and chaos theories to the genii of the World.

Mountain and Molehill

This was just too good to miss - OK maybe Pots 'n Pans isn't really a mountain, but all the same, you get the idea (I hope)