2019 tree following 7: Summer in the city

Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn’t it a pity
Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city
(The Lovin’ Spoonful – Summer in the City)

After cool and wet weather last month, we have had a heatwave for a few weeks here in Cardiff and one day, for the first time, I noticed the bright dappled shadow of the London plane (Platanus × hispanica or Platanus × acerifolia) I am following in Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay.

The tree itself has not changed much in the last month but I have noticed the new Greek street food cafe beneath it has been open during the day on a few occasions, particularly when we had a three-day food festival in the nearby Roald Dahl Plass.

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2019 tree following 6: Another change of scenery

The street food cafe under the plane in Mermaid Quay has changed hands – here it is being repainted on May 20

Although the London plane (Platanus × hispanica or Platanus × acerifolia) I am following in Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay, has changed little in the last month, nearby there is a lot going on.

Around the corner on Roald Dahl Plass (which used to be called the Oval Basin), from May 27 to June 1, there was the Urdd National Eisteddfod, a Welsh language youth festival of words and music.

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Buildings of Bute Street in Cardiff Bay

In The Balance – a bronze by J A Stevenson on the front of the Old NatWest Building in Bute Street, Cardiff Bay

I try to post about subjects other than nature occasionally, but I am finding I have so little spare time these days! However, I have no excuse for ignoring the architecture when I pass so many interesting buildings most days as I walk over to Cardiff Bay for my lunchtime sandwich.

My walk usually takes me along the southern end of Bute Street, now rather run-down but with hopes of regeneration.

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2019 tree following 5: Leafy backgrounds

Developing leaves and flowers on the London plane (Platanus × hispanica or Platanus × acerifolia) in Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay

The London plane tree in Cardiff’s Mermaid Quay is coming along nicely with the benefit of both rain and sunshine in the last few weeks.

I see it most days as I visit the Tesco store opposite to buy a sandwich for lunch or a few groceries. The changes are small but the leaves are growing bigger and the female flowers are starting their journey to becoming fruit balls.

Here are my pictures from April 29 – I find it difficult to get many of the leaves and flowers into sharp focus as there is such a mass of greenery at different distances from the lens, but here goes…

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2019 tree following 4: Green and red

New growth on the London plane tree in Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay

We are well into spring here in Cardiff, although there is currently a chill easterly wind and the nights are almost frosty. At least the sun is shining so we should be grateful as there was one particularly wet and miserable week recently.

I could see from a distance that the London plane tree in Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay, was slightly tinged with green at last.

But when I visited with my camera on April 10 the sun was very bright, so I couldn’t really tell what I was seeing in detail until I inspected the images later.

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The Wharf in early spring

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) on the Wharf beside County Hall in Cardiff Bay

It has been over a year now since I first walked around the Wharf (former Bute East Dock) next to my office at County Hall in Cardiff Bay.

I have visited more or less every month so I have no idea if I will spot anything I haven’t seen before. But I will keep on looking anyway. These pictures were taken at lunchtime on March 26…

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Red maple flowers in spring

Maple flowers on a tree in Lloyd George Avenue, Cardiff, in mid March

My Cardiff Bay bus drives down Lloyd George Avenue every day so I have been keeping an eye on the trees I first visited in autumn last year (read the blog post here).

I recently noticed the first signs of spring colour on a couple of the trees at the Bay end of the avenue, not far from my office in County Hall. At first I thought the red twigs were breaking into leaf…

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