The 'Wow' Factor

This stunning chain-saw sculpture of a red kite stops you in your tracks when you round a bend in the Thornley Wood Sculpture Trail near Gateshead. I think everyone who encounters it has only one word to describe it: "wow!"

You can read more about its creator here,and here and see some other enterprises and artworks that have been inspired by the reintroduction of red kites into the Derwent Valley here...........

... and see another example of Tommy's chain-saw work here.

Nice weather for ducks....

While we were sheltering under our umbrellas recently, dodging the puddles, someone remarked that it was 'nice weather for ducks'.

Which reminded me of this photo that I took several years ago in the car park of the Sage concert hall in Gateshead. These ducklings were about as far removed from their natural element as it was possible to be.

The mallard duck had nested on waste ground on the far side of the car park and led her ducklings all the way across. This kerb presented a bit of a challenge but with a lot of quacking from her and some help for anxious spectators they eventually overcame it. Then she led them down a steep bank, across another car park, down another steep bank and across a road, across a stretch of quayside and into the river Tyne. 

In comparison, my journey into work through today's floods this morning should be a doddle!