This morning I set down beside Long Meadow, counting 16 hay bales as I listened to the melody of Blue Tits, Robins, and Goldfinch. Swallows swoop, soar, and dive and they race overhead. The numbers of these bird gather momentum as they not only prepare to cross the channel, but for their long migration south towards the equator for winter.
Flies and Bumblebees buzz from hedgerow where the Lichen-clad Blackthorn is now decorated with a crop of juicy Sloes - although delicious for Sloe Gin, these fruits have a bitter taste that will dry your mouth out, so stick to foraging for Blackberries which are plentiful upon the Bramble.
Fresh green acorns have sprouted across the English Oak. Look closely and you’ll find curious artichoke-shaped buds which have swollen from the tips of some branches. The aptly-named Artichoke Gall develops after a Gall Wasp lays a single egg within the bud whilst releasing chemical to distort the bud and form a protective casing to raise the larvae.
Bryony berries are also festooned between the branches, each fruit transitioning between a different colour on the traffic light spectrum. Below, the beautiful Fleabane, whose yellow flowers resemble little sunshines amongst the scrub.
In the woodland, scuttling Squirrels awaken the tree canopy. They call out and chase each other from tree to tree, rocking the branches and dislodging leaves as they go. Their claws scratch as they descend an Ash Tree, and disturb what appeared to be a knobbly section of bark below; white feathers appear and an otherwise perfectly camouflaged Treecreeper is revealed to be perched on the vertical trunk.