What a difference a day makes, I even had to wear a jumper this morning! Within the hedgerows the familiar free food of Blackberries are becoming more abundant, as the fruit ripens to black it will soon be ready for a Blackberry crumble! But remember they can only be eaten until the 29th September otherwise ‘according to folklaw’ the devil spit on them. The Blackthorn is now producing perfectly smooth spheres of blue/purple fruits, almost ready for the Sloe Gin. The tree however is being half taken over by Old Man’s Beard and Ivy. Also along the same hedgeline the Elderflowers have all but gone, the Elderflower cordial has been made and the Elderberries are now making a show. With small dark berries attached to a red stem that grows out like veins.
I heard a Stone Chat call from the branch of an Oak tree, with its distinctive ‘chit chit’ which sounds like stones being tapped together. In the large Copse it was dark and still with the distant echoing of rumbling noise from Swanage and the Quarry out in the fields. My head spun as I noticed a flash of white, two Rabbits were bouncing around the ground flora or the woodland. I wonder if these are the same two that have been getting in my vegetable patch! It’s all about the food today.
In my first week at Durlston way back in September, I was sent out to find and fix a water leak. Successful done until the heavy snow and ice we had this year come, the pressure on the pipes was too much and more leaks started to appear. A few months later and eight, holes dug, leaks found and water pipe fixed, I can safely say they are all dry. Until next time…
Over in the meadows they look bare and empty as they have now all been cut and bailed. New life is now emerging from the soil below, with Red Bartsia, Birds Foot Trefoil and Common Restharrow. While in the uncut areas Meadow Sweet, Wild Parsnip, Tall Fescue and Crested Dogs Tail still wave around in the wind.
At the top of lighthouse field there is a vast contrast between each side of the path. On the protected side pale brown/cream grasses stand tall and graceful, whereas on the other exposed side the dark green of Brambles and Blackthorn cover the hedge line. Whizzing in between the two sides are about 20 Warblers (I think.) Behind them a Blackbird sat on top of the Hawthorn, looking enormous at 25cm in length compared to the Warblers at a tiny 10cm.