A slightly fresher early morning – I even felt the need for a jumper for a short time!
As I enjoyed the walk across the fields, I was listening to the mooing of the Hereford Cattle and watching the Swallows zooming about overhead. The cattle are now beginning their annual graze of the ‘aftermaths’, munching on the loose hay and grass regrowth in the meadows, so please remember to shut the gates as you walk.
A Kestrel perched on the top branch on a Sycamore, the chestnut back and grey head glistening in the sunlight, he then took off and glided across the sky and begun hovering above the rough grassland area, such a fabulous bird to watch.
The Hawthorn bushes are heavily laden with red berries, and a Blackbird was taking advantage of the bounty. The Blackberries are also plentiful all across the Park but it is surprising how different the flavours and juiciness is between different plants.
In the long grass an amazing web was spotted, a zigzag up its centre leading to the huge body and long legs of the Tiger Spider, whose yellow and white stripes were showing wonderfully. Nearby a second Tiger Spider was also lurking, the stripy legs spread across the web.
The delicate looking Autumn Ladies Tresses caught the eye due in part to their slightly unusual greyish tinge to the stems, as I looked more closely other small plants came to me notice including Eyebright, Wild Thyme and Squinancywort all near the end of their season, along with Small Scabious, Wild Carrot, Carline Thistle and Daisy.
Nearby a patch of Cotoneaster, its bright red berries attracting a male black-capped Blackcap, the plant is regularly monitored to ensure it doesn’t get bigger as although they are good for berries they can become very invasive and take over.
After the last few days there were less small birds to be seen with a flock of tinkling Goldfinches the pick.