Cylinders of suspended life, stem and seed and flower
Banks of genes for meadows new, or stores of solar power
The fruit of grasses, scythed and dried then knitted, bundled, bound
The fields are shorn and bales adorn the naked autumn ground
This morning felt significantly more Autumnal than the past few days and I found myself donning a jacket before stepping outdoors to the New Land. A few low flying Swallows passed overhead and I made out the short calls of Linnets from another pair flying a little higher in the sky. I heard the ke-ke-ke call of a Kestrel from Skipworth Meadow and followed it at it launched into the air from the boughs of an Ash, the small orange tinted form passing slowly from view into the distance.
Large Copse supported an impressive array of Shaggy Parasol fungi, their caps fully opened with some having turned upwards, like an umbrella inverted by strong winds. Beyond in the Saxon Field deep scarlet hawberries adorned their mother Hawthorn trees, with Red Bartsia and Eyebright still decorating the grass below. Stonechats could be heard concealed within the scrub and the odd shifting form of a Whitethroat was periodically visible.
Further out into the Meadows I turned my attention to the Brambles extending from the hedgerows. Fresh green shoots, their thorns still soft extended from more mature purple twists, their length adorned with more wicked defences. We keep cutting them and they keep coming back. Admirable in a way.
Nearing the Quarry I noted a sudden abundance of Horsetails among the margins of the path, as well as a few Common Mallow. A Blue Tit alighted atop a prominent twig for just long enough for me to draw a bead on it, the bright blue plumage and lack of chest stripe tipping off its identity. A Wren pecked hopefully at the dusty path surface, giving up after a few taps and taking wing again.
Returning via the Downlands I passed blooms of Field Scabious and a husk of a 6 Spot Burnet Chrysalis on a stem of Tall Fescue. A single Honeysuckle flower was in bloom and seemed to have attracted a few nectar feeders. Nearby I saw Small White, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown.
Retraction: Recently I reported finding a Plums and Custard fungi in the woodlands. After consulting with others I have discovered that this was a misidentification and it is in fact a Brittlegill. Don’t ask me which one.