Life, it builds the body, from barren matter found inert
The atoms swell with vigour, living flesh from lifeless dirt
And for a time these atoms live, the same and yet transformed
Then life vacates the body, leaving husks no longer warmed
A mausoleum now remains, o’er seeds among the clay
They bear the torch of life now, upon it’s endless way
Jays, Wren, Great Tit and Blackbird were all to be heard when I arrived at Durlston this morning. The sun had just cleared the ocean and was staining the sky and clouds a rich red orange hue. As I circumnavigated a muddy gateway into Boys Brigade field I heard the distant grinding and scraping of quarry workings.
Large Copse was still looking neatly mowed after the attention of our Hereford Cattle, though a few of the fungi specimens I’ve been waiting for have yet to emerge. Bitter Brackets were common, their small white rubbery forms garnishing several pieces of fallen timber. Some Sycamore leaves lying near them bore a resemblance to the Yellow Ear Fungus in the Forbidden Zone beyond the orange barriers.
I stopped in Taskers Meadow to admire a levitating Kestrel, the fascinating combination of frantic motion and near perfect stillness always a pleasure to behold. Saxon Field was well endowed with the quiescence of oncoming winter, the intermittent pipping of Robins near the only sound audible. A few Carrion Crows sat on the periphery, staring inwards and occasionally flourishing their wings. A lot of birds seem like they’re loitering aimlessly when I look at them, but I’ve always sensed a grim intentionality around Carrion Crows. Stretching out all around me was a petrified forest of dead Umbellifer and Fleabane. Perhaps the Crows were keeping vigil.
The compost so generously provided by our Hereford Cattle was harbouring several fungal specimens, including Dung Roundheads and Brown Mottlegill, A.K.A Mowers Mushroom or Haymaker. Thanks to the Dorset Fungi Group for their recent visit and the list of sightings that they have provided us with, it’s been a most helpful learning resource for me.
One roundabout trip to the Clifftops later and I was spotting Shags, Peregrines and over one hundred Guillemots packing out the ledge once again. I returned to base, skirting the woods and searching for a ring of Ivory Funnel I spotted growing a few days back. No luck.