Today I walked out armed with new snug wellingtons and thus ventured into the Meadows. My boots squelched and slurped into several inches of wet clay. In a few footprint puddles were the rainbows created by natural oils.
The wind was heard as it passed through the needles of the Black Pine within the Large Copse. Unseen Green Woodpecker, Carrion Crows and Herring Gulls were heard somewhere near Southcliffe Road. Whilst distracted I nearly tripped over a cow pat in Taskers Meadow. This was a small mountain which had escaped having been dismantled by birds seeking out Beetle and Fly larvae. A few berries clung onto Hawthorn and Privet in the Tasker's / Paddock hedgerow. At their feet the wind made some taller grass dance.
The trill of a Wren rang out from the Saxon / Tasker's hedgerow. Beyond many dry stems of Fleabane stood in the Meadow. The call of a Cockerel carried across the Fields from California farm. A pair of Herring Gull were seen flying up through the “valley” heading in the Cockerels direction. Of course, there had to be a Yarrow flower out in Saxon! I deliberately walked the perimeter of the Holcombe Quarry scrub cover determined to see some birds. In doing so I passed the velvety cover of moss on the shade side of a dry-stone wall. Amongst the capstones a Cranesbill had one flower open with two the follow. Inland of the field a pair of Magpies perched in the scrub and began their witch-like cackling. A few Rosehips and the rare Sloe appeared amongst the thorns as did the small fresh leaves of the climbing Honeysuckles. Leafless ropes and cord like vines of Old Man’s Beard were strung up between the branches.
In Ox Eye Meadow Cleavers showed a carpet of fresh growth under the protective thorn cover at a meadow edge. Above was blue sky marked with a vapour tail from an aircraft. A Robin jumped out of the hedgerow just as the Hereford Cattle came into view. A Teasel stem, which stood at an angle, would have been taller than I if it were upright. I checked the electric fence keeping the cows off a walling repair site. In a wall gap a Garden Snail and Striped Snail rested. A pair of Bullfinches flitted about in the upper gully whilst Great Tits became active in the sun beam. At the Small Copse it was talkative Blue Tit which caught my eye. However, on the floor below I counted some fifty Winter Heliotrope flowers in several locations. I was surprised that the best numbers a scent were over the drys-tone wall.