You’ve seen me oh so many times, embracing walls of stone
A waistcoat wrapped round wrinkled bark, or on a log laid prone
But have you ever looked at me beyond a fleeting glance?
The humble mosses wondrous forms are certain to entrance
I made another dawn entrance to the park via the Woodlands this morning, Robins and Blackbirds greeting the new day in their accustomed fashion. I chanced across an unfamiliar flower which, with the aid of the records from the most recent Wildflower Walk led by David Leadbetter was identified as Creeping Comfrey. After a quick visit to inspect some Lacquered Brackets, I continued to the Learning Centre.
I was met by one of our apprentices Cameron, who reported a Goldcrest he’d spotted while walking in over the Meadows. I decided to try my own luck and moseyed on down to the Large Copse, where the Blue Tits were singing merrily away. A few hearty squawks from a Jay emanated from above as I examined a striking profusion of Turkey Tail, the colony having swollen to prodigious size in the wet weather.
With conditions a little quiet I decided to turn my attention to some of Durlston’s mosses. A few samples and a little research later I turned up Springy Turf Moss and Tamarisk Moss, plus a third Mystery Moss that’ll need more study.
Crossing South Field a Long Tailed Tit passed above me, drawing my eyes upwards to the waning gibbous moon half hidden behind shifting cumulus cloud. A few notes that sounded very Song Thrush like erupted from a Hawthorn hedgerow, halting abruptly as I navigated the muddy gateway.
I took a wide trajectory round to the New Land, training my binoculars on a strange half familiar bird that I couldn’t quite recognise. As I neared, two more fluttered out of the tree cover and I recognised them as Wood Pigeons. Their usually dull breasts painted vivid bronze by the morning sunshine. Appearance can be a very subjective phenomenon.
Magpies skirted the hedgerows beside me and all around I could detect the distinct soft calls of Bullfinches, a single bird flying low enough overhead for its distinct plumage to be discernible. After this long detour I made my way swiftly back, those mosses weren’t going to research themselves.