The first month of Autumn welcomed me with a cool, dry and sunny. The most obvious actors in this morning’s theatre were Swallows, Goldfinches, Stonechats and a few Meadow Browns. Stour Valley Ringing Group broadcast the most obvious Grasshopper Warbler call which I had to overlook! Along a well-trodden grassy path, a light dew glistened upon grass blades in the sunlight.
A quiet Jay flew over Boys Brigade as Ivy flower buds stood above the part revealed dry stone wall. Tall, dry Bracken fronds drooped into the path. My first Swallow appeared in South Fields with occasional low grass blade skimming flight. I was to see no more than half a dozen Swallows at once with activity inevitably about the gully too. A solo white petalled Blackberry flower was obvious amongst the drying grassland of the Wares. A lone Carrion Crow called before departing from boundary scrub. Amongst the sward Meadow Browns were seen being darker versions of Gatekeeper, both having eyes or target on each wing. Scanning the scrub edges through the binoculars I just spotted a Roe Deer at the edge of a grassy knoll in the upper gully. Its ears were upright just like its antlers, whilst its nose was black and shiny.
The first a small charm of Goldfinches flittered and chattered before landing in bare Hawthorn branches. Adjacent was perched a male Stonechat, one of several such sightings today. Elsewhere I thought I saw a Whinchat perched amongst gorse, or perhaps it was a female Stonechat… The calls of a Chiff Chaff, the soothing notes of Woodpigeon and the laughter of a Green Woodpecker contributed to the soundscape. For some time, an unfamiliar sound was heard which could only have been some sort of vessel upon the water. A pair of identical and “different” motorboats travelled parallel at synchronised speeds and carved two “furrows” upon the sea. Later a Lifeboat Headed west at what appeared to be a non-urgent pace. The berries amongst the branches of a Wayfaring Tree were in fact those of the climbing Black Bryony. Roadside a few small Pears had had fallen and been nibbled upon the ground. By the bridge the large leaves of the Sycamore briefly were tickled by a light breeze. A pair of Magpies left an Ant Hill landscape to venture seawards. Whilst following the flight of an east bound Herring Gull I caught the bright glare of the sun that had risen above the light cloud. Woolly Thistle stems either drooped or had snapped perhaps due to birds having picked out the seeds. Short stemmed Ox Eye Daisies still bloomed upon the down land with Wild Thyme and Lesser Knapweed.