Nature Diary #5

Yellow Archangel

And so, here in the South West, the good weather continues, and I continue to go for a walk when I can. Because of the hot weather – it can’t really be called warm, now! – a lot of the spring flowers are going over almost before they’ve made their presence felt. The lovely windflowers that I spotted on a grass verge last week have been overtaken by the growth of grass, cow parsley and hogweed – it’s the turn of the big, tall boys now! The Lords & Ladies (wild arum lily) are now in flower and I spotted a clump of Yellow Archangel in the hedge bottom, too.

The blackthorn blossom is all but gone, but has been swiftly replaced by hawthorn blooms, and all the hedges are in full, green leaf. The air is filled with a subtle, but distinct, perfume that I always associate with Spring - it could be the scent of the hawthorn or the Queen Anne's Lace or a heady mixture of the two.

Flower spike of Lords and Ladies

My Evercreech walk

This week my longest walk, on Tuesday, took me to Evercreech, but there were too many people walking about in the village and I got quite anxious as I had to keep slowing my pace to remain 2m away or crossing over to avoid them – far more stressful than meandering along empty country lanes and footpaths! I walked past my friend’s smallholding and stopped for a quick chat to check that she was OK, as she is self-isolating due to respiratory issues. She says that she hasn’t really noticed much change in her day-to-day life, except that more people are offering to help her get shopping, etc! I’m guessing that a lot of smallholders and farmers feel the same – they’ve been self-isolating for years! 😊

By the time I was on my way back from Evercreech, I was fed up with walking on tarmac so, at the aptly named Elbow Corner, I struck off across the fields, on a footpath that used to go along the side of the Somerset & Dorset Railway. The house at Elbow Corner used to be the crossing keeper’s cottage for the railway that crossed the lane at this point. The footpath goes straight through the middle of a grass field and between the two groups of solar panels before going over a stile and heading towards the main A37. The grass in this huge field is now getting quite long and is very tiring to walk through so when, later in the week, I went back to Cathie’s to get some dandelion flowers for dyeing some wool, I went the long way round by the lane.

Two roe deer - look for the white rumps!

However, on Tuesday I spotted two hares in this field (and another two on Friday) and, just after I climbed over the stile, another one! I had no idea, until this year, that there were any hares in this area and now I see at least one whenever I go out recently. They are such a treat to see, but take off so fast that I have been unable to get a photo, yet. I walked around the edge of the next field, along the bank of the Whitelake stream (now a very much reduced trickle) and startled three roe deer that had obviously been lying up in the brambly growth on the other bank, and another hare! They streaked off across the newly sown field, white rump patches bobbing up and down, and disappeared into the hedgerow on the other side. I disturbed them again on Friday and took a very long distance shot, as they bounced across the field. I’m pretty sure that the bigger two were a male and a female.

There have definitely been more butterflies emerging too, as I have seen more Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshell, Orange Tips, Speckled Wood, a tiny blue butterfly and a small white butterfly that could have been a Small White, a Green-veined White or a female Orange Tip! Annoyingly, I see a lot of these but it is impossible to identify them when they are on the wing.

Small Tortoiseshell

Speckled Wood

There is a lot of birdsong in the early mornings, most of which I can’t identify, and even when I go out later in the day, the skylark rarely lets me down. However, our returned male swallow, although investigating the traditional nesting sites at close quarters i.e. flying in and out of the barn and the porch area, still seems to be on his own. This seems unusual, as the rest of the gang are normally only a week behind him, and it is now more than three weeks since I first spotted him. Hopefully, I will be able to bring you news of their arrival soon.

Hawthorn blossom

Nature Diary #4

Oak before Ash, we’re in for a Splash

Ash before Oak, we’re in for a Soak

So goes the old saying, and I can now report that this year the oak is most definitely out before the ash! They are both in flower at the moment, and have been for a while, but the oak leaves have been unfurling rapidly in the last week or so. The spell of warm, dry weather has meant that some of the early, more damp-loving wild flowers are now going over, to be replaced by later spring flowers. I have seen my first cowslips this week and a wonderful patch of purple Honesty at the side of the road. The campion, of which there were only a few flowers out last week, are punctuating the hedgerows with their vivid carmine pink and the bluebells and wild garlic have really come into their own.

Cowslips

Honesty

I have to admit that last week I was struggling a bit mentally and even my walks to the lake weren’t helping, as there seemed to be a definite lack of wildlife about and the only thing I did see was the carcass of a roe deer that had obviously caught its leg in the stock fence as it jumped and must have had a long and agonising death! ☹ There were several days when I didn’t go out at all but, on Wednesday, I gave myself a stern talking to and decided to go for a longer walk again to try to reset my mood.

My Wednesday walk

I set off at about 9.30 and, although it was sunny with a clear blue sky, there was a cool breeze still blowing so I took a cardigan for when I was walking in shade – I very soon had to take it off and tie it around my waist! I walked south along the A37 until I got to the turning to Pylle proper, being almost blown off my feet by the slipstream of the lorries rushing by – I’m sure they are going faster than the 50mph speed limit along here, unencumbered by other traffic, and cars in particular!

The rookery

Once in the quiet lane to Pylle I was able to concentrate on my surroundings and noted that, although the blackthorn blossom is nearly over, the hawthorn is now in full leaf with a promising tinge of cream to the tight flower buds. The rooks in the rookery were very busy building nests and squabbling with their neighbours and I met a small group of friendly cows that popped their heads over a gate to say ‘Hello’.

I love friendly cows!

I passed the lovely little Church, the Manor House and old farm buildings and then turned left by the pond and began to climb up the hill to Little Pennard. Here I passed between banks of wild garlic and bluebells with large oak trees arching overhead and small birds flitting in and out of the hedgerow. There were some small brown butterflies which I think were Speckled Wood, but they didn’t stay still long enough for me to get a really good look.

At the top of the hill I turned left again and walked back towards the main road, crossing it at the old Toll House and continuing along the ridgeway towards Ditcheat. I was finally able to identify some blossom that was still in tight bud when I passed this way last week – it was crab apple, and is now fully out and attracting bees and hover flies.

Crab apple blossom in the hedge

Crab apple blossom fully out

I don’t think I have ever driven the lane that runs along the ridge, as there are two other routes that I can take to Ditcheat, so it was a real surprise to suddenly be able to see all of south Somerset laid out on my right hand side and the land towards Shepton on my left. The views were stunning, but hazy, and everything was so quiet with so little traffic noise from the A37.

An interesting ruin on the ridgeway

 I ambled along enjoying the sunshine and the birdsong and then came across the top of Paul Nicholl’s training gallops, where a 4 x 4 was parked. Well, I’ve read enough Dick Francis novels to know that the trainer will wait at the top of the gallops (usually in a 4 x 4) to monitor the horses’ performance, so I paused in my perambulations and was soon rewarded by the sight of ten to twelve horses cantering up the gallops, their coats glistening in the sunshine, and the leather tack creaking as the jockeys’ weights shifted in their saddles. Every day these horses are groomed until their coats gleam – they all look as if they could be off to the parade ring, rather than just doing road work near their stables. Once, they’d safely picked their delicate way past me, nostrils flaring and breaths returning to normal, I continued on my way, my spirits lifted by seeing such beauty.

Racehorses

Just as the ridgeway starts to dip down into the pretty village of Ditcheat, I turned left and walked along Ditcheat Hill until I came to the track/stream bed that I walked up the other day. This time I was going down hill through the shady, garlic-lined banks where I saw more Speckled Wood and Orange Tip butterflies and saw and heard goldfinches and blackcaps in the trees overhead. I ducked under the huge fallen oak tree and continued down the rocky incline until I reached the wetter bit.
I felt quite pleased to see that my stream diversions were still working well and the track, for the most part, was drier than last week.

Fallen tree across the track

From there, it was just a short walk across the Solar Farm field to the end of the fishing lake, along the track and home – mood completely reset!

Wild mustard or Jack-by-the-Hedge

This morning, as I was awake before 5.00am, I decided to walk to the lake early. It wasn’t fully light when I set out, especially as it was raining, but the dawn chorus was already in full swing, with Peter the Pheasant (our local cock pheasant) adding his harsh call, at intervals, from the pony paddock. (Later on he will mooch round to Mary’s garden and peck around under the bird feeders). As I was walking towards one of the few remaining grass paddocks I could just make out a large rabbit-shape crouching near the track, but the speed with which it took off convinced me that it was a large hare that streaked off across the field before being lost to sight in the murk. I came around to the far end of the lake in the hope that I might spot the heron but, apart from a couple of moorhens, all was quiet. The badger sett was also deserted, so the badgers had obviously returned to their snug dens before first light, but then I looked in the other direction, across the field, and realised that I was being watched by a young roe buck. I immediately stood stock still which seemed to puzzle him as he started to come nearer and nearer, peering at me all the time, as if he couldn’t quite make out what I was. When he got to within about 50 yards of me a wood pigeon suddenly crashed out of the tree to my left and startled the deer, although he didn’t run off, just cautiously moved in a big arc around me. I did manage to fire off a quick photo but, unfortunately, it is very out of focus and quite dark. Just as I was about to leave the lake behind me, I turned and could just make out the ghostly silver-grey shape of Mr Heron coming in to land in search of breakfast – I’d been just that little bit too early for him!

Very out of focus roe buck - honestly!

Nature Diary #3

This week’s big nature news is that on 5^th April I saw our first returning swallow! Apparently, it is always the males who arrive first and scope out the available nest sites and the females follow on a few days later. So far, our boy has been all on his own, but I have high hopes that the rest will return shortly! This year, in an attempt to stop our huge local flock of jackdaws from predating the swallow chicks, we plan to close the barn door to exclude them, but cut a letterbox-sized hole in the door to allow the swallows free entry – let’s hope it works and that there are many more swallows by summer’s end. Here’s a piece of trivia for you – when the male swallows start on their homeward flight from Africa, their tail feathers are short, to make them more aerodynamic but, as they near journey’s end the feathers grow to the familiar length that we know to aid in their courtship rituals!

My long walk!

I haven’t been out on many walks this week, for three reasons: firstly, I have been waging war on the brambles in the pony paddock; secondly, there seemed very little difference day-to-day in what I was seeing on my usual walk to the lake; thirdly, when I walked to the lake on Monday there were three blokes in a car, acting very suspiciously, which rattled me a bit and put me off going!

However, I did do a rather ambitious walk on Wednesday as the weather was so gorgeous. I didn’t intend to walk as far as I did so, starting off at 10.00am, I felt the need to wear a lightweight fleece and my very useful waistcoat that has many pockets for carrying camera, binoculars, etc. It wasn’t long before I had to take the fleece off and tie it around my waist as it got so warm!

I’d been intrigued for a while by a track that went off uphill from a lane that I travel often, but it is usually like a stream bed, so I reasoned that during this prolonged dry spell would be the best time to tackle it. Once out of sight of the road, I had great fun trying to divert the stream back into its proper channel by making mini dams and deeper channels using the end of my trusty thumb stick! You sometimes just have to nurture your inner child! The track was quite boggy still with sedge growing down the middle, but there were tyre tracks so something had been down or up it relatively recently. 

Flowering sedge

Bluebells

Eventually I came out onto a metalled lane that led to a farm in one direction and the ridge lane in the other. I then had to walk along the A37 for a short stretch before turning right at the old toll house on the summit of Wraxall Hill. Originally, I was going to turn next right, back down the hill into Pylle village and home down the A37 but it was such a lovely day that I just kept on walking!

The lane took me to the little village of East Pennard where I took a right turn and headed downhill, crossing the old Somerset & Dorset Line at Cockmill, 

Original pedestrian crossing on the S & D

before skirting the Glastonbury Festival site on my left and emerging onto the road back to Pylle on the outskirts of Pilton. 

Pedestrian bridge over the ford near Pilton

By this time I was really regretting the decision to leave my bottle of water at home, as it was just too awkward to carry! 

Wild Garlic

However, at least I was on the last leg of my epic walk. I just had one more thing I had to do – return to the part of the disused railway to take more photos of the two filled-in arches that I spotted the other day, so that a friend of mine could try and identify what they were used for. After scrambling up and down the large pile of rubble in front of the arches and getting some photos I continued along the route I’d taken last week, but in reverse.

She's got a long wait for the train!

 Imagine my surprise when I came across a young cow lying in the middle of the track, contentedly chewing the cud! All her friends were in the field above the cutting looking quite concerned, so I decided to drive her along a lane at the side of their field towards the farm in the hope of finding a gate I could let her through to rejoin the herd. After a couple of hundred yards she took the initiative and jumped through the fence back into the field!

I finally made it back home four hours after I left and made myself a very long drink!

Spring has definitely sprung in the last week and I saw so many wildflowers, birds and butterflies on my walk, but very few larger animals (apart from cattle, sheep and a very few humans).

Birds: wrens, robins, goldfinch, jays (2), buzzards (4), magpies, rooks, wood pigeons, blackbirds, dunnock, great tit, and at least one unidentified warbler.

Flowers: bluebells, celandines, primroses, wood anemones, stitchwort, white and red dead nettle, white and purple violets, campion, speedwell, ground ivy, dandelions, wild garlic, lesser periwinkle.

Stitchwort

Butterflies: Peacock, Large White, Brimstone, Orange Tip (male)

My friend, Mary, has lent me a copy of the RSPB Guide to Birdsong complete with accompanying CD, so I hope to be able to identify more of the wonderful birds that I hear on my walks.

Peacock butterfly

Nature Diary #2

29^th March 8.30am (really 7.30am as the clocks went forward last night!)

The north wind was particularly unpleasant today, very cold and extremely strong. Most wildlife appeared to be being sensible as I saw very little on my walk to the lake: one solitary skylark who briefly soared into the air, did a quick trill and dived for cover! Apart from that I only saw a few wood pigeons near the lake and a couple of crows – very disappointing.

30^th March 10.20 am

It was a bright and sunny morning, but with more clouds than of late. The wind was blowing from the north-east but nowhere near as strong as yesterday and, in sheltered spots, it felt very warm. 

My route through the Solar Farm

Roe deer in the hedgerow

I started off intending to walk to the fishing lake and back, but it was such a nice morning that I carried on from the far end of the lake, across a field and into the Solar Farm field, where a footpath follows the line of the old railway track (Somerset & Dorset Burnham spur, for any railway buffs out there!) and re-joins a lane at the far side. As I crossed the first field a snipe took off from about 2 feet in front of me! I wish they wouldn’t do that – it nearly gave me a heart attack! As I crossed the solar farm field at least two skylarks were up and carolling. I thought they were rare birds these days but just in these few fields we must have five or six! It’s such a joyous song that you can’t help smiling – and such volume from such a tiny bird. Once I was out on the lane I turned left to join the A371, but after only a few yards came across two deer lying in the hedge just inside a field gate – what a treat. They braved it for a few minutes but were obviously camera-shy as they soon made off when I got my camera out of my pocket. 

Camera-shy roe deer!

At the A371 I turned left and after a couple of hundred yards/metres turned left again into Bagborough Lane, where I came upon a glorious patch of violets. About halfway along the lane I saw a buzzard take off from near some derelict farm buildings and then, not long after, a kestrel. A robin was spilling his harmonious song into the morning and a flock of gulls were calling to each other as they wheeled above a newly ploughed field.

Violets

31^st March 9.30am

It was quite cloudy when I set off and the wind was still from the east, but the sun came out for a short while before the clouds moved back in.

My route to Pylle

I decided to do another longer walk today, so set off up the A37 (luckily there’s a pavement at this point) and then turned left into a no through road called Hedge Lane. Partway along the lane there is a footpath to the left which also doubles as the Festival Cycleway when the Glastonbury Festival is on. I eventually left this and struck off across a field towards the lane that runs between Pylle and Pilton, and came out on to a sunken trackway. 

The track of the old S & D railway

As I walked along, I pondered why it was such a wide track, until it suddenly dawned on me that I was walking along the trackbed of the disused railway. As I realised this I came to a stone structure which appeared to be an supporting wall for a field edge but, on closer examination, it had two arches built into it, now partially filled in. I have no idea what it was used for but was obviously something to do with the railway. 

Interesting arches

The banks of the cutting were covered in wild garlic – I must bring a bag with me next time! I heard pheasants and robins quite near by but didn’t see them, and eventually came out onto the lane, where I turned left and walked back through Pylle village proper, past the Church and the Manor and the old Manor Farm buildings. Near here I saw yet another buzzard and another kestrel – I hadn’t seen a kestrel for ages so two in two days was a rare treat. Coming out of the village and heading back towards the main road I saw a tractor rolling a pasture field and beyond it a fairly large and active rookery.

Wild garlic

1^st April 10.30am

It was much cloudier today, but with less wind – still from an easterly direction.

I’d been a bit disappointed with the lack of wildlife on yesterday’s walk so went back to the fishing lake. In the distance I saw a deer in the field next to the main road and the two mallard drakes were wandering about in the field next to the lake – they didn’t stay around once they’d spotted me! Today’s birds were chaffinches, great tits, a couple of skylarks and a wren.

A distant deer

The two Mallard drakes

2^nd April 10.30am

Today I only did a very short walk to the little Victorian post box on the corner of Hedge Lane, as I had a birthday card to post. The slot for letters is so small that you have to choose your card carefully or you end up having to fold it to get it in! I once sent an A4 document from there and ended up having to roll it up and then flatten it slightly to get it through the hole! It was interesting to see that most of the traffic on the A37 is now mainly lorries and delivery vans and there are times during the day when I could safely walk down the white lines! I also noted that the wild damson trees, that I ‘cropped’ last year, were in full bloom, so I hope we have another good crop - my Damson Jam is quite popular at market.

Later in the morning I went out into the pony paddock to do battle with the encroaching brambles, now that Mary knows she has it for another 6 months. My ex’s Welsh Section C stallion, Neuaddparc The Squire, meandered over to say hello – he has such a lovely temperament and is not a bit ‘stalliony’.We bred several show winners  with him when he was young, as well as showing him successfully, too.. He’s now 27 years old, but still looking pretty good in my opinion.

Neuaddparc The Squire

3^rd April 7.30am

It was dry and considerably milder this morning.

I went to the fishing lake again, as I wanted to do more bramble cutting later, so didn’t want to be out for hours. The tractors had been out yesterday and had ploughed the stubble fields to the left hand side of the track. They were obviously going to do a further field as they had left their machinery parked up overnight. I had a quick look at the amazing piece of kit on the back – not only does it rotavate the ground, it then direct drills the seed deep into the ground and then scuffles the ground up to make sure they are all covered! Not so long ago, this would have been a three-stage operation. 

All-in-one maize sowing

It looks as if they are going to grow maize in these three big fields this year (the badgers will be pleased, as it is much nearer to their sett!!). I somehow don’t think I will be seeing any mammals in this area for a while as there is no cover whatsoever. However, my regular skylarks were up and singing, but there was not much else about. In the hope of seeing something more interesting I again went into the Solar Farm field but skirted the edge of it and came out on Easton Lane near the scrap metal yard. There were sheep in one of the fields, but also a small number in amongst the solar panels. They let them in there periodically to eat off the grass between the arrays. Just before I came out onto the A37 I spotted a random patch of wood anemones, or windflowers, on the grass verge.

Wood anemones

4^th April 9.30am

The wind had swung round to blow from the south-east and it was a bit milder this morning. There were quite a few clouds, but it was generally sunny.

I walked to the lake and heard lots of skylarks – they seem to each have one field as their territory. In fact there was so much birdsong that I wished I was better at identifying them. There has probably always been this much birdsong but being still relatively close to the A37 the traffic noise is usually far greater – one benefit of the lockdown, I guess. I saw and heard wrens, great tits, blue tits, robins, blackbirds and the usual wood pigeons, crows and jackdaws. On my way back I saw another tractor rolling the fields that had been planted yesterday, and that's it, job done. Now we just need some rain to make it all grow!

Rolling the fields after sowing