Nature Diary #9

Dog roses

 I’m afraid I haven’t been for many walks this week, as it has been a busy week for gardening work.

The grass fields all around us have finally been cut for silage, leaving several acres looking like they have had a ‘Grade one’ haircut! I was worried about the skylarks, who I thought might have been nesting in the long grass, but I needn’t have worried – they’re far more savvy than that, as they were up and singing over the bean fields this morning, so I think that all is well. Last week I was wondering why I hadn’t seen any deer for a while, until one briefly lifted it’s head from the middle of the field and watched me walk past. I hadn’t realised that the grass was so long that an adult deer was completely invisible when lying down – now they have very few places to hide, but it will probably take a while before they re-emerge from the denser coppices, after all the noise and bustle of silage cutting.

Ox-eye daisies

The hawthorn blossom has very quickly gone over in the high temperatures that we have had in the last week and, this morning, the lake surface was covered in the dead brown flowers, drifting to and fro on the breeze-ruffled surface. There is not much to take their place in the hedgerows but I did spot some dog roses coming into bloom, and some rather pretty ox-eye daisies near the lake.

The birds are much quieter now as they go into nesting mode, just the odd alarm call from the blackbirds as I pass by and a few random birdsongs from the higher trees. Our resident house sparrows are busy feeding young and chirping noisily and the large flock of jackdaws are also raising young and being very argumentative and territorial – it’s not exactly peaceful here!

Chick warning sign

I spotted two of the moorhen chicks under the bird feeder, without adult supervision, earlier in the week. I think this must have been the equivalent of letting the children go to the corner shop on their own, for the first time! Since then I haven’t seen any of the family about and no ‘come here’ calls from the parents, so I think they may have taken the chicks, (who are almost as big as the adults now, but a bit fluffy still) and headed out into the wider world. I feel very privileged that they chose to nest so close by and hope they come back again next year.

Returning from their first solo exploration of the yard!

In another twist to the ongoing Swallow saga – I have found where they are nesting … I think! There is a covered pedestrian walkway that goes through from the yard to the main road, where we keep the wheelie bin, and it has a high, gabled ceiling. There is evidence of two nesting sites right up in the apex, but only one of them has been used, sporadically, over the last few years. The other day I went out to put some rubbish in the bin and thought I could detect fresh droppings on the floor, so looked up, and there was a swallow looking down on me! So, there we are, we do seem to be hosting a pair of swallows, after all!

On a sad note, we have had another fatality in our ever-dwindling chicken flock. Mrs Speckles the very lovely, but totally unproductive, Speckled Sussex hen died a couple of days ago. She had always been a bit of a loner as, when I got her, she was at least a year older than the youngsters I bought, and she looked down on them with total disdain. At first, she was our best egg layer, but after that first glorious season, she downed tools and became purely decorative! Just over a year ago, she became very poorly with a large swelling on one side of her face that closed her eye on that side and forced her mouth to be permanently open, rendering her unable to feed or drink. A trip to the vet, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics (and a hefty £40 vet bill!!) brought her back from the brink, but this time her age (she was at least six) and the heat finished her off. RIP Mrs Speckles - you will be missed, by me, if not the rest of the flock (now reduced to four hens and one cockerel).

Mrs Speckles, in her younger days - RIP

Nature Diary #8

Hare in a bean field

Last Sunday morning I decided to go for a stroll to the lake, taking with me a carrier bag and foldable secateurs to gather any elderflowers that I might see. My mind was really only on my foraging mission, but I did slip my camera into my pocket on the off chance that I saw something of interest to photograph for you all! I was very glad that I had because, as I emerged onto the track near the bean fields, I spotted a hare a little way in front of me. I stood still to watch it and soon became aware that there was another hare in the bean field. I stood there for maybe five minutes and soon realised that there were more hares further over in the field, eating breakfast, chasing each other and generally having a high old time! After I’d counted ten, the novelty of the situation wore off a bit, but I did try to photograph some. However, even when they are not frightened, they move at an incredible speed, so the photos were not terribly successful! 

Hare today ... gone tomorrow!

Blurry Hare

Hare #3

This brought back memories of when Jeni and I were WWOOFing together in Lancashire and went for a drive on our day off. We were driving through the Forest of Bowland, with a gravelly stream to one side of us, when we spotted an unusual bird – an oystercatcher! I backed the car up and we took photos. A bit further down the lane we saw another couple, and then more and, eventually, a flock of them – it was very funny, at the time, as our wonder turned to indifference!

You will be pleased to know that my mission was successful, and one batch of Elderflower Cordial has been made, with the next batch waiting to be bottled today. I have also made Gooseberry and Elderflower jam, which was very popular last year on my stall. Perhaps, one day, I’ll be able to sell it on the markets again!

I went for a longer walk on Tuesday, but although it was fairly early (about 8.30) and there was a gorgeous clarity to the light, I didn’t see much wildlife, at all. However I did come across a wonderful red, semi-double Hawthorn. It was growing in a field hedge, but looked too exotic to be a native plant, so perhaps it was an escapee. We have white, pink and red hawthorn near here, which is lovely.

White hawthorn

Pink Hawthorn

Red Hawthorn

My walks generally take me out to the fishing lake and back and, quite often, I see nothing of note. I feel as if the lake area is quite secretive in that I rarely see any wildlife, but I hear moorhens calling, little rustlings in the bushes, odd splashes and ripples in the water but sometimes it offers up a little visual gem, like the huge carp I saw there the other week. Today it presented me with a mallard duck and three half-grown ducklings!

Mallard duck and ducklings

Nearer to home, I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to take a photo of our moorhen family. There are three chicks, but they are no longer little black balls of fluff, and have developed the characteristic long legs and large feet of the adult birds. Mum quite often takes them across the yard to feed under the wild bird feeder but, if she is startled, she flies back to the shelter of the shrubbery, leaving her poor youngsters to fend for themselves! We have put up a large sign near the entrance to the yard to warn any delivery drivers to beware.

I haven’t given you an update on Mr Swallow recently, mainly because I can’t work out what is going on! He has definitely found a mate but I think she is what is known as a ‘flighty piece’! It’s been a bit like ‘Location, Location, Location’ in that, one day, he came and proudly showed her his ‘home’ in the barn:

“This is where I was hatched and fledged, but Mum and Dad didn’t make it back, so we could set up home here. What do you think?”

“It’s a bit dark and dismal, isn’t it? Couldn’t we move somewhere a bit lighter?”

“Well, if you follow me through the interconnecting archway, there’s Uncle Sid and Aunt Miriam’s nest in the wood store – it’s a bit lighter in here and, in the summer, the humans don’t come in here much, so it’s a bit more secluded. I lost sight of Uncle Sid and Aunt Miriam over the Sahara, so I don’t think they’ll need it this year.”

“ Hmmm – it’s better, but it feels a bit claustrophobic and we might get trapped in here. Is there anywhere else a bit more open?”

“Oh, OK. Come with me outside to this little-used porch area on the other side of the yard. This belonged to Uncle Ken and Aunt Violet, but we lost them as we crossed from North Africa into Spain, so they won’t be needing it this year, either.”

“Oh yes, this is much better – lovely open aspect, and a view all down the yard, so we’ve got a good view of potential predators approaching … but it’s a bit draughty. Is there anything else?”

At which point, totally exasperated and dejected our hero gave up and flew off! They are still around the area somewhere as, every few days, he pays a nostalgic visit to his home nest and even brought his partner to sit on the electricity wire outside my door and have a little chat with me. No other swallows have made it back this year and the yard feels very empty without their chittering presence. I have spotted a few swallows on my walks, swooping low over the grass fields catching insects, but nowhere near the numbers that are usually hunting here, so I hope their numbers recover a bit this year and they manage to raise two or three broods successfully.

  

Red Admiral butterfly

White comfrey

Nature Diary #7

Dappled sunlight

This week has been a week of two halves as far as the weather goes – at the beginning of the week I was wearing a long-sleeved top and a thick sweater and putting the central heating on in the evenings and since Wednesday I have been in vest tops and wished I’d found my cut-offs!

I have only been for two walks this week as I have had a couple of paid gardening jobs and, yesterday, I did my first volunteering stint at my friends’ organic market garden. I suddenly realised, at my usual ‘idea-having-wake-up-moment’ (usually around 5.30-6.00am!), that the young couple, who run the organic veg stall at Castle Cary market, might be struggling a bit, as I knew they were doing fruit and veg boxes for people and delivering them all around the local area, which wouldn’t leave them a lot of time to tend to their garden. I got in touch and volunteered my weeding skills in return for a small box of veg. So yesterday I drove the few miles to their plot and worked for most of the day, weeding and clearing beds for replanting, firstly in the polytunnel (until it got too hot) and then in the outside plot. It felt very much like my WWOOFing days, and I thoroughly enjoyed it but, heavens, was I tired last night! Six hours of weeding in hot conditions nearly broke me! However, I have a lovely box of fruit & veg and a bottle of local apple juice to show for my endeavours and have volunteered to go again next Friday! I just needed to get a bit more structure in my week, for my own mental health as I was beginning to drift through the days.

Elder flower

My first walk of the week was going to be just to the lake and back, but as I drew nearer I could see that there was a vehicle and trailer manoeuvring up to the large bonfire heap that has been steadily growing for the last few weeks, so I went around the field and over the stile instead. It was just as well really as, when I looked back, they had set fire to the heap and the smoke would have been most unpleasant to walk through. The downside of taking this route was that I had to cross the solar farm field and had to virtually wade through the grass as they still haven’t cut it for silage and it was almost knee high in places. Having reached the far side by the old crossing keeper’s cottage, I continued along the lane to the far end, turned up the A371 for a few hundred yards and back along Bagborough Lane. There was very little wildlife around and no notable flowers, so the camera stayed in my pocket, however I did notice that the elder flowers are coming out, so I must get the ingredients together for our family favourite, Elderflower Cordial, and hope that, at some point in the near future, I will be able to give some bottles to my children! 

Wild rose

This morning I set off at about 8.30 with not much hope of finding anything of interest, that I have not mentioned before, but Nature had a few little delights and surprises for me! It was already sunny and warm, so I was quite glad that I’d decided to go out early. I started off by walking on the pavement along the A37 but soon struck off towards Pylle village proper, past the Village Hall. I was idly scanning the hedgerows when I saw a lovely wild rose, just coming into flower and had to take a photo. A bit further along the lane I could hear soft snorting noises coming from the other side of the hedge and, when I reached the gateway, I could see a herd of cows, most of whom were lying down contentedly sun-bathing.

Contented cows!

Pylle church was looking particularly pretty in the sunshine against the bright blue background of the sky, and there was so much birdsong that I leaned on the wall for a while just listening to all the sounds surrounding me – it felt very peaceful and soul-restoring. I managed to identify, either by sight or song, robin, black cap, chiff chaff, chaffinch, goldfinch, blue tit, blackbird.

Pylle Church

From there, I turned right towards Pilton and very soon crossed the bridge over the old Somerset & Dorset line and dipped down into a shady wooded area, where the smell of wild garlic was quite overpowering! I have never seen as much wild garlic as I have this year and it seems to be lasting for ages! The actual wooded areas on either side of the lane were remarkably devoid of birdsong, but I kept getting tantalising glimpses of small, brown birds flitting about in the hedges and trees. As I came up the slope, and back into sunshine, a beautiful solo song took my breath away – I waited for a while, scanning the hedges, and suddenly a beautiful song thrush flew into a dead tree nearby and gave a virtuoso performance, just for me!

More wild garlic!

Shortly after that I had to climb over a stile and walk back across the fields. Even though I had a map with me I still failed to follow the footpath, without making a detour, but eventually got to the right field where there were ewes and lambs enjoying the sunshine, but they didn’t take kindly to me invading their field and walked smartly away, as I approached.

Ewes and lambs

My final surprise of the morning came as I climbed over yet another gate (why did I think wearing a skirt was a good idea?) onto the final track before meeting up with Hedge Lane, and noticed a silken hammock on a small blackthorn bush. It was a caterpillar nest (of the Lackey Moth, I later found out) and all the caterpillars live communally in the nest for safety, coming out to feed during the day and returning to the nest at night, until they get big enough to go it alone.

  

Lackey caterpillar nest

More meanderings next week. Stay safe and sane, everyone x

wild bugle

Dandelion clock

Nature Diary #6

Peg Loom Rug

 The weather has finally changed and ended April in a more traditional way – sharp showers, with some sustained periods of heavy rain, which has rather curtailed my walking this week. I’m sure no self-respecting wildlife would have chosen to be out and about during the rain, so I stayed indoors, too. This enabled me to finish a peg loom rug that I started a few weeks ago, and I am quite pleased with the results. It utilised some of the black/brown Zwartbles fleece that I have, in both raw and spun states, plus some other rather coarse yarn that I have had for over 30 years (I can’t actually remember exactly where or when I got it, but it has moved house with me many, many times!) and have never found a use for!

Our Whitelake Stream briefly turned back into a stream, with a definite flow, but the ground was so dry that it has now reduced to a sluggish trickle again, despite the fact that we have had a lot of rainfall in the last few days. Whilst out in the yard the other day I spotted a moorhen and a chick in the shrubbery – we had one here last year, too, so I got quite excited. I think they nest on the far side of the shrubbery next to the stream, in a patch of sedge. Imagine my surprise when, a few days later, I spotted another moorhen with three chicks! I have not been able to decide whether this is a pair of moorhens with four chicks or two females with separate broods. According to bird sites both the male and female raise the chicks, but it is noticeable that each bird has its own chicks. I can tell them apart as the one with only one, slightly larger chick, is lame. The chicks are so tiny that I worry about their safety, especially as the mums seem to have a very lax attitude to parenting, and we have a large population of nesting jackdaws at the moment. However, I don’t think I have too much to worry about as I saw one mum seeing off a jackdaw that got too close and, a couple of mornings ago, when I first looked out, she was trouncing a squirrel – she bowled it over, at one point and then chased it away! They are said to be quite aggressive birds!

Moorhen and chicks

There has been such a growth spurt in the vegetation since the rain, that the only flowers visible along the hedgerows now are the campion. The fields that were sown just a couple of weeks ago have now got a couple of inches of green all over, and I was wrong about it being maize, it looks like a legume of some sort, so I am guessing at field beans for animal fodder. The grass fields are like one big, green desert as they are not old, species-rich pastures but quick-growing rye grass for silage, with no other plants allowed to emerge. I could have been passing within a few inches of a hare today and not noticed it as the grass is so long – I expect they’ll do a silage cut soon.

So many of the trees have been in flower recently, too. I’ve never really taken much notice of tree flowers before but now that I am looking at things more closely, I have been surprised at the abundance and complexity of their blossoms. Obviously, some are quite noticeable, such as the horse chestnut ‘candles’, but a lot of them are green and blend into the foliage. No wonder people start suffering from hayfever in April/May with all that pollen floating around!

Goat willow flowers

Red Maple in flower

Unknown tree in flower!

Walnut Tree in flower

On a more domestic note, my vegetable garden is becoming worthy of the name, with both the potatoes and onions emerging from the soil on their patch, and the salad leaves and lettuces starting to put on some growth now. There are neat rows of leeks, although I have had to net them as something keeps pulling them out of the ground, and my overwintered onions are beginning to swell. I’ve still got some of my stored onions but it will be nice to have some more earlier in the season – a bit of an experiment, as I’ve not grown them before. My sole courgette plant is in a big tub next to a tub of peas and I hope to plant out some more climbing beans this weekend. My first ones got shredded by the high winds the other week, but look like they are putting out secondary growth, so I’ll probably have a glut this year! I also have outdoor tomato plants and a couple of outdoor cucumbers still to go in somewhere. My carrots had poor germination, so I shall have to plant some more and, because it was very old seed, I have only managed to germinate two parsnips! The fruit bed is also looking good with the three gooseberry bushes having set fruit, along with the blackcurrant bush and the two redcurrants. I’ve had several pickings of rhubarb and the loganberry is in bloom and setting fruit. I also have a thornless blackberry against the back wall and autumn-fruiting raspberry canes, not forgetting the strawberry plants in homemade grow bags on a shelf! I’m amazed at how productive this little garden has become when you think that everything is planted in raised beds constructed of railway sleepers, on a concrete yard, so there is only about 9-10” of soil depth!

Potato & Onion bed

The Veg bed

The Fruit bed

With so much time on my hands, I have been trying to process the fleeces that I have had stored in various bags in the barn for the last few years. So far I have washed, dried and packed away in plastic vacuum bags, a Jacobs fleece (brown and white), a Ryland fleece (greyish-white and very soft) and am now in the process of washing a dark brown fleece, that I have no recollection of acquiring! A couple of the fleeces have been ruined by moth attack and one had obviously been situated under a leak in the roof and rotted, but it was high time I sorted them. I’ve still got quite a few to look at and process and then I suppose I’d better start spinning them!

I’m sorry that there hasn’t been much in the way of ‘nature’ about today’s blog, but I hope it has kept you entertained nonetheless.

P.S. I’m not going to speak too soon, but I think Mr Swallow may have finally found a mate!

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!