Wild Wanderings
‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’
A walk was in order.
I haven’t walked to the river for a week or so and I needed to see how things were doing. The strange weather has played havoc with the endeavors of the farmers, and the results are easy to see. The fields are a tapestry of poor crops and dry patches which seem to have nothing growing in them at all, not even weeds. One good thing about this, if you can have a positive, is the patchy fields are good for Skylarks. The ground nesting Skylark likes the patchy cover to build its home. I heard two on my way down to the river, and that is quite a step in the right direction, as they have been scarce around here for some time. You can’t beat that lilting song as the Skylark heads skyward into the bright blue sky on midsummer day. Memories of my childhood roaming the fields and woods comes flooding back. For a moment I am 8yrs old again.
Approaching the second field I leaned on the gate and scanned the boundary opposite with my binoculars. I spotted a furtive movement in the lower parts of the hedgerow and so slowly made my way towards it. The movement was stop start and something was tugging at the hedge and undergrowth. At first, I thought it may be a Fox. I approached even slower and then caught sight of the bob tail of a Muntjac Deer with its white under-tail flicking up and down. I stopped walking forward and lifted my camera. I was quite excited as I hadn’t snapped a Muntjac for some time.
I needed the Muntjac to come out of the hedge and towards me a little, which is always a big ask as they are nervous and cautious. Suddenly the Deer’s head popped out the hedge and it immediately turned on itself and darted back into the wooded copse behind it. I waited a little while, but I knew the opportunity had gone. But I will note the area I spotted it for next time. This is one thing about my hobby and passion you never know when you are going to get that ‘shot’. You have to live with disappointment and develop a lot of patience.
The sky was overcast and grey but it was humid and warm, so the trekking was quite hard work. The bone-dry ground which had been puck holed by the sheep and cattle in the time of the floods (remember them?) made it like walking on the moon, watching every step.
Arriving at the field that runs down to the bank of the river, which is on high ground, I paused to scan the river and quarry with my binoculars. The grass bank was a riot of dandelions and buttercups and newly emerging bunches of Dock Leaves, what a beautiful sight. The Dock Leaves I will visit again later in the week as they are a favourite with Damselflies’. We have two species of Damsel here and I love the way they flit around, forming clouds moving between the large Dock-leaves.
Bird-life was scant today, just a solitary Swan slowly gliding down the river and a couple of Buzzards circling overhead. Two Cormorants took off from the quarry, but the sky was so dead and grey I did not even attempt a flight shot of them.
Not a lot of wildlife today, but to be in nature is such a tonic for the soul especially in these rather strange times we all find ourselves in.
I realise how lucky I am to be able to ramble around like this today. And I know many of you reading this will not be so lucky and may have difficulty accessing wild places. I hope my ‘Wild Wanderings’ can bring you some joy until you can all get out and about again.
Stay well
RJM
