Unsettled is the keynote of the weather, through summer and autumn. A weather-motif which mirrors our unsettled politics. Political turbulence is a distraction from the all important question of the impact of Climate Change and species loss.
So, carpe diem, seize the day. Seize the sunrise, a moment of glory. The town below lies in darkness but wildlife is wakeful. Jackdaws take wing at first light.
So, carpe diem, seize the day. Seize the sunrise, a moment of glory. The town below lies in darkness but wildlife is wakeful. Jackdaws take wing at first light.
Wondrous bands of colour and here comes the sun. A cawing of jackdaws invisible somewhere in the trees, in the dark town below. Their calls grow louder and the flock erupts against the dawn sky and in seconds is gone. The sky is constantly changing and again the jackdaws rise in a clamour. And fall silent. That rich flush of colour fades into something diurnal, unremarkable. A dog barks, a robin sings.
At dusk, flocks of rooks and jackdaws fly to seek our their roost for the night. So what is the term for the rising of corvids to greet the dawn?
At dusk, flocks of rooks and jackdaws fly to seek our their roost for the night. So what is the term for the rising of corvids to greet the dawn?
The first volley of jackdaws rose close to my skylight window,, so suddenly they appear like insects spattered on a car windscreen. For those of us who remember car journeys when windscreens were thick with insects after a journey. That it no longer happens is an indicator of species loss. Although if you're too young to remember how it was you won't perceive what has been lost.
Up on Scout Scar the day was mild and still. I met someone who had lived here all his life, who used to come here with his uncle who walked daily on Scout Scar. He told of a field of lapwing where now there are none- I've heard this from another local. Where are the skylark he remembered, he asks? Well, there are some half a dozen pairs but he remembers something richer. And the buzzard which raised a family close by was silent this summer. He was looking for mushrooms which he used to pick to eat. There was a particular spot he'd always find them.
I hear mistle thrush calling and goldfinch. No sign of fieldfare or redwing - the weather is mild and there's time. But when I wrote About Scour Scar I record an abundance of them and there hasn't been a winter like that for several years.
After comers cannot guess the beauty been Binsey Poplars Gerard Manley Hopkins
So carpe diem.
Up on Scout Scar the day was mild and still. I met someone who had lived here all his life, who used to come here with his uncle who walked daily on Scout Scar. He told of a field of lapwing where now there are none- I've heard this from another local. Where are the skylark he remembered, he asks? Well, there are some half a dozen pairs but he remembers something richer. And the buzzard which raised a family close by was silent this summer. He was looking for mushrooms which he used to pick to eat. There was a particular spot he'd always find them.
I hear mistle thrush calling and goldfinch. No sign of fieldfare or redwing - the weather is mild and there's time. But when I wrote About Scour Scar I record an abundance of them and there hasn't been a winter like that for several years.
After comers cannot guess the beauty been Binsey Poplars Gerard Manley Hopkins
So carpe diem.
An alternative sunrise sequence when a pall of mist hangs over the River Kent and the castle peeps through the mist.
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