Bramble leaves in late October Flocks of winter thrush feast on yew arils, delving into the dark yews of Whitbarrow. ‘What are you looking at?’ ask men with a trio of dogs. Winter thrush, we might say, because sunlight comes faintly and it’s hard to distinguish fieldfare from redwing and mistle thrush. Sunlight too faint to colour the birds and they sweep through the yews with only contact calls, only a note or two. We hear the high-pitched call of redwing, the football rattle of mistle thrush. The fieldfare say little but jizz is certain. In the afternoon the sun grows stronger but the flocks have moved on. Nature study is often about coincidence, a coming together of seasonal elements, of weather.
An interlude with winter thrush is full of promise. Perhaps. You never know if they’ll stay around, or move on to new feeding grounds. The yew arils of Whitbarrow and Scout Scar, of the Morecambe Bay limestones, could tempt them if it’s a good crop of berries. And if the wind direction brings them in from Scandinavia.
Two images of yew trees sculpted by the prevailing south-westerlies, , larch with fieldfare. And birch trees with golden autumn foliage.
Reprise of Durham Bridge Wood and its fringe of hedgerow shrubs that always fascinates. As summer leaves die back the scaffolding of climbers becomes visible. Black bryony threads through the trees, its necklaces of berries green in September are now glossy scarlet. Let your eye wander through the foliage and you can make out different berries: rose hips, yew arils, guelder rose, black bryony. Spindle is the coincidence I’m after. Its berries are pink and leaves begin to colour. Soon the fruits will burst to reveal orange seeds and if the wind has not stripped the leaves they’ll complement the fruit.
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Bramble leaf, berries of black bryony amongst yew arils, spindle berries, guilder rose
I show coincidence at its most glorious in Cumbrian Contrasts and Whitbarrow chapter 8 begins with an image of guelder rose in early November 2013. A beautifully shaped leaf is in rich autumn colour and it resembles a hand reaching out, a hand bearing glossy scarlet fruit.
24 October. A fine day on Scout Scar with wind from the east. Neither sight nor sound of fieldfare or redwing. I wander the yew of Helsington Barrows, searching the tops of larches and Scots pine but there are no winter thrush here.
24 October. A fine day on Scout Scar with wind from the east. Neither sight nor sound of fieldfare or redwing. I wander the yew of Helsington Barrows, searching the tops of larches and Scots pine but there are no winter thrush here.
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