Bird Songs

Mr PoppyM is a real countryman and a treasure-trove of information obtained first hand though-out his life - from boyhood through to adult-hood. It must be rubbing off on me as I have just begun to realize that I can identify quite a large number of birds just from their calls. Before I came to live here in the Welsh Marches I could probably identify a blackbird, crow, robin, seagull (I come from the seaside) & an "owl" - non-specific! Now, a few years of being with Mr Poppy M, I can proudly boast that I know all of the crow family by call, several owl species, quite a few tits, some thrushes, woodpeckers & the ever present buzzard. And by sight I can identify even more. At first this additional knowledge seems a simple thing of little consequence, a pleasant collection of information to use in family competitions & of no direct effect to the quality of my life. However,I have noticed a curious thing - as I become familiar with a bird's call, it becomes part of my sound-scape & the call stands out as a familiar human voice does. Not only that, other bird calls, that I was previously unaware of, stand out as "unknown" - like a new voice in a room of familiar people. All bird's voices seem to become differentiated, no longer a background blend, almost as if the invisible becomes visible. The changes do not stop there, the voices then become part of my world and in this manner my world has expanded. This is of course not new, part of the "to know is to love" experience - but for me this is no longer just a phrase but a physical reality.



The RSPB has a great web site with information about individual birds including calls & videos- it's well worth a visit http://www.rspb.org.uk/.
My favourite call - a raven,
The most surprising calls - the jay - I always think of parrots when I hear them & the green woodpecker - it makes me think of a kookaburra. Odd how until recently I was more familiar with exotic birds than out native ones - TV nature documentaries perhaps?
The happiest - redwings
The most unnerving - barn owl


The following site has some good sound bites of British birds http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/home.shtml (the Jay feather at the top of the page is from this site).

The Goshawk

From Flickr CrazyM's photostream



There's something about a goshawk - a proud energy quite unlike that of buzzard. I hadn't quite realized the difference until today when, for a few seconds, I caught sight of a large bird of prey gliding low across an alder-lined brook into an apple orchard. There was a tight grace that shouted goshawk.

The Goshawk

An exercise modelled on Mary Oliver’s “The Hawk”

This morning
The goshawk
Rose up
Out of the stubble field

And swung through blueness -
It settled
On the tarry crest
Of a telephone pole.

Captivating as a queen,
In silhouette, arrogant.
Her ermine breast
Etched with stripes,

And I said: remember
This is not just something
Of the cool air, this is
God’s earthly agent

Of control & deliverance.
And the goshawk
Turned in grace,
To re-focus the stare,

To see further
Across the hedgerows,
Along the tree-margins
And I said: remember,

All live to die,
Experiments in perfection.
And that’s when she lifted in purity
Her miraculous wings and floated

Into the wind, eyes first,
And cruised along the tree-line,
All the time eyes clasped
Tighter than need on some

Whispered disturbance in the
Trees & litter & then
It swerved & moulded into the air
Becoming a perfectly loosed arrow.

Poppy Morgan

Pears - drops of sunshine

Real autumnal weather has finally arrive on a bluster of wind & rain. The clocks have changed & the days feel significantly shorter. The horse is brought in from the field as light falls. I can feel my winter-pace setting in - lovely long evenings to make plans for future & reflect on the past.

I'm still busy "locking away the summer" by poaching wind-fall pears & making preserves. This is only my second season at jam-making & I've just finished a batch of mint jelly (apple jelly base with fresh mint leaves & a hint of lemon rind) of which I'm immensely proud. There's a pot of onion chutney hidden in the fridge for Christmas. As Mr PoppyM is diabetic I've promised to have a go at making some pickles including piccalilli - what an odd word.

In the local town is a whole food shop that stocks a large range of herbs & spices - sold loose. Even better than that, you can select whatever quantity you wish - no minimums. I spent a happy few minutes selecting & bagging up my Christmas list of herbs & spices. I brought 7 items and the total came to under £4! I love the smell of spices & couldn't imagine a life without them. In complete contrast my husband was indifferent to the experience which I find perplexing as he is the real food-lover. Perhaps it is due to his lack of success in the kitchen? Whereas I'd almost rather create the food then eat it & without a palate of these small essence how reduced my options would be? If I were on Dessert Island discs my luxury item would be a casket of herbs & spices.

Back to pears. Until I moved to one of the orchard counties of England, pears were "just another fruit". There are 2 particularly beautiful pear trees growing here that I have now watched through all the seasons & this experience has changed how I view the fruit. These tall shapely trees are pleasing through the winter as bare skeletons. As winter moves into spring they grow green & soften in outline. Blossom appears - often briefly & modestly, surprisingly so for a member of the rose family. Then the fruits appear - golden drops hung like ornaments amongst the leaves. They swell & become more defined & then the waiting begins, a waiting for the first ones to fall. Those first golden fruits to leave the tree are semi-ripe but I gather these anyway & ripen them at home. Then as whole clusters ripen they fall & the real gathering begins. I gather the perfect ones in a small cloth bag, usually accompanied by a dog & return homes with them full of glee. I place these trophies on a large dish in the window & admire them as I walk past. They are trophies as I "compete" with the birds & insects for them & other gatherers - especially those who "cheat" & put ladders to pluck them directly from the branches. And then when all the fruit has fallen & all the perfect or nearly perfect fruit has been gathered, those left on the ground lay there. Some rot away, feeding the soil. Some are eaten by late insects & rodents. And still some are left for the winter when flocks of redwings & fieldfares visit for a sweet winter feed. And in the mid-winter I eat my pears & think back to summers past & imagines those to come.

(images from Flickr)

October - so far

Goodness time flies unless you are a yew tree.

So far my prediction for a wet & gloomy October has been totally WRONG. To date it has been beautiful & there is the autumn colour to prove it. I have witnessed some spectacular sunsets - masterpieces in pink & blue. I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning as it may well be the first real frost of the season.

I've gathered in the tomatoes - a both happy & sad event. Happy, as it provides a moment to revel in the abundance that a small number of seedlings have provided. Happy as the green tomatoes sit & ripen. Happy as I eat the red fruits remembering that trapped inside them is summer sunshine. Sad as each individual plant's life comes to an end. I'm not as good at endings as startings!

The late turnips & carrots are growing really well & the hens are thoroughly enjoying the thinnings & luscious leaves. I've started to develop a taste for turnips - provided that they are grated raw. I've always found the idea of turnip soup totally hilarious - probably something to do with the childhood tale about the giant turnip!

Much work has been accomplished on our "little piece of paradise" & it is almost ready to receive the tree surgeon's team. Again I am faced with endings. A number of saplings have established themselves in the stone work of the church ruins so have to be removed. One substantial ash is knocking against the tower & causing significant damage. One poor tree is a lightening strike & unsafe. All these, and a few others, are scheduled for felling or canopy reduction. I'll probably stay at home while the felling takes place - it will be upsetting to see them fall. The church site will be a totally different place with them gone. It is hoped that we'll use at least some of the timber in the church's restoration so their lives will be remembered in the building.

The next phase is the relocation of the damaged grave-markers. This is a delicate process & we are awaiting direction from relevant organisations on how best to achieve this. Cutting back the nettles & brambles we've uncovered a grave-marker for a man who died in action during WW1 - I wonder if this needs reporting to the War Graves Commission?

I'm looking forward to designing & creating for real gardens for the graveyard area - it's a bit intimidating to- a responsibility to remember with dignity those who have ended their days there.

Finally there is a large yew tree on the site, by no means ancient, but a beautiful specimen. The tree is now on the data-base of the Ancient Yew Society - trees of 500 years old plus are featured in their gazetteer. Mr PoppyM & myself visited the oldest one in the county -1000 years old - how amazing is that- and it was still a beautiful, vibrant tree wearing the years lightly. (Stanford Bishop, picture from Ancient Yew Group http://www.ancient-yew.org/home.shtml ).

It's well & truly AUTUMN.

Generally I love this season but this year I feel that it will not be one of the most colourful or abundant ones. I am anticipating a lovely sunny spell followed by wet & cold weather with fog & penetrating dampness right up until Christmas. Gloomy but I'd rather be prepared.

A review of the veggie garden has lead me to declare it a success. Admittedly the brassicas have been hammered by the slugs & caterpillars but most are still growing well & I've harvested some greyhound cabbages & a cauliflower - the 1st I've ever grown. The brussel sprouts are coming along well. The purple sprouting has been left to seed - the hens can have those greens. The pak choi were brilliant but the lesson for next year is grow early & start of in pots - they are such a delicious plant every free-roaming creature in the universe seems to love them. The tomatoes are still ripening - the trusses are not very abundant but the toms on them are a good size & taste great. I expect the abundance has more to do with my less than diligent feeding than any vagaries of the weather.

I still find it amazing putting a seed in the ground & hey prestso a whole plant with flowers/fruit - a miracle indeed. I've been collecting seeds for a while now & I still get a thrill from it - today I collected my first sunflowers seeds from plants I've grown this year. When I first looked I thought there were no seeds but I poked a bout a bit & they started to fall out - I was expecting the striped ones available in pet food but these are tiny little black ones. Only one way to find out if they are fertile - plant them!

Today (10th sept) has been glorious - clear-blue sky, bright sunshine & a bit of breeze. I took the small dog with me as I did my jobs - collected windfall apples & took them down to the horse-yard, walked through the fields on the way to the chickens looking for interesting things. Found lots of sloes but didn't pick them as haven't planned out a use for them & don't want to waste them. Spent a while under the huge coppiced hazel tree looking for nuts - as usual the squirrels had beaten me to it - the ground was littered with opened & discarded shells. I've brought a few home & started to open them - so far only 2 have a kernel suitable for planting.

Next to the chicken pen is the veggie patch - optimistically, a few days a ago I planted some rows of turnips & radishes with a few other odds & ends - they are sprouting - hurrah. It's so dry (nice to say that in September) so I've just watered them. I have high hope of a good crop now they've germinated well - I just hope the hens will enjoy the turnips/tops as I'm not a great fan!

Blackberries don't seem to be very abundant this year but on this outing I've managed to find enough for tonight - a real autumn treat.

Recently I've added some newsletters to my in basket & I'm really enjoying them so in case anyone out there in blog land hasn't found these - here they are:

Barefoot Doctor (welcome@barefootdoctorworld.com)

semi-dailyquote@aweber.com on behalf of Susan Gregg (susan@susangregg.com)

Horse Hero (noreply@horsehero.com) - great videos on horse matters

Umhh - I can smell the brioche so it must be nearly baked - that will go really well with the blackberry & apples & yoghurt - cant wait til tea-time!

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boots

One of my favourite poems is about socks. Inspired by this poem (by Pablo Neruda) I have written my own version about a pair of boots . I mention is now as a week or so ago I ceremoniously burnt the boots - a moment of sadness & great gratitude.

Ode to a Pair of Boots

A friend gave me
A pair of boots
That she had brought for herself
But were not hers.
Two comfortable boots.
I slipped my feet into them
As if they were two cases
Made with pieces of adventure & fortitude.
Audacious boots,
My feet were two birds made of hide,
Two giant eagles
Cliff brown, shot through
With golden laces.
Two immense turtles,
Two wolves.
My feet were honoured in this way
By these heavenly boots.
They were so handsome,
For the first time
My feet seemed to me as unacceptable
Like two decrepit toads
Not worthy of the magical hide
Of those peerless boots.
Nevertheless, I resisted the temptation
To save them somewhere as schoolboys
Keep fireflies,
As learned men collect
Sacred texts,

I resisted the mad impulse to put them
In a gilded cage & each day give them
Finest nuggets & armfuls of fresh greens.
Like explorers in the forest
Who hand over the impossible unicorn
To scientists who coldly sacrifice it,
I stretched out my feet & pulled on
Thick socks & then the magnificent boots.

A shameless modification of Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to a Pair of Socks”.

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My news boots (pictured above - Shires Stroud riding boot) are wonderfully comfortable & water-proof but they are new & it will take a while for them to become part of me like the old pair!

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A mellow moment

I'm having one of those lovely mellow pauses in the day:

I've just taken both dogs for their main walk - short ones today because of the horrible weather. On route checked the hens & feed them great armfuls of goose grass & veggie. The dogs have been feed & are now lying in their beds washing their paws getting ready for along snooze. (This is a tip I got from a Cesar Milan book - feed directly after a good walk & the dogs fall into a deep sleep - yes it works every time). http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

I'm listening to some chilling snippets of music sent to my in-box via dailyom.com - today it is Guitar Meditations, Volume IISoulfood, featuring Billy McLaughlin 2005.

Sat here with sleeping dogs & Mr Poppy M out drilling a hole in some thing, I'm reflecting on the fascinating things that have occurred over the last few days..

* While I was hacking my way to the brook to get some water for the horse I saw a kingfisher - a piece of brilliant blue travelling at an incredible speed along the water's surface. My first siting at this location. (picture from Flickr Rosa Gambóias)

* Mr PoppyM came back from tending the hens with a great tale. He drew-up to the pen & noticed 3 rooks in the veggie patch adjacent to the hen pen. He watched them for a bit to see what they were doing - they are normally trying to steal grain from the hens. They were picking caterpillars from the cabbages!! Those crows can stay as long a they like if they'll keep on doing that!

* As I walked along the margin's of an un-cut hay field I disturbed lots of butterflies - dusky brown ones. I stood still to see if I could identify what they were feeding on - it was the grasses. Now that sight will remind me that grasses have flowers to - it's odd how I'd forgotten that as I'm a hay-fever suffer (tho tree-pollen & moulds are my big problems)!

* Buddleia- the butterfly bush - I don't think I've ever seen so many or such large flower heads as I've seen this year. Their very strong, sweet honey-scent has made my evening walks to the horse a real pleasure. And during the day, the bushes have been covered with butterflies - including Red Admirals - one of my favourites. And outside my home - the little cuttings I planted out this year are looking really healthy & the ailing bushes from last year are just about to flower - success!! (picture from Flickr doc.holiday41's photostream).

* The pumpkin & courgette plants have outgrown their bed are are now making their way across the grass! I knew they'd get big - but I didn't expect them to be this monstrous & it's only mid-July -opps.

Right - that's the mellow moment over. It's wet & windy out there, still, so time to think of something nice & warm for tea - yes it is the middle of an English summer!

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