Day 29 for #30dayswildcreativity: Winds (or Wings) of Change

The expanse between the garden and the wood is a turbulent ocean of leaves. The wind ruffles each branch in relentless pulses as it buffets the Silver Birch, Hawthorn and Horse Chestnut trees. No wonder the resident Blackbird’s sentinel perch at the top of the fir is currently untenanted. The 'crow’s nest' is Crow-less. Even the Magpies have made a dash for cover. Up above the highest branches, a tarpaulin of grey cloud blocks out the sun one might expect to see on this late June afternoon. Down below, flurries of Silver Birch seeds float in raindrops on the picnic table. The chairs we used for balmy alfresco meals only a few days ago have been carried indoors. 

A kit of Wood Pigeons has just flown past my window. I can hear the coo of the Collared Doves, but cannot see them. I wonder where the recently fledged Blue tits have hunkered down. The rambling rose bush is shedding peach-pink petals at an alarming rate. Its stems criss-cross in and out of the trellis and are still intact, but on a day like today I cannot help wondering whether the rose grower who gave the species the appellation of ‘High Hopes’ was feeling just a shade optimistic. The only plant that seems untouched by the strength of the gusts is, of course, the lofty and indestructible Mile-a-Minute.

Suddenly the sun appears for a few fleeting minutes. Velvet-brown wings skitter past my arm and come to rest, wide open, on a shiny leaf of what I think is Woodbine. I see they are framed by a delicate line of white scales. It may be the force of the storm that is ruffling my lockdown hair, but it is the unexpected joy of seeing what is only our second-ever Ringlet here in the garden that causes my heart to flutter.     

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This post was written as a response to Dr Miriam Darlington's #30dayswildcreativity 'Winds of Change' meme on her Facebook page. 

Of Storms and Turtles

I remember the excitement as a child when I had the chance to see a live Leatherback Turtle that had been washed up on the shore at Cadgwith Cove in Cornwall. Local fishermen did their best to rescue it, but I'm not sure that the outcome was successful. 

More recently in 2010, as faithful followers may remember, I was thrilled to see a Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta) swimming a few metres from the shore near Pylos in the Peloponnese. Do take a moment to read this fine turtle poem, The Lost Egg of Caretta caretta, by Lynn Woollacott on the Poetry Society pages.

Sea turtle near Pylos, Greece, 2010

I blogged a few days ago about the dubious storm sighting of a Penguin (probably a Guillemot) on the shore at Polkerris in Cornwall. And now, it seems, that two dead turtles have recently been found in Sussex. The one at Splash Point, Worthing, appears to have been a Loggerhead and was discovered a few days before Christmas. You can read about it here on Steve Savage's blog. The more recent find (17 February) was a Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, the world's rarest sea turtle species, and it was found at Saltdean. There are photos over at The Nature Quest blog and a short news report from The Argus here.

A second Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle was discovered on a beach I know well, Cefn Sidan Sands, near Llanelli in South Wales in mid-January 2014. These turtles from the Gulf of Mexico were close to extinction in the 1980s.

And if you encounter any marine turtles - alive or dead - on our UK beaches, do report them to the Marine Conservation Society.

Nature Reserves ~ RSPB Minsmere

I feel this is a rather sad and desolate post ... showing this wonderful reserve after the huge tide caused such devastation along the coast. The photos were taken last weekend on a very bleak afternoon. My excuse for these gloomy photos is that I was at Minsmere again today ... only this time with the sun shining, so the next post will be more upbeat!

The photo above shows the fragile bank near the RSPB Centre where the Sand Martins like to nest each summer.