Last of the summer walks

 

Leaves have been falling since late June, and it's now much more autumnal than summery. This summer has been very difficult for a number of reasons, and although I dislike the winter dark intensely, I can't say I'm sorry to see the back of the last couple of months. 

I'm writing this listening to incessant rain, which doesn't bode well for Cwtch's long walk later but which is very much needed. 

Purdown

Blaise Castle

Collapsed ferns at Snuff Mills

Fishponds Brook

Patchway Brook

The River Trym at Badock's Wood

On the first day of the hosepipe ban here in Bristol, it rained so much the previous night that at Snuff Mills, the River Frome was bursting its banks in one or two places and the weirs were running through their winter repertoire ...

... but - we are told - it would have to rain for 90 days to replenish depleted water stocks.

As I've had to stay close to home, it's been pretty much the usual haunts, although, I did explore the Leap valley in Downend, which is hollowed by the tiny stream that gives it its name and which was new to me ... 

... and the Three Brooks nature reserve in Bradley Stoke, but both lack winding paths alongside the streams that are their arteries, and that are such a feature of walks along the River Frome (which they'll presently flow into).

Dockham ditch flowing under the M4 and about to join Patchway brook

And yes, the needs of nature have to be prioritised in these places, but if you're telling me here be kingfishers, I'd like to have a fighting chance of seeing one.

Talking of which ...

a kingfisher and its fish at Frenchay bridge ... 

Meanwhile, Cwtch and a friendly magpie had fun playing up on Purdown ... 

... and we also had a close encounter with a wren.

Other than that, the fauna we saw up close and personal was dead. 

Death also crossed over into my feather hunting activities. The season is tailing off now, and to date I've ferreted out 14 jay coverts, which matches the number I found last year. Except that last year I also came across a whole dead jay, which made a total of 48 blue coverts, only I don't really count the job lot as there's no joy in finding so many all at once. 

There were a couple of minor synchronicities - a covert found under the same tree as last year, another in the same lane as last year - but I wasn't expecting to find another jay predation (minus the bird this time).

Not all of the feathers were there, but the 34 blue coverts were. Which brings the season's total up to ... 48.
 

But as I said, only the ones found individually are to be celebrated.

I was particularly interested in this covert, from a juvenile jay. Apparently it takes some practice to achieve neat, regular barring.

I also found a green woodpecker tail feather, which I'd wanted for a long time - two, in fact, the first being dark and very tatty, the second practically perfect. 

tawny owl, buzzard, jay, goldfinch, sparrowhawk, magpie, great spotted woodpecker, great tit, ring-necked parakeet, thrush, greenfinch

CLOCKWISE from top left: carder bee, wasp nest, light emerald moth, clouded yellow butterfly

Cwtch and I also went for a walk up to Ridgeway Cemetery, which was more overgrown than ever with summer greenery. Even though I know they're there, it's always a small shock to see the headstones poking up out of bramble thickets. 

There have also been favourite trees to visit ...

cherry resin

... and lots of 'tumnal fungi. 

And finally some hoggin, though I must admit, my focus is always on feathers during the fleeting moulting season ...

... though I always feel touched that one particular path at Snuff Mills likes to remind me where I'm from every time I walk it. 

Walking to the end of summer

My left shoulder decided to go on a pain spree at the end of August, since when summer's sloped off and autumn's feet are firmly under the table - at least as far as I can tell from the Settee of Suffering, where I've been stranded for the last two and a half weeks. And since I can't get out and about, I might as well the post the last few photos of our summer walks around the Rivers Frome and Trym in north Bristol ... 

... though this is Ashton Court, and not near either, being above the River Avon as it slithers through its gorge to the Severn estuary. You can see from these photos just how dry it's been.

Ancient oaks in the fallow deer park

Good to see what remains of the Domesday Oak still going strong, though.

It's been equally dry up on Purdown, to the north. While we were away on holiday, one of my favourite trees, a large horse chestnut on the edge of Hermitage Wood, dropped a huge branch, much to the consternation of locals on Facebook.

And people picnicking just below Barn Wood were forced to call the fire brigade when they accidentally barbecued a large part of the hillside.

Conkers were falling a month early ...

... and this empty nest box looked like a harvest hamper.

The woods were lovely, dark and deep, though ... 

... and my favourite tree on Purdown - this lovely oak - seems to be in good spirits. 

There are few flowers about now, but nearby, in Wickham Glen, I found these wild cyclamen growing high above the River Frome.

Because the last time I'd been there was with Ted, our old dog, I decided it was high time I took Cwtch the Collie to see Wickham Court, just in case she ever has to sit any history exams. She was interested to learn it's where Oliver Cromwell held a council of war with General Fairfax in 1645, prior to the Siege of Bristol, and added that although she's far from being a Royalist, the Cavaliers did have the best clothes and her plumy tail being like their plumy hats makes her feel some sort of allegiance to both sides. 

From the River Frome to the River Trym/Hazel Brook, a few miles to the west, which we've mostly visited on their respective ways through the Blaise estate. 

Blaise Castle

View from Coombe Hill to construction sites at Catbrain and Brabazon 

Some lovely big bits of hoggin found in the woods

Hazel Brook

My favourite part of the Blaise estate is Kingsweston Down; in particular, the long earthy paths along its north-western flank that reveal, in glimpses, its previous life as a hill fort.

mallow

The woods are cool and dark in the summer, and are less frequented than other parts of the estate, and there are lots of little meandering paths that take you into the ditches between banks. It's a place of ghosts.

late summer fungi

While my bad shoulder means I'm missing the end of feather hunting season, I have to concede I've probably found enough this year.

tawny owl, green woodpecker, ring-necked parakeet, buzzard, sparrowhawk, jay,  crow, great spotted woodpecker, magpie, songthrush

this year's moulted jay coverts 

This is the poor dead jay I found in early July, after several weeks spent under a weighted pot in my garden. Now zombie jay. (And yes, that crackling sound is authentic.)

Fox skull from Barn Wood, Purdown