Some recent views of the Parish

Over the last few weeks of lockdown the local countryside has changed from bare trees at end of the winter to full blown spring and busy farming activity, and the views have been beautiful throughout.

In this post I have decided to just post a few views, in no particular order, that have made my recent daily walk feel so worthwhile, and to remind me why I am so lucky to live here!

Birds, butterflies and flowers

I have seen some newly arrived summer migrant birds in the last few days such as Whitethroats, which I have found at three different sites for within ten minutes or so from the centre of Combe. I could be wrong, but this seems to be more than in previous years.

This one looks like he/she has some nest building material in its beak so they are wasting no time in setting up home.

I have also heard a garden warbler singing in its rather breathless way near Sticklepath, but try as I might, I couldn't get a picture as it seemed to be skulking in the centre of a bush! I did record its song but it is a video which is too big to upload!

Speckled wood butterflies are beginning to appear now, as are holly blue butterflies, but apologies for the photos, they don't stay still for long, like many of  the other species I've already mentioned in earlier posts.

A flower that doesn't seem to thrive in many places around the village area is the White Campion, so I was pleased to see this patch along the main road at the top of Stantway. This is not a route I would usually walk but the current lack of traffic makes it quite possible without the usual fear of being run down!









One flower that is in abundance at the moment though is Ramsons. The flowers are really pretty, but don't be tempted to pick them for a floral arrangement or you will find the house reeks, as this is of course wild garlic!

The last flower I will mention today is Yellow Flag which is now in bloom in the Underway Meade pond. It is just a small patch but a welcome sight anyway.

The wildlife is getting bolder!

On my walk yesterday there were plenty of squirrel sightings and this one posed beautifully before dashing off and up the nearest tree!

Later in the day, when the sun was really warm, this slow worm spent some time moving along our conservatory wall before finding a new hole in the wall to take refuge. It was the biggest one I have even seen in our garden, at least 50cm long, and once it got moving, it was not slow at all!

The more time I spend at home or just going on local walks, the more interesting wildlife I find.

Nighttime garden visitor

I was recently given a trail cam with night vision for my birthday by my husband. At the weekend I decided to set it up to see what, if anything, visited our garden during the night.

Apart from rather more cats than I expected, at about 3am, there was this little guy bustling around on the lawn! 

He/she scuttled off, perhaps disturbed by another cat and there were no further sightings that night of this little hedgehog. Fingers crossed it makes another appearance soon!

To encourage it I am leaving out a bowl of water under the bushes where it disappeared into and I am going to put down some cat or dog food, in a place that cats can't reach, to encourage it to visit regularly.

Gulls on the Roof

If anyone can recall ever reading Derek Tangye's Minack Chronicles, they may remember the first one was called " A Gull on the Roof". It is set in Cornwall in the 1950's and is a delightful story of  couple who escape London and move to Cornwall to grow flowers and potatoes.

Why do I mention this? Because in the last few weeks, since the very windy weather, we have had a lot of visiting Herring Gulls ( NOT SEAGULLS please!) around the area and some of them seem to be pairing up now, possibly with a view to nesting on roofs in the village!

Yesterday I came home from my walk to see this pair on our roof and they are also spending time up on the old rectory roof opposite. and it reminded me of the book!

A close up shows the red dot on the bill which the young will peck at to get the parent bird to regurgitate food.

They are omnivorous and will eat any sort of food or waste, though they also congregate on playing fields and pasture land to "charm" the worms!

Although not always appreciated by mankind due to their droppings and screaming, the herring gull must be regarded as a "natural cleaner", and just as with crows, they help by keeping rats away from the surface in the urban environment, not by killing rats, but by eating the potential rat food before the rats get the chance!

This once common gull of the seaside is now a red list species of conservation concern in the UK owing to its population declining by more half in the last 25 years. This means they are protected, so please be aware that tampering with nests is illegal without a special licence.

Pond life and more flowers

A day of rain and cooler weather has meant that a few more flowers have come into bloom whilst others are over their best.
The bluebells in the wood at the Meade for instance have been beautiful for a couple of weeks or more but now their colour is fading for another year.

 Other blooms are appearing now, such as yellow archangel, a member of the dead nettle family which doesn't sting. Unlike the garden variety, it doesn't have variegated leaves, but the latter is often seen growing wild as an escapee.
It is a valuable food source for bees and insects and likes damp and shady spots.












Another plant that likes damp spots, such as wet meadows and river banks, and which is just coming out in bloom, is the Lady's smock or Cuckooflower. A delicate pale lilac /pink flower it is associated with the arrival and call of the cuckoo, though you will be very lucky to hear one around here these days as their numbers have sadly declined rapidly in recent years.








Moorhen activity in the pond in the Meade has been increasing and if you stand quietly on the bridge you may be lucky enough to see them building their nest ( or nests), as I did today. The male and female look alike but you may be able to tell them apart as the male often collects the nest material and the female builds the nest, though both will incubate the eggs once laid. Incubation lasts around 3 weeks, so watch out for the fluffy young in early May!

Sitting tight!

Warm weather effects

The warm weather over the last few days has had a dramatic effect on the trees, which are flowering or displaying fresh green leaves and making everyone feel more cheerful ( apart perhaps from those who suffer from tree pollen hayfever!).

 This lovely, but lone horse chestnut, looks splendid in full leaf in the centre of a field.

The old weather forecast saying "oak before ash there'll be a splash and ash before oak there'll be a soak" always has me checking out which has come into leaf first to see what sort of summer we might have. Trouble is by the summer I've forgotten which came first that year.
This week both have been in flower. Here is the ash, with its purple flowers but showing no obvious sign of leaves yet.

Here is the oak, and on closer inspection, its leaves are starting to uncurl, so fingers crossed it will be a dry summer! Let's wait and see.

Another sign of summer approaching, even if according to Aristotle, "one swallow does not a summer make" means we all still delight in seeing our first ones of the year returning safely after their long migratory journey from Africa.
This morning I saw two so was doubly happy!

Butterflies continue to appear, and whilst I have seen a number of male Orange tips on the wing in the last couple of weeks, they are all in such a great hurry to track down a female that they hardly ever land to feed. Fortunately this one stopped very briefly this morning for a quick meal of nectar before dashing off again.

 Once they do mate, the female, which doesn't sport the orange tips to her wings, will lay eggs on plants such as this Garlic mustard, also known as Hedge mustard and Jack by the hedge, which has begun to come into flower along the verges this week.