Sunday, September 07, 2003
It's Sunday morning, just past 8, and the Green is quiet and empty of people. At five to eight the single bell of Peatree Church begins to ring, usually with a fast beat, to jolly up tardy parisheners. Very different to the slow funeral toll of one ring per year of the deceased's life.
Although it's a bright morning and the sun is breaking through the light cloud the Green has the look and feel of autumn, leaves are turning and the temperature drops smartly with the sun.
Looking out the window I saw Fluffy, a young mackeral cat, doing an amazingly professional job of stalking thin air along the hedge. All the birds, bluetits, starlings & sparrows, are pretty hedgewise and rarely get chumped by local cats. It's the nestlings that cop it.
I'm a great fan of the magpie and we have a pair that nest in the big bay tree at the side of the house. Our first floor kitchen looks out at the tree so we are often face to face with magpies and pigeons, the tree is also the source of a great variety of moths who like to visit the bathroom.
Magpies get a bad press, they are blamed by many for the decrease in the number of songbirds and have always been considered to be vermin by gamekeepers. The truth is that the great killer of songbirds, besides pollution and loss of habitat, is the domestic cat who foxlike kills for the fun of it. Don't get me wrong, I like cats but I also like songbirds and magpies. At this hour of the day the magpies will come down onto the Green and strut around proudly looking for tasty morsels.
Another bird that breeds around the Green is the shy thrush whose poise and bearing is just amazing, this smartly turned out bird has an unusual way of progressing across the grass. He, or she, stands very erect and will fast walk forwards a foot or so and pause to look around then go forward another foot.
Although it's a bright morning and the sun is breaking through the light cloud the Green has the look and feel of autumn, leaves are turning and the temperature drops smartly with the sun.
Looking out the window I saw Fluffy, a young mackeral cat, doing an amazingly professional job of stalking thin air along the hedge. All the birds, bluetits, starlings & sparrows, are pretty hedgewise and rarely get chumped by local cats. It's the nestlings that cop it.
I'm a great fan of the magpie and we have a pair that nest in the big bay tree at the side of the house. Our first floor kitchen looks out at the tree so we are often face to face with magpies and pigeons, the tree is also the source of a great variety of moths who like to visit the bathroom.
Magpies get a bad press, they are blamed by many for the decrease in the number of songbirds and have always been considered to be vermin by gamekeepers. The truth is that the great killer of songbirds, besides pollution and loss of habitat, is the domestic cat who foxlike kills for the fun of it. Don't get me wrong, I like cats but I also like songbirds and magpies. At this hour of the day the magpies will come down onto the Green and strut around proudly looking for tasty morsels.
Another bird that breeds around the Green is the shy thrush whose poise and bearing is just amazing, this smartly turned out bird has an unusual way of progressing across the grass. He, or she, stands very erect and will fast walk forwards a foot or so and pause to look around then go forward another foot.
