Late September

Just when you think that the warmth of the summer months has gone, you are surprised by a last blast of the sun's warmth, although the nights are now drawing in and the evenings cooler, the days feel warm and balmy. The Indian Summer. September, which last year was wet and dank topped by the global down turn, has been replaced this year with a warm & very, very dry September

Already the skies and stubble fields are proving welcome resting stations for the flocks of pink footed geese that noisily swoop low over head, making their final approach into wind to roost over night on the Cliff Top field which as yet has not been cultivated and thanks to the combine misfunction seems to have plenty of wheat left on the ground.

The hedgerows too seem to be enjoying a bumper harvest, along the farm walk the rowans are positively groaning under the weight of their glossy berries, hips & haws make up the contingent of the brilliants reds whilst the blackberries & elderberries tempt in the small flocks of birds with their juicy, sweet fruit. Thistles that we left for the wildlife are now awash with frothy white seed heads providing a welcome snack bar for the gold finches which provide a flash of bright colour as they flit from plant to plant. The hedgerows seem to be at their noisiest what with the twittering and chirping of the frantically feeding bird. The countryside is at its peak, a mad flurry of fruit & seeds, falling leaves and migrating birds, a rush before the slowing down of life in the approaching winter months.