From inside the community Nature Notes As I write, it’s the very end of September and there is the feel of autumn in the air. There are still sunny days and on this one there was mostly a blue sky, although a little paler blue than summer days, and to the east was a thin overlay of high white cloud, as if lightly applied with a wide brush. Quietly walking and looking you notice things. Looking back our footprints left a dark trail in the dew-damp grass and along our path were trees of all shapes and shades. The pine tree, with spreadeagled branches, carried cones standing upright all along those branches like candles waiting to be lit on a Christmas tree. Berries on a holly were stood out brightly in the sunshine. The surrounding waxy firm leaves also had a sheen in the bright light. Back home and a coffee at the garden table. Another tree, a neighbour’s huge pear tree, has become a favourite food larder for magpies, jackdaws and other birds. Gorging on the fruit, at times, they dislodge their target that falls with a light thud to the ground or on to a shed roof. While watching this happen my eyes were then drawn to the sky and three buzzards with spread wings followed each other silently climbing in a spiral of dance. As they turned the sunlight caught their underwings to provide a clear view of the lighter and darker shades of the wing patterns and they were close, no binoculars were needed. Although the sky remained mostly the paler blue, the high-white cloud to the east had reformed into what looked like shallow white wavelets pushing on to a beach hidden in the sky to the west. The sky transformed again later, as shown here. But even now the day was not over. A cacophony of small bird alarm calls, shrill and loudening from the depths of the intertwined rambling rose and honeysuckle caught our attention. There on the trellis panel, no more than 5 yards from the french-doors, sat a female sparrow-hawk calmly pruning her feathers — that was until I reached for my camera! All in a day of being mindful. Pete Hewitt 25
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