March 4th – The thing about an inversion is it’s transient. This one came and went in about 15 minutes, and it’s ever changing. As it drifted away, it left clear skies, a very noisy gull roost and beautiful colour.
Even the coos looked impressive with their clouds of steam
That’s how you fix a bad mood, and that is exactly why I ride a bike.
March 3rd – One thing it has been nice to see of late is the new house at Highfield, south of Chasewater. Once an active farm, the site fell into decline and most of the original farm was demolished. Permission was applied for a replacement house several years ago and has now been build, and it’s a handsome, four-square place. I wish the new residents well.
In the field nest door, the coos remain as nosy and inscrutable as cows always are. I’m not sure if they’re connected with the house, or just there to manage the heath nearby, but they are lovely. They don’t seem to mind the cold.
April 29th – I held back all day, hoping to avoid the wind and rain. Sneaking out late, the rain stopped and the cloud fractured. I headed for Chasewater, and I noticed this damp mum and daughter in a field adjacent to the old Highfield House on Pool Road. The hardiness of horses never ceases to amaze me, and this frisky little foal was joyous. As Mike Hawes pointed out on his tumblr over the weekend, spring is really here now.
May 28th – Pottering around Chasewater, from Pool Road, I noticed deer over by the old spoil heap to the rear of the disused Highfield Farm. They were too far away to get a decent picture, so I entered the park, crossed back over the toll road via the footbridge and hopped onto the old railway line at the back of Poole Crescent. I came face to face with the group of red deer – two hinds and two young stags, with antlers still in velvet – just by the marsh at the corner of the heap.
The were skittish, but curious, and we faced each other down at a distance of 50 yards or so for a good 10 minutes before I spooked them, and they ran off toward the thickets at the edge of the field. A wonderful sight, still shocking to me.
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