CELEBRATING CHANGE

                               

 If like me you love the Autumn, then the arrival of thousands of geese from the high Arctic is as exciting as the coming of spring. These barnacle geese nest in far off Greenland and when we were last on Islay, the arrival of some 35,000 was a spectacular experience. 

Their nesting in the Arctic has to start before all the snow has melted because it takes several weeks for them to lay eggs and incubate to hatching and they need to crack on so the chicks can grow enough to survive the long journey to Scotland. Their long development in the

egg gives time for that rather magical transformation from icy winter to Arctic summer.

The tops of these towering cliffs above our remote camp is where they nest, safe from the Arctic foxes, but when the chicks have to jump from their nests and survive the hundred foot fall, truth becomes stranger than fiction. It's a long way down!

I was lucky to be filming beside their nests in the 80's, having enjoyed their winter company in the Hebrides ever since I left school. A taste for Islay malt came later!

 

So since childhood, the wildest places have drawn me north with friends to marvel at the spectacle of seasonal change.

These inspiring pink-footed goose flights were shared with my wife Sue and Michael and Penny in Norfolk. Their happy yapping [my friends too] as they leave their roosts at dawn is as wonderful as the skeins, pencilled across the colourful skies.

However, there’s a tinge of sadness in the air when summer leaves us, our swallows and ospreys too as they set off for those exotic far off lands, swallows to South Africa and ospreys to West Africa.

As they leave behind our Dorset skies, sadness turns to joy, for our woodland gardens glow with glorious colours, as if reflecting the warmth of the summer sun.

And having embraced the changing seasons, our little patch becomes even more colourful than Springtime.

I'm writing this in November as the rains are falling almost every day, but the occasional frosty dawn hints that winter is coming and as the sun has come out, it seems like a good time to share the delights of a walk around our two acre wildlife patch with a little camera and celebrate our good fortune in calling this home.

During our forty four years here, we've concentrated on providing as much welcoming and varied wildlife habitat as possible, particularly for wetland species. 

And by digging six ponds and a marsh, we are sequestering carbon, trying to do our bit for the planet's climate crisis. It's our attempt at creating a little nature reserve and by adding plants, we attract some special creatures while enjoying shovel fulls of health and happiness.

The ponds contain lots of wildlife of course, including native fish such as rudd which delight in sun bathing as they show off their golden flanks and blood red fins. 

Shoals of minnows spawn in the streams and attract regular kingfisher visits, sometimes using our conservatory door for a plunging perch.

An otter provided us with the privilege of its presence three weeks ago while trying to catch our beautiful rudd ... and ducks, so they're a mixed blessing. 

... and grass snakes adorn the ponds while hunting our frogs and small fish.

Buzzards nest just behind the cottage and hunt the frogs too, and with all this water, our trees grow at an alarming rate and give the impression our little home is sinking!

When we moved in, there was heathland on the hill behind us, but now there are tall birches and forty foot high oaks that the buzzards have recently enjoyed as sun bathing perches, so as the season changes, we delight in a glorious kaleidoscope of colour.

 

We've planted lots of acers so we can enjoy their seasonal changes, and their rapid growth is the sort that our government treasury can only dream of.

And if you believe that we only plant trees for our grandchildren, then this beech tree proves it's a lie. Only thirty or so years ago, we dug a small hole for a six foot pot plant and now it stands nearly fifty feet tall, and I think you'll agree, it's autumn colour is beautiful.

In its shade grow several clerodenrums, covered in a canopy of white flowers beloved by hummingbird hawk-moths in late summer ... 

... and when the flower petals fall off, these Christmas decoration seed-heads have glowed since early November. They look good enough to eat but I failed to find out if they're edible, for us or the birds.

Lots of other fruits are edible of course, and our local blackbirds and migrants thrushes from Europe have already been enjoying the feast.

There are so many berries this Autumn that if you believe that 'old wives tale', it's going to be a cold winter.

However, judging from this mild weather recently, it's allowed many of our most colourful, insect friendly plants to keep flowering until mid November, including salvia amistad, our gaura 'whirling butterflies', [and it was], and that bee magnet, verbena bonariensis.

The iris in the ponds are still flowering, even if  knocked into the water by the welcome rain. The fallen apples have been welcomed by many birds, along with daily visits from a hungry fox, the white tipped tail encouraging us to call it Tipp-Ex. Sorry.

With the nights drawing in and misty dawns being a regular feature, our spiders efforts to catch a meal are clearly visible ... 

... and we've left a lot of the teasel heads so our goldfinches can enjoy the seeds.

It's December 1st today, so winter is officially here, though the weather is still warmish in sunny Dorset. Even so, we might add another log to the fire in our snug and wish you all a really happy Christmas and a rewarding and hopefully more peaceful year ahead. There's lots of bad stuff out there, so I try to avoid reading the news and instead, Sue and I keep our eyes to the skies because that is where there's lots of GOOD news.

Once very rare red kites circle over our garden on many days and two pairs of ospreys are now nesting nearby and raising lots of young ...

and amazingly, we've seen an adult white-tailed eagle circling over our garden, once in April and again just three weeks ago. They have even nested and raised young in Dorset this year, and that's the first time since birds learnt to fly - well almost! They're BIG aren't they.

Further north, the geese have finished fleeing the Arctic ice and every day, they're filling our skies with their wild music.

We might even 'enjoy' a proper winter and that will certainly be a chance to welcome our seasonal changes, safe in the knowledge that all is well with the world when it's still turning.

And we've enjoyed a really good year with friends and wildlife.

Notable was sharing our garden with a family of robins, [I spent many enjoyable months winning their trust], and even more enjoyable was sharing with lots of loving friends who came to enjoy a meal, cooked by our ace chef Sue. We have enjoyed a rewarding year and are very lucky, so thank you all for your company and for sharing my ramble around our lovely little patch of rural England. 

And while celebrating the changing seasons, keep faith that the days will grow longer soon and the summer sun will return ...

Happy days ... and thank you all!