5th July from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth
A snappy little wind sends the clouds scurrying across the sky. When the sun peeps through it is July warm. The little lawns among the trees are sunny pools of green. Somebody has tied a green cord from a branch of one of the holm oaks. But how or why I can’t tell. The branch is too small to swing from but it must also be too thin for someone to crawl along it. As the afternoon wears on, the clouds become fewer and the sun shines more strongly even iff the breeze is just as strong. A junior bug hunter scours the grass for likely targets. So far he’s only found a woodlouse and a grass hopper. It’s a start. Pigeons coo from the trees.
From 5th July 2022
I wish I knew more about grasses. This year has been particularly good and an early, warm (ie not frosty) spring has meant that every corner and bank is covered in swathes of tall, lush grasses now all with heavy seed heads. I can recognize a few of them because we used to grow them on the farm. Cocksfoot, Timothy, English Rye Grass, Italian Rye Grass. Some are naughty weeds like Wild Oats and Black Grass. And some are easy to spot like Quaking Grass. But even if you have them in your lawn or if they creep into your flower beds, you probably would not have seen them grow to full height. We know Couch Grass from its invasive white roots. But would you recognise its seed head? On my way round the Green just now I counted eight species without any effort. But there are many I can't identify which is a pity because now is the time to do just that. The open, more frequented spaces seem cloaked in a pretty, pinkish grey cloud which is the mass after mass of the delicate Fescues. The evening is grey and muggy and the sea is almost still. Occasional prickles of wind. The crows are back in town and barking loudly at visitors. #bournemouth #westcliffgreen #summer #July
From 5th July 2016
How quickly the flowers succeed one another at this time of year. Burnet Saxifrage is now dominant among the dry grasses at the cliff top and the ubiquitous Oxford Ragwort is the prominent member of the daisy family. Already blackberry blossom has given way to the hard green fruit and the bracken is over my head height. A beautiful, soft sun filled evening with a tranquil sea and a feeling of rest everywhere. Forget the appalling mess the country's in and get out and watch a process that will continue longer than you or I are here.
From 5th July 2011
I'm watching the wrinkled grey blue sea from my window and, occasionally, I see sudden darker shapes and little trails of foam and I think: "A dolphin" or "a whale" but its always just a higher than average wavelet throwing a shadow in the early morning sunlight
From 5th July 2009
A small brown undistinguished looking little bird sits on the barbed wire turned away as if ignoring me. Suddenly it tumbles into the air and makes a short twisting, fluttering aerobatic circuit before returning to its perch. A spotted flycatcher doing what it does best.
