31st December from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth
As the weather persists in its childish, ragged and disorderly manner outside, perhaps I should attempt some sort of summing up of the year from the point of view of the Green. It’s tempting to say something like “Funny old year.” But looking back, the last twelve years have all been funny-old so that’s not immediately helpful. It was certainly a very early spring. By which I mean, the mid-winter or Blackthorn spring we often get in the middle of a freeze failed to return to hibernation in the expected way. This stretched on out easily into June and, with no real change we found ourselves in summer without noticing it. Which doesn’t mean it was all particularly spring-like all the time and we had a couple of big storms which snapped off big branches and made walking a hazard for a few days. Our little herd of Kashmir Goats were introduced in March to help manage to cliff face vegetation and have now just become part of the background. Swimming, (the normal sort not this fashion for plunging into the icy water at ridiculously early times,) the sort of swimming that anyone might enjoy whilst on Holiday extended comfortably from May to November with no heroics required. Summer was characterized by the drought which continued on and on and on. The short, thin cliff top grass soon scorched and turned to dust but the longer grasses thrived because all mowing stopped. We had a couple of outbreaks of fire but most people took heed of the No barbecues signs. Although it was a close run thing at times and involved serious conversations between concerned residents and visitors.
And so it continued until the end of September when some stormy weather showed that we really ought to be thinking about Autumn at last. Remarkably, the grass, took only a few weeks to return to its normal vivid green.
But November turned a corner. It became suddenly cold and stormy and despite the fact that it didn’t get really frosty for any length of time we did have a little sprinkling of snow at the beginning of December with the year coming to a climax of gales and torrential rain.
The wildlife has made a peculiar year of it. Somehow it seems, because of the long spring we didn’t get the sudden explosion of growing and bird song we might usually get. This year, for instance I heard one individual woodpecker instead of the usual cast of all three species - lesser and greater spotted as well as the Green. There were no owls. But there were one or two brief visits by Dartford warblers and one or two other warblers looking for somewhere a little less public. But, like many people in a shifting, uncertain world they were keeping their heads down.
I keep this journal everyday, written on the day, so you can still see and compare what happens on individual days. Feel free to click back and see every day in more detail. It will remain there for you, Free as long as this website continues. It makes me happy if you read it.
From 31st December 2021
The interesting thing about posting about the weather and the natural world most days is I've got a sort of phenological record to look back on. 2021 has been characterised by grey skies and a pesistent breeze from mainly northerly and easterly directions. Not what we expect in our corner of Bournemouth. Winter meandered into spring, summer started late and finished early and autumn meandered into winter again. But we had some bright warm days in April and what we had of summer was delightfully warm even if that wind continued. Our flowers tried hard but were caught out by the weather and never reached their full glory. There was some interesting clumps of Enchanters Nightshade, Purple toadflax and the Sheep sorrell covered all the grassy areas with a sheen of red. The real winners, though, were the grasses which grew long and luxuriant throughout the year and made magnificent sweeping vistas throughout spring, summer and autumn especially where the counil had a reduced mow policy. The birds and small mammals did their best to lighten our spirits but I haven't seen our badgers for a little while, kept away by the new goat fencing perhaps. But I was thrilled to see a deer which seems to be living nearby and which seems to enjoy cropping th clifftop grass at night and presumably lying up in the gorse by day. See you in 2022. #Bournemouth #WestCliff ##phenology #2021 #nature
From 31st December 2020
A deep frost. Grass and cars are covered in an even, pale sugary film. Early risers hurry by, hoods pulled well up, hiding faces from the smack of the air. A woman stands, shoulders hunched, in the middle of the road watching a car nudging out of a parking space while only just enough of the windscreen has been cleared. She makes a small wave and hurries inside. Gulls swing by, dark against the intense pale blue and lemon sky. A darker band of cloud blends the edge with the silver, wrinkled sea at the horizon.
