Stubble

Monday, 15th October 2001, West Yorkshire

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AS A HEAVY shower comes in from the south, we see a line of creatures moving across the stubble. Through the driving rain it's not clear whether they're partridges, pheasants . . . or even rabbits! It turns out that they're young Pheasants, but their movement is un-birdlike. None of them break into flight as they hurry along like miniature dinosaurs.

A daisy-like flower, Scentless Chamomile, grows amongst the stubble. I crush one of its fine feathery leaves between my fingers to check if it has any scent. Its relatives Stinking Mayweed and Scented Mayweed (also known as Wild Chamomile) are said to be unpleasantly and pleasantly aromatic respectively.

High Hoyland Woods

Fly Agaric, Boletus and what I take to be Shaggy Parasol are showing in the woods. On our short circular walk we cross 16 stiles, some of them high and leaning at an alarming angle, and we finish by climbing a flight of old stone steps as we come out of the woods back to our starting point, High Hoyland church. In a week of walking in Austria we didn't encounter even single stile, and I remember only one forest gate.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@willowisland.co.uk'

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