High Pressure

Monday, 17th March 2003, West Yorkshire

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heron After another morning frost the warm sunny day has a feel of spring and summer about it. The high pressure is set to stay for the rest of the week, keeping skies clear. It's a shame we don't have time to get into the country but at least we see two herons fly over Horbury Road ahead of us as we drive into Wakefield. Are they passing over the housing estates of Eastmoor to the streams in the country beyond or are they on their way to back garden ponds?

A friend on Horbury Road found a fish on her patio the other day. She couldn't tell whether it had been fished out of her garden pond by a heron, a cat or some other predator.

By our pond this afternoon a collared dove perches on the back of the garden bench. They seem to be touching down in the garden more frequently this spring than they have for years. They were regular when we moved here 20 years ago, nesting in a tall Leyland's cypress at the corner of the back lawn.

The 'Block of Flats'

Leyland's cypress Leyland's cyresses, which were usually referred to as leylandiis at the time were popular as a fast growing screening plant. When we moved in the man we were buying the house from said that, if we didn't mind, he'd be taking his leylandii to his new house. When we moved in we could see that he'd dug around it but it was already too well rooted. Ten years later it was towering over the house and we had it felled.

Anne, who lived next door at the time had a couple of Leyland's cypresses close to her back door. She referred to one as the 'block full moon of flats' because of the number of birds that nested in it; a blackbird, a thrush, a collared dove and probably one or two more that I've forgotten.

In keeping with the summery feel of the day there's an almost full yellowish moon, like a harvest moon this evening. But with those clear skies it soon drops cold.

richard@willowisland.co.uk