Earth Day

ACCORDING TO THE CALENDAR, today is Earth Day.

In the sunshine a Wren settles in the corner of the plant box on the patio. It remains there, huddled, the feathers on its back ruffled as it sunbathes. It is unusual to see a wren taking a break. After a minute or two it gets up, preens and goes searching the plants under the patio doors.

By the canal I notice a Dandelion stem that has grown as a strap an inch across. In the greenhouse my young niece picks a dandelion 'clock', blows hard several times, then informs me that it is 'four o'clock'. In the process she distributes the seeds all over the greenhouse.

In the shade of the towpath hedge, the big, wavy-edged leaves of Burdock are lighter beneath than above. Burdock gave Constable a chance to apply some bold calligraphic brushwork in the shadier side of his English landscapes.

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