The Dog and Pheasant

CLEAR OVERNIGHT, THE MORNING FROST on the canal towpath has left ice crystals on every hair on the stems and leaves of Cleavers or Goosegrass. The spines and hairs on the leaf rosette of Spear Thistle also etched in hoar frost.

Wrens, Robins, Great tits and a yaffling Green Woodpecker can all be heard alongside the canal.

A Chaffinch sings from the top of a hawthorn. Difficult song to visualise, a key-jangling rivulet? Hmmm, might need to listen to that one again. Any suggestions, you know the e-mail address.

At the edge of the wood, next door's black labrador puts up a cock Pheasant, a scene worthy of a sporting print. Not so pleasant to see is the same dog running about with a hen pheasant that he had apparently caught amongst the blackthorns.

A thin layer of ice on the pond, no sign of frogs.

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