The car is at the repairers so Bonnie has to put up with a local walk today, along the Centurion Way to
Whitehouse Farm. The weather could not be more different to yesterday due to a short lived ridge of high pressure. We have perfect visibility, bright blue sky but a chilly northerly breeze that makes it feel like freezing even though it’s five degrees.
The few remaining leaves on the trees lining the fields gleam in the bright sunshine, looking warm even if it doesn’t feel warm. In some fields the scrub has been cut off at ground level and removed to keep them clear. The main one is still enclosed by black plastic sheeting that was used to assist in the recovery of amphibians and snakes earlier in the year. Here, there’s plenty of growth, plenty for animals to hide in. Sure enough quite close by
there’s a deer standing quite still watching us pass intently. She seems safe enough making no attempt to move as we observe her equally intently.
The paths have been well used even though they’e empty now, the mud is difficult to pass over. In the woods a think layer of leaves covers the ground whilst the trees reach up, leafless. One isolated fungus is growing by the path, this snap is not enough for me to identify it when I return home. I think I’ll assume it’s a poison pie to justify not touching it but it’s probably much less sinister.
The building works are gathering pace, to the north some of the first houses have already been built, in the distance noisy yellow machines are busily building access roads. Beside the Centurion way two new ponds have been constructed to compliment the one that was there in the summer. Must be one of the many trade offs made to allow so many new houses to be built. There are plenty of gulls on them today, lets hope they support some more interesting birds as they mature.