9th October - And Now My Ship Is Sinking

The day had been clear and sunny all the way until the early afternoon, a welcome change at the end of the week from the heavy rain we experienced.  But from mid afternoon onward a large patch of cloud seemed to position itself over Four Marks blocking out all the sunshine, and completely changing the day.

We had decided to walk around the patch from the late afternoon, and our walk would take in the Golf Course, and maybe some refreshments.  We headed up Reads Field, and then across the field to Alton Lane.  The sun would peep through on the dark grey clouds and further darken the clouds.  A Rook on a TV aerial was highlighted by the grey in the clouds.

We turned up Alton Lane, and then across to Weathermore Lane and into the woods.  In the field before we turned onto the bridleway there were a couple of Rabbits sitting in the long grass.

At the back of the field a Magpie was using the water trough as a bath, which must have been something of an achievement as it seemed to plunge itself into the water, it looked far too deep for it to stand up in.

The walk along the lane was very quiet, every so often you could hear the call of a Goldcrest, and then maybe a Great Tit, but apart from that it was still and quiet as the clouds and setting sun turned the lane quite gloomy.

We passed a singing Robin as we reached the end of the lane, the first one we had seen or heard.  Looking to the west a gap in the clouds created an ominous scene with the distant trees silhouetted against the bright patch in the sky.

We headed up the lane to Telegraph Lane, then turned left and popped into the Golf Club where we sat outside and did partake in some refreshments while watching the distant orange sky, and at the same time gained some useful information about some visitors to the course.

Leaving the club we walked down Hawthorn Lane, and apart from hearing a calling Pheasant again it was very quiet.  From Hawthorn we turned onto Kitwood and walked towards the farm.  We flushed a Sparrowhawk from the hedgerow, and a Brown Rat ran across the road in front of us.  

We decided to walk to the pond, and then to go through Old Down wood, and back home along Brislands.  At the back of the pond there were several Mallard, I counted twenty in total, it was about this time last year the number of ducks built up last year, they still have a long way to go to beat 65.

In Old Down there were calls from the top of the larches, and encouragingly I could hear Siskin calling but couldn't find them in the trees as it was now quite gloomy.

Helen found one of those little events that must take place and escape the notice of many.  A Dor Beetle was burying into the mud as many can be seen doing on the paths at this time of year, but in this case the beetle had picked a spot where a slug was lying.  As the beetle dug away it was actually moving the slug.  I wonder what the slug was thinking was going on?

The sun was now set, and the sky away to the west was changing colour quickly.  In amongst the trees away in the distance you could see the mist hanging as the temperature started to fall, and the air became damp with that autumn smell.

We walked home with the Dusk moving now to night.  Not one of the most interesting of walks, but we were outside and enjoying the walk.  Over the weekend I have been out an about away from Four Marks, and you will find details on the Away Blog