Volunteer blogger Emma Yates' latest piece, evoking all the senses...
Back at Coombes this week, we have only just set off on our walk when we spot a speckled wood butterfly on plants beside the path. It seems totally undaunted by our attempts to peer at it and quite obligingly poses for a photo for several seconds as it suns itself. We spot other butterflies further on including a dingy skipper, a red admiral and several meadow browns. I am very grateful to Heather, the Visitor and Promotions Officer, for lending me an identification chart which helps enormously.
Even though we are into summer now, there are still many new plant species to spot. The tall shoots of hogweed tower over us now and provide a useful stopping off post and feeding station for birds. Indeed, I spot a garden warbler and its young flitting from plant to plant. Since my last visit, I notice that several varieties of orchid have now flowering including the pale pink heath spotted orchid close to the first bridge and the deeper purple marsh orchids in boggier sections deeper in the valley.
Frothy white meadowsweet and the beautiful, but poisonous, purple and yellow flowers of the woody nightshade plant can also be seen now, as well as the yellow notched petals of tormentil.
Only a short distance from the visitor centre, we come across artist Anthony Hammond’s magnificent willow weevil sculpture which he created during the Open Day at Coombes at the beginning of June. It now takes pride of place in a field shortly before the first bridge and is a marvellous addition to the first stretch of the walk.
The woods are still alive with birdsong and we are accompanied by that of blackbird, blue tit, chiff chaff and thrush. Spotting the birds is harder now the tree coverage is at its greatest, but just hearing the interweaving harmonies is delightful enough. However, our persistence pays off and after just a short stop, we are lucky enough to spot a pair of nuthatches in the oak trees and a female goldcrest by the first bridge. The latter is Britain’s smallest songbird and, whereas the male is very distinctive with the flash of yellow on his crown, this is absent in the female. The green and white stripe on her wing and her shrill song help us to identify her.
I am struck on this walk by how my other senses besides that of sight are being evoked. Already I have had to rely on my listening skills to identify the birds and, now, taking a rest on the first bench in Clough Meadow, I enjoy listening to the sounds of grasshoppers in the meadow but with faint hope of actually seeing one! On our way here from the brook we spotted honeysuckle beside the path and enjoyed the heady fragrance it gives off.
From this seat I notice the beginnings of berries on the hawthorn bushes and I am reminded of the speed with which the seasons pass and there is no getting away from the fact that autumn is next. But for now, we enjoy watching the butterflies flitting from flower to flower in the sunny meadow below.
As I have already mentioned, everything is very established now and the rather scattered spring flowers of April and May have filled in to become carpets of flowers. This is especially true of the pink purslane on the paths leading down to the pond and greater stitchwort throughout the reserve.
A quick trip to the pond by the education centre on our way back reveals a large red damselfly and several pairs of common blue damselflies, their colours catching the sun beautifully.
We have had a lovely summer walk at Coombes today and enjoyed many beautiful sights yet again.
Emma Yates