Skylark

Andrew, Andy and I met on Minchinhampton Common after work this afternoon. We occasionally gather to throw frisbees, to chat and then probably drink a pint of ale. The weather has been dull and breezy, with low lying cloud cover and no sun for most of the day. But at least the patch of drizzle disappeared before we met.

It was good to limber up and watch the discs fly easily in the breeze. We meet on the very top of the Cotswold plateau, on the old traditional grassland that is now being grazed by the summer visit of the commoner's cattle. But tonight the air was singing with an abundance of skylarks. I had my camera and had to stop throwing at one point as I watched one hovering in the air above us, rather too high for clarity.

But I couldn't not blip this shot of the skylark seems to be pushing its chest out and forwards in song, seemingly chatting to its compatriots. After a spell of hovering, I watched it dive down towards the ground, level out about six feet above the long grasses, before finally dropping down to earth and only then stopping singing. I make no apologies for this picture, which is an extreme crop and rather grainy. I just wanted to catch such a lovely experience in my blip today.

I remember that last year I promised myself that I'd come and spend a few hours sitting listening, watching and filming the skylarks. I think I need to attend to it.

I came home after a drink at the Bear Inn at Rodborough, where Andy and I sat beside the official croquet lawn, where some regulars were bashing away with their mallets. Helena was cooking and I noticed that the swallows were in the air right over our house, swooping and swaying as they hoovered up the air-borne insects that must have been present. They don't often come so close to us, so I grabbed my camera again. But by then the light was pretty poor and I didn't get any good shots.

As I came up stairs to download the pictures, I heard the call of the woodpecker, which I now know signifies that it was back at the feeder. I got up and watched it for a minute before it flew off to the neighbours small ash tree. There I saw a second woodpecker arrive beside it, to be fed some suet from our feeder, before it then flew off to the larger trees nearby. Perhaps we have a nesting pair. All in all a good day for observing and playing with flying things.