halftwo
Wird Batcher
The tall skies tower above the hills and clouds' sails billow between, the clearest air intoxicating on its intake. The rounded land in dough folds rising towards the arms of the purple hills encircling.
A Sparrowhawk rises on the rush of updraft above the slope and Swallows spin around it, calling alarms. Predator and prey dance and turn, angling for advantage. Now the hawk on a sudden sprint goes for one Swallow and, on a zip wire, slides down the wind. The Swallow escapes and the dance continues.
Then, behind in the distance, a falcon becomes visible and closes on the knot of birds - a Peregrine. It circles. The breeze brings it closer. The hawk dives for cover, the Swallows watch the falcon now.
The Peregrine wings along the ridge and turns back towards the moor, Crows cawing in protest. Swallows settle to their own prey and sing again.
Between old walls as the day warms and butterflies begin to swarm on ragwort and thistle, Linnets and Goldfinches busy on seed heads, bumblebees buzz bombing, to an old ruin, guarded by nettles.
A Little owl, out from a frameless window, rounds the walls and hides in another niche. A Grey wagtail drops from the blue with a single 'sTick', long tail a ribbon behind, to a runnel flowing through juncus, now August high.
And to the old quarry with a series of pools, rare standing water in this sloping land, as the sun begins to start the grasshoppers' chirrups.
A Brown Hare gallops away towards the hill where a Kestrel hovers.
Down by the pond soft mud shows where a Roe deer has come to drink in the night.
A Common hawker - a small blue and black jewel - helicopters deftly low against the water where whirlygig beetles spin silvery in the sparkle, to pick gnats that dance in the shelter of bullrushes, heavy-headed and beginning to burst.
On the lily-covered pond a male Emperor dragonfly patrols his territory, zigzagging at speed, blurring blue and green, sallying for a passing Tortoiseshell. His mate oviposits from a lily leaf, bending her long body into the water, wings still whirring.
Damselflies - Common blues and Blue-tailed appear as each sunpatch passes - filling the air with neon. Suddenly a Common darter - red and rapid - zaps by, swerving amongst the lesser insects.
Another pool, deep and cool, by the young wood: and a Common hawker is laying while her mate darts around, attacking any intruder - even a bigger Emperor. Pond skaters stand astride the surface and on the reeds an Emerald damselfly suns himself - powder blue ended metallic green abdomen shining and stunning.
A Moorhen scoots away, long legs trailing. Then a final dragonfly: a Brown hawker, bright as a copper cauldron specked with blue, flies across the water on amber wings.
The noon day sun shines on and the cumuli's shadows slide silently - the summer on the downslope below the still gigantic sky.
A Sparrowhawk rises on the rush of updraft above the slope and Swallows spin around it, calling alarms. Predator and prey dance and turn, angling for advantage. Now the hawk on a sudden sprint goes for one Swallow and, on a zip wire, slides down the wind. The Swallow escapes and the dance continues.
Then, behind in the distance, a falcon becomes visible and closes on the knot of birds - a Peregrine. It circles. The breeze brings it closer. The hawk dives for cover, the Swallows watch the falcon now.
The Peregrine wings along the ridge and turns back towards the moor, Crows cawing in protest. Swallows settle to their own prey and sing again.
Between old walls as the day warms and butterflies begin to swarm on ragwort and thistle, Linnets and Goldfinches busy on seed heads, bumblebees buzz bombing, to an old ruin, guarded by nettles.
A Little owl, out from a frameless window, rounds the walls and hides in another niche. A Grey wagtail drops from the blue with a single 'sTick', long tail a ribbon behind, to a runnel flowing through juncus, now August high.
And to the old quarry with a series of pools, rare standing water in this sloping land, as the sun begins to start the grasshoppers' chirrups.
A Brown Hare gallops away towards the hill where a Kestrel hovers.
Down by the pond soft mud shows where a Roe deer has come to drink in the night.
A Common hawker - a small blue and black jewel - helicopters deftly low against the water where whirlygig beetles spin silvery in the sparkle, to pick gnats that dance in the shelter of bullrushes, heavy-headed and beginning to burst.
On the lily-covered pond a male Emperor dragonfly patrols his territory, zigzagging at speed, blurring blue and green, sallying for a passing Tortoiseshell. His mate oviposits from a lily leaf, bending her long body into the water, wings still whirring.
Damselflies - Common blues and Blue-tailed appear as each sunpatch passes - filling the air with neon. Suddenly a Common darter - red and rapid - zaps by, swerving amongst the lesser insects.
Another pool, deep and cool, by the young wood: and a Common hawker is laying while her mate darts around, attacking any intruder - even a bigger Emperor. Pond skaters stand astride the surface and on the reeds an Emerald damselfly suns himself - powder blue ended metallic green abdomen shining and stunning.
A Moorhen scoots away, long legs trailing. Then a final dragonfly: a Brown hawker, bright as a copper cauldron specked with blue, flies across the water on amber wings.
The noon day sun shines on and the cumuli's shadows slide silently - the summer on the downslope below the still gigantic sky.
