Wednesday 29 July
A beautiful summer day. A gentle breeze and non-stop sunshine with plenty of big, white, happy cumulus clouds. Although they are generously scattered across the sky they never seem to block the sun. One of those days. A good day.
We decided to go for a midday, midweek walk at one of our favourite places. Wrabness and Copperas woods, about fifteen minutes drive from home. It’s a lovely couple of hours walk that seems longer because of the variety of scenery we encounter. The time goes too quickly, as does the walk. It’s one of those walks that I take more slowly towards the end just to make it last a bit longer. A bit like the first pint.
The walk takes us through acres of ancient deciduous woodland and along agricultural fringes with views of Grayson Perry’s golden ‘A House for Essex’. Half way around, the walk opens up on to a vast meadow that, ever-so gently, banks up from the Stour estuary back to the woods. Today, a Green Woodpecker swung across the full meadow breadth like tarzan swinging from vine to vine.
Some places simply have a lovely feel…what would you call it? Vibe? Ambiance? Aura? I don’t know what the best word is, it just feels good to be there. Whereas, other places can feel quite the opposite of course, and I could list a few of those too. I still visit them but I have a slight trepidation beforehand and feel a bit wary whilst there. It feels like something bad or sad has happened or might happen. I think I will need to visit this topic again soon.
But this walk, through these woods and along this track? Only good feelings here.
At this time of year the birds seem to hide away enjoying a day-long siesta. But the butterflies are full-on at it, making the most of the warm and dry July weather.
The Bald Birder 