Aurora

11 October 2024

Last night the aurora in the clear cloudless sky. I’ve waited a whole life for this. An awe-inspiring mystery skydance of pinks and reds and greens.

Others have photos that do the phenomenon justice.

Pheasant poults have been released over the hedge. Non-native, unlicensed and released across the country in their millions. Native species reintroduction programmes remain mired in beaurocracy.  

Wrens, busy, now sing loudly in the garden. Have their numbers been boosted by continental migrants?

Today a juvenile rat acrobatically in the bird feeders. A cloudless sky again and a raven cronking overhead. Garden work for us. Weeding and tidying. Topiarising. Mindful. Satisfying. Tiring.

In the vegetable garden, a common carder bee resting on a dahlia flower in the sun, sipping nectar with her long proboscis. Taking time. These are her final days - it is only the queens that overwinter.