August on the Heath

[puddleshark]

It's starting to feel less like high summer on my morning walks. A chill in the air. Mist lying over the marshes. Geese passing overhead. (I originally typed "overheard". That, too.)


Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens), waiting for the day to warm up.



Took the walk out through the woods at N., onto the path that skirts the marshes, then back across the heath. The heather and dwarf gorse still in flower. A few pale blue Marsh Gentians popping up beside the track, not quite in flower yet. In the distance, a small group of Sika deer - three does and a fawn, still in their summer dapples. I've yet to hear the stags wailing in the forest before sunrise, so autumn cannot be here yet.





The Tea Brown Lake even murkier than usual, looking as if some rogue barrister barista had sprinkled it with pollen.





Found a shaded spot to sit, under the pines. Put my camera away. Poured myself a cup of coffee from the flask. As soon as I did this, a kingfisher appeared, and perched on a branch nearby. Terribly camera-shy, kingfishers.

Comments

[lamentables]

Hard to believe that Keeled Skimmer isn't one of the joke names for Keir Starmer.

[puddleshark]

LOL.

Oh, no. Next time I try to say the name of the Prime Minister, I know what is going to come out...

[kaishin108]

How great to see a kingfisher!! :)

[puddleshark]

I often catch a glimpse of a flash of blue departing as I walk along the river, but it was a rare treat to get a proper close-up look at a kingfisher. :)