Village Country Diary continued from previous page
recent years due to a loss of wetland vegetation, so it’s really important that places like the canal, ponds and reservoirs are there with their waterside plants. Many male birds lose their colours in July. This is
strongest in water birds. Look at the ducks and drakes and you’ll see the mallards all looking like females, though you can tell the difference by looking at the beak colour. The mandarin is even more bizarre, the drake losing its pretty colours and even changing its distinctive perky shape as it becomes quite seedy-look- ing. The mating season is well past now, so no need for those bright colours. It’s interesting how bright colours are used in nature
both to attract (mates or pollinators) and to repel (predators). In the hot July sunshine we see a real rain- bow of colour.
At the time of the Picnic in the Park some of the
Withybed Poets wrote about the then recent terrorist attack in Manchester. This was mine.
Standing together July moorhen Tansy 46 The Village July 2017
We see it again, nearer home than ever The shock and the screams and the courage Always the young, the beautiful young, dead But always too the unexpected stranger Who shields another’s body, or offers tea Or a free taxi home, a rose, a prayer. It seems a long way from here Where the irises stand by the quiet canal, Flowers of peace, and moorhens call. Then I see the two geese stand together. She nested here gently by the water Down plucked from her breast warming the egg. Three days ago she hatched a little gosling And I watched it run by them and take to water. Today it has gone, a casualty of who knows what Predator or disease, and they stand together Strong and silent, a picture of loss, Of birth and youth that will come to nothing. It all streams into my eyes, the beautiful young, The stoical parents, the life that goes on, The people lighting candles and holding hands Standing together against those who love death. Standing for life, for love, for other years Still to come, making a rope of their hearts So those who have lost can hold on And not get pulled down, and not drown But keep the beauty in their hearts, together.
Tiger moth
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