Country Notes
Introduction
The pages, comments and notes which follow are simply my own expression of some of my views, and observations appertaining to elements of our diverse country side which have always been important to me. I have been consumed by our countryside since a small boy and have enjoyed over the years endless pleasure from what it has to offer us all. I am passionate about the ancient art of Falconry and have been since I watched a film called “Kes” when I was about 12, now too many years ago. I also enjoy fishing, shooting and gun dog training spending many hours simply nature watching in between. I have discovered that it assists greatly to ones success if you watch and observe first, and it is from this my interest in what I was watching grew. I believe that we all have a responsibility as caretakers of this planet and our environment to preserve and protect our magnificent countryside and the life style choices it offers for future generations to similarly enjoy as we have. I will include photos and comments which I hope anyone who views these pages will take something positive from. To those who live and share a similar life and passion to myself these pages are just my observations I am sure you will understand. For the majority who do not have the opportunity to view or enjoy our country side as much as some of us then I hope you will take some time to sit and watch and enjoy as soon as possible.
Well March has come storming in like the welcome return of a long lost friend, we have had almost endless dry and sunny weather here in Cornwall it seems. The hedgerows seem to of erupted with insect life, which has coincided with the return of the two families of swallows which nest in our barns each year. They make the most profound mess really and it takes a while for them to become accustom to the hawks out on their bow perches in the garden. Certainly the falcons on their part would like to get up and play “tag” with them although I suspect the swallows would call the game murder I am sure. The first swallows turned up on the 29th March which is a good two weeks earlier than last year and spent best part of the day diving around the yard feeding nonstop on the wing. I did here that some of our other summer visitors have been spotted quite early with sand martins being spotted in port Isaacs towards the middle of the month.
With the arrival of spring comes this sudden profusion of life and color, even the humble hawthorn bush that we have all complained about when bushing through the undergrowth brings showers of small white blossom to the hillsides and hedgerows. Much of the rugged North Cornish coast is a sea of yellow and white from a mixture of flowering gorse and hawthorn which has been beaten into submission from the prevailing winds coming off the Atlantic. All the broad leaf trees are immerging from the grasp of winter into leaf, the landscape has a heavier look to it with various shades of green slowly masking the stark dark fingers of the trees as they reach out for sunlight, although the large Oak at the bottom of our garden seems determined to be the exception this year I do hope it’s ok.
Certainly the hawking season for us has come to end which always paradoxically it seems means that rabbits and hares are to be seen where ever you go, I had lost count of the times I have walked up some ground over the season and been dismayed by the total lack of game, only to discover it to be awash with quarry but days after the hawks are put down to molt. I have seen so much road kill these past few weeks it’s as if that fickle mistress “Nature” suddenly has life to throw away.
Walking the banks of the upper Tamar in this welcome warm weather I have been impressed with the sudden clarity of the water, all the silt which clouded the water has dropped as water pace has decreased, allowing the river to extenuate its meanders, forming shallow gravel bars where small native brown trout can be viewed passing over at speed so as to avoid the keen eye of any heron or egret. Certainly there has been a few early hatches as a trout can be seen surface feeding then darting back to their chosen lay in slightly slacker water. Perhaps we will have a mayfly hatch in May this year not June!
The moles are clearly making a mess as usual this time of year as they frantically try and find a mate hence the sudden increase in mole hills around many a field or garden. In years gone by a chap often known as the “moley man” would have kept matters in hand. Moles he had caught could be seen hanging in a prominent place for all to see. But alas in my view many of the more traditional country side management systems have been lost and the tremendous knowledge that went with them for sure. Sadly you just don’t see this much anymore except very occasionally. What is nice to see is the return of beasts to the fields, winter sees a landscape almost devoid of cattle in Cornwall, it seems being much of the beef production is kept indoors it appears. Spring brings the cattle back to the fields and we have many fields filled with the youngest of 
bullocks, it’s interesting to watch their first encounter with other animals. Our dogs are very aware of cattle and Sheep but I never tier of watching how the young claves slowly nudge towards the gate to get a closer look at the dogs, all so very inquisitive and keen to meet a potential new playmate. It is sad that so often there first encounter is with some dam dog that the owner has no control over running amuck in the field with its owner reputedly shouting its name in some lost hope it will eventually come back! I think the view must be if you can’t control it keep it on the lead. Lambing of course has been under way for some time, young lambs always seem to enjoy life and spring to the full bouncing and hoping around the fields as if its burning their feet, and becoming great escapologists if the number we meet when out are anything to go by.
The warm weather of late have brought other marvelous sights I sat in my garden which backs onto open fields watching two common buzzards catching a thermal and updraft from the hill. I don’t believe I saw a wing beat as they circled round gaining height with every revolution almost as if they were in an elevator until they were several hundred feet up just soaring effortlessly up and down the valley looking for food. Certainly a very common sight for many as was the vixen I came almost came face to face with the other day when out with Oscar doing a bit of training but how many of us actually take time to stop and look or have the time to stop and look. I can only say when I have or do take the time just to watch and look at this fantastic diverse countryside we have it makes me feel how inferior we are in many ways and what a heavy burden we carry to ensure we preserve this for future generations. I do hope those in power that don’t know in Westminster take some time to learn from those that do know in rural England, may be the increase in urban fox attracts on both humans and much loved pets will bring into focus for some what most country men have known for a lifetime, and that’s our country side and all its occupants need controlling and managing to maintain a sustainable balance. Our removal over the decades of all main predators (and the misguided persecution of many others) from this land has without question left us in a situation where our historical actions have an influence on how we manage this land today.
“Osca” my Brittany always a character.
February Well the hawking season looks like its slowly coming to an end, the hare's are starting to chase each other and there are young rabbits to be seen around many a warren in the area. Certainly not what I expected considering the severity of the winter. It’s been a memorable winter or season for many reasons, not least of all our famous or infamous British weather! With December seeing much of the country side hidden under a blanket of snow, January brought us rain and gales with the same land then flooded and sodden. I am sure many a countryman and farmer will remember this winter with some regrettable reverence and trepidation.
Spring will soon be here however, that most loved season which brings life and colour back to our magnificent country side. We have had snow drops out here like a white carpet of soft icing for some four weeks now and small varieties of daffodils bravely flowering on the edge of the hedgerows are all starting to bring some additional vibrant colour back for us all to enjoy. We have several species of birds that winter down here which bring waves of patens and interest to the fields and skies. Huge flocks of starlings thousands in number swarm around farm buildings in the late afternoon and evening looking for a suitable place to roost. Starling flocks are a concern for dairy farmers due to the mess they create, but for the rest of us the patterns formed in the sky against the sun set as they swirl around the landscape is a spectacle to be seen. Lapwings or “pewits” as they used to be known by game keepers flock onto grazing land in large numbers, there wing beat pattern so different to most other birds it looks almost as if they are on wires hung from the sky with a very curved and unorthodox stroke, an attractive bird with a distinctive call hence the name. The jackdaws seem to be congregating in pairs on or around many a local chimney pot now, much to the dismay I suspect of the occupier, and the rooks can be seen inspecting last season’s rookeries with vigour. I was in Port Isacs on the weekend where herring and common gulls were seemingly staking claim in pairs to numerous parts of the cliff face ready for this year’s breeding season, I like to think as with the rest of us all hoping for the rapid transformation from winter to spring.
We have several local pairs of coastal Perguins in the area I will aim to spend some time over the next few weeks walking the cliffs in the hope of watching them. Last year I was sat at Trebarwith enjoying lunch with my family and upon looked up witnessed a female peregrine teaching her Tiercel or male offspring how to hunt, I was mesmerised watching this magnificent natural aerial display for some time my head cranked upwards staring at the sky. With hindsight I am not sure if I was surprised or sadden that with all the hundreds of people there that day I did not whiteness, and don’t believe anyone else actually noticed what was going on above them. Perhaps our magnificent wildlife is only viewed on the discovery channel these days, so much to see and so little seen by so many I fear to use a slant from a well known line. I have been here in North Cornwall for only three years and previously although spring has appeared early its transformation into summer appears slower perhaps than other parts of the west country that I have lived. We are wedged here between Bodmin moor and Dartmoor only a few miles from Cornwall’s magnificent Atlantic coast line, it’s a harsher environment than some which plays its part in forming the landscape. When I moved here I did enquire at the local fishing tackle shop a few years ago now if the River Tamar locally had a good May fly hatch, the proprietor retorted “yes in June”, which although chuckled over at the time now appears only to confirm my thoughts.
March is almost here now and hopefully we can see the early signs of life returning to many of our broad leaf trees, my father in law a retired farmer always looks in to the garden and states “If the oak is out before the Ash we are in for a splash but if the Ash is out before the Oak we are in for a soak”! I am not sure how accurate a prediction of spring weather this is but it seems more poetic than the TV weather forecast. Most woody cops are found in the valleys here which contributes to Cornwall being a place of great secret beauty it seems with most of the higher ground appearing baron until you look closely at what can be seen, the unique “Cornish Hedge” a wall of stone and mud with trees and bushes growing from and in hold a wealth of life, which seeking shelter from the prevailing environment. The few trees on the higher ground always seem tell you which way the sea is to be found, being permanently bent by the wind in the opposing direction.
Although for myself the hawking season has now sadly come to an end and the birds are being weathered and fed up for the summer, the shooting season has also seen its last day with many shoots saying a well earned thank you to all the beaters and helpers through the season with traditional beaters day. Thankfully the fly fishing and bass fishing season is just round the corner. Evenings can now be spent trying to present that perfect fly to a waiting native brown trout on many a small stream or river in the area with some associated bird watching the Dippers and Herron’s are beautiful to watch, and I have been surprised to be able to watch Egrets locally which I never contemplated at first and had to look twice, first thinking I had viewed an albino Herron.
There will be perhaps the occasional trip to the beach standing in the surf at dusk casting a crab or sand eel bait into the foaming surf for some early season bass, listening to the haunting sounds of the foreshore with Terns “keeing” as they fly low over the water and watching the cormorants and seals fishing for sand eels and small fish with far greater success than I!
Member of: UK Timber Association 
Member of: TRADA