Journal — Field Notes & Observations

With a vague memory of a holly bush, I set out into a snow covered moorland. From the village, I walked along the track until the first bridge where I left the track to follow the head of the Meavy River. The ground was unfrozen beneath my feet. Sliding down the hill parts of the way, I peeked into the arched bridge before continuing alongside the gully. The track, well worn by dog walkers and hikers, leads easily to the main road with only one large puddle to navigate. Across the road, past a few cars that were abandoned overnight...

Walking south down the track, and a little past South Hessary, I once again missed seeing a small bird take off from a patch of wet ground. I’ve been trying to identify it for months. I always seem to be looking away when it’s on the ground or just taking off, and by the time it’s caught my eye, it is both too far away, and headed in the wrong direction for me to clearly see what it is. Today, a single bird flew off, uttering “pew”, a short pause, and then a second “pew”. My walks on Dartmoor take...

I opened the box to reveal a small collection of galls. They’re about the size of a large marble, round, and mostly brown. Nearly all of them have a perfectly circular hole, 2mm across and black in appearance. They look into the depth of the gall, and show the cave where a wasp transformed from an egg, to larvae, finally emerging as a wasp. Today, a small red wasp looked up at me from inside the box. Defenceless, we look at each other. The wasp, likely hungry and confused as to how it ended up in a box, gingerly makes...

Climbing down from the path, I realised I'd worn the wrong shoes. Too old, too little grip, and entirely not enough support. Sitting down on my bum, I inched my way into the old tin mining gully. I picked the spot that was also full of gorse bushes. Spikes hidden in long grass on too steep a slope. I went slowly and grabbed the grass for support, not the prickly bush. Across the stream at the bottom and back up the other side to the rowan tree. Checking the ground for windfall first is easy with rowan berries. They’re bright...