December 2018 -- Salvia and a tawny owl

Tawny Owl

Perhaps because I grew up reading the First World War adventures of Biggles, Pioneer Air Fighter (written by Capt. W.E Johns), I like to see birds in flight. For sheer aerobatic skill you have to applaud the Sparrowhawk. They certainly can execute an Immelmann Turn, the famous combat manoeuvre of the early air aces. Sometimes we see one from the house, settled on a roof or flickering like a dark flame along the street. Towards the end of October I was walking up from the Strinesdale car park towards the treatment works when I heard coming from the trees the shrill gibber of a  Sparrowhawk, backed up by the harsh scrape of a Jay and the insistent chatter of a Magpie. Peering towards the sound I could see a rounded brown bird firmly ensconced in the low fork of a tree. This young Tawny Owl was seeking to establish a territory but finding the other residents less than friendly. Disturbed by my presence the hawk dashingly flapped away through a space between the branches while the owl turned slowly to reveal those large eyes set in a circular face. It then flew in front of me and away. If Tawny Owls could charge for all the sound effects they supply for nocturnal drama scenes …

     How the autumn light enhances colours. I was watching a group of Blue Tits pecking at the grey stems of a Cotoneaster shrub, the leaves of which had turned a fiery red. The birds looked softly vibrant against the other shades —the perfect subjects for a Japanese print-maker. Reading from (the still unsurpassed) The Natural History of Selbourne written in the eighteenth century by Gilbert White, I noticed that he refers to Blue Tits as ‘nuns’. I do wonder why.

     Among the new wave of highly desirable Salvia garden plants from South America one stands out by virtue of the vivid tone of its purple flowers  borne over a long period. It is reported that this variety, called  ‘Amistad’, was discovered being offered for sale in a remote part of Argentina before it was sent to a commercial grower in the U.K. The name is said to mean ‘friendship’.