As a South Londoner of many years standing, the only wildlife I was likely to see consisted almost entirely of urban foxes. And whilst they were occasionally quite attractive, they weren't exactly cute.
Of course, I now live in the countryside, and wildlife sightings are relatively commonplace. Deer, rabbits, hare, slowworms, weasels and a range of game birds give me something to watch out for on my walks around the parish, or community bus rides to and from the station. However, I clearly haven't been as observant as my fellow parish councillors.
Dan, who joined us from the now sadly defunct Community Council, is a proper local. He can identify a rifle by the sound it makes, and cares deeply about the area he lives in. He is leading for us on what to do with the small piece of woodland that we recently discovered is owned by the Parish Council, the somewhat sinisterly named 'Plot 89', which lies next to the A14.
He is keen that we clean it up and make it into, effectively, a community wildlife resource, an idea that has been readily adopted by the rest of us. Mid Suffolk District Council have kindly supplied us with six 'litter pick' packs, and using volunteer labour, we hope to make a start on clearing the site of rubbish and fallen wood shortly.
But in the course of the discussion, the subject of wildlife came up. Apparently, we have kingfishers and water vole on the River Gipping, barn owls in various parts of the parish, and an otter holt (which needs some attention) at Fen Alder Carr.
I shouldn't really be surprised, I suppose. We are extremely fortunate in that most of the parish is rather off the beaten path, that our farming is almost entirely arable, and that the farmers are quite keen that it remain that way for the most part.
But we're clearly going to have to get out and walk about our Parish over the coming months. After all, there's so much to see...
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