All my muscles seem like they've been afflicted with rigor mortis, so it was a very slow and sore 9km run I managed to drag out of myself today. How many of my articles seem to start like this these days...
Well I'm not bloody Mo Farah so what do you expect? I'm a fair bit older, and I don't stuff myself with magic Quorn like he does.
After the recent chilly spell, butterflies were back out today as I ran along Clay Lane and through the various nature reserves. Small tortoiseshells seem to be in between flights at the moment, but there were orange tip, speckled wood, small white and a lovely holly blue flitting along a hedgerow.
A lot less beautiful, and an infinitely large amount sadder, was what I saw taking place on Clay Lane park as I ran past. I've mentioned the problem of abandoned and fly grazed horses before on this blog, but I never caught anyone in the act.
Well today I did. Three or four traveller lads had driven over a couple of horses IN A VAN to the public park, and while one horse was tethered by the vehicle, the others were busy using a fairly short chain to attach a piebald cob to a metal stake in the ground.
It was clearly very unhappy at this, as the poor horse was whinnying for all it was worth. It probably knew it had no shelter from the weather whatsoever, and wouldn't perhaps get fed and watered as often as it should. It's an increasing problem in this town and the country in general; everyone knows who is doing it but this is never openly discussed.
Councils are talking about doing something about the problem, and indeed our one has put a few notices up, but to what end? The horses will be confiscated and sold apparently, in a market where their value has slumped to a fiver each, and has driven the number of abandonments in the first place. One suspects a dismal fate awaits them.
It is very sad.
Si
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| Horse being fly grazed |
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| Clay Lane dapple green |
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| Beetles on cow parsley |
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| And a froghopper too! |
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| Not sure. Seems a little tall for ground ivy |
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| What do we have here? Small or green veined white? |
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| Tatty speckled wood |
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| Hawthorn blossom |
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| The forgotten nature reserve |
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| Red campion now plentiful |
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| I love this...take a pic at low level, it's like Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory |
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| What time is it? Any of you guys know? |
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| Gypsy cuckoo on the prowl |
My muscles feel like that most mornings when I try to get out of Bed, Impressed with your Gypsy Cuckoo bumblebee love to see one of those, I think your white Butterfly is a Green Veined Butterfly. but Icould be wrong.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ID, I never got a chance to see the butterfly's underwing that would have confirmed it was a green veined white - I just couldn't get close enough!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos Simon but what a very sad tale about the poor horses. I truly hope something can be done for them and their fate be a happy one.
ReplyDeleteSo very sad about the horses :( Clay Lane looks beautiful. Agree with the others butterfly looks like Green-veined White.
ReplyDeleteI had a look today, one horse there and the same white van. Presume they put the piebald cob somewhere else.
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