Feeling More and More, Like I've Never Felt Before

My last day in Devon. I try to treasure every single moment when I'm off work to make it last as long as possible. Whether it be one day or several. It still zips past so fast, probably because I enjoy it so much. Nature always delivers.

I started just up the road from my friends home. The Tarka Trail winds from north to south Devon and I hopped onto it near Sourton.
It's the old railway line that was made redundant in the days of the Beeching cuts. A detriment to public transport but a bonus for nature and walkers alike.
Every time I walk the line I imagine the old steam trains chugging down the track. The smell and sound long gone, replaced by birdsong and flowers, a quite different sight and sound.
The Red Campion was in full flower as I started just up from the bicycle repair and hire shop.   

 

One of the commonest sights and sounds is the diminutive little Wren.

This adult was zipping around feeding its young that I could hear peeping all around me but try as I might I couldn't see them.

The track banks were thick green and lush, full of stitchwort, poppies, stinging nettles and ivy.

At certain points you are able to dodge off the beaten track and either head down to a village or up onto the moor as I was on the eastern edge of Dartmoor itself.

Prewley Moor has lots of cotton grass that loves the damp boggy areas that the moor provides.

A few birds breed here. I could hear Skylark trilling their beautiful song as they ascended the sky. They are always hard to pick out but easy to hear.
On terra firma, Meadow Pipits hunted for grubs for their young. 

Beneath my feet I almost trod on this stunning Violet Ground Beetle.

The Tors give off a real sense of place, mystery and spirituality

I completed a circular loop upon the moor, sheltered from a brief shower with the sheep, underneath one of the few trees here and began my descent into Sourton village and the prospect of a lovely pub lunch.

The pub is right next to the church. If you ever spy a church steeple on the horizon chances are there is a pub close by, not far for the clergy to hop across for a swift one no doubt?

Stonechat parents were alert for any predators but I wasn't going to trouble them. A female with a juvenile behind in this shot

And there was my halfway house, the Highwayman...
Probably one of the most intriguing and quirkiest public houses I have ever entered. And that's just the landlady. She is so warm and welcoming and a font of knowledge. This pub has been in her family for years. A great vegetarian menu, top ale and a labyrinth of cornucopia adorning every available space.
I spoke at length with her and it turns out she used to be a backing singer (a bad one so she puts it) for John Cale, founding member of the Velvet Underground. She is also friends with TV Smith, formerly of the punk band The Adverts and used to be friends with Lemmy from Motorhead. Some incredible things can be found when you get talking to people and in a tiny place on the edge of Dartmoor too!

To top off a great pub excursion, a couple of people walked into the place looking to use the toilet. These two men were dressed for a wedding in the church opposite. The couple getting married, so they explained, was a local chap and and his bride was a girl from Canada by the name of Baskerville...you just couldn't make it up!!   

After a lovely veggie meal and some fine cask ale I headed back up to the moor in the hope of a view of a Redstart and not of any hounds marauding over the hill. The church bells rang out their wedding celebration. Such a quintessential sound across this island.

Although the Redstart failed to show, the archetypal bird here, the Raven put in a great show. There were several around. Some looked like juveniles.

As I watched the Ravens depart I pondered my next stop. Looking north towards Bideford the sun was shining, so I was sold. Meeth was right over there, so a return to catch up with the places I had missed from Saturday was on the cards. As I drove north the sun broke through and by the time I had reached Meeth I had entered a different world.
Speckled Wood butterflies were the first to show.

Then Dingy Skipper...

A Burnet Companion Moth continued to play hide and seek with me...same as before

Then it was dragonfly city. Firstly a male Four Spotted Chaser

Then Broad Bodied Chaser, a male here too

I love the way it's hind legs hang on to the stem, or maybe they don't and it's only using it's front legs? It's other two legs are held up against it's body, similar to the way Butterflies perch..

A Cinnebar  Moth kept giving me the run around but eventually I managed a half decent shot.

Another Four Spotted.

The old clay excavations are full of water but drying around the edges after such a dry Spring. I had to be so careful as froglets were all around, I hope I didn't squish any?!

I walked to the top of the spoil heaps overlooking the countryside and lakes. It was sunny with occasional cloud but still quite warm. In between the cloud cover Common Blues would sit waiting patiently on the Ragged Robin for the sun to emerge. This gave me a chance to get up close.

Some Southern Marsh orchids dotted the slopes.

I did what I like to do and get down for a bugs eyed view of the flower grassland here.

While there I came face to face with a favourite bug, the Scorpion Fly

The sun emerged and the Common Blue was off...

After sitting on the bench eating my apple I headed back down the slope, serenaded by a Willow Warbler as I went.

The lakes and ponds are so rich in diversity here. They do require some management to keep things in check by the Devon Wildlife Trust however, so what you see has been made available by unseen hands. That's the balance we can create with the natural world. We are animals after all and have a vital role to play when it's done with mindfulness and harmony. We are part of the system, its only when we take too much, then the balance is tipped into negative returns and the natural world becomes depleted.

A last sighting of a female Common Blue ended my day and ultimately my visit to this wonderful County of Devon. I have visited here countless times but it always leaves me in awe.

I had some quite incredible sights, caught up with some treasured people and friends and left with a smile on my face and a very happy heart... til next time Devonshire.. :) :)

The title of this post is a lyric taken from the song 'Happy Heart' by Andy Williams