Well camouflaged creatures succeed in concealing themselves to avoid predators, a particular one is man, but a Treecreeper, well camouflaged, was seen in a garden at the top of the High Street.

Creeping across a Honeysuckle plant growing across the ground it was seen by the garden owner who followed it for some distance before the bird flew off! Other birds this month have been invading property perhaps to avoid the heat. A resident of Mary Day Close kept a glass door open to get some fresh air but the room was continually invaded by a Wood Pigeon and a Squirrel, not very welcome visitors. An open window was seen as an invitation by a Swift which got trapped in a bathroom window between a shutter and a glass window upstairs in a house at Crown Corner. The bathroom owners rescued the Swift by covering it with a towel carefully and then releasing it outside. A gallant rescue.

There are a number of undisguised poisonous plants in the village one should never be tempted to eat. The charming Spindle bush, once so useful for making spindles from its wood, has pretty pink berries which are poisonous to man. There are a number of these shrubs in our hedgerows some of which have been festooned with webs of ermine moth earlier in the year. The caterpillars which make these webs eat the leaves of the plant and are unharmed. Fortunately the bushes recover and produce foliage the following year. The pretty Hemlock flowers with their red spotted stems grow  under the trees on the Three cocked hat and a lethal brew can be mane from these plants. This was given to the philosopher Socrates in the 4th century BC by the court in Athens to drink as a punishment for impiety and corrupting youth. Not a punishment used today. Other plants to watch out for round here are Dogs mercury on Broom Hill, the Hellebore family with their decorative leaves, foxglove leaves used as a heart stimulant but dangerous to overdose. Hedge garlic whose leaves look as if they could be put in a salad and, of course, Yew, not tempting to eat. So watch out when you go foraging.

Brenda Hudson