Late June in Cockington Water-meadows, Torquay, Devon…the beauty and tranquility of which is totally ignored by some visitors.
The Water-meadows are this week overgrown and full of life. The mown fields of just a few weeks ago are now richly green with new growth.
Water trickles through the meadows..a narrow spring of life for so much nature.
Here a Demoiselle flits close to the banks. These beautiful damselflies flew or rested just above the water, some in pairs, dancing and circling each other in the air. They lay their eggs under water in vegetation.
I alone watched in wonder.
I stop and stare constantly on my walks in the meadow. There is so much to see. But many visitors totally ignore their surroundings.
I met a lady last week, a staff member at the local zoo…we had stopped on a bridge overlooking the stream running through the zoo to watch the red-crowned cranes dancing and running through the streams and stopping only to feed their newborn golden, fluffy chick.
We were thrilled to have witnessed the sight. She remarked how she was always so surprised that people came to the zoo and rarely ‘looked’…she said, something as wonderful as this and look at them…she gestured to people walking past, on their phones, totally ignorant of the wonderful scene playing out below their feet.
I know exactly what she means….I see the same thing at the Water-meadows….
Some people come not to enjoy the beauty of the water-meadow, but to use it as a short cut or simply to walk their dogs. A few people let their often big dogs off the lead to rampage through the streams and race down the paths…terrifying children and smaller dogs on leads and disturbing wildlife. Some of the most uncaring do not pick up after their dogs…leaving pathways and river banks unpleasant.
Look at these views of the meadows…it is a place of tranquility and beauty. It is admired by people I’ve met from Europe, America, Australia, as well as from the UK.
And, if you look, there are many surprises too. This black caterpillar crossed the earthen pathway in front of me. It is the caterpillar of the Peacock butterfly. Looking closer I saw it was covered in tiny white spots and sharp spikes. Extraordinary that the gorgeous Peacock butterfly can emerge from such a fierce looking caterpillar.
Nature is extraordinary…. My daughters response when she saw the caterpillar was, ‘Yuk..it’s ugly,’ then she looked closer and said, ‘but beautiful at the same time.’…
Nature is like that… Its a pity some people don’t take the time to enjoy it.
devon2mother 