Cooks Fields

When I leave Lynchcombe through the top gate I pass through a corner of Cook’s Fields before returning via Deerleap to the car park.  Sometimes this small corner has a big surprise such as this otter.

This otter has found it way across Cooks Fields – Somerset, UK. ID JB4_2230

It has clearly been eating well as it looked well stuffed.

Top of the World

The dividing line between Lynchcombe and Cook’s Fields as an old concrete post fence.  It as a certain character – but not loved by all.

The Top Fence – Lynchcombe, Somerset, UK. ID JB4_9266

It cannot be removed as this would risk damaging the scheduled monument on which it stands. This part of the reserve is archaeological site given protection against unauthorised change. It was once the site of a farm for which the lynchets, that give the area its name, were created.

From up here you can see most of Somerset – its the top of the world.

Butterflies

I cannot avoid trying to photograph every butterfly I see.  There are chalkhill blues on Cook’s Field but today I settled for this gatekeeper.

Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) – Cooks Fields, Somerset, UK. ID 823_3032

Autumn Ladys-tresses

This corner of Cook’s Field is full of the small but beautiful orchid autumn lady’s-tresses.

Autumn Ladys-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis) – Cooks Fields, Somerset, UK. ID 823_2947

Autumn Ladys-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis) – Cooks Fields, Somerset, UK. ID 823_2938

And Finally…

I admit the otter was a toy dropped by a visitor to the reserve.  But fact can be stranger than fiction when a kestrel, a green woodpecker and a crow all perched on the concrete fence at the same time.

The concrete may have been a bit of a shock for the woodpecker.

Kestrel, Green Woodpecker and a Crow share a fence – Lynchcombe, Comp G.