I can’t wait to…
…SALUTE A HOBBY
I feel bad nicking the hobby, as it’s the favourite bird of CW photographer Tom Bailey. But it’s thanks to his appreciation of the hobby that I’ve come to love it myself. At the end of this month they’ll be heading south for Africa, so this is the hobby’s last hurrah over our fields. These are incredibly agile birds, so skilful in flight that they can eat their prey on the wing. But I also love their Latin name. In 1946, Peter
Adolph designed a tabletop football game and wanted to call it Hobby, after his favourite bird. When the trademark was refused, he simply used the Latin name: falco Subbuteo. Great game, great bird. Nick Hallissey, Deputy Editor
…PICK SLOES
Blackthorn is often the first tree to blossom in spring. We say it’s a ‘blackthorn winter’ when its frothy bloom coincides with unseasonal snow. But the floral confetti is merely a curtain-raiser for the crop of plump, blue-black berries which signal autumn is near. I am of course talking about sloes – best picked for gin-making after the first frost.
With a sharp-sour flavour to match the barbs giving this shrubby tree its Latin name (prunus spinosa), it’s no wonder blackthorn has a dark reputation in folklore – the wood of choice for witches’ staffs. Yet it’s a tart tang I’ve learned to relish, giving sloe gin its warming potency come winter. Philip Thomas, Features Writer
…WATCH HAWKERS
As a kid I was terrified of dragonflies: so big, so fast.
And hawkers are the biggest and fastest of them all: the jewelled body of this migrant variety is 2½ inches long and its four twinkling wings can push it to speeds up to 30mph, and get it flying sideways or even backwards. Typically, migrant hawkers appear on the wing in late summer across the southern half of Britain, numbers swelled by arrivals from the continent, and they can be seen right through to November. I used to run from them; now I love to watch them whirring by water, using their exceptional eyesight to ‘hawk’ for their insect-supper. Jenny Walters, Features Editor