Devonshire September October 2018

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Great Devon eateries
Th e C O U N T R Y M A N
have shunned this and sparrows
soon moved in the oversized
hole but at the time of writing
any sparrows has been ousted
and housemartins have taken up
residence. So easy just to reduce
the hole size with what mud they
can find and thus they are set for
a brood themselves.
My own veg patch has performed
well but only with constant
watering, weeds arenʼt a problem
this year and still no slugs or snails.
The broad bean plants were six
foot high and covered in flower
but few beans. Lack of water and
too higher temperatures were the
main problem here according to
my horticultural expert friends.
The currant bushes were laden
with fruit and this bounty was
year or two of no spuds will solve
this problem.
After the best apple blossom
ever this spring, many trees
have branches at breaking point
bursting with fruit. These trees
cope with this weather by dropping
the fruit before it ripens and the
stillness of an evening in the
garden surrounded by the orchard
is now interspersed with the dull
thud of apples dropping to the
ground. This may be hastened
by a few new consumers of the
fruit. I have noticed the crows
have moved in and are pecking at
the apples, almost for sure a new
food source for them. The great
spotted woodpeckers also seem
to enjoy the bounty and even the
green woodpeckers I disturb from
and you have time on your hands
and wish for a different North Devon
experience with a few friends, then
how about this. Why not charter
the only yacht sailing from all
of North Devon from Appledore.
Niki runs the 31 foot ocean
going yacht, Patron on half day
or full days out. She will sail you
along the spectacular coast or
over to Lundy. A special birthday
and a longing for sailing meant
this was a perfect present for my
daughter Emily. We intended to sail
to Lundy but there was insufficient
wind to achieve our primary goal.
So we sailed in Bideford bay for the
day in all most total isolation, with
only the odd porpoise as company
and ever scanning the flat seas for
sun fish or dolphins. The photo of
bottlenose dolphins was taken
2lb Bass
small gurnard. Whilst being closely
observed by a large bull grey seal
and had a sun fish pass by within
a few metres all within a 2 hour
trip out. My own experience is the
mackerel can be found throughout
September but in ever decreasing
numbers. Weather conditions
permitting and this should be
another enjoyable and fantastic
Dolphins galore, spotted from ‘Patron’
Ahoy - aboard Appledore Sails
soon found by numerous birds.
Even with a daily check on all
the protective netting, Black caps,
Thrushes, Robins and Blackbirds
soon became reliant on this bounty
too. I soon gave up the task of net
repairs and left the door open for
them to take their share of the
crop. The sweetcorn has grown
well and unfortunately has not set
that many cobs and for the first
time ever the outside tomatoes
havenʼt got blight and with any luck
should ripen soon. I have had to
give up potatoes this year due to
crop failures in the previous years.
Nematode worms seem to be the
problem eating the tubers and thus
causing the plants to struggle and
get blight early. These probably
entered the garden from peelings
of shop bought potatoes put on
the compost heap. Hopefully a
under the trees are presumably
feeding on those insects feeding
on the drops.
The rivers Bray and Mole are only a
stones throw away and their levels
are so pitifully low, even after a few
heavy even prolonged periods of
rain, that few if any migratory fish
will be running at present. My sea
fishing colleagues tell me they are
seeing a few jumping in the estuary
keenly awaiting a spate. I have seen
small shoals of two to three pound
sea trout laying almost comatose
on the river bed, and it is easy to
see there are many juvenile trout
or salmon in these conditions. I
hope they survive until persistent
rain arrives.
So gardening, walking, fishing or
sitting on the beach arenʼt for you
from Patron earlier this season.
We did see fulmars, shearwaters,
gannets, guillemots and razorbills
and all the time taking in the
stunning coastline. Niki can take
out five adults at a time and is
only too happy to encourage you
to participate in the sailing of
Patron. So this is a day you can
make unique to yourselves. Try
it, we had a wonderful day this
time, as several year ago and will
be out again.
info@appledoresails.co.uk
There is still time to enjoy kayaking
alone our coast. For beginners try
Combe Martin where you can hire
kayaks by the hour. I have just
upgraded my own kayak and in
late August on the maiden voyage
I caught a few mackerel and a
way to see our renowned coastline.
Summer bass fishing has been
successful for the hardened few
who brave the high tides of the
Taw and Torridge estuary and this
will continue into October.
September will be the last good
month for butterflies and any
sunny day will bring many out
on the wing. I still need to sharpen
up on identification but trying to
get photos of these when they
only alight for short periods and
seem to constantly probe flowers
for nectar so never stay still long
enough to get great photos. The
best of recent ones here are of a
fritillary and speckled wood (see
previous pages).
Chris
hubcast
.co.u k
What’s on in Devon
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