It takes a leap of faith to walk through a forest in the night. Just a few yards from the light from an open doorway and you are plunged into the forests own kingdom and it is pitch black.
For nearly the whole of 2015 I grew to know the Ancient Forest of Wood Farm in all its many moods except that of true winter and snow. In some ways I shall regret that lost experience and yet when snow is on the ground, it is the reflection of moonlight and star light which lights that silent world and in writing now, about the dark, snow is not a relevant aspect.
During Spring and Autumn the nights are usually fairly clear, they can become pitch black with a new moon, no moon or heavy cloud. In summer, then the skies become lighter, more reflective in some way and the real dark seems to not descend as heavily.
I am not particularly brave, but I am generally speaking unafraid of the dark. I see no point in fearing the unseen or the supposed, the might be or the possible. I deal with what is in actual view, in my personal space so to speak.
Walking less than ten feet from the door I would become lost in a world of black on black,pierced here and there with stars that seemed so bright, like so many scattered diamonds across a black velvet cloth. A full moon would simply make the night become black sharded with silver beaming and bouncing into and off tree limbs or an embankment or.........the reflected glory of a passing animals eyes.
Silver limned eyes are truly scary when that is all you can see, no animal shape tells you what it is that is looking at you, tiny mouse eyes, fox eyes and deer are all night time meanderers. Animals do not sleep a regular 8 hours like humans, they sleep at need and move when they wish. They are identified only by the height they are from the ground...which brings me to a night time predator I wasn't expecting.
Having an Owl swoop down from nowhere is slightly unnerving but looking at a pair of wide spaced eyes reflecting from around thigh height (I admit I am small but it was 'my' thigh height) isn't unnerving its down right scary. Those eyes leapt high up into a tree, at least ten feet from a stand point, then vanished. Not until three months later, in the first half of November would someone else see the owner and identify it for me...a Leopard Cat. During the day time, the new Manager would see the cat leap from a tree across a good ten foot of space before landing and vanishing...I had my answer as to what it was I had seen during the night.
According to Devon wildlife trust they are a crossbred wildcat with a domestic, as large as a dog, and feral and............wandering around Devon forests with impunity. No one that I know has managed to capture one, not on film or by other methods...so I am not sure how to prove it :)
Steps in the dark can bring adventures of all sorts of kinds, the cat is only one, stumbling across lovers trying to have a special moment (in what was private grounds so duhhhhhhhh) or hearing the pop pop of someone shooting illegally in the grounds does bring out the other side of my nature, the more aggressive side and certainly the dogs enjoyed the chase; but other visitors in the night like the silently swooping Bats with their insect choreographed maneuvers as they eat on the wing is a delight.
The dawn chorus sets up half an hour before light begins, little rustlings, the odd chirp or cheap cheap, then a ray of light begins its stealthy march across the sky and one bird will sing its heart out followed by thousands. During the night there can be the odd moment of song, rare but it does happen. The sharp crack of a tree limb as it snaps, too dry to withstand another hot day ahead it breaks away to lie on the ground, eventually t rot into it.
Sitting down on an old tree stump and simply listening displays the wonder of the night. It isn't still, there is sound but it is muted, almost as if sound itself has become respectful of the absence of light. Leaves move in the slightest of breezes, the sharp squeal and death cry of a rat as Mr Owl gathers supper, the cough of the Fox as it runs by on its nimble feet. All can be heard clearly, but in the night, sound does seem to travel differently, the river Avon at the bottom of the valley, less than 200 feet away is gurgling along with its own song of running water flowing, trickling,surging over and around rocks. It sounds like background music for a mystery film. Walking along the various pathways through the land brings its own distinct sounds. Crushed scrunchy grass, gravel that cracks and spits its sharp shot sounds,thick crunchy earth and then the sharp staccato sounds of booted feet crossing the courtyard to end in the thud of steps on packed earth.
Stepping out into the night is an adventure in becoming aware, of becoming closer to the sounds of life and the journey of those steps will stay with me for the rest of my life.
I love the dark,
