There's a triangle of tall grasses on the corner where the track down to the slipway leaves the road that runs along to the shop. No-one ever cuts it, and it's too thick for even the most inquisitive small boy to penetrate so, at a place which is one of the busiest in this small community, it's a little piece of undisturbed nature. In the summer it's full of noisy small birds such as warblers but, at this time of year, it remains silent except for the sound of the wind sighing through the close-packed stalks.
It's been cut back along the side that borders the slipway track to make room for the scattered clutter of the boating fraternity - kayaks, yachts with their halyards rattling against metal masts, dinghies, creels, old rope and buoys - all offering more habitats for the local wildlife.
The third side, which faces Kilchoan Bay, shows that the grass is growing on the peaty land which is part of the salt marsh around the bay, an area cut by water-filled gullies and often inundated by the sea.
The grass may be
water reed, at one time a valuable local resource for roofing, but nothing here is thatched any more.
This plant has increased it's spread on this site many fold over the last 40 years. I have often wondered what the reason might be.
ReplyDeleteYour tall grass is Phragmites and is what was/ is still used for thatch, your warblers are most likely to be sedge warblers and on an odd occasion possibly grasshopper warblers.
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