Dusky ruminations

At quarter-to-nine last night I sat outside in the rapidly gathering dusk and falling dew listening to chirruping grasshoppers and bush-crickets, hooting Tawny Owls, and a Jackdaw chacking somewhere high overhead as it hurried to roost. An experience close to perfection. Amidst the gloaming I could just make out a Pipistrelle Bat flying circuits around the Blaisdon Plum tree close to where I was sitting. It reminded me of when, as a 15-year old, I was still able to hear the high-frequency calls of Long-eared Bats feeding over the venerable cider orchards of west Gloucestershire.