August 12 - Day 114 - 'At first we will only skim the surface of the earth like young starlings, but soon… we will spring into the air with the impetuousness of the eagle.' Rousseau

It was a good cycle in this morning, even though I still don’t know what makes people want to overtake with only a few inches between me and them. I was very good though today and didn’t swear (well out loud anyway).

The heather is beginning to come out on the moorland and so there is the beginning of a pink/purple tinge to the landscape. I tried to capture this on the photograph (even though I wasn’t tall enough to see over the barbed wire!) but it should get more obvious over the coming weeks. I remember from school being told that most heather is actually called ling. I think this is most likely due to there being two species of heather common in the UK - Ling (Calluna vulgaris) and Bell Heather (Erica cinerea). Ling’s Latin name ‘’Calluna vulgaris’ (to brush or sweep)’ links to its use in the production of brooms.

You may again be asking why I have not included a quote about heather in the title, rather than starlings. Well - I just had to mention that on this day (August 12) in 1949, a flock of starlings perched on the minute hand of Big Ben, slowing it by 4 and a half minutes. I find it fascinating that the power of the natural world can manage to disrupt human activity or engineering, even in the most prominent of places, which is I suppose a good reminder to us all.