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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Red legs flash over the green strand | Red legs flash over the green strand |
| (5 months later) | |
| Harlech, Gwynedd Redshank circle above Ynys while Roma samphire pickers search the saltings | |
| Jim Perrin | |
| Sat 2 Sep 2017 05.30 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 17.38 GMT | |
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| A flight of redshank, wings elegantly barred and bent, clatter and yelp out of a draining channel as I circle Glastraeth, the “green strand” at the mouth of the river Dwyryd, which was once a crucial Welsh wintering ground for curlews, pintails and geese. | A flight of redshank, wings elegantly barred and bent, clatter and yelp out of a draining channel as I circle Glastraeth, the “green strand” at the mouth of the river Dwyryd, which was once a crucial Welsh wintering ground for curlews, pintails and geese. |
| The redshank circle round, calls modulating to a plaintive diminuendo, and descend towards the reed-fringed former mill pool at Ynys. | The redshank circle round, calls modulating to a plaintive diminuendo, and descend towards the reed-fringed former mill pool at Ynys. |
| I trail after them, noting as I go four egrets feeding across the saltings, wondering if they now share the heronry in the lee of Harlech castle. | I trail after them, noting as I go four egrets feeding across the saltings, wondering if they now share the heronry in the lee of Harlech castle. |
| From the footbridge over the river that drains the fine northern lakes of the Rhinogydd, I glimpse a flash of colour on a sandbank downstream. | From the footbridge over the river that drains the fine northern lakes of the Rhinogydd, I glimpse a flash of colour on a sandbank downstream. |
| Focusing the glass, what leaps into view is the ruddy, wind-ruffled, punk hairstyle of a red-breasted merganser. Backlit by the lowering sun it becomes a glorious vibrant halo, visionary and intensely strange. I wander close, interposing tufts of reeds for concealment. | Focusing the glass, what leaps into view is the ruddy, wind-ruffled, punk hairstyle of a red-breasted merganser. Backlit by the lowering sun it becomes a glorious vibrant halo, visionary and intensely strange. I wander close, interposing tufts of reeds for concealment. |
| There are three of the birds – females, pearly flanked, crested heads glowing among the muted sea-marsh tints. Mergansers are reliable presences on the estuary from this time of year onwards. | There are three of the birds – females, pearly flanked, crested heads glowing among the muted sea-marsh tints. Mergansers are reliable presences on the estuary from this time of year onwards. |
| They see me and take to the water, paddling quietly upstream in queenly convoy. | They see me and take to the water, paddling quietly upstream in queenly convoy. |
| Beyond Llechollwyn, where the saltings curve round to merge into Morfa Harlech nature reserve, I spot a group of stooping figures. I sally over and recognise a woman among them as someone I’d once met at the house of Mrs Lock, the Roma fortune teller on Anglesey. | Beyond Llechollwyn, where the saltings curve round to merge into Morfa Harlech nature reserve, I spot a group of stooping figures. I sally over and recognise a woman among them as someone I’d once met at the house of Mrs Lock, the Roma fortune teller on Anglesey. |
| To reassure them of good intent I drop into my greeting a few words conned years ago from George Borrow’s book Romano Lavo-Lil. We talk of the samphire they are gathering. One of the men hands me a sprig, carefully pinched off rather than uprooted, and I savour its sharp salt tang. This is rock samphire, a member of the carrot family, now a much-prized delicacy with which metro-foodies garnish their salt-marsh lamb. | To reassure them of good intent I drop into my greeting a few words conned years ago from George Borrow’s book Romano Lavo-Lil. We talk of the samphire they are gathering. One of the men hands me a sprig, carefully pinched off rather than uprooted, and I savour its sharp salt tang. This is rock samphire, a member of the carrot family, now a much-prized delicacy with which metro-foodies garnish their salt-marsh lamb. |
| Slim pickings here, so I tell the Roma family of an unexpected source on the farther shore, and we part with goodwill on both sides. | Slim pickings here, so I tell the Roma family of an unexpected source on the farther shore, and we part with goodwill on both sides. |
| Coastlines | |
| Country diary | |
| Birds | |
| Roma, Gypsies and Travellers | |
| Rivers | |
| Wildlife | |
| Plants | |
| features | |
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