Country diary: bright berries and noisy visitors in the churchyard

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire Scratch-calls and white strobing underwings announce a flock of fieldfare in the abbey ruins

Yew berries glow brilliant red at the green edges of the tree's inner darkness. It is five minutes to closing time when I slip into the Wenlock Priory ruins. Lawns have been freshly cut; towering stones radiate warmth on one of the last of the fine autumn days; no other feet tread the paths.

It is still bright as the church clock strikes five. Lime, hazel and beech have the smouldering brassy ochre of a slow autumn's burn, only now reaching their peak. A large horse chestnut bough has been downed in a recent gale. Tall pines rise skyward like those marking drover roads in the hills. Where they end the sky is blue beyond smoky clouds.