I WATCHED fascinated as the fellow approached along the track avidly reading a large format newspaper instead of taking in the scenery.

He was 50-ish, neatly attired and maybe he was used to the scene but the news was, well, news.

Gusts of wind caught at the pages but with a flick of his open arms he kept on coming, and reading. "Boinggg! Oof!" Now there are two sounds one doesn't hear everyday. He had actually walked into a metal set of rails, gate-like across the track.

I had thought it possible but improbable for surely one glances up now and then to gauge where one is. He looked at the railing, placed to deter motor cyclists, looked at me, detoured the barrier and went on westward, still reading. Willow, our dog, looked at me and grinned.

Nowt so queer as folk.

On a traffic bollard, muddied and now fitting in with the riverscape, perched a kingfisher. It is often to be seen here not far from "Shappies" factory, taking small fish from a creek and nearby pools, left for it by ebbing tides.

I watched it bobbing up and down as kingfishers do, getting its sight and distance right, then in it plopped, a tiny splash, to emerge with a shining silvery fish which it quickly swallowed.

A flick of its wings, a spraying of excess water from its plumage and off it sped towards the tributary of the Barnstaple Yeo. Often they will be seen speeding around the meandering river at Pilton Park, then on to Derby and more rural scenes, good otter country as so much of North Devon is.

A snipe puts up. I can hear its "skaark" cry as it zig zags away, crossing the Taw to the Ashford side. It is a common snipe, here for the winter, Gallinago gallinago being its scientific name. Gallinago is a word coined from gallina (L) a hen as in poultry.

The bird has an almost world-wide distribution and migrates south in winter. Not so many years ago when winters here were often very cold there would be scores of common snipe in the area and a few of the smaller jack snipe.

The crown of a jack snipe is dark and unstreaked. It is the smallest snipe and tends not to zig zag away when flushed but wings silently away in a straight flight to drop quickly into cover.

Found a patch of groundsel in full flower. Considered a weed by some it was used, indeed prized, for its medicinal properties as a poulticing herb, good against sore skin.

It was also used to cure horses suffering from the disease of staggers. Today it is used to feed rabbits and canaries. It is a pretty, yellow flowered plant, upright with irregular branches.

Look for the bright green toothed leaves and five petalled florets which form a fused tube surrounded by a ring of stiff hairs. The generic name Senecio is from senex, Latin for "old man". It flowers all year which is rather good for wild rabbits.

● Trevor Beer will answer your nature and countryside queries. Just drop him a line at 38 Park Avenue, Barnstaple, EX31 2ES.