The kayaker in the marshes

Back in Newport today it wasn't hard to decide on the subject of my blip - this wicker sculpture that's been sitting out on the edge of the estuary since last summer. But close up to show the detail of the weaving or more distanced to illustrate the setting?

These woven willow sculptures have become a popular form of biodegradable art locally, but I don't know whose creation this one was. It's been set on one of the soggy turf islets along the shoreline where the tide comes swirling in through muddy channels mostly too wide for my leaping ability.

The lonely figure may be intended to represent the kayakers and other seasports enthusiasts who enjoy visiting this little seaside town in the summer but to me it invokes the distant past of the neolithic people who frequented the area, leaving traces of their tools, dwellings and burials close by. They must have used some similar type of craft to slip silently in and out of the marshes in search of edible plants, shellfish and wild birds such as ducks and waders. And there they are, the birds, bobbing on the surface of the water just to the left of the kayaker. Probably curlews, although oystercatchers, lapwings, godwits, redshanks and greenshanks all overwinter on the estuary. Their meat and eggs would once have been a valuable source of protein during the lean months.