I was just updating some info on my YouTube videos, and looking at old blog posts, and could scarcely believe the changes over the past few years. Here's a couple of photos of roughly the same part of the wood in 2008 and 2011, both featuring my nephew Joshua:
OK, Saturday's star of the show has to be this huge bolete:
Not sure what kind, but maybe an Orange Birch Bolete? Next one I know, the imaginatively named Brown Birch Bolete, also pretty big:
This next set is interesting. When we coppiced round the pond a few years ago, we left some birch logs on the side, and they are now covered with Sulphur Tuft:
They're in quite a damp spot, but just over a few metres away, on the other side of the pond are some more logs in a drier spot:
but these have no Sulphur Tuft, just some kind of Turkey Tail:
There's loads of other fungi out too, and I don't know what they are:
Although I do know this last one, Fly Agaric:
I got some interesting insect photos too, such as this hornet nest in an oak tree:
and this beetle making a home and dragging dung into it:
I also spent a while stood in the wayleave trying to get pictures of dragonflies in the air. It's not very easy to be quick enough and get them in focus, and I need some more practice, but here's my initial attempts:
Along the footpath, or "wildlife corridor", the bit of the track that got muddy last winter has recovered brilliantly with the light it's getting, and is now grassing over:
The rain's probably helped too, and has certainly filled our makeshift rainwater harvesting behind the firewood shelter:
The sun and rain has also helped the coppice growing from last year's cutting. Bear in mind that all the trees in these photos have only been growing since this Spring! Ash and Hazel:
Sweet Chestnut (with me for scale):
Ash:
Hazel, but this time one that's been grazed, presumably by deer:
We were also pleased to see this Rowan (Mountain Ash) doing well along the footpath. We clearly avoided it while felling there in 2008/9, but I don't remember seeing it before. No doubt it's healthier for the light it's now getting, and it had a few berries on it.
One more tree, and no idea how these got here. Horse Chestnut at the top of Sweep Wood, near the road:
Last but not least some flowers from Sweep Wood, including a Violet:
A Nightshade:
Something I don't recognise:
and a Snapdragon, which has clearly escaped from a nearby garden!
These were all growing in this patch near the top, which is teeming with life:
Nice to watch it develop over the seasons...
That's all for now.
Mike
It's been a very busy week at the Ashden Awards, which is why it's taken until now for me to post the photos I took last weekend...
The area near our camp is now swamped by a carpet of green:
The fruit trees are coming on well:
but one particular birch tree is having a tough time with caterpillars:
Don't know the species though - leave a comment if you know what they are.
We've got yet more new plants moving into this area as well. I think this one is Hedge Bedstraw (correct me if I'm wrong), which we've not seen before:
Another one that's nice to see is Elder:
The thistles are back, and we have at least two varieties, judging by the colours of the flowers:
What's quite amazing is standing at the boundary of the area we coppiced in 2007/8 and taking a photo in each direction. Here's the coppiced area:
and here's the view in the other direction:
You can see the huge difference in the variety of ground flora. This is why it's important to keep cutting different bits of the wood each year, so there are a variety of areas in different stages of growth, with different plants and habitats in them. It also works well for harvesting the wood, which I guess is why people have been managing woods this way for thousands of years!
Anyway, time for a Sweep Wood update, where everything is growing like crazy! At the top, the logs we sat on to eat lunch last winter are nearly hidden by nettles:
Hazel stools are growing nicely:
as are the Sweet Chestnut:
and so are Sycamore (though we won't let these grow to the point where they seed, we have quite enough of them already!)
A new one for us is Ash - this is the first time we've been able to watch it grow after coppicing. The speed of growth is amazing:
especially when you look at how thick the stems are already, way ahead of the other species:
Down at the bottom of Sweep Wood there's a fungi on an Ash tree, in the same place as last year (which is not surprising):
Any ideas on the name? I wasn't sure...
Heading back to our own wood, the pond is looking good:
OK, you may not think that's good, but look closer:
there's other little creatures in there too, but I couldn't get a clear picture...
Down at the end of the path we coppiced in 2008/9, the honeysuckle we carefully protected is in full bloom:
which is a treat for the White Admiral butterfly. We saw two of them near our entrance, the first recorded sighting in the area this year:
Other insects are out and about too, there's loads of dragonflies around in the wayleave:
and last but not least, first picture of a Meadow Brown this year:
That's all for now...
Mike
