New things growing and some visitors...

We identified the fungus we found last week, and our friend Tim confirmed it - Chicken of the Woods (or Sulphur Polypore):
We've not tried eating any, but it is supposed to be edible. Perhaps we'll give it a go... we hear it's quite expensive to buy!

Another interesting thing growing is the big holly tree in the public footpath. Here's a picture of it during the coppicing work last winter:
As you can see, it now has a lot of light getting to its lower branches as well as the top. As a result, it is now flowering!
I assume it's been flowering at the top every year, but this is the first time we've seen it flowering near ground level. And if you're wondering why the leaves aren't spiky, it's because it has polymorphic leaves - only those lower down (and therefore at risk of being eaten) grow spiky.

The big event this week so far was a visit from some of my work colleagues from the Ashden Awards and their families:
They all had a good time, and there's a write-up on the Ashden Awards blog, with some more pictures.

Last of all, on Monday we did a bit more processing of firewood:
This isn't ready to sell yet as it needs some more seasoning. Here's a birch log that had been striped along one side only:
It's hard to tell in the photo, but you can just about see that near the stripe made on the top by the chainsaw the wood is drier (paler colour). This is why it's important to stripe birch if you're not going to split it (this log in particular has been split now, by some of the Ashden Awards people!).

We're off to the woods again this evening, this time for a friend's birthday, so I think a fire, marshmallows and a few beers are in order...

Mike

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Actually, they were Fallow deer...

Last week I posted a video of some deer. We weren't sure what species they were, but thought they might be Roe. We know better now, thanks to people on the Wild About Britain forums - they are Fallow deer. Here's the video again in case you missed it:

Mike

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Odds and ends

There's a variety of photos that I want to post, but they're not on any specific topic... First off, here's an impressive fungi I found, I've not identified it yet, but will take the fungi ID book up to the wood later on.
Also, the other mystery tree (i.e. not the Alder Buckthorn) is now confirmed as a Crab Apple, as it has some fruit for the first time:
We think it didn't fruit before because it didn't have enough light, but since we coppiced in the area, that's changed.

Another interesting development in the same part of the wood is that heather has started growing, the seeds spread in from the wayleave presumably. Again, this would not have happened before we coppiced this area:
Initially I just saw this one plant, but as I looked around I realised there were lots of plants, this was just the only one flowering.
Here's a couple of butterfly pictures. First, an old favourite: the Speckled Wood, but this time in the coupe we cut two years ago, where I've not seen them before. Perhaps the slowly increasing shade as the coppice grows is making it attractive?
And a Common Blue, one that I've not been able to photograph nicely before:
And finally, a few pictures of people in the woods. A couple of weeks ago our neighbours John and Helen had family visiting, and the kids got a chance to fell a chestnut (we picked one that's shading the Alder Buckthorn, which we'd like to grow better):
and also see birch bark's effectiveness as a firelighter:
I also hosted the men's group form my church for dinner, cooking a curry from raw ingredients up in the wood:
That's all for now. There's another busy week ahead, including a visit by some of my work colleagues to see what the woodland is all about.

Mike

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Six wild boar, two pigeons and a fox

Here's some assorted videos from our trail camera for you... First, the largest group of wild boar we've seen yet, and the first time the male is with the others:

Next, one wood pigeon chasing another one in front of the camera:

And finally, two videos of a fox. First, in the early morning, with the camera still in infra-red mode, and then later in the day, but also with an unidentified creature running very fast the other way along the path - any ideas what it is? It's about 8 seconds in, and you'll probably want to switch the video to HQ mode to see it.


We've now moved the trail camera to the other side of the wayleave, into the wood that my friend Alex owns. It's by an animal trail and a seasonal stream (dry at present), so it'll be interesting to see what it picks up...

Mike

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Wild boar - lots of them this time!

As I said, we put our trail camera back near the mud bath the boar like to use, and we were rewarded with some results! In this video you can see four boar together at one point. At the end of the video is a single boar on its own - this was actually taken the next evening. This makes me think the big boar at the end might have been a mature male, roaming on his own, while the group could be females and adolescents. Anyway, watch the video and see what you think:

We didn't just get a boar, we also got a rabbit as well. OK, not as exciting, but here's the video anyway:

Mike

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