Lapwings

Modern farming has brought a drastic reduction in the UK breeding population of Lapwings but overwintering birds can still give us the spectacle of a sky full of Lapwings.

Snow brings down trees

 Wet snow clings to tree branches and although it looks pretty the extra weight is just too much for many trees. We listened to the crashing noises on Sunday as tree after tree fell to the ground in the space of a few hours.
On the bright side the gaps opened up will allow new growth to replace the old trees.

Beech Woodland in Winter

Winter days can be dull and gloomy but when the sun shines a walk in the woods is beautiful.
The leaves are gone so the sun can penetrate the beech woods and you are able to appreciate the shapes of the trees and the delicate tracery of their branches.

Beech woodland in Autumn

 We have enjoyed some stunning rambles this week. This woodland at Owlpen was enhanced by the sunshine. Some of the leaves having fallen means that the light gets through showing off the dark Beech trunks

Fairy Rings

 Rings of Fungi often appear in the autumn and these are sometimes called fairy rings. They are the fruiting bodies of the fungus which lives underground feeding on decaying material.
We think this is the Trooping Funnel (Clitocybe geotropa) which commonly forms rings under beech trees but  are not confident enough in our identification to eat them!

Sloe berries

There seem to be many Sloe berries in the hedgerows this year. 

The berries resemble a small plum. They can be used for making jams and chutneys but are very sharp. Apparently they are less tart of picked after a frost but I usually find they have shrivelled by this time you can collect them now and freeze them.

Hornets

When sitting down for a picnic in the woods today we noticed some large insects flying around this tree stump. Looking more closely we saw that they were hornets flying in and out. Luckily they kept themselves to themselves although one seemed to be on guard and we noticed it attach another hornet who came too close.

Bat detecting

As the sun went down yesterday it was a perfect still evening for watching Bats flying around the local area.
We sat down at twilight and soon saw Common Pipistrelle bats flying overhead. Our bat detector helped us to identify them and later a Lesser Horseshoe Bat too.

Sweet Chestnut

Came across these lovely old Chestnut trees on an estate near Shipton Moyne whilst out walking last week. Must be hundreds of years old.

Sun and Showers

It is feeling like Autumn already as the rose bay willow herb starts to set seed beneath stormy looking skies.
We managed an early walk with some sunshine before the rain set in.