A lovely misty morning among the great oaks, Beeches and conifers though it wasn’t long before the sun burst through the canopy.
We
started with a glimpse of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and heard Robin, Coal Tit
and Jay in the trees around us. The grassy rides were carpeted in delicate dew
covered cobwebs, each with a small spider at its centre.
A few
butterflies, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood, emerged to dance in the pools of
sunlight before we deviated briefly into a clearing in search of slime moulds.
We found just old remains of a yellow Dog’s Vomit Slime Mould but came across a
good display of a coral fungus, .
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| Ramaria stricta © Richard Smith |
We
found another good fungal specimen at the base of a beech tree, Cauliflower
Fungus, and several Violet Door Beetles before we emerged from the wood and
followed the wood margin up the hill.
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| Cauliflower Fungus © Richard Smith |
Diving
back into the wood we headed back, finding Green Elf Cup, several Russula
mushrooms, an immature Beefsteak Fungus that resembled a slime mould, heard Ravens
croaking nearby and saw a fascinating collection of more Violet Door Beetles
working through a patch of dung.
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| Green Elf Cup © Chris Robinson |
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| Fox poo with Sloe stones and Violet Dor Beetles © Chris Robinson |
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| An immature Beefsteak Fungus © Andy Skarstein |
Back in the car park a wonderful specimen of a Goat Moth caterpillar was found. I hope everyone enjoyed a lovely morning in the woods despite not finding many birds and, in particular, the promised array of exotic species such as Crossbill and Dartford Warbler. Glad I didn’t mention the Wildebeest! RP
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| Goat Moth caterpillar © Andy Skarstein |
