First foal

 

Continuing on an equestrian tip, the first foal I've seen this year. Ah.

Denny Lodge flood

A pipe carrying a drainage ditch under one of the forest tracks running through Denny Lodge enclosure has collapsed and flooded the woodland behind it. Weird to come across flooded woodland well away from any stream; an unusual occurrence.

Frog chorus

I was back in the west of the forest again today.  On the whole, I tend to rinse an area for a few days or a week, and then move on to another and do the same there, that way I get around the forest and everywhere is always fresh.  The afternoon was fading, as was the light as I crossed the open, and wet, land between Denny Lodge and Denny Wood; it's where waterways, ditches and streams, converge in an area of extensive seasonal standing water and permanent bogginess. Like several areas of the forest there are bridges for ease of crossing the streams, though getting to the bridges and remaining dry is harder. Upon reaching the final bridge on the edge of Denny Wood I took time to pause, when I was struck by a sound, it sounded like a deep low cat purring on loop, then amplified, it filled the air. At first I thought it must be a machine or something in the distance, though as I focused on it, it was clear it came from close by. As far as could, wetland restricting me, I followed the sound and then it's origin became clear. The wetland in front of me was teaming with frogs, who themselves moved and furiously hopped in 'water' teaming with spawn; no, really, there was more spawn than water. It was an incredible sight to match the incredible sound. I've never seen as many frogs, nor as abundance of spawn. My photo doesn't do the scene justice, though if you look closely you can just see what I'm talking about. And this is only a tiny area of the much bigger wetland, although indicative of the rest. Quite amazing.

Stratigraphy

Walking through the northern reaches of Denny Lodge Enclosure I notice where one of the drainage ditches had recently been re-cut that the material piled on the banks was full of small shells and shell fragments.  These small shells and shell fragments were in grey blue clay, very similar to that which emerges in the cliffs at Barton, in fact they're the exact same Eocene sedimentary deposits. About 40 odd million years ago the whole region was an extensive shallow muddy lagoon/sea.  What struck me was the stratigraphy, or at least how close to the surface these ancient deposits were, the grey blue clay is not more that 30 cm from the surface, and I'm not sure that the orange clay horizon above it isn't just oxidized grey blue clay. The material heaped in the banks was absolutely stuffed with shell, the sea must have been chocker with life. The proximity of the clay to the surface, and that it extends under the whole forest and beyond, explain why the forest is so wet.You're not walking in the forest, you're really paddling in an ancient sea.