Misty morning

A beautiful misty morning in Mark Ash Wood.

Gnawed beech

Back in 2016 this mature Mark Ash beech only narrowly escaped a complete ring stripping by dint of two narrow crevices into which the ponies teeth couldn't reach. You'd imagine this level of bark damage would be catastrophic, though remarkably the tree survives today thanks to those narrow crevices. Isn't nature amazing.

Fall

Recent rough weather marks the beginning of the end for fall. Each season has it's own distinctive face and personality, and the face of the forest is changing. Autumns' window begins to close. As the russet coloured bracken battered by rain bows out and the canopy's thinning allows light into the under-story and reveals views through the stands, so the forest is slowly adopting it's open winter persona. It's noticeably quieter out here now. And why not. It's been a difficult year for forest and it's inhabitants, so with rutting over and the growing season done, the forest world retires for a well deserved period of R&R until the seeds awaken on springs' approach. Anyone wanting to catch the last hurrah of the autumn tints shouldn't leave it too long, each day the depth of leaf litter deepens. 

Oysters

Nice find.  An extensive spread of fresh young button Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) clumps on a fallen beech in Mark Ash Wood. The rains have really brought the forests' fungi to life. I've now seen Oyster, Summer Cep, Chanterelle, a variety of Russula and Puffball, and plenty of others whose identities are unknown to me. The forest continues to riff on that autumn vibe. 

Autumnal tints

There's colour in the forest's canopy and floor for sure, though it lacks the depth and range of hues you'd usually hope for; so far that is, the show's not over yet.

Bracken basket

Walking through Mark Ash Wood we came across evidence that someone had been practising their bushcraft skills. Perched on the mushroom covered hulk of a fallen Beech an incomplete basket woven out of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) stems; it may have been rough, that's just the nature of the material, but you could see how effective a container could be constructed on the hoof from such an abundant forest resource. Even in it's unfinished state, I was impressed; nice work.

Mark Ash Wood

Mark Ash Wood

Dead Man Oak

'Dead Man Oak' reads the shallow carved graffiti on a towering veteran leviathan in Mark Ash Wood. Thing is, it's a veteran beech rather than an oak.