Slow worm

First Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis) I've seen this year. Of course it's not a worm at all, nor a snake as many might imagine, rather a legless lizard. You'll often see slow worms with missing tails (not this example though it remains complete), that's as a slow worm sheds it's tail when attacked. Weirdly the discarded tail continues to wriggle acting as enough distraction for lizard to escape. Caught out in the open this fellow was desperate to be anywhere else other than where it was, moving swiftly it soon disappeared amongst the leaf litter.

Gimme shelter

I love finding shelters amongst the stands, it means children are being socialized to the forest and nature. I wonder how many though, I don't think it's that common. I can only speak for our local woods, which 'used to be' packed with camps, dens and dirt jumps, not so much nowadays though; in fact I can't remember the last camp I saw over there. We'll lose something of ourselves if we wholesale abandon nature for the screen world; it'll be something essential and difficult to regain too.

Canopy

 

Canopy

Ay up chuck

 

Small yellow bubbles of Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) burst out of the trunk a veteran Sweet Chestnut on one of Wilverleys' forestry tracks. The first I've spotted this year, and right on time too.

Why?

Why are people such arseholes? The fly-tippers hadn't just dumped the cab of a truck, but they'd severely damaged the gate in the process; luckily not completely though as the gate leads directly from Wilverley Plain straight on to the A35. The frequency of fly-tipping, burnt out cars or caravans, and the meaningless vandalism of forest furniture, not to mention the litter, is on the increase. It would appear that not enough people give a shit anymore.

Magic circle

Finding things like this make my day, I absolutely love them. Well off any track, deep within a mosaic block, an oval of small branches built around a conifer tree. The feature has some age to it, with mosses having become established and colonizing the oval. This is a favourite block of mine, and one that I've wandered through frequently, reminding me that no matter how well you think you know a piece of woodland there's always more find. Clearly built with purpose, it's a purpose I'll never know; another mystery, another fragmentary context-less glimpse into someone elses' world.

What are the odds.

 

Lost keys hung on a branch. It's not uncommon to see dropped items visibly displayed on the sides of tracks by good folk in the hope that they and their owners might be reunited. Though these keys are not on a well worn path or track these are hung on a very random low branch in a block of anonymous mixed woodland of varying density, with no paths to speak of beyond ephemeral wildlife  tracks. Losing things is easy, too easy, and losing your keys, well, that almost a cliché. What are the odds though of someone finding them, the floor and understory of this block are wild and unkempt, an environment that stacks the odds in losses favour. Then. What are the chances of me whilst wandering in the same pathless woodland finding them hanging there. The good Samaritan must be a true believer. The ring is rusting well, so I'm going to suggest they've hung here a while. Un-retrieved. Made me think. Because I never see others when wandering off piste, I imagine, or assume, no one else walks where I walk. Taking into account that evidence suggests people must, what are the odds of us all passing that apparently very random anonymous spot.

Endor

 

I'm sure I could hear Ewoks chattering.

Ch ch changes.......or not.

Carved 95 years ago, so what's changed since CB made their mark on this mature beech in 1929. Well, what was going on in 1929? It was the beginning of the Great Depression, the beginning of a devastatingly period of poverty and decline, there was violent conflict between Jews and Arabs in Mandatory Palestine which saw hundreds dead and injured, across Europe nationalism and fascism on the rise, and around the world change bubbling up. Well, they do say history repeats itself don't they. They also say if we don't learn from history we're condemned to repeat it, looks like we weren't paying attention, eh. Is that proof of the Strauss-Howe hypothesis?

Foamy

 

You ever wondered why the trees start foaming in the rain? Well. In warm weather a trees' bark produces oils, at the same time a range of natural salts and alkaloids which are free floating in the air can also land on aforementioned oily bark. Add water in the form of rain and you've all the ingredients for a crude soap. As these ingredients move down the trunk they're agitated by the rough bark creating soap molecules which in turn lead to the bubbly foam. It's very crude, and may not be super effective, but it is soap. A useful nugget of bushcraft knowledge that...maybe.

Character actor

 

I have to give it to the summer, it's remained committed to character throughout; regrettably that character has been an Oscar worthy portrait of autumn. Bloody Hell, another overcast grey day punctuated by light rains and today with occasional rumbles of thunder to boot. Oh huzzah.

Not this morning

 

Oh huzzah, yet another wet and overcast summer day in the woods; not even this Common Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) could be bothered to rise to the occasion, not this morning. That said, of course it's nice out in the forest at any time; it's just I was quite looking forward to a summer. 

Beech avenue

 Beech avenue, Wilverely.

Wilverely

Fall is nearly done, as autumn comes to an end and the deciduous canopy grows increasingly naked and skeletal, I'm starting to be drawn into the evergreen glades of the forest. This morning it was into one of my favourite coniferous blocks of Wilverley's mosaic; entering it is like entering a foreign world. 

Endor

 Today our walk was on the forest moon of Endor.

The orange spot

The orange spot is a bad portent when seen in the forest, think the black spot from Treasure Island. So it's always sad to see it on trees you've come to know, it means harvest time is coming and they'll soon be for the chop. Sadly orange spots have appeared on some of trees within our favourite coniferous block in Wilverely's mosaic. Aw well, that's the nature of forestry, a reminder the forest's managed. It's all change in Wilverley at the moment.

F*cking puritans

This is a new one on me..., the censuring of carved graffiti! What is wrong with people, are we back in the 17th century with roving Puritans saving us from the potential of sinful thought? F*cking puritans! SEX had always entertained me, was it carved in celebration, anticipation or desperation...who knows?  I'd say it's a fairly old piece, 60's/70's maybe.  It's 2 or 3 meters from the track and not that obvious, so unlikely to offend. Hey, why would you be offended by seeing sex carved into a tree anyway (beyond those who find carving any graffiti into a tree offensive that is.)? Makes you think though, what was going through the mind of the person who hacked of the X, really. Of course, I could be totally misreading the situation and it's someone with the initials SE who thought it simpler to remove the X on this piece than to carve SE for themselves. Yeah, I know, that's a silly proposition, though no sillier than what's been done.

Into the green

 

Wilverely walk this morning. Glorious. As I've mentioned before Wilverely is a mosaic of differing age woodland, coniferous and deciduous blocks, and each has it's individual character.  Today we wend our way through the mosaic and into the deep green of one of our favoured coniferous blocks.  In a naked winter landscape it's like a different green world. Towering mature conifers and occasional deciduous cousins create open glades and groves carpeted throughout in vibrant green mosses, around them every stage of conifer create dense green thicks, the age and species of each thick defines it's ease of accessibility, and winding throughout the whole block a myriad of criss crossing animal paths lead you through what feels like infinite pockets of new forests. Just within this one block you can walk for a couple of miles without walking on the same section of path twice (beyond crossing it) or seeing the same woodland view. 

Naked

Just as it's coldest just before dawn, the forest is at it's most naked just before the spring. By this point the bracken's been levelled by winter's rains, any leaves that clung on after the fall have been dislodged by the winds and the forest stands are truly bare.

Thinning Wilverely

Forestry work has continued throughout Wilverely's mosaic woodland. Some blocks of mosaic have been clear harvested, others thinned, whilst others having only their younger coniferous members taken, their cut and graded trunks line the forestry tracks. It's dramatically changed the woodlands appearance, opening up stands and revealing long hidden vistas. Some blocks will be replanted, after all the coniferous stock is merely cash crop. In the thinned out blocks the remaining bigger coniferous trees will have space grow to their full potential and in a few years the floor beneath them will be thick with self seeded offspring. Other blocks where the remaining trees are deciduous ones will no doubt be left to develop as open woodland. I have a coniferous mosaic block which I'm particularly fond of in Wilverely, it's matrix feels perfectly balanced between tall maturing trees and a dense under-story in various stages of growth. It's quite the magical space, hidden away in it's cool shade the dense juvenile conifers muffling the outside world you're immersed in a green world, perfect to sit a while and take some time with the forests coniferous community.  So far it's been spared the woodman's axe.