Rather a showery morning but the sky was beautiful looking this way (I ignored the grey sky behind me and didn't get too wet.)  Being early, I found that this flock of Jackdaws had spent the night in the Ash tree: this tree is often used by flocks of starlings so it will be interesting to see whether they interact.

Truthfully, it was a bit wet on my walks today so I didn't take my camera. Big mistake: this gorgeous Roe deer stood staring at us (until it was scared off when another dog came up behind us.)  These are the moments that you can't plan but that make a walk special.

Oaks and acorns

 We all know Oak trees but how often do you really look closely at them.  They are home to a huge number of species, with at least 70 species of gall wasp alone! I spotted these cherry galls on the underside of a fallen leaf today, which made me look a little more closely.

The wasps that cause the tree to produce these galls doesn't look anything like the type of wasp that we are familiar with. It is an inconspicuous black insect that doesn't sting humans!

Most of our oak trees in Sussex are English or Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur) . These have acorns on stalks but the leaves have little or no stalks. Acorns are ripening here at the moment, although that varies with local conditions.  Our road is covered in piles of ripe acorns but these trees  still have plenty of green ones still attached.

However, have you ever noticed an Oak tree with longer stalks on the leaves and no stalks on the acorns? These are Sessile Oaks (Quercus petraea.)  There are a number of these where I walked this afternoon (and they do actually hybridise with Pedunculate Oaks which makes things a bit more difficult. It didn't help that I couldn't see any acorns in their cups around the trees that I thought were Sessile and that there were not even any leaves low down!

Not that it bothered me: there is nothing better than the sun shining through the leaves in a woodland.  I just love staring up at the sky (which by that time was blue, rather than the grey of this morning) and watching the leaves moving in the breeze. So calming! 

Windy Day

 Such a windy morning walk today.  One advantage is that deer don't always hear you coming (unless they are upwind of you.)  How unobservant am I? I spotted this one before she saw me (though it looks as though Rue might have been noticed.) It wasn't until I downloaded the photo that I saw the chap in the background! It shows that your eyes are drawn to certain things but you don't necessarily look carefully all around.

One disadvantage of the wind is the amount of rubbish that blows around and its effect on wildlife. Near these deer I found a deflated helium balloon and the remains of a dead bird of prey (mostly eaten and decayed so I will spare you a photo.) The balloon was not decaying however, so I took it home to the bin.  Obviously accidents do happen but releasing helium balloons is one of my real bugbears. Please don't do it!

Despite the rain, I'm still not seeing a huge variety of fungi, but it is early in the season. Lots of Sulphur tufts today.  I love their sulphur yellow colour, found mostly on decaying deciduous wood. Pretty but poisonous!

Don't forget your glasses.

 Somehow this morning I forgot my glasses and wasn't wearing contact lenses.  I don't recommend it but it did make me really look at what was under my feet (and made me ignore all deer and birds!)  I stopped to look at the reindeer moss which is not moss but a lichen. Lichens are actually a composite of fungi and algae. The fungus provides structure, and protection while the green algae produce sugars by photosynthesis. This relationship is a form of symbiosis which is thought to be mutually beneficial. Yet another thing in nature which is amazing.

It was, of course, rather difficult to focus to get a photo without my glasses. The reindeer moss is the branched lichen and I think the red eye-catching matchstick is actually the fruiting body of a different lichen as the reindeer moss produces inconspicuous brown fruiting bodies but usually reproduce vegetatively. I need to remember my glasses and go and have a proper look!

Awe-inspiring

 A regular dose of awe is a simple way to boost healthy ‘prosocial’ emotions such as compassion and gratitude, according to a new study by researchers. In a study published in the journal 'Emotion', older (but I don't know how old) adults who took weekly walks during which they experienced feelings of awe and wonder, showed increased positive emotion in their lives.

I am lucky that I am constantly experiencing awe! Every fungus that pushes its way through the soil is a marvel. How do birds migrate every year? How can an acorn turn into a magnificent Oak tree? There is mothing more awe-inspiring than a spider's web. 

Even a humble Dandelion seed head is amazing if you look closely. Each seed has its own parachute so that it can be dispersed by the wind. 

How about this for the wonder of plants: the emerging flower of the Cyclamen in our garden? 

Next time you manage to dodge the showers and get outside, just take a minute to look closely and ponder on the wonders around you. It may have longer consequences than you think.

A change is as good as a rest

 I think there is a lot of truth in the old saying, "A change is as good as a rest," particularly where walking is concerned.  Not everyone can get to the seaside but I  was lucky enough to go this morning.  The dogs had a great time and somehow the air seems fresher but a change in any routine can make you feel as though you have had a holiday. If you normally walk in the morning, try to fit in an evening stroll; if you never get up early, give it a go. If you have a regular walking place, try somewhere new. I'm not sure about the 'rest' bit though. The extra fresh sea air has made me rather tired!

Autumn Equinox

  

Today is officially the Autumn Equinox, although there are days to come which have more equal day and night. Sunrise is definitely getting later and the evenings are noticeably drawing in but the weather here in Sussex was very warm and sunny for most of the day. So much so that our garden was buzzing with insects. 

There were at least four small copper butterflies.  They have three broods in a year so they manage to look fresh and young, even when most species are tatty and faded.  Their bright coppery wings really stand out.

There were also a lot of bumblebees.  One small copper knocked a bumblebee off a flower but I am sure that it was just a clumsy accident as bumblebees are much chunkier.

Most of the bumblebees were buff tailed but on closer inspection there were also cuckoo bumblebees. As the name suggests, they parasitise bumblebee nests, the queen emerging later so that the host species have started nesting.  They have no pollen baskets as they do not collect pollen.

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Robin song

 Very few birds sing in autumn but Robins are thought to be setting out territories for winter feeding at this time of year. If that is the case, we shall be seeing more of this one as it was singing outside the front of the house for quite a while today.

I walked in the Sweet chestnut coppice wood this afternoon.  A few chestnuts are falling off the trees but they are stuck in their spiny cases and are not likely to be ripe for a month or so. Coppicing allows a huge range of wildlife to live in the wood as there should be areas of sunlight with some areas of full shade and everything inbetween.  The timber (in this case mostly used for fence posts) can be cut, leaving the tree to regrow from the base.  This process is sustainable over hundreds of years: I love to think about all the people who worked in the woods in the past and saw these same coppice stools.  This woodland hasn't been coppiced for a while and there is such a large deer population that the regrowth would really need protecting if it were done now. Sadly my photos from last time these were cut are slides so I can't show them to you tonight!

The wood ants have been busy these past few warm days. There is nothing more amazing than watching the colony being so busy but I feel as though I have been rushing around and haven't taken the time to enjoy them! This fallen tree seems to have one large nest spread along it and the ants even make it as far as the path some metres away where I had left the dogs.

Having said that there were few Fly agarics around, they are now everywhere! Some are open and were obviously there a few days ago: I just hadn't walked in the right places but others are springing up every day (possibly every hour but I haven't had time to check.)

They start as creamy coloured golf balls pushing their way through the woodland leaf litter.

As they grow, they keep the spherical shape, the red shows through and the remains of the creamy covering is left on the surface.

They open out, dropping their spores and revealing the white gills underneath.

Keeping cool.

 It was definitely a day for keeping cool but still important to get out and about. Lovely and  cool first thing. 

Even as the sun went down, it was still warm bit we are lucky to have some water in the local stream.

I always wonder how wildlife copes with hot weather. Most of the streams are empty so remember to put water out in your garden!

Flying deer!

 I had to be out early this morning. There was a lovely red glow and a mist in the valley, so I imagined taking a prizewinning photo of a deer calmly grazing in the mist.  Of course, reality was nothing like that.  The herd of does and their young was obviously disturbed by a dog or something and they skittered across the ride in front of us, one by one.  There was so little light that they were rather blurred and the back view of a deer is not the best one.

I was quite pleased to see my first Fly Agaric of the season.  We had just been saying yesterday that I hadn't seen one yet, so I assume this one had popped up fairly quickly as the red is quite noticeable.

They are hallucinogenic and there are many folk tales about them.  My favourite (which could be why Santa Claus was depicted wearing red and white) is that they are the reason why Santa's reindeer can fly.  Historically, the Shamen of reindeer-herding tribes in Lapland would prepare Fly agaric fungi and their hallucinations allowed them to travel up the chimney to the spirit world.  These same tribes would sometimes drink the urine of reindeer (or even the Shamen) that had fed on the fungi, allowing them to sample the hallucinogens perhaps more safely. It is quite easy to see how these events could lead to our traditions.

On the way home we met the buck herd in the woods. They hadn't been there on our way out so they took me by surprise and I still didn't get the perfect photo. At least it gives me an excuse to try again another time! 

Just get outside!

 Good morning! It is a good morning here in Sussex. Sorry if your weather is not so great but getting outside is a great way to feel good.The rides have been mown here so the local fungi have been broken up and are very noticeable.  These two really illustrate the difference between fungi with pores (the Boletus on the left) and fungi with gills (the very white Amanita gills on the right if you are on a PC.)

Whatever you see today, have a good day!

 I'm not sure whether anyone can see yesterday's videos: they certainly took so long to load that I didn't type anything afterwards.  This morning I missed the lovely pink sunrise (well, I saw it from bed), walked in cloud, missed the sunshine while I did chores, then did the gardening in cloud! Sometimes it doesn't quite go as planned! Still always worth getting out though.

Whatever the weather there are some fantastic parasol fungi around at the moment: the dog is in this one for scale (or maybe because he wanted a treat!)

I left this one for others to see but sometimes it is worth getting a different view of things in nature.  I love the gills on the underside and annulus, or ring,  around the stem where there was a partial veil as the cap expanded.  In some species, like this, it can be moved up and down the stem.

I was also thinking about the amazing root systems of trees, having passed this one with roots exposed on the bank. Estimates vary (depending on the growth conditions) but tree roots can spread up to 8 times the width of the canopy.  They certainly spread beyond it in most cases, which is why so many roadside trees start to die back.

I definitely need to visit this bank when the sun is on it but I can't use that excuse now: must get on with some chores!

Last night the wildlife camera was in the gateway and picked up two fox visits and two badger visits but were they four separate animals or the same ones on the way out and back?

Elsewhere in Sussex

 This morning's walk wasn't exactly local but it is good to ditch the routine sometimes.

Obviously most of the plants are different from the Forest, but we were out for a walk rather than looking at the botany (in a former life I was a chalk grassland surveyor for English Nature, the Government body for Nature Conservation.) 

 It is a lovely time of year for looking at hedgerows though, with bright red haws on the Hawthorne and the fluffy seed heads of Old Man's Beard (probably better to call this Clematis vitalba but I always loved the name Traveller's Joy)

There were several colonies of Common blue butterflies, nicely colour-coordinated with the blue sky and the sloes but at the end of the walk the hedgerows were coated with the webs of Brown tail moth caterpillars. These caterpillars have hairs which can be highly irritating if you touch them and in some places they are considered to be a Public Health issue.  The infested hedgerow certainly didn't look as healthy as the others.

On a brighter note, we will take away much more positive memories of the day, like this fox moth caterpillar in the morning sun!

Wild Gentian chase

 As I mentioned before, we have been revisiting sites where Marsh Gentians were found in the past.  Sadly numbers are down this year but today's walk turned into a wild goose chase as the habitat had completely changed. Without management, birch tends to invade heathland: the area to  the left of the ride is very definitely no longer suitable and we failed to find a single flower.

We still had a lovely walk in an area that I rarely visit now.  The dogs were happy to find water in the stream and the hanging ivy made it look like an exotic rainforest! Ivy is amazing for wildlife and I get very upset when people kill it.  It provides habitat for many species including bats (which incidentally can be seen feeding up for winter at dusk on the lovely evenings we have been having) and many invertebrates.  

We also came across this slime mould.  These tend to be a feature of my blogs as I am amazed by these single celled organisms that come together to move and reproduce.  This one looks as though it it coming together into the classic blob that we often see.

Deer today

 

We kept coming across Fallow does and their fawns this morning.  The fawns are growing up but are generally still quite shy and difficult to photograph.  Generally I hear the rustling in the woods more often than I see them as their summer coats are actually quite good camouflage in the dappled sun between the trees. They are often quite noisy if you startle them: sometimes 'barking' their alarm call as they run, although mostly moving away in silence if they see you before you see them.

There are so many deer near us that there is a clear browse line, even under the holly, but I still enjoy seeing them.  Being still, watching wildlife is a fantastic way to de-stress, whether it is out in the countryside, in a park or in your own garden.