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.
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