Woodlife Trails

A couple of weeks ago I hooked up with the local wildlife group by attending a couple of meetings. On Saturday, the group had arranged to do a field trip in my local area, and of course, I tagged along hoping to learn something especially about my local wood.

We started off by touring the fields and hedgerows surrounding the woods. Some of these areas I hadn’t previously visited and it was interesting to identify fox and badger lay-up areas as well as tracks made by the muntjac deer. We also identified a wonderful estimated 200 year old boundary oak on the north side of the area. I’m particularly fond of oaks and the English tend to hold them in great esteem but often forget why. Peter Ackroyd writes, “Oaks mean something to us and somehow the old oak stands for England.” Quite apart from our naval history and “Hearts of oak our our ships…” there is a possibly deeper, more ethereal significance.

It was strange wandering through the woods with people and I smiled to myself when we passed my usual Bushcraft sites, grateful that I always clear up the sites completely after each visit. I was surprised that the group members stomped around, chatted loudly and missed many obvious signs. With a little sense of superiority, I pointed out several aspects of the woods that they failed to notice. I was of course at an advantage by having visited nearly every weekend for the last 14 months. I even spoke with an air of authority on the Cramp ball fungus, but seemed to lose them a bit when describing its ember producing properties. Their expressions said “Why on earth would you want to set fire to it?”

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a tree expert on board, therefore, I’m still a little in the dark about exactly what trees there are in the woods. The group leader was however quite knowledgeable on plants and I was able to glean some information on the shoots that were appearing in the undergrowth. I also realised that I had made a serious error on misidentifying the Lesser celandine with an Arum Lilly (Cuckoo pint or Lords and Ladies – see this post). Serious, because I now know that the latter is poisonous (especially the berries) while the celandine isn’t. The lesson learned here is that it’s vital that you correctly identify plants before you even think about eating it. (I thought the leaf tasted particularly bitter!!) We were quite excited to identify some young leaves of the relatively rare bee-orchid just outside of the woods (pic below), an area that will now be brought to the attention of the local farmer, who is more than willing to assist in preserving rare plants.

The group talked about some woodland management projects that included the wood itself. This would involve clearing some undergrowth and thinning out of some trees. At first I was a little concerned even dismayed about people traipsing through my woods, but then reflected that it could only be for the best by encouraging more wildlife and plants by sensitive woodland management. The decision was taken to observe the woods for a year and then carry out some small projects in identified areas of the woods. I found myself putting my hand up to assist.

Later in the afternoon, I went back to the woods. There was a strange sense that everything was back to normal.

Pablo