Woodlife Fields of Gold

Fields of Gold

By Pablo | Posted in mammals, wildflowers, woods

July 13th, 2008

On Friday, I took my first walk in the woods since getting back from holiday. The first thing I noticed was how quiet everything was. There was very little birdsong; the constant squawking of the rooks had ceased. All the youngsters had obviously fled the nests.

Although there has been quite a bit of rain, there wasn’t enough to keep “the swamp” full and many of the shallower puddles had dried out. There’s usually a bit of dragonfly activity, but even they seemed to be elsewhere.

Despite lack of bird and mammal activity, there are a number of plants still in flower. Great and Rosebay willowherb are the prominant flowers on the wasteland areas while poppies are making their striking red appearance in scattered areas. Nettles are now drooping but I noticed something I’d never seen before. The miniscule seeds were being scattered like little puffs of smoke. It didn’t seem to be the wind that was causing it, nor insects landing on the stem. It just appeared to be a random expulsion of tiny seeds that looked like a miniature cloud of smoke drifting away from the nettle flowers.

It was very difficult to capture on camera and the best I could do was the pic below. If you look closely to the right and above the diamond caused by the sun on the lens, you might be able to see what looks like a swirling orb type shape.

I wandered out of the woods with spirits a little low, feeling disappointed at the lack of activity.

This morning, my mate Paul W and I went for a wander in Lowt’s wood. The air was humid and we were soon sweating in an attempt to battle through the overgrown footpath. I can’t believe that so few people walk along the long public footpath and into the wonderful woods.

On the walk in we caught a fleeting glimpse of a fox and tracked it back to its earth a few yards away on a bankside and caught sight of some fallow deer at a distance. They had already spotted us and we could only get a blurred long range shot. A shame we couln’t get closer for at least two had magnificent antlers.

We continued into the wood noticing recent badger activity at a sett. We walked the length of the wood and then climbed up the steep hill over looking the paths, battling our way through nettles and stringy brambles. Paul made me laugh by saying that I always chose routes off the beaten track. Well, yes. That’s what I do.

We made it to the clearing at the top and settled down for a coffee. Only the occasional aircraft spoilt the silence and we chatted sparingly – as old friends do.

On the way back, we stopped to listen to the wheat growing. Well it seemed like it. The phenomenon, a popping sound almost like popcorn, is probably caused by the seed expanding in the sudden warmth of the sun.

The golden fields spread out before us as we made our way back along the side of the hedgerow. It had been a good few hours since we left the car. A pleasing walk where we identified a few tracks and identified a few plants on the way but more than anything else we lifted the spirits somewhat.

Pablo.