DENIZENS

Hot chocolate and a piece of cake as a reward for re-building one of the dens in Cuckoo Pen.

Although there are leaves on the ground, there is a lot of green in the background.  

This outing occurred a month ago

 

LICHEN AND MOSS

In the centre of the picture below is a bright green clump of moss.  Mosses - and there are over 600 species in Britain - are primitive plants with no vessels to carry water and spores instead of seeds.  They like damp places and are often the first to colonise rocks and even concrete.  Here the moss - probably Fork Moss (Dicranum scoparium) - is growing on a dead ash branch.  

  

The grey-green growths are lichens (pronounced 'liken' rather than 'litchen').  I find mosses difficult to identify but there are over 1800 lichen species in Britain, so no chance.  They are a good indicator of air quality. As a general rule the more complex the formation the cleaner the air.  Crusty ones grow anywhere, leaf lichens need slightly cleaner air and the very whiskery ones require very unpolluted air.

In the picture below you can see fruiting bodies developing.

Lichens are mini-ecosystems that combine two or more organisms: a fungus species combined with either algae or cyanobacteria.  The fungus provides the structure and the other organisms, usually green, provide a food factory via photosynthesis.  The fungus is the benign jailor of the algae or bacteria.

Get yourself a 10x hand lens to discover the beauty of these tiny life forms.

 

DASHING ORANGE SARGENT

Again this is not in Filnore Woods though not far away.  

Standing on the green in front of Thornbury Tesco is this oriental Rowan in full autumn plumage.  It could be Japanese Rowan (Sorbus commixta) or one of its varieties like 'Embley' but I think with its big leaves and startling colour it is a Sargent's Rowan (Sorbus sargentiana) from China.  

If you miss seeing it like this have a look later at the winter buds which are sticky like Horse Chestnut sticky buds but bright red.

As you can see from the little plaque in front of the tree, it was planted by Thornbury Lions to commemorate the Twin Towers massacre.

 

NATURE IN TOWN

Not in Filnore Woods but nature is not confined to nature reserves - nor should it be.

I hadn't noticed this nest all year in the Amelanchier tree outside what used to be Wildings shop in Thornburry High Street.

But as the veil of leaves is discarded, the tree reveals where somebody - probably a pair of wood pigeons - has been looking after their nestlings.  

 

ROSEBAY SKELETONS

Our rosebay willowherb colony's beautiful pink flowers have shed their seeds.

They now stand defiantly against the coming winter with a different kind of beauty.

 

COPPICING HAZEL

Volunteers are coppicing hazel in Cuckoo Pen at Filnore.  This will let more light in to promote ground flora . . . . .

. . . . and as a by-product create poles to be used on site for steps, path edging, etc

The thin twigs are trimmed off with billhooks showing the nascent catkins that grow on the upper branches where the light reaches them.  They would have matured in February but have now been sacrificed on the altar of coppice management.

This less usable brash material is made into a dead hedge surrounding the cut area (coupe).  This is (a) to clear the woodland floor for plants to grow, (b) to create a hedgy habitat for small creatures and (c) to show us in a year's time, where we coppiced.  It is not designed to keep people out.

Stakes are sharpened and inserted into the ground in two parallel rows

Then the brash is laid between the stakes and tidied off with loppers.

  

BRISTLY OXTONGUE

 It's usually quite difficult to separate all the different, yellow, dandelion type flowers but this one is easy if you look at the leaves.  

The answer is in the name, Bristly Oxtongue: the leaves are covered in bristles sprouting out of whitish pimples.  

The flowers are fairly bright yellow and quite robust.  

A cheery sight in autumn, and flowering quite late this year.