Boy its wet !

Yes there have been some good days but it seems as though this has been a really wet autumn and as I write this its raining yet again. Crow Wood is pretty wet underfoot and there is plenty of standing water about making it a bad time to be driving my truck in as any tracks cut up very quickly. When that happens its very hard to get them back to a firm surface again until summer sunshine dries them out. Fungi have enjoyed the wet and warmth of the last few weeks and there are lots about. I am not very good on identification generally although I know a few species well enough to know which I can eat and which to stay away from. In 2009, a mycologist visited the wood to undertake a survey and she identified 40 species, many of them only a specialist would be able to name successfully. I have yet to find any edible mushrooms this year as the slugs and rabbits have got in first.

In one of the breaks in the rain and cold, I managed to get my bird feeding station set up for the winter once again. It did not take long for the birds to realise that the snack bar was open again and the first in the queue was a Cole Tit. This species does not like to linger, an individual dashes in and takes a seed and zips away probably to cache the food in a crevice in tree bark; a habit they are well known for.

The wind is bringing down most of the leaves now and there is little colour to be seen except on the holly bushes but it was nice to find a few yellow flowers out on the Gorse along the main track...some people say that this plant flowers somewhere every month of the year....maybe they are right.

Cole Tit - the first at the feeder

Fungi on Birch logs

These are probably members of the Brittle Cap family

A Beefsteak fungus on our tallest Oak Tree, not edible in spite of its name

An Earthball

Gorse still showing off its flowers