Yesterday’s weather looked a bit “iffy” but as it is two weeks since my last visit and there were jobs to be done, I decided to go anyway. As it happened, it stayed dry. It had a real feel of Autumn about it and as you will see, various fungi are emerging. The ones above are referred to as Turkey Tails though there are many variations of actual types.
I had a few jobs in mind, first was to cut a couple of slices off a hefty sycamore trunk that I felled last winter. It was a badly damaged and unsafe tree and I’d left it untouched as it is too useful to just be cut up for firewood. One of the slices will be used to stand my anvil on that I recently bought.
I spent most of the morning shifting logs to the ride edge, ready for removal. Heavy, tiring work for an ageing body but very satisfying. I took a welcome break to have a walkabout and see what was new. I got quite excited when I spotted this Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria) growing under a Birch tree. It’s the first time I have found any in my woods and there were four of them. They are highly toxic and can cause hallucinations if ingested. These are the mushrooms often associated with the Faeries in childrens’ stories.
One of my woodland neighbours called by. He’s a keen bushcrafter and nature lover and we had a good long catch-up and tour of my woods. Naturally the subject of Covid was discussed at length but we both agreed that having our woods was the best medicine for our mental well-being. It was on our wanderings that he spotted this next beautiful fungi. I haven’t ID’d it yet. It was growing on a dead Silver Birch.
As I had brought my chainsaw, I wanted to break the ice with this season’s sycamore thinning. There is still quite a lot of work to be done in getting this part of my woods to a state that I am happy with. I am acutely aware that my age is a restriction on how much I can achieve in the time I have and level of fitness. So I need to crack on with it over the next few years. The season for felling seems to whizz by and I always think to myself, I should start earlier. I picked a small diameter one, which as is often the case, got hung up in another tree. I bit of hammering and pulling soon released it and I quickly cut it into manageable lengths. The day was getting late to do any more and to be honest – I was knackered!
It was a satisfying day and before long we will see the Autumn fully kicking in. Some trees are starting to turn colour and fall and a few are already bare (the Ash). There is still lots of greenery though and even new growth on the ground where I strimmed back the bramble. I’m quite looking forward to seeing some real winter conditions this year but global warming will probably prevent that.
