I was excited to be spending a whole day in the woods again yesterday. The autumn colours are just amazing at the moment but I know from past experience, they could be mostly gone in a week or so. A bit of frost or strong winds will blow away most of the leaves. The sycamore and ash have already fallen but the trees that produce the most beautiful colours – oak, beech, hazel, birch are still giving us a show. I had a long list of small jobs to tackle but intended taking plenty of time out to just walk around, observe and soak in the beauty and health giving properties of the woodland.

I had numerous tidying up jobs to do in and around the new shelter and set-to with those first. It had become a crowded dumping ground for everything that was in the old shelter plus new additions and so a bit of reorganising was priority. It’s looking a bit more workmanlike now and I’m really feeling at home in it and looking forward to doing some work there or just sitting in it listening to the rain falling on the metal roof. I find that experience very calming and enjoyable. I need to plan some projects and instead of just choosing fair weather days, make a point of going when rain is forecast!

Next job was to inspect and empty all the birds nest boxes. Glad to say that most of them had been used. While the ladder was out I wanted to take a look at the owl box that has been home to a colony of feral bees for the last three years. I haven’t seen any activity there for a few months and suspected they had left. I was correct. I carefully cracked open the inspection door to finally see what the wild hive looked like. Amazing how they have built the combs in layers without any frames to support them as they do in regular beehives. I guess they know what they are doing! I can see that some of them are dark and rotting and wonder if those are the oldest ones that eventually go that way over time and maybe that’s is why they have left – they have reached capacity and need to start again. I am a bit sad they have left but feel privileged to have had them for so long. I shall probably remove the box now as it will be probably be no good for anything else.

I spent some time just observing the woods and enjoying the autumn colours. I will be doing some tree felling before long to continue the necessary thinning in the sycamore plantation, so I made a mental note of some that need to come down. I took plenty of photos especially around the hazel copse. The new growth is around five to six years old now and the area has turned into a beautiful vibrant place. The colours were bright yellow giving a sunny appearance even though it was a dull day. I’ll leave you with a few more photos.