Strong winds and rain batter the park from the southwest. My attempt at taking shelter in the woodland is futile, as the rain seems to accumulate on the Holm Oak leaves and fall as much bigger droplets onto me. You can see the water actually flowing down the dark almost-black tree trunks. At the base it foams into a cloud of bubbles as it soaks into the ground.
As I walk further down the coast path, the canopy opens and the rain worsens. Some leaves remain on the lower branches of Beech and Sycamore, whilst the branches of Ash and Horse Chestnut stand bare with winter buds. A lower understorey of leaf cover remains, with evergreen Bay, Privet, and Euonymous, alongside deciduous Hazel.
I find myself looking down for most of my walk, with not much to see or hear around me, except the occasional Squirrel scampering along a wall, Wren calling from out of sight, or Crow scavenging amongst the leaf mulch. I did however find a Shaggy Inkcap. I nearly mistook it for a Parasol Mushroom but it has a much longer closed cap – Shannon described it as an American Corndog which is pretty accurate!
Tom tells me that they are delicious to eat – but only for a very short shelf-life; they quickly deteriorate by turning black, appearing to melt from the gills and dripping into an ink-like liquid.
A few faded petals still cling to the Hydrangea, and beautiful yellow flower spikes adorn the tops of the Mahonia. All around Sunnydale the early leaves of Three-cornered Leek have sprouted from the sodden ground – on a less windy day you can smell its garlicky scent.
Back at the office and as I write this diary, we have just been delivered a soggy Kestrel, that was picked up by the chef from SeventhWave – fortunately not on the menu for lunch!