Spreading, latching, creeping, catching; green tendrils advance
Snagging, flowing never slowing; the seeking shoots of plants
Reaching, stroking, leeching, choking; expanding their empire
Growing, gaining, conquering, claiming; the endless mass of Briar
I decided to make for the Woodlands since it had been a while since my last fungi search. Strolling down beside Long Meadow, I enjoyed the quiet serenity of the morning, a pleasant change from the excitement of the Carnival each night. Agrimony and Fleabane were in abundance amid the grasses, with the steady hum of Grasshoppers and Crickets coming from within. I thought the sound reminiscent of an electrical pylon or transformer. A few Meadow Browns and a Painted Lady were on the wing, alighting on Dogwood leaves as they made their sporadic flights along the hedge in the morning sun.
Upon entering the Woodlands, I immediately spied a fresh patch of Branched Oyster growing on a fallen log, their creamy white flutes just beginning to take form. Further down a half glimpsed form on an Ash tree revealed itself to be an absolutely enormous Shaggy Bracket, the downy top surface a distinctive identifying feature. Also to be seen was another emerging Ganoderma Resinaceum, beginning to adopt its spectacular “sunrise” colour scheme, plus a few portly Rooting Boletes showing their cracked caps.
I passed by a small clearing before leaving, a few Grey Squirrels scrabbling about in the leaf litter while Great Tits and Blackbirds twittered above them. These sounds mixed with the ambient rattling of Magpies and the intermittent coos of Wood Pigeons, staples of a morning stroll beneath the trees.
Making my way down to the Clifftops I raised an eyebrow at the margins of the path. Despite recently clearing them with the help of volunteers a layer of Wild Clematis was clambering its way over on the left, with Bramble encroaching aggressively from the right. Time to get the secateurs out again.
A few Marbled Whites were corkscrewing through the air as I passed the Great Globe, plus a Large White that elected to remain grounded. Running short of time I took a right at the Observation Point and returned to the Learning Centre via the Woods, noting a few Dryads Saddle and a purple tinted fungus that I strongly suspect is a Wood Blewit.
Back at base Ali radioed in to report seeing a Grasshopper Warbler near Townsend Nature Reserve. If I want to get bird sightings, I find it’s far easier to outsource the job.