Having been laid low with a particularly virulent case of advanced malignant lurgi 
for the last 2 weeks, I woke today feeling much improved. The dog and I have been going stir-crazy with not being able to go outdoors (although it's hard to tell with the dog, since he's nutty as a fruit bat anyway), so we jumped into the car and headed for a local woodland that would provide a nice walk but also some easy and sheltered walking if it turned out I wasn't quite as well as I felt.
The woodland is right next to an A road, with an adjacent church. There's a village close by too, and the place gets a certain amount of dog walkers, although it is only ever busy in high summer.
The way in. The woodland is dominated by silver birch, with stands of larch and douglas fir, with a good mix of oak, hazel and sweet chestnut too.
I was told this was a dog when I got it, but 14 years on I'm still not entirely convinced...
Lots of tree rat sign about
Now I'm not sure about these. There are certainly wild daffodils in this part of South East Wales, so they might be, but I'm no expert. Anyway, there were lots of them, and they are the right size (small). Not quite convinced they are the right shade of yellow though...
Saw wood anemone for the first time this year too
One of the interesting things about this little wood is that it is the most southerly Welsh site for Hairy Wood Ant. The nest mounds sit dormant over the winter and usually get bashed about a bit, and sticks shoved into them, but it doesn't seem to bother the ants. Then on warm spring days like this one the worker ants come out and mill around on the surface, eventually forming big solid mats of ants. They literally sunbathe, and the black mats soak up heat. Then the ants go down into the next, radiate that heat into the cool nest interior, and come up again to repeat the process. That way the nest gets warmer quickly and gets the new eggs and larvae developing ready for the summer. Until a year or two ago I'd never seen this behaviour.
More spring growth
The way back
It felt so good to be outdoors again. I heard buzzards, jays, greater-spotted woodpecker, great tits, blue tits, blackbirds, wren, robin, woodies, chaffinch, and smelled a fox (amazing to be smelling anything with the cold I've had!).
I was probably out for less than an hour all told, but by the gods it felt wonderul
Thanks for looking.
for the last 2 weeks, I woke today feeling much improved. The dog and I have been going stir-crazy with not being able to go outdoors (although it's hard to tell with the dog, since he's nutty as a fruit bat anyway), so we jumped into the car and headed for a local woodland that would provide a nice walk but also some easy and sheltered walking if it turned out I wasn't quite as well as I felt.The woodland is right next to an A road, with an adjacent church. There's a village close by too, and the place gets a certain amount of dog walkers, although it is only ever busy in high summer.
The way in. The woodland is dominated by silver birch, with stands of larch and douglas fir, with a good mix of oak, hazel and sweet chestnut too.
I was told this was a dog when I got it, but 14 years on I'm still not entirely convinced...
Lots of tree rat sign about
Now I'm not sure about these. There are certainly wild daffodils in this part of South East Wales, so they might be, but I'm no expert. Anyway, there were lots of them, and they are the right size (small). Not quite convinced they are the right shade of yellow though...
Saw wood anemone for the first time this year too
One of the interesting things about this little wood is that it is the most southerly Welsh site for Hairy Wood Ant. The nest mounds sit dormant over the winter and usually get bashed about a bit, and sticks shoved into them, but it doesn't seem to bother the ants. Then on warm spring days like this one the worker ants come out and mill around on the surface, eventually forming big solid mats of ants. They literally sunbathe, and the black mats soak up heat. Then the ants go down into the next, radiate that heat into the cool nest interior, and come up again to repeat the process. That way the nest gets warmer quickly and gets the new eggs and larvae developing ready for the summer. Until a year or two ago I'd never seen this behaviour.
More spring growth
The way back
It felt so good to be outdoors again. I heard buzzards, jays, greater-spotted woodpecker, great tits, blue tits, blackbirds, wren, robin, woodies, chaffinch, and smelled a fox (amazing to be smelling anything with the cold I've had!).
I was probably out for less than an hour all told, but by the gods it felt wonderul
Thanks for looking.
