Sycamore gets the blues

So the season for cutting things down is over, boo. I have just spent the day painting Quarry Wood blue following a whole lotta cutting down of Sycamore over the winter.  To stop the regrowth we treat the stumps with a weedkiller with added dye so we can see what we've done.

Picasso at work

Pretty!

The dye does go away, so the reserve doesnt remain looking like you'd expect to see a Tellytubby appear round the corner at any moment.  And we were cutting trees down in the name of conservation.  Sycamore spreads like wildfire so by clearing sections of it, the other native species get a chance to return to the site.

There are some beautiful woodland flowers out at the moment (not painted blue)...

Dog Violet

Dogs Mercury, Wood Anemone, Lords and Ladies

Wild Primrose

Bluebell

Early Purple Orchid

Herb-Paris

Lesser Celandine

"The river. Its my world, and I don't know any other."

Hopefully you can see little Ratty in these pictures.  Well, perhaps he isn't the famous character from Wind in the Willows as this is not actually Toad Hall, but Pulborough Brooks in Sussex.  Instead we shall call him Barry.  It is not every day you get to see the illusive water vole so this was a great treat during Sunday's visit to the RSPB reserve near Storrington.  We were in a hide, hence why I could take pictures without him disappearing.  There has been a huge decline in water vole populations over the last few years due to habitat loss and the introduced American mink which predates them.  So rock on Barry!

We were also privileged to see this Water rail close up from the visitor centre window.  You don't normally see these little fellas but the staff there had been putting feed out. Not quite as legitimate a birdspot as it should be but who cares!

The final good spot of the day was a lovely pub at Bolney on the way home!

Beauty and the beast

So right now it couldn't be raining more but that is a good thing.  Earlier in the week we've had some lovely warm sunny weather and signs of spring have been emerging.  I could plaster a load of photos of lichens on here but I've found that not everyone finds them as interesting as I do strangely.  So I've bunged a couple of ladybirds in to make them more interesting!

During the same survey in Brocks Wood at college, I picked up a leaf from the ground to help me identify the tree.  The leaf was curled up and much to my utter horror I touched something soft...

Gerrrroossssss! I do not know what creature left that little surprise for me but I assume it is a spider's egg?  Fortunately no one was around to hear me shriek and launch it into the woods! I obviously then had to find it again so I could take a picture.  Der.

On another survey this week I found this pretty cool fungus called Yellow Brain Fungus...

If you go down to the woods

I have been a bit absent on the ol' blog, a side effect of having a very busy student/volunteer/trainee life! I am into my final semester now and then I shall be released once more into the real world come June.  I have that soul abusing task of job hunting ahead, joy.

Recently, I have been out surveying woods for archaeological features, learning about lichens, and acquiring my licence to drive with a trailer.  Since saw pits, banks and small holes do not make exciting photos and my Gillingham driving examiner wasnt up for posing, here are a few random woodland gems...

Bramble

Deadwood

Common Dog-violet

Lichens

Fancy a dip?

 

I kid you not, this is a swimming pool.  Well, obviously it isn't anymore but it used to be in Victorian times.  Now, its a lovely little wet habitat in an ancient woodland called the Gill near Goudhurst. You cant see in this picture but there are steps going down into it. These steps, which once bore the weight of ladies and gents donning splendid bathing suits and tunics, now host a funky little array of mosses and ferns.

The Gill is a fascinating little woodland with an avenue of old lime trees, planted to commemorate the birth of the landowner's son, and various other interesting features such as the remains of a marker's hut...

Lime tree avenue

Marker's hut remains from an old rifle range

Remains of some poor sod

Unidentified bracket fungus

A full archaeological survey should hopefully turn up some more interesting features so watch this space.  It may also turn up some more unwanted creatures as I delve deep into the woods, in light of which I have tweaked the poem from my last blog.  Enjoy:

There was a young lady with big hair,
One day she woke up to quite a scare,
Two spiders and a gnat,
Three wrens and a bat
Had all made a nest in her hair!

Happy New Year!

"There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, 'It is just as I feared!-
Two Owls and a Hen
Four Larks and a Wren
Have all built their nests in my beard!'"

[A poem by Edward Lear]

I wonder what wildlife treats 2012 has in store.

December in pictures

Ferntastic

Broadwater Warren

Fly Agaric

Turner's Field - volunteering til sundown!

Attack of the blackthorn

Norfolk Estate, Arundel

Archeological Tree Hugging

Sadly not iron slag, boo

Saw mill remnants

My future home, she wishes

Old school shepherding and the greater spotted jack russell

Earthworks