A wet November morning

Following three days of rain, many of the tracks and pathways in the forest are extremely muddy, and the gullies and ditches are filling with water. Many leaves have fallen from the trees as a result of the wind and rain, allowing more light to penetrate through the trees. The bark of Silver Birches shone in the sunlight.


Very few birds were observed this morning, apart from a large flock of Wood Pigeons flying through the Beech wood. A few Great Tits and Blue Tits were twittering amongst the birches, and a Green Woodpecker made it's alarm call deep in the woods.

No shrubs or flowers were in bloom, but a few late fungi had survived the attention of collectors. Lumpy Bracket ( Trametes Gibbosa) was prolific on the stumps of beech trees. These are often found on dead wood in broad leaf woodland.                                                                                              Glutinous Waxcap
(Hygrocybe Glutinipes) which can be found amongst moss and grass, was possibly identified;  neither of these fungi are edible!

November 2014

Jack is of course a Jack Russell whose main domain is Hempsted Forest; he expects at least two walks each day in the forest. This gives us an opportunity to observe the wildlife and flora and fauna of the forest throughout the seasons. The purpose of this blog is to share these observations with you.