Galleries

Trail camera

In April I set up a trail camera in the wood to see what animals are around when we aren’t there to scare them away. The camera is sited on an animal track (although not always the same one), away from paths that people would use. It is triggered by a motion sensor, and in daylight captures colour images and at night time just monochrome, taken in IR light. The camera can be set to capture a series of still images or a short video. I’ve done both.

I was particularly hoping to capture deer, as they are occasionally seen but expert opinion suggested that the wood is too small to support a resident population. Well, maybe not…

Most of the images are good for identification only because they are taken by a dumb camera – maybe an ear, a bottom, a blur or often nothing – but occasionally something worth seeing. Here are some of the better ones so far:

and here are the best of the video clips rolled into one:

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did getting them. The camera is still in place with hopefully more to come.

Fungi fun

Here are a few photos from this Sunday’s Fungi Foray at Oakley Wood.

The event, led by Ben Devine from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and local mycologist Dave Champion, was a great success. 40 or so people joined us on a fine, sunny October morning to forage for fungi and learn more about their importance to woodland. Amongst the many species of fungus that were found one highlight was a couple of examples of Pseudoboletus parasiticus, a rare parasitic fungus that grows on earthballs and was barely known in Warwickshire a decade ago.

Photos by Chris Wood

These photos of Oakley Wood were taken by FoOW member Chris Wood.