In case you haven’t made it to the wood recently, here are a few pictures of summer I took last week.
The bramble, much-maligned – even by me – has to be recognized for the valuable food it provides for insects (now) and other wildlife (later).
Bramble patches make excellent nesting sites for blackcaps, which probably explains the huge increase in these birds numbers since thinning operations took place . Chiffchaffs and blackcaps are the commonest warblers in the wood.
Honeysuckle is a plant essential for white admiral butterflies to lay their eggs on. Fortunately we have both in the wood.
… and some birds:
Finally, a family of young long-tailed tits cuddling up for the night:
Lots of people are enjoying the wood at the moment, and it’s easy to see why.
Chris
Lovely photos Chris. I spotted a little yellow star shaped flower in the woods the other week. I later found out it was a Wood Aven, never heard of it before and such a pretty flower though my favourite wild flower is Herb Robert.
Wood avens, also knows as herb bennet, is pretty common in the wood. It produces seed heads with little hooks on them so they can catch on passing animals (and human clothes), which is why they grow alongside paths. I guess that most seeds get dropped on or near paths, so the cycle repeats. Long haired dogs are like a magnet for these seeds, and when you try to remove them, the heads separate into individual seeds requiring you to pick them out one by one. A real pain!