A bright start, blue sky with daubs of cloud. A light wind blows bringing a touch of coolness.
At the base of the hedge Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) still gives out an odd flower now and then. It seems to do this in the shelter of the hedge right up until early winter.
Herb Robert.
30th September 2009
30th September 2008
The grassy banks are covered in a heavy dew where the night temperature dropped.
The web shone with dew in the early sun.
29th September 2009
29th September 2008
This must be one of the last Meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris) to flower this year. The bright buttery yellow is welcome on an overcast cloudy day.
27th September 2009
27th September 2008
polished red Hawthorn berries (Crataegus monogyna) brighten up the hedgerow. They are about ready now for the birds to start eating them to lay down fat for the winter.
26th September 2009
26th September 2008
What a lovely bright start today, blue sky with softly swept light cloud across it. The air is cool with a chill to it.
24th September2008
A light drizzle comes now and then, foliage is dripping. A light Southerly wind blows through the trees making it warmer today.
Sycamore leaves (Acer campestre) are some of the first leaves to start to fall.
22nd September 2009
22nd September 2008
The week starts overcast, dark grey cloud makes it feel a little gloomy. The air is still with a really cool feel.
21st September 2009
21st September 2008
We often find nests of spiders around the place, but I liked this neat droplet kind I found on my saw bench today as I got it out.
Looking up closely the young spiders could be seen inside clustered together. I carefully detached the nest and hung it in a dry crevice in a tree.
20th September 2009
20th September 2008
On some leaves of various Hazels (Corylus), leaf miners have been burrowing. I have never seen these forms where they create blisters rather than small mined tunnels in the leaf. It is the grub or larva of a moth Phyllonorycter coryli. If you want to identify any British leafminers go here.
Each blister holds a grub which can just be seen in the blisters.
18th September 2009
18th September 2008
That cool North Easterly still blows, but the morning has a delicious fresh bright brisk feeling to it.
17th September 2009
17th September 2008
A cool North Easterly wind blows making the start of the day feels cool. The sky is deep clear blue and the bright sun bodes for a good day.
16th September 2008
Vandalism is an ugly thing and it makes you wonder why anybody would do it against growing things. Yet we found this down the bottom of our land.
This young Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) has been snapped of about 2 foot from the ground.
The Beech tree (Fagus sylvatica) has been attacked and branches snapped back even though they were over 6 feet above the footpath.
They really hauled on the branches of the Beech to snap them back.
Further along they had pulled up two small Ash trees and threw them to the ground.
We have a footpath running along the bottom of our land along with another along our track that then goes down the drive to the lower piece of land to meet this bottom footpath. It is no blessing having a footpath running through. For some reason when people can enter private property legally as in the case with footpaths, they tend to think that they have carte blanche rights to do almost anything either side of the footpath.
Legally all walkers on a footpath have only a 1 meter area on which they can walk and are not supposed to stray from this, but as you can see they do.
We have found that ramblers or dedicated walkers are the least troublesome of all. They walk to enjoy the area and you do not really know that they have gone through.
The worst of the problems come from locally living walkers. First they start off enjoying the walk, then a kind of dissatisfaction comes into it and they seem to have to take it upon themselves to alter some parts of it in some way, such as trimming back potential overhangs that are feet away from the actual footpath itself.
Anyhow enough of that. We think we know who the culprit was who did this, some evidence points to them but unfortunately not enough to prove. So we just have to repair the damage as best as we can.
This is part of our bottom footpath where the damage took place, to the right of the picture.
15th September 2009
15th September 2008
Higher up in the hedge where the sun gets to warm and shine, berries ripen. The Bryony (Bryonia dioca) become jewel like as they become a delicious red.
Bryony berries hanging high in the hedge.
The flowers of our Common Ivy (Hedera helix) are starting to come out. The scent of them is strangely wild, a mixture of muskiness with very slight high fruit tones and tangy yet seminal mid tone. Scent is a difficult thing to describe and do justice to. But next time you pass by a flowering ivy get close up and take a sniff see what you think.
The scent attracts many flying insects who depend upon the nectar and pollen of the Ivy. It is an important food plant especially for Bumble Bees.
Ivy only flowers in what is called the arboreal stage. A very mature stage in the growth of Ivy, occurring when it reaches the upper limit to which it can grow.
Ivy passes through three stages:
Unusual plants can be produced if cuttings are taken from the arboreal stage. They are a bit harder to strike. Plants will slowly grow into tree like specimens that will flower every year and produce berries. The practice of growing tree Ivies was more common in the Victorian era of gardening.
A small fly sampling the nectar on an Ivy flower (Hedera Helix).
14th September 2008
A quiet Sunday morning. Not that we ever hear a great deal of noise here, traffic on the distant main road is nearly non existent as many are still in bed on a weekend lie in. The day feels cool fresh bright and unspoilt.
13th September 2009
13th September 2008
