A Jack Russell terrier in the boot and other surprises

It's been hot much of the time and that has meant early starts in order to get a walk in before it's too hot for furry dogs and their paws. Not to mention their owners.

It's also meant interesting dawnlight in the woods, and on rivers and lakes.

The trees are continuing to struggle in the extreme conditions, dropping huge branches, coppiced trunks and in some cases falling completely and taking other trees with them as they go.

While the landscape is mostly still lush, with no end in sight to temperatures nudging 30°+,  it will be tipping into sere any day now.  Here's Badock's Wood on the River Trym, modelling both looks.

Top to bottom, left to right:

red and white clover; moon daisy;yellow rattle; broadleaf enchanter's nightshade; honeysuckle; broomrape; white dead nettle; foxglove

large-leaved avens; common twayblade; hemlock water dropwort; milk thistle; loosestrife; bindweed; meadow bindweed; hedge woundwort and agrimony; common centaury; hairy St John's Wort 

broad-leaved willowherb; mallow; field rose; rosebay willowherb; self heal; ragwort; meadowsweet; valerian; buddleia

hogweed; black mustard; mallow; corn cockle; tutsan (St John's Wort); ivy-leaved toadflax, chicory; wood dock

poppy; corn flower; corn marigold; ground elder; tufted vetch; crow garlic; wild carrot; spear thistle; hemp agrimony; fleabane

Buddleia and chicory at Blaise Castle

 moon daisies, ragwort, hogweed and tufted vetch on Purdown

Vassall's Park

sweet chestnut catkins at Blaise

Following on from my recent trip to Barbury Castle, I've been to check in on a couple of other, more local hillforts, namely Stokeleigh Camp in Leigh Woods ...

... and Bury Hill Fort at Frenchay, both of which, while not exactly atmospheric in the high summer heat, were looking good.

assorted fungi

Ermine Moth caterpillars

Top to bottom, left to right:

ermine mother caterpillars; treble brown spot; froghoppers

painted lady; cinnabar moth caterpillar; ladybird

 

Red admiral

Holly blue

We've been to one new place and that was Lower Woods in South Gloucestershire, one of the largest areas of ancient woodland in the south-west and an SSI to boot. Unfortunately it was very hot and the wide rides cut through the trees did nothing to protect woman and dog from the boiling sun. Also, lots of the woodland, at least where we walked, was fenced off. Important to manage it for wildlife, I know, but it felt far from the immersive experience promised online. Maybe a visit in spring or autumn would be more interesting, but I found myself thinking fondly of our feral woods locally, and how I can get lost on their winding little paths in deepest summer even though I go there most days. No chance of that here.

There was some light relief when we got back to the car park. I opened the boot of my car, took out a water bowl, filled it with chilled water from a flask, and waited while Cwtch drank it, only to find, when I went to put it back, that the boot now contained a Jack Russell terrier, who was busy eating some mouldy bits of kibble that had been spilt some time ago from the box of crow food. (I feed the crows at Asda when I go shopping.) He showed no signs of jumping out again, I didn't want to pick him up in case he was a biter, so in the end I rattled the box and shook a few bits of (fresh) kibble onto the ground to get him out, before quickly shutting the boot and heading off. 

Most of the wildlife I've got a close look at has been dead, sadly, which is the usual state of affairs when you're walking a dog. (Not, of course, that Cwtch killed them; it's just that sensible creatures get out of the way when they spot a collie.)

Top to bottom, left to right:

roe deer; thrush eggs; crow; robinling

snail massacre; shrew; squirrel having a peek; vole

That said, the feather season has started in earnest, with the first three jay coverts found (always a reliable indicator):

magpie; tawny owl; jay; great spotted woodpecker; sparrowhawk; green woodpecker; nuthatch; long-tailed tit; greenfinch; robin; buzzard

But mostly it's been beautiful despite the heat. I'm really looking forward to getting lots more walking done through the rest of the summer. 

View across Stoke Park at Purdown

my favourite Purdown oak at midsummer

hoggin

Cwtch at Blaise Castle

Walking back to happiness

Shoulder impingement syndrome took me out of circulation for the whole of September and the beginning of October, though for the latter half of that time I was able to get out locally for some short walks with a cabin-fevered collie.

Early autumn is a strange time in the woods. The leaves are only just beginning to turn colour, and when the day is overcast, they're probably at their darkest - dense canopies still, with no long hours of summer light to pierce them. 

The fungi are putting on a bright display, though. 

Oh, and outside the woods, the Michaelmas daisies are spectacular.

One souvenir of the long, hot, dry summer we had is the sight of trees struggling and falling. 

Above, two fallen ash trees on Purdown ...

and another across our path that I couldn't identify because most of it had fallen into a thicket of brambles.

Below the woods in Stoke Park, I noticed one of the landmark oaks had dropped two branches ...

... while an ancient oak I used to visit with my old dog, Ted, is down and out. Going by the colour of the heartwood, it doesn't look as if it fell that long ago; on the other hand, there are no twigs left on it, so it probably died some time before it was downed. I have a photo of it in leaf as recently as 2021.

Elsewhere, we encountered a fallen yew on C*lston Hill ...

... plus, a huge beech across the path, and part of a tree trunk broken off, both on the Blaise estate.

The damage is similar to what you might expect after a wild storm. True, October has seen Storm Amy, the first of this season's windstorms, but all these trees  fell in August and September (with the exception of the ancient oak). 

Since driving is one of the most painful things I can do right now, we haven't strayed beyond North Bristol. We've been to Badock's Wood on the River Trym ...

... and we've had a few turns around Blaise. 

Between ditches on Kings Weston hill fort ...

... and the very top of hill fort itself

The stone marking the 18th century boundaries of the Blaise estate and the Kings Weston estate

On the south side of Hazel Brook, storm clouds and some magnificent trees.

wasps' nest

It's been an amazing year for mast, and the squirrels have been fizzing and popping all over the place, which is suprising really as you'd think they'd have their gobs too full of acorns to draw breath, like this one at Snuff Mills, who watched me from a short distance for at least a couple of minutes. In the end it was me who looked away first.

Vassals Park

A little downstream, in Eastville Park, we encountered the local heron a few times.

Much like with the big beech across the path at Blaise, a section has now been cut through the hornbeam that toppled into the lake back in January, so people can walk around the lake again without having to stoop under/climb over it. Meanwhile it can still support wildlife, providing perches for fishers and nesting places for moorhens and coots, which is pleasing.

Cwtch by my favourite willow on the bank of the River Frome

Now the weather's cooler and the sun less bright, I've been straying from the woods a bit and have taken a couple of turns around Stoke Park on Purdown. It was fun watching hot-air balloons take off and drift east across the city one early morning.

Duchess Pond and the Dower House

The woods still have their allure, though, and we always walk through them to get back to the car.

fox jawbone

Sluggus magnificus

Being out of action for those last few weeks of the summer meant I missed the tail end of the season of falling feathers, with just these few ending up in my clutches ... 

CLOCKWISE from top left: jay, tawny owl, green woodpecker, magpie, ring-necked parakeet

... though until the leaves start falling more thickly, there's always hoggin to be found. Lovely to pick things up and stay in the moment.

My favourite bit was this self-decorated sherd at Blaise. It stayed where it was to finish its delicate work.