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

Winter Walks in Bristol

Spring is hammering at the door now, so I'd better record my winter walks around the edges of Bristol before it's all cowslips and daffodils and way too late.

Before Christmas, we had another walk out beyond Lyde Green Common, which was memorable for its beauty and ugliness. We walked as far as a couple of lakes at a fishery, where we spotted a heron, pretending to be a branch, high in a tree.

We enountered a roe deer too, a dead one with injuries to its throat and hind-quarters, which was upsetting. Not long afterwards, we met a man with a terrier on a lead who asked if Cwtch - who was off-lead - was all right around deer, as there were quite a few about. I said she was curious but not murderous, and he said his dog would have one if he could ... and I did wonder if he'd said that because he already had. I did take a photo of the deer in case it was of interest to any wildlife organisations, but won't post it here as it's pretty horrible.

We also had a walk on the Downs, which manage to be on the western edge of Bristol but also near the centre of the city. It was bitterly cold that day, but a Palestinian flag painted on some sort of container in Leigh Woods, on the other side of the River Avon, cheered us somewhat. 

We've been on several walks through our old favourite, Badock's Wood, from when it was still looking quite autumnal. 

Being situated in and along the top of the River Trym's miniature gorge, it didn't suffer as badly as the woods on Purdown during Storm Darragh, though a few young trees were downed.

The badgers have also been making changes, namely enlarging their setts by incorporating some of the footpath, which isn't their best idea. 

And of course, we managed to do some more water-walking in the River Trym, Cwtch and I. She's a lot less nervous then she used to be, though she'll still only go in if I'm there with her. 

Another early frosty morning found us in Stoke Gifford, having dropped the car off at the garage for an MOT. 

St Michael's

We've had one more visit to Eastville since the previous frosty misty one earlier this month that merited an blogpost all of its own ...

... and many turns around the woods and parkland on Purdown. I've already posted some photos of the sunrises that occured in the first week of the new year; there were more to come through the remainder of January. 

One morning we had the great fortune of watching the sun rise while a kestrel hunted in the foreground.

While on Purdown, we had a wander around the WWII battery, where some of the graffiti is goat-themed, there being goats penned nearby to graze the scrub. 

Other fauna encountered include about eight buzzards circling together, a very noisy ring-necked parakeet ... 

... and black-headed gulls becoming ... well, black-headed gulls again.

We've also been for wanders through the woods.

my favourite oak on Purdown

There's been lots of felling of trees in the woods recently, mostly close to the paths. I wonder if Storm Darragh, in which about a dozen large trees were toppled, prompted a Health and Safety review.

mediaeval pillow mounds

I always think of fungi as something you see predominantly in summer and autumn, but there's been plenty about through winter too. I don't know enough about fungi to name them with any accuracy, though I'm pretty sure they included a couple I hadn't spotted before, namely rosy bonnets and stagshorn.

And yes, there have been signs of spring, as our winter walks grow warmer and occasionally sunny, with more of interest to look at, so I'll end with them: 

snowdrops ...

Greek anemones ...

and whitethorn leaves in Meade Park, Stoke Gifford

Blackthorn in Millennium Park

Plum blossom ...

wild garlic ...

and bluebells on Purdown.

Robins