Entries tagged "woodland"
2013-04-08
It is an exciting time of year, there is a lot of vernal energy pent up, all coiled and ready to leap over the barrier of recent low temperatures.
The wildflowers have been biding their time, but the next six weeks will force their hand.
From late spring to mid-summer it can be a case of clue overload as the wealth of new flowers draws our eyes in all directions. This makes early spring a good time to savour the few clues that are around. Almost everyone can recognise a primrose or a daffodil, so a good…
2013-01-30
The Winter Clues Competition draws to a close tomorrow (still 24 hours to enter). For reasons I will explain in a few weeks, I'm not going to be able to give an update about that for a few weeks, including announcing the winner. But I will, I promise. Very cryptic I know, but I will explain.
Instead, today, let me celebrate the end of the competition by sharing a little theory. I have recently come across a theory that is bound to be very old, but which remains sparkling and new to me and I like it.
Snowdrops,…
2012-05-19
Walking through a narrow, predominantly damp and shady deciduous woodland yesterday afternoon I was suddenly greeted by sunshine on my right cheek and a group of Early Purple Orchids by my left foot.
The two experiences were almost certainly related. The break in the trees, at a spot where the path had swerved towards the edge of the woodland, had allowed sunlight into the otherwise dark dank green. There had been no orchids for a hundred metres and there were no orchids for the hundred metres beyond that spot. The only environmental variable that I could tell had…
2010-12-09
After the rather disgusting photograph a few days ago I thought it was time to right the balance with something more pleasing on the eye.
The snow has finally begun to thaw in this freezing microclimatic corner of West Sussex, but I did manage a fair amount of stomping around in the snow over the past week. This is a picture I took in my local beech woodland a couple of days ago.
Lichens are very sensitive to their environment - moisture levels and air quality in particular - but also the surface they grow on.…
2010-01-16
The snow is melting away, but not at the same speed everywhere. The warmer wind which is blowing from the southeast today is leaving green swathes wherever it reaches. In this photo, which is taken looking east, the snow in the top right corner is being sheltered by woodland, but the snow to the left is also being left relatively untouched by the same wind because it is partly in the lee of the hill, but also because the woodland to the left of the picture is forcing the airflow up over it. In aviation terms the wind appears to…
2009-07-27
Once I've got my bearings in a new area I like to look for features that will act as friendly reminders. This woodland on the opposite hillside in Wensleydale reminded me of a turtle. For the rest of my walk that day I looked to the turtle and knew that it 'swam eastwards'.
2009-05-20
Last night I went for a run through some beech woodland. The perfect tonic after twelve hours straight on the book.
