Spring is a wonderful time for a walk in the woods. This weekend, my son and I took a stroll through Bill Wood (which runs into Round Wood and Ravenscliffe Wood). We meandered along the bridle way fringed by lesser celandine past pasture fields where grazing horses nodded was we walked by. Suddenly, on the edge of the field, our eyes were drawn to an interloper skittishly prancing up and down. It was a roe deer feverishly seeking out a way back to safety of the woodland.
We walked deeper into the woodland, our nostrils awakened by the unmistakable scent of wild garlic (ransoms). As we rounded a bend in the path, we were greeted by a swathe of shiny green leaves trembling in the breeze. As we moved closer to take in the heady aroma, we spied a real treasure of the woodland. Clinging to the carcass of a decaying ash were dozens of leathery black orbs that could only be King Alfred’s Cakes (a type of inedible fungi so named as they resemble the charred cakes from the historical legend). This fungi is prized by Forest Schoolers as when dried, it can be used as kindling. It will take a spark from a fire steel and burn slowly like a coal.
Continuing on our journey, we happened upon a splintered and hole ridden trunk that appeared as if it had been in the midst of an intense fire-fight. It was the the calling card of a woodpecker (a woodpecker’s pantry). On further inspection we located the woodpecker’s home several yards away in the trunk of a deceased silver birch.
Heading down toward the beck at the bottom of the woodland, something stirred on the embankment. A triangular flash of black and white stumbled out of sight. Spurred on by the prospect of seeing our first live sighting of (could it really be) a badger, we cautiously advanced. The muddy ground squelched beneath our feet as we crept closer and closer. There it was, in all its feathery glory, a mallard gliding carefree along the water (we had mistaken a duck’s rear and for a badger!)
Dusk was beginning to fall over the woodland, so we casually made our way home, collecting a few oak apples along the way.
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We walked deeper into the woodland, our nostrils awakened by the unmistakable scent of wild garlic (ransoms). As we rounded a bend in the path, we were greeted by a swathe of shiny green leaves trembling in the breeze. As we moved closer to take in the heady aroma, we spied a real treasure of the woodland. Clinging to the carcass of a decaying ash were dozens of leathery black orbs that could only be King Alfred’s Cakes (a type of inedible fungi so named as they resemble the charred cakes from the historical legend). This fungi is prized by Forest Schoolers as when dried, it can be used as kindling. It will take a spark from a fire steel and burn slowly like a coal.
Continuing on our journey, we happened upon a splintered and hole ridden trunk that appeared as if it had been in the midst of an intense fire-fight. It was the the calling card of a woodpecker (a woodpecker’s pantry). On further inspection we located the woodpecker’s home several yards away in the trunk of a deceased silver birch.
Heading down toward the beck at the bottom of the woodland, something stirred on the embankment. A triangular flash of black and white stumbled out of sight. Spurred on by the prospect of seeing our first live sighting of (could it really be) a badger, we cautiously advanced. The muddy ground squelched beneath our feet as we crept closer and closer. There it was, in all its feathery glory, a mallard gliding carefree along the water (we had mistaken a duck’s rear and for a badger!)
Dusk was beginning to fall over the woodland, so we casually made our way home, collecting a few oak apples along the way.
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