Most probably, it was a common shrew, but there was
little chance to check its identity. The tiny animal had been disturbed when we
were cutting back the suckers around the base of a lime tree. Fright and flight
had sent it deeper into the dense forest of twigs, only to re-emerge and
disappear under the cropped vegetation bordering the track to The Stables. It
all happened in a flash. We searched, but it was gone.
 |
| Not a shrew or a vole but a grey squirrel |
Job done, we moved on to the still- frosted vista
below the Banqueting Hall, above the Octagon Pond. A few days earlier the area
had been strimmed to a height of about fifteen centimetres. We lightly raked
off the cut grass, ferns and other greenery, and scattered it in the woods –
careful not to scrape too deep with our rakes. Doing that would damage that
underlayer of nooks and crannies and routeways that is home to so many small
creatures. Just the kind of miniature world into which our shrew escaped.
 |
| Grass raking on the Banqueting Hall vista |
Wandering back to our base, we spread out to search
for waxcaps on the Hall Field, but found few. Later, we combed the upper slopes
of the Warrenhaugh fields, and found fewer. We’ve repeated this exploration
several times since. Both sites have been good for spotting waxcaps in past
years, but not this autumn it seems. Don’t know why.
 |
| Parrot waxcaps |
 |
| The path back from Warrenhaugh |
 |
| Rainbow near car park |
Steve Wootten & Phil Coyne
