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| Autumn Trees |
Autumn brings an end to grass snake surveys for another
year. All the corrugated tins have been collected and the “nesting” heaps
examined for any evidence of egg laying. Still no signs of the elusive grass
snakes, perhaps next year…
The Wednesday conservation team is back and raring to go
with various autumnal tasks. So far this season most of our work has involved
pruning and thinning out several different tree species. We have removed
Western hemlock from Snipes Dene, we’ve thinned out birches both in West Woods and
in another part of Snipes Dene.
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| Glistening inkcaps |
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Puffballs
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| The team thinning out birches from around hazel trees |
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| Oak leaves |
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| Pholiota adiposa |
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| Brash piles |
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| Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor) |
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| Bilberry leaves |
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| Cleared area |
The first frosty day of the season saw us thinning out
birches and conifers to create small glades in an area of Snipes Dene, thus
exposing large areas of heather which will look magnificent next year.
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| Frosty leaves |
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| More autumn colour |
This week we were joined by a team of volunteers from the Cragside
National Trust Estate. They were really welcome as there was a huge area of
rhododendrons to clear, a bit of a busman’s holiday for them. They also brought
a chipper so that all the prunings weren’t burnt, some of them were chipped and
will be put to good use. The other thing they brought with them was cake, mmm…
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| Starting a fire |
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| The chipper in action |
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| Puff balls billowing spores |
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| The trees alongside The Avenue |
Phil Coyne
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