Penny Bun

One of the problems with failing to blog for such a long time, apart from forgetting some details, might well be choosing a single image to represent the whole period  so I've included a few this time. However, my flickr posts act as a good reminder, as I am better about keepng those up to date. I'm going to start with the present and work backwards. After an unpromising forecast, the weather this weekend is proving very pleasant; plenty of blue skies. I decided to stay local and have a stroll along Rivelin Valley. The recent rain meant the river was quite swollen and everything was looking very nice in the winter sunshine. There was a surprising number of fungi, especially jellies and brackets, a number of inkcaps and oyster mushrooms. On the bird front, I managed a couple of reasonable shots of a grey wagtail, and a sweet one of a robin. The Heron of Doom flew overhead.

Last weekend, the weather was so foul, I didn't get out, so it was a bit of a lost weekend, but the one before saw me walking from home up to Stacey Bank on Loxley Valley. The Enviromnment Agency work at Malin Bridge makes it look very bare, but now you can actually see "Watersmeet" and I'm sure that in time, it will benefit from the clearance and new vegetation will soften the edges. There were quite a few Canada geese near Damflask and some nice bracket fungi around.

The previous weekend, I went to Old Moor. It was a cold, dull day, but there were quite a few birds around - including a few new for me, including goosander and green sandpiper. I managed a few reasonable pictures before the heavens opened; I got a good soaking on the way home, so a good excuse for mulled wine!

The week before that I set off to walk along Loxley Valley, but by the time I had got to Malin Bridge, I was already very wet. I was determined not to return, and putting my faith in the weather forecast, I decided to have a bit of a mystery tour, so bought a South Yorkshire Day Tripper on the tram and decided to keep going until the weather improved, catching the first local train available at the station. I ended up at Elsecar and as the sun came out, had a pleasant stroll around the res. As always, there were several Great Crested Grebes - as advertised on the information board. I was also treated to a sighting of a stoat (I say this with conviction, as I saw it's black tail tip), a blewitt, and some rather fine Phellinus igniarius (picture chosen!) on willow.

Can you see the face with its fine hat?

The week before was half term; we had a rather splendid few days in Sherwood Forest. I have been promising myself a trip to Creswell Crags for a number of years now, so it was incorporated in this trip on the outward trip. Well  worth a visit! It is amazing how this remarkable and atmospheric limestone gorge is only a stone's throw from the unspectacular scenery of this area on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The new visitors' centre is very good, and the cafe is to be recommended. We finished that first day with a stroll round the forest, and managed to get lost as it was going dark. The following day, we walked around Clumber park, and on Saturday, we did an extended  superb walk through the Sherwood forest and its surrounding area. This photo is of one of the finest areas of the forest near the centre tree. 

Last week saw the annual Fungus Foray, Sloe Hunt and Bacon Buttie Bonanza. We had a modest haul of boletus badius, some hygrocybe pratensis, a couple of lactarius deliciosus, a slippery jack and a negligible number of field mushrooms for the pot. I've been surprised how few field mushroons there have been this year. Of the non-edibles, plenty of blushers as always, a fly agaric, and some hygocybe, russula and tricholoma that I wasn't organized enough to pin down. It was blowing a gale on the tops so it was hard enough staying on our feet without faffing around with books, cameras etc. We also gathered a respectable number of sloes, and thanks to the stong wind, I also managed an unusually large number of hazelnuts. So, some of the mushrooms went into an autumn stew with home grown borlotti beans and garlic and some butternut squash, the sloes are percolating nicely in gin, and I'm considering making some hazelnut liqueur.

Having deferred my foray from yesterday, I set off at dawn this morning . The sunrise was glorious, but as I approached Fox House, the cloud descended. However, the damp in the air gave the day a real autumnal feel and there were some interesting light effects as the sun struggled with the low cloud for ascendancy. Within 15 minutes of parking the car near Sir William Hill, I had found 4 ceps and a good collection of hedgehog fungi, saffron milk caps and meadow wax caps. Other fungi included brown birch bolete, blusher, snowy wax caps, fly agaric and brown roll rim. On the bird front, I saw wren, meadow pipit and siskins. Next week I'll be out with friends, so I'm hoping for good weather and a good show of edible mushrooms.

It's a glorious Indian Summer, and today was the perfect day to go out early on a foray. There were plenty of mushrooms about, although the haul of edibles was relatively small there were some quality finds including these chanterelles, some saffron milk caps and hedgehog fungi, charcoal burners, larch boletes and a small orange birch bolete. I also found a large beefsteak fungus but it was past its best, and I'm not really a fan. I had hoped for some ceps or at least some bay boletes, but no joy. One of my usual spots for field mushrooms had been left ungrazed and had become overgrown so even if the mushrooms were there, it was impossible to see them. Other fungi seen include laccaria amethystea, amanita rubescens and fulva. I saw plenty of birds as well. Amongst those I could identify were goldfinch, and green woodpecker.

It seems an age since we returned from a brilliant

2 weeks in Suffolk. Fabulous cottage, wall to wall sunshine, and great scenery and wildlife. Birds, especially marsh harriers, deer - roe and muntjac, butterflies and most notably dragonflies. The air was alive with them

The cottage was on Aldringham Common so there were lots of walks from the doorstep - to Thorpeness, Aldburgh, Sizewell beach, Minsmere and Dunwich Heath. Also not far away was Southwold, Dunwich and Orford, and Tunstall and Rendlesham forests.

Since returning, it's been back to work. We came home to masses of plums and apples, so there's been lots of jam-making and such going on. The dehydrator came out of storage today, and it's high time the seasonal mushroom forays began. Some decent weather would be nice. Still in the process of uploading holiday photos onto flikr - there are so many to sort through.

July has come and gone. Wet, for the most part, and nothing to report in the way of walks. I can never work out why these periods of "inactivity" happen. I think it's a comlex combination of factors.

Last Saturday, however, was definitely the highlight of the month, and something to blog about. Richard Bell, whose online diary I follow assiduously (see links) was leading a workshop on "drawing on reserves". It was one of those days where everything comes together. The event was organised by Kirklees Countryside Unit in the form of the lovely Simon. The location was great, because it was a lovely spot, and the meeting point was right next to the station at Stocksmoor. Best of all, the weather was perfect. Dry, sunny and warm (not hot!). It was lovely to meet Richard. He is just as I'd imagined him from his diary, and although I have to say, I did not come away with lots of fabulous drawings, I did come away feeling inspired to get drawing again, a real pleasure that I have been neglecting since my night classes finished.

On the gardening / wildlife / photography front, things have been a bit sparse. I have been fairly conscientious about my bird feeding station, and that is paying dividends. I have regular visits from a bullfinch, and more recently a greenfinch, which are new to the garden, alongside the usual sparrows, tits, blackbirds, woodpigeon and collared dove, as well as the less welcome magpies (they make a mess of the feeding station and terrorise the other birds). The blackbird pictured, although it looks scary, and seems to have startled the sparrow, is not such a problem. It hoovered up the windfall cherries from our tree, of which there were many.

The garden accelerated a little in June, what with the fine weather, although the recent cool, and very wet July has slowed it down again. Yesterday, I lifted the garlic as they had all fallen over, and put them in the greenhouse to dry, as the ground outside is so cold, wet and heavy at the moment.

I suspect next time I blog, it will be on return from our hols. I'm keeping everything crossed that the weather will improve, so watch this space, and hopefully my flikr for a flurry of fabulous photographs.