Bonfires, fireworks , and barking deer.

Pre-Bonfire Night fireworks in the Wood

Holly bonfire burning hot and fast. Herbie was interested but cautious.

When we started clearing the dense holly growing along the length of the ride, and by the pond , we estimated  that the work would take about 6 months. ( that was always optimistic.) Almost two years later we are still at it, but at long last we seem to have broken the back of this not very enjoyable  job. The most recent clearance was at the north end of the wood, next to Frenchbridge Ghyll,  the stream that flows down through St.Leonard's Forest to the North West of Old Copse,  and feeds into the pond. It is  lined along its length with a narrow band of shady woodland. Springs emerge from the steep banks and empty into the Ghyll, helping to keep the area wet throughout the year. The holly was particularly dense on the banks of the stream, but now it has been well thinned out, to encourage the oaks, alder, and other broadleaves,  allowing  us to see and enjoy this particularly lovely part of the wood .

Old Copse is in an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and  part of it, particularly the area bordering the Pond, is an SSSI, that is, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Old Copse is at the Western edge of the Sussex Weald . Both the High and Low Weald have numerous Ghylls, steep sided woodland streams that have their own specific characteristics. Frenchbridge Gyll that runs through Old Copse and into Hawkins Pond is typical of Wealden Ghylls, though perhaps not quite so steep sided as some.

Ghyll woods constitute an important core area of 'primary woodland' , that is to say, wooded sites which have never been cleared within the larger semi-natural woodland of South East England. A Ghyll woodland has a humid and relatively stable micro-climate resulting from long continuity of shade and moisture. Such woods support ancient semi-natural woodland vegetation often with high bio-diversity value . Wealden Ghylls mark some of the oldest, least disturbed woodland in the South-East.

Now the Scots Pine has been thinned, the young beech trees can be seen in their Autumn colours.

The woods have been echoing with the sounds of barking deer, all competing with each other in trying to attract mates.

Mushroom season

 October marks the height of the mushroom season, and this year has been a particularly good year, even if the season is later than usual - presumably a knock on effect of the late wet Spring.

On Sunday 16th October, just over a year since their last visit on September 20th 2015, (see blog post) the Runnymede Ramblers made a return visit for a fungi walk. The foray was led by Dick Alder of the West Weald Fungus Recording Group. The star find of the day was the Purple Webcap  - Cortinarius Violaceus - a rare mushroom which has apparently never previously been found in West Sussex. The nearest known colonies are in the New Forest. In addition to the ones pictured in the previous post, we found a further specimen on the banks of the pond, and the group found another pair in the neighbouring wood. A sample has been sent to Kew, where it will be part of a project on DNA sequencing on the Cortinarius family.

Dick Alder's full list of Sunday's finds is shown at the end of this post and has been shared with the Sussex Biological Records office.

In addition to that list, over the past few days we have also found:

Black bulgar or Batchelor's Buttons - Bulgaria Inquinans

BB growing on dead oakwood

Aleuria arantia

List of fungi finds made 16th October Old Copse:

SCIENTIFIC	ENGLISH
Amanita citrina	False Death Cap
Amanita citrina var. alba	False Death Cap, white
Amanita excelsa var. spissa	Grey Spotted Amanita
Amanita muscaria	Fly Agaric
Amanita rubescens	Blusher
Amanita porphyria	Grey Veiled Amanita
Boletus badius	Bay Bolete
Boletus edulis	Cep
Cantharellus tubaeformis	Trumpet Chanterelle
Clitopilus prunulus	Miller
Coprinopsis atramentaria	Common Inkcap
Cortinarius violaceus	Violet Webcap
Daedaleopsis confragosa	Blushing Bracket
Entoloma nitidum	a Pinkgill
Gomphidius roseus	Rosy Spike
Gymnopilus junonius	Spectacular Rustgill
Gymnopilus penetrans	Common Rustgill
Hydnum repandum	Wood Hedgehog
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca	False Chantarelle
Hypholoma fasciculare	Sulphur Tuft
Laccaria amethystina	Amethyst Deceiver
Lactarius blennius	Beech Milkcap
Lactarius chrysorrheus	Yellowdrop Milkcap
Lactarius deliciosus	Saffron Milkcap
Lactarius hepaticus	Liver Milkcap
Lactarius rufus	Rufous Milkcap
Lactarius tabidus	Birch Milkcap
Leccinum scabrum	Brown Birch Bolete
Leccinum variicolor	Mottled Bolete
Naucoria escharioides	Ochre Aldercap
Paxillus involutus	Brown Rollrim
Piptoporus betulinus	Birch Polypore
Russula atropurpurea	Purple Brittlegill
Russula claroflava	Yellow Swamp Brittlegill
Russula densifolia	Crowded Brittlegill
Russula nigricans	Blackening Brittlegill
Russula nitida	Purple Swamp Brittlegill
Russula nobilis	Beechwood Sickener
Russula ochroleuca	Ochre Brittlegill
Russula sardonia	Primrose Brittlegill
Scleroderma citrinum	Common Earthball
Suillus bovinus	Bovine Bolete

October

The start of Autumn and time for  woodland activities to crank up a gear. The season's first trailer load of firewood negotiates the steep track down onto the Ride successfully, then out to the road via the bottom gate. 

Mushroom season has started, with the first edible finds shown below: two ceps (Boletus edulis) a bay bolete (Boletus badius) and a handful of hedgehog mushrooms (Hydnum repandum). 

A much more unusual find was a small group of violet webcaps (Cortinarius voilaceous) growing in the birch in OC1. These are rare in the UK, though rather more common in some parts of mainland Europe . 

The End of Summer

August 28th was the hottest day of the year. It was 29 degrees and too hot for the beach. We thought the wood would be cooler.

The wood in high summer is very different. Completely still and silent as all the small creatures are sheltering motionless in the shade. Even the Canada geese decided to shut up for a bit.

Now the Autumn equinox has been and gone, but the weather remains mostly warm and sunny. More warmth is forecast for the first part of October too, so perhaps it's a good time to remember the Summer before the clocks go back  and Autumn storms arrive. As usual, work in Old Copse slowed down a fair bit during the summer months. It was often too hot to do very much except bash the bracken, which at last seems to be getting the hint, continue with the holly removal, monitor the wood's recovery from the Scots Pine thin of last winter,  protect  tree seedlings from the deer,enjoy the beauty of the wood and its bird and wildlife, and start  planning for the coming winter.

One of the many new and so far unidentified plants springing up behind the cabin

The way Old Copse has regenerated itself since the big thin has been truly remarkable. Helped along by our mattocking work on the worst of the ruts, the ground has slowly settled down and been covered by new growth.  In many places where the tractor has been, long dormant seeds have sprung to life.  Prime opportunists, such as foxgloves, have seized their chance and sprung up thickly.

 Around the new entrance and on the new track, both of which took a hammering during the thinning operation, the common rush (Juncus Effusus) has rushed in to colonise the compacted, wet ground. We think that this will gradually be ousted by grasses  as the soil dries out. The main ride, which the contractors levelled and scraped at the end of their work, is now almost back to the way it was previously, the grasses having now crept back to the middle from the sides. By next summer it should be well covered once more. Towards the north end of the ride, the first grass to grow was very tall and tussocky. Like the common rush on the compacted wet areas, we think that this tall grass will be replaced by shorter varieties next year. Once the ride is completely recovered, we plan to start rotational mowing in the autumn, as advised by Natural England, in order to increase bio-diversity.

The grass started to come back

Looking forward to the winter, the next thing on our agenda after the Big Thin, is the Big Plant. We've been poring over forestry tree suppliers brochures, and drawing up our order, to be delivered, we hope by the end of November, and planted out during December. We'll be ordering 250 'whips', tiny trees,  50 each of Common Oak (Quercus robur), Beech (Fagus Sylvatica), Bird Cherry (Prunus Padus), Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulas), and Sweet Chestnut (Castanea Sativa). All trees are guaranteed to be grown in England, (with nothing imported to risk adding to the growing number of tree diseases). These, plus the 30 - 50 seedling trees from Old Copse being  lovingly nurtured at home, will be planted in the thinned pine plantation, on the SSSI part of Old Copse. Like all shopping catalogues, the ones selling trees are just as, or probably even more enticing. There were a number of trees listed that sounded very attractive, but sadly we don't have the right conditions for them. However, among our collection of pampered home grown trees, we have a Walnut and a Mulberry, both bursting out of their pots and looking for new homes. We think we'll plant them up by the new entrance where they'll have lots of sunshine and space.

We are considering protecting at least some of the new planting with temporary deer fencing, but all the new trees will be protected by individual shelters. It's still a battle with the fallow deer, so we expect a certain amount of young tree attrition, but  let's be positive that a good percentage will survive. All rather exciting. It's taken us a long time to get to this stage, which is only possible now that we've had the Scots Pine thinned.

Hedge Brown or Gatekeeper. There were many of these butterflies feeding on the nettles that grew up after the disturbance caused by the new entrance construction.

Herbie, you're too big for laps.

Deer, deer and more deer

Mark Chase from the Deer Action Group gave us this footage from the trail camera, showing just what the deer get up to when they think no one's around. These shots were all taken from the deer seat May- August - note how quickly the ground recovers in just one season.

This is August in OC1. 

Mostly they spend their time eating - as we thought - but there is also time for play.

Bat rescue

We found a bat in the middle of  a hot day clinging to an old log on the pond side path.  So after seeking advice from the nearby Knepp Castle Estate we found a small box in the cabin and using a soft towel, gently lifted the poorly creature into it. Our visitor Marc Easton took her for treatment to a local bat  hospital. Bat experts there found it to be an adult  female long eared brown bat who has had a baby earlier this year. She was  suffering from a prolapsed anus, and dehydration. She is being given water , food , antibiotics and painkillers and is now expected to make a full recovery. When she is completely better she will be brought back to the area where she was found, and released. Bats have a travelling range of 10 kilometres, so she will soon find either her original roost, or another nearby.

At the bat hospital

We'd like to think that when she is released she will look something like this:

Long Eared Brown Bat (Library picture)

Thanks to Sussex Bat Rescue and the experts at Knepp Castle Estate.

Rowan

Today in the wood on the last day of July, the rowan berries are starting to ripen - some red, some orange. Looking at the mass of berries appearing wherever the tree can find some sun, I started to think about what a very flexible tree the rowan is - and what a great survivor.

It will grow in almost any conditions.
It grows deep in the dense birch. It will grow in the pine plantation - anywhere where it can stretch towards the light. In shade it grows long and thin - but it does grow. These long spindly trees eventually bend under their own weight. They straggle through the wood, leaning on other trees and on each other. Sometimes they just topple over. But that's not the end of the story. Once on the ground, new saplings grow out from the fallen tree. It's not unusual to find a line of rowans growing in a neat row, where one fallen tree has how become four or five.
If it can find some sun, such as on the edge of the ride, it grows vigorous and sturdy - up to 40 ft and more. And in the sun of course there are berries (or officially 'pomes' as I now know I should call them after a quick trip to wikipedia). Rowan seem to be virtually indestructible: chop them down and new leaves sprout immediately. Pollard them and a wig of growth will shoot up. Rowan seedlings are everywhere. If the deer didn't eat them, we'd be waist high in rowan. As an experiment I protected a couple with tree tubes, and already the leaves are fountaining out of the top.

It's been a poor year for butterflies, but today's sun brought out a few speckled woods - seen here basking on the ride. In the long grass there were dozens of little wood frogs. This one was hopping away but I just managed a quick phone snap.