Hardwick Wood Coppicing etc

 Any Saturday through the winter months that I am free, I join a conservation party in Hardwick Wood to do a bit of coppicing (contact for details of Saturday and Sunday work parties in Cambridge area info@ccv.org.uk). I first started coppicing in 1962 at Hayley Wood so have had a bit of practise over the years. I walk up and back from the wood - about a 3 mile round trip so plenty of exercise. Coppicing is a traditional woodland management technique that dates back to the Stone Age involving cutting branches at their base to create a ‘stool’ where new shoots will grow - best suited to hazel, but can be applied to sweet chestnut, ash and lime. The original use of coppicing is still maintained in Hardwick  producing firewood and long straight poles for fencing, building and in the garden as bean poles. Coppicing is also thought to improve the biodiversity of a woodland area by opening it up to the sunlight and allowing a wider range of plants to grow. 

Here some images on my walk (including a distant Addenbrookes site!!), of the coppicing area at the start of the process and of the ancient woodland areas (with hundreds of Ash seedlings (reaction to Ash die-back?).  The tall single hazel shoots in the image will be laid into adjacent bare areas to sprout and fill the gaps in the hazel regrowth). 

Slime Moulds and Mini Fungi

I was studying one of the several piles of logs and cut wood in the garden that I keep for invertebrates and fungi and found these slime moulds and mini fungi. The first two are a slime mould, Comatricha (nigra) and the next two an intriguing fungus,  Henningsomyces candidus. Next a yellow slime mould plasmodium and ?Jelly fungus followed by two stages of fungus, Hypoxylon ?howeanum. Finally what I started photographing a Woodlouse!! 

First Snowfall

 We had a very brief snow shower this morning - just enough to whiten the paths - Ted wasn't too sure about wanting the walk until we got to the meadow where the snow had melted. 

Focus-stacked Fungi etc

As well as the previous blog post of single-exposure images with my Fuji Compact, I also took several focus stacks with the Olympus 60mm macro lens of the various frosted specimens and also this daisy among the frosty grass and leaves.

Toft Meadow - First Frosts

A light ground frost last night and a beautiful clear sunny morning though, with strong northly wind, it felt very cold. The Bourn Brook and Meadows looked stunning in the clear morning light and there were lots of icy toadstools to photograph so a couple of hours disappeared from a busy schedule!

Flowering Late or Early - Climate Change?

With the lack of frosts and the generally moist and relatively warm conditions, there are lots of wild flowers open in my Cambridgeshire garden that would normally be dormant such as the Red Campion, Dandelion, Primrose, Knapweed, Chicory (a new self-seeded species this year) and Chickweed plus some naturalised species - Linaria, Alkanet and Corydalis. Various garden perennials are still flowering or are starting early like the Jasmine and Erysium (wallflower) while some annuals such as Cosmos and Marigolds are from this year's seeds.