Wednesday 20 June 2012

Sunshine suits all.

We have had a couple of reasonably sunny days, with not too much wind, just right for wandering round the wood with the camera. Three interesting things caught my attention.

Pyramidal Orchid
Only one spotted in the woodland, although they are thought to be fairly common in England                                    



Goat's-beard
Its common name is Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon.  The flower opens early and closes at noon. As you can see, this photo was taken in  the glow of evening sunlight.

A Small Ermine moth caterpillar.
Many of the branches were shrouded  in what looked like a very large spider's web, which is secreted by  the caterpillars  to protect themselves from predators.


Thursday 14 June 2012

A new elm tree for Elmsett

Photo by Loraine Wenham
James Buckle is planting our commemorative elm tree in the middle of our wood next to the  last area of trees that were were donated by and  planted  by the community.
Most of the elm trees in and around the village were killed by dutch elm disease in fact there are a few skeletal trees in the hedge that surrounds the wood.
This tree has been selected from stock that has some resistance by King and Co. a tree nursery near Braintree.
Let's hope that this one will grow straight and tall and survive for many years.

Friday 8 June 2012

Celebrations in the Wood

The rain kept away and many people came to celebrate our Queen's Jubilee and watch James buckle plant our commemorative tree.
Much thought and effort had gone into making the scarecrows. Local charity shops had been raided to find suitable clothes and props for their creations and James Buckle, our judge, looked long and hard to find the winners!

 He thought that Lizzie, the bird-watching queen, was well thought out and reflected the  queen's love of the countryside.
There were lots of extra props (the tartan scarf, a pair of binoculars, the scarf, tied in royal fashion and a bird spotters magazine in her pocket) which made this, a truly royal scarecrow.

The rest of the scarecrows are lurking in the Jubilee Scarecrows page above!





Prize-giving