On a cold, bright morning, as I wandered round the wood, not expecting to take many photos, I glanced down at the base of the hedge that runs along the back and spotted these gelatinous fungi, growing on a rotting length of wood.
There have been sightings of the barn owls hunting over the woodland. It would be good if they decided to become residents of out barn owl box.
As you can see from the photo, the hedge between Buckle's Wood and the village meadow is in a sorry state! Some serious restoration is needed.
The trees along the ditch on the western edge of our woodland have been coppiced in time gone by. This ancient way of woodland management, by cutting trees down at their base, encourages vigorous new growth and helps to prolong the their lifespan. The cut timber has many uses.
The recent mild, wet weather is just right for fungi. This year there are many different species popping up through the grass. Last Sunday was warm and sunny, so I wandered round with my camera.
I wish I knew more about mushrooms and fungi, their names in particula
Last Sunday, The Living World on Radio 4 featured two experts discussing their finds on a fungi foray in Wales. It was fascinating. 
James has trimmed the ground cover away from the base of the hedges, where the blackthorn was encroaching onto the rides and cut back the new growth on the section of hedge that has been layed. Since then, the other side of this section has been cut by Robert Fison's contractor.
We concentrated on the area in the middle of the woodland and then on the rides leading up to it. I would say that more than half of the grass has been raked off and heaped into piles amongst the trees. The rest will be done as and when the sun shines and people have an hour to spare.
James brought the pallets up to the wood last weekend and arranged them in this inspirational way, so that when the children from years 3 and 4 arrived with their collection of natural building materials, they were keen to get started!
After a day of heavy showers, the sky cleared and the moths arrived as it grew dark. Not as many as usual, as the temperature was a tad cool, but our knowledgeable expert Tony Prichard was able to capture and identified about 15 different moths.
The Lime Hawk-moth (above) was a female with an bulging abdomen full of eggs.
The evening was summed up in an email from John, a member of the group
"Just a note to say thank you for organising last night’s moth hunt. It was a most enjoyable evening and the hot dogs and soup were delicious! The sight of the privet hawk moth will stay with us a long while!
We would like to thank Tony for giving us a splendid evening.
There are over 2,000 species of British moths and Tony Prichard has photos of many of them on his website. It's well worth a look!
As promised, Tony has sent a list of the moths that we looked at during the evening.
0014 Hepialus humuli ~Ghost Moth. 00 17 Hepialus lupulinus~ Common Swift. 1011 Pseudargyrotoza conwagana. 1082 Hedya pruniana~Plum Tortrix. 1333 Scoparia pyralella. 1376 Eurrhypara hortulata Small Magpie. 1727 Xanthorhoe montanata ~Silver-ground Carpet. 1782 Horisme tersata ~Fern. 1825 Eupitheciacentaureata~Lime speck Pug. 1906 Opisthograptis luteolata ~Brimstone Moth. 1976 Sphinx ligustri ~Privet Hawk-moth. 1979 Mimas tiliae ~Lime Hawk-moth. 2089 Agrotis exclamationis ~Heart & Dart 2107 Noctua pronuba ~Large Yellow Underwing. 2126 Xestia c-nigrum ~Setaceous Hebrew Character. 2128 Xestia triangulum ~Double Square-spot. 2194 Mythimna albipuncta ~White-point .2337 Oligia strigilis~ Marbled Minor. 2339 Oligia latruncula ~Tawny Marbled Minor. 2387 Caradrina morpheus ~Mottled Rustic. 2477 Hypena proboscidalis ~Snout
During the next half term, with help from the pupils at Elmsett School, this pile of old pallets will be transformed into a desirable residence for the smaller, wildlife inhabitants of our woodland.
This photo of our stall at the school's fayre was taken last year. Lots of people enjoying the sunshine, buying raffle tickets and Buckle's Wood bags!
Yes, I know it's a Red Admiral butterfly, not a moth, but I'm hoping to take loads of photos on the 31st May, when Tony Prichard will be leading our moth hunt. The evening will start with refreshments at 8.45, and finish late! Tony is Suffolk's moth expert and is not charging us for this event. You will find lots information about and photos of moths on his website.
We had a good time looking for Easter eggs in the wood on Saturday and all the hunters received a chocolate one, as a reward for their efforts! The refreshments were delicious, as usual! Four lucky people won more chocolate treats in our raffle. 
The following evening was warm and windless. A good time to see if the barn owl was about. No barn owl, but a lovely sunset!
The snow on our Barn Owl box looked undisturbed by anything large , but perhaps
This week the Butterfly Conservation Trust is urging everyone to spend 15 minutes looking for and recording the butterflies that inhabit their garden or local area. There are more details and forms to fill in and return on their website, but it is best to choose a sunny day. 
James has cut the rides, with a few extra diversions, a pleasing number of wild flowers are thriving and butterflies, insects and other small creatures were apparent when I wandered round yesterday with my camera. 
Thank you having me along this morning to show what came to the moth traps last night. A wonderful gathering for a Saturday morning, which goes to show how much regard everyone has for their woodland wildlife. The bacon sandwich was a real bonus.
The following is a list of species encountered:
Not forgetting the birds: Last night there was a Barn Owl hunting the field to the east and a Little Owl on the telegraph wires.
Our next event, on Saturday 12th June, will be a moth hunt, led by Mark Nowers, the RSPB warden at Wolves Wood. It will be an early start, as we shall look at the moth trap with Mark at 8 o'clock.
The School's annual village fete is next weekend (22nd. May) and the EGGS team will be there with our Buckle's Wood, long lasting and sustainably made bags. These are much better for our planet than plastic bags. Have you read about the huge area in the Pacific Ocean that is clogged up with tiny pieces of plastic, carried there by the world's ocean currents.
We made some more wood piles in the last area that we planted, using some of the trimmings from the last hedge laying session. The rest of the debris was burnt and enjoyed by all the "helpers!"
Trees and guards were checked, a few dead trees were replaced, and some spiral guards were swapped for rigid ones.
We aim to start work at 10 o'clock.
This orienteering map was drawn up by Simon Peck from the Suffolk Orienteering Club, for Elmsett school.
Now, where to put that pond?
We've been talking about a pond for a long time and all the benefits that it would have for wildlife.
Mark Nowers, the RSPB warden at Wolves Wood, has offered to organise a moth hunt on Saturday the 12th June
Although thinned out, the remaining growth still needed to be unravelled and trimmed, before the skilled work could start. 
After a short break for a soupy lunch and cake, the team continued laying and then fixing the new hedge with stakes and binders.
They resulting bit of hedge looks good, with another section to the right that will be tackled later on. Our thanks go to Jim Wallden from Haskett Ltd, who was an expert guide and kindly left some binders for our use, the refreshment team and all those who helped before and on the day.
People who are concerned about the future of our planet know that planting trees will help to slow the damaging effects of climate change.
