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.



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.

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



Commemorative tree

We collected this lovely disease resistant elm tree from King and Co's  tree nursery in Rayne, Essex yesterday. Could have bought a whole load of other, well grown trees for our garden, but this one took up most of the room in our small car!

It's just the right size and should grow well in the middle of the wood.

Thanks nurserymen for your help.

James Buckle will be planting this for us at 11 o'clock on Tuesday 5th June, when we celebrate the Queen's Jubilee.

So much to learn

An excerpt from the feature documentary by Louie Schwartzberg following notable mycologist, Paul Stamets, as he discusses the important role mushrooms play in the survival and health of the earth and human species.

Winter wanderings

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.
The Jew's Ear fungus is smooth when fresh, but becomes hard and folded as it matures and dries out in dry weather. It is able to rehydrate when it rains and continue to shed spores. It likes damp woodland and is widespread in warmer parts of northern temperate zones.

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.
A kestrel family were the first occupants and Roger Horne took this lovely photo of a chick, while it was being ringed. Last year I think the jackdaws got there first.
We shall see!

Improving the hedgerow

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.
We have applied for a pack of saplings from The Woodland Trust, given to communities as part of the Jubilee celebrations. When I last looked, they had received over 7,000 requests. If we are lucky, it will be a great start to our project. the birds, insects and other wildlife that are attracted to well maintained hedges will be glad too!

Planting trees is good for the planet

Coppicing

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.
www.coppicing.com has lots of additional information and illustrated examples of good practice.

Fabulous Fungi

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.

Tidying up

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.

The Spindle bushes really stand out now, with branches full of fruits and seeds, which are poisonous. The wood from these shrubs were once used for spindles, knitting needles and skewers.
While I was taking these photos, a few starlings were enjoying the last of the sloe and blackberries in the hedgerow.

Heaps of hay and baskets of berries

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.

There are lots of berries and fruit on the trees in the woodland and the hedgerow. The birds and beasts will have full tummies, if the apple and blackberry cumble makers don't find them soon!

New notice board

Our smart new notice board is in place at the entrance to the wood. James has cut the paths, so as the weather forecast is reasonable, we are ready to rake the rides this Saturday morning (10th) starting at 10.30.

Please bring a wheelbarrow, rake and a drink. We shall be providing a variety of cakes! Everyone welcome.

Competition time!

When we had completed our mini-beast home, we invited our enthusiastic workers, (the children in class 3 and 4) to enter a competition to think of a name for our new 'des res' and design an explanatory poster to display to all the woodland wanderers.
THE WINNERS ARE... 
Lauren Diduca for 'Beastly Towers'.
Lily Shirred for her well thought out design (shown above).
We hope you all enjoyed your prizes!

New Housing development in Buckle's Wood

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!

They pushed hay, straw and crunched up egg trays into the middle and then began to make interesting holes and routes into our construction, to make easy access for the future residents.

With a roof on top, and lots of different gaps and spaces, I think everyone has done a jolly good job. Let's hope the mini beasts think so too!

These people helped us with this project. Hilary Furlong found the pallets, which were given to us by Andy Barnes. Parents gave us the internal fitments. Badgers, guided by Mrs Burdiss, completed the building with gusto! Thank you .

The magic of moths

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 Privet and Lime Hawk-moths were magnificent. Taking photos was tricky and the images don't reflect their true beauty.

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

New housing development in Elmsett!

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.

A great way to recycle pallets and do our bit to support this year's environmental theme

BIODIVERSITY.

Watch this space!

Three cheers for our football team!

Elmsett School's fete turned out to be a successful event for all.
The school won the football tournament, the weather was dry (for most of the time, we were able to give our treasurer some profit from our stall and the raffle prize winners were cheerfully surprised!
James Hitchcock is looking forward to afternoon tea at Hintlesham Hall.
Margaret Nelson will enjoy using the eco-friendly contents of her Buckle's Wood Bag.
David Cross will use his binoculars to look for his lost golf balls.
Liam Glennon will be able to use his wind up torch on the Moth Hunt in Buckle's Wood on the 31st May, with Tony Prichard as our guide.

In the Merry Month of May

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!
After weeks of sunshine and no rain, the prospect of heavy showers for this year's fete on Saturday, is not good. But we shall be there with our gazebo, hoping that the rain lands on Buckle's Wood and not on the meadow.
There will be super prizes to be won in our raffle and lots of bargains on the nearby stall belonging to the school's recycling centre.

Moth Hunt

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.
Numbers will be limited, so if you would like to join in with the fun send an email to eggscheme@gmail.com

Easter Egg Hunt

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.

Many people had not visited Buckle's Wood before and were impressed by our achievements. Members of the committee have worked hard to ensure a successful event, so a big thank you to Fiona and Pam (hunt and Easter egg organisers), Jackie, Caroline, Alison and other refreshment providers, and last but not least, Maria and Wheaten Mill for providing the raffle prizes.