I don’t tend to spend a lot of time in woodland birding. Having a permanently bent back makes looking up into the treetops difficult for me, so I tend to go to places with benches in handy spots for seeing birds. However, fungi forays are most productive in woodland so this Autumn has seen me scuffling through the leaf-litter pretty frequently.
Of all of nature’s habitats and landscapes, I love woodland most. In Spring it is full of bird song and in winter bare trees are easier to see into as wintering birds hop about after buried grubs or ripe fruit and nuts. At any time of year leaf mould has a wonderful smell, like spicy mushrooms and freshly turned soil.
Light varies with weather and season, but the shape of trees means that the light is always interesting and attractive, like the afternoon sun through this chestnut coppice.
Spring or early Autumn the thinner leaf cover lets in light and shows off the woodland floor in its reds and browns, greens and yellows.
But away from woodland single trees or small copses attract birds. This small group of white poplars was Blackcap city in late summer as migrants found its branches to be full of insects.
I guess I’ve always been a metaphorical tree-hugger.
