Join the Friends of Hillhouse Wood to Hunt for Fungi
The Friends will be going on a “fungus hunt” to seek out elusive fungi next Saturday 16th. They will aim to find a variety of mushrooms and toadstools in and around the wood, and explain something of their fascinating life cycles and why fungi are essential for a healthy woodland. They will also keep an eye out for visiting winter birds.
Nearly 20 hunters scoured the woods, hedgerows and fields last year and were rewarded with some stunning finds. You can see the report, including a video slideshow of their finds, here.
The walk will start at the Old Church, leaving at 10am on Saturday 16th November. The walk will take in Hillhouse Wood and surrounding hedgerows. You should wear strong boots or wellies, as you may encounter wet conditions underfoot !
Read on for a report from the last guided walk on 28th September.
Autumn Fruits Walk 2024 did better with flowers! – Steve Hallam Reports
Nearly 50 Species!
Eight of us scoured Hillhouse Wood and surrounding fields for evidence of nature’s bounty. We were rewarded by finding nearly fifty species of plants showing fruits or flowers. However, I believe that this walk is arguably mis-named, in that we usually see more flowers than fruits. This proved to be the case again this year.
As might have been expected, after our recent ‘summer’, this is not a vintage year for nuts and berries. We were able to find examples of the species that are normally present, but the quantity and quality on display was not to the standard of some past years. In particular
- the numbers of Hips, Haws and Sloes in the hedgerows were noticeably down,
- whilst the numbers of Sweet chestnuts on the ground were also relatively sparse and
- the one Crab apple tree that we pass had only one or two apples.
On the other hand, Ivy berries were abundant, whilst it was also a relatively good year for Holly berries, Wild hops and the spectacular Spindle tree berries. We were also pleased to be able to find a few Honeysuckle, Black bryony and Woody nightshade berries, which is not always the case.
Late Flowers
In contrast to the nuts and berries, late flowers were out in force. There were eight flowers of disturbed land plants (‘weeds’ to most people) before we had walked the first 30 metres. In fairness, none of them were overly spectacular, visually, but this demonstrates what a variety of wildlife there is around us, if you look out for it. These species were all colonisers – opportunistic plants who survive by producing seeds that germinate quickly when they fall on to bare earth, with the plants also then growing and maturing quickly, so that the next generation of seeds can be produced before the plants get trampled or grazed. In contrast, there were few flowers in the wood, as by now the canopy of mature trees prevents enough light getting down to ground level.
A New Find Near the Wild Garlic
In this context it was interesting to see that a few flowers were out in the area near where the Wild garlic grows, in newly open areas created by the hazel coppicing that the Friends working parties did last winter – which was pleasing to see. And it was here that we came across the major surprise of the walk – a few plants in flower of a new species for this walk – Canadian fleabane. This (identified by ‘calling a friend’) is a non-native plant, as suggested by its name, that appears ‘out-of-nowhere’ in random places.
Once we had left the wood and were walking along the track towards the old church, which has less disturbed grass margins, we found a different community of (generally prettier) plants still out in flower, such as Common agrimony, Knapweed, Red campion, and my favourite, Scabious.
As the conditions warmed up towards the end of the walk, some late butterflies such as Commas, Large Whites and Speckled Woods were encouraged to seek sources of sugar. A welcoming sight as we made our way back.
The Friends of Hillhouse Wood is a group of local residents who work with The Woodland Trust to look after this beautiful remnant of ancient woodland.