Winter Bird Walk & Fungus Foray

The Next Guided Walk at Hillhouse Wood is a Winter Bird Walk

Following the successful Fungus Foray in November (see report and video below) the next Guided Walk is the annual Winter Bird Walk on Saturday 2nd March.

Steve Hallam will lead the winter bird walk in and near Hillhouse Wood, offering a chance to see resident woodland and meadow species and some winter visitors.

Image of Skylark
Skylark seen in 2022
Image of great spotted woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker Seen in 2022

The walk will take in Hillhouse Wood and surrounding hedgerows. Strong boots or wellies should be worn, as we may encounter wet conditions underfoot! To join the walk meet at the Old Church ready to leave at 10 am.

Check other upcoming events here.

Fungus Foray – Ian Rowling Reports

Birch Polypore fungus

The first Fungus Foray for several years took place on 25th November on a crisp, bright ‘n breezy morning. Seventeen took part, hunting down fungi ranging from bellcaps, measuring perhaps a couple of millimetres across their caps, to these birch polypores which are up to 20cm across. They feature in an Alpine tale of a bronze age killing. Among the deceased’s possessions were strips of the very same fungus we were observing 5,000 years later, demonstrating the value he placed upon it. It exposes things which our modern educated minds have largely forgotten, things like:

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Hillhouse Wood AGM 2023

Images of Hillhouse Wood for AGM 2023 News item

The FoHHW AGM 2023 will be on 13th December

The Friends invite both members and non-members to attend on Wednesday 13th December in the John Lampon Hall at Orpen Hall. Refreshments will be served from 7 pm with the meeting opening at 7:30 pm.

Jonathan Jukes, Woodland trust Officer, will give a talk after the formal business has concluded.

Formal Agenda

The Friends of Hillhouse Wood

29th Annual General Meeting to be held in the John Lampon Hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 13th December 2023.

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Autumn Fruits & Fungus Hunt

The Next Guided Walk at Hillhouse Woods is a Fungus Hunt

Following last months successful Autumn Fruits walk (report below), is the first Fungus Hunt for several years on 25th November.

Ian Rowing will lead the “fungus hunt” to seek out these elusive fungi. He will aim, with the help of those with him, 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. We will also keep an eye out for visiting winter birds.

The walk will take in Hillhouse Wood and surrounding hedgerows. Strong boots or wellies should be worn, as we may encounter wet conditions underfoot! To join the walk meet at the Old Church ready to leave at 10 am.

The Autumn Fruits Walk – Steve Hallam Reports

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Autumn Fruits Walk

Find out about local Autumn Fruits

A selection of the autumn fruits you are likely to see on the walk

Steve Hallam will lead a guided walk at Hillhouse Wood on Saturday 23rd September to seek out autumn fruits. Join him and you can expect to learn about local berries, soft fruits, nuts & seeds. He will let you know which ones to eat, and which ones you definitely need to leave alone. You will also hear the folklore associated with them. You can reasonably expect to see around 20 different varieties.

Previous years have revealed a pleasing quantity of late flowers as well. On one recent Autumn Fruits walk, walkers saw hundreds of:

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Winter Bird Walk 2023 -will a Waxwing show this year?

Winter Bird Walk 2023

Waxwing
Waxwings migrate from the boreal forests of continental Europe to spend their winters with us in search of rowan and other berries.

The Winter Bird Walk 2023 takes place on Saturday 4th March at Hillhouse Wood with Steve Hallam leading.  Walkers should meet at the Old Church at 10 am (weather permitting). We advise wearing stout footwear and warm clothing & with a warm drink in a flask.  Walkers can expect to see a range of resident woodland and meadow species as well as some winter visitors. Last year the walkers saw or heard:

Continue reading “Winter Bird Walk 2023 -will a Waxwing show this year?”

2022 Dawn Chorus Walk – Where’s the Song Thrush

Steve Hallam reports on the 2022 Dawn Chorus walk.

The 2022 Dawn Chorus walk at Hillhouse Wood took place in the midst of a run of warm sunny days, with cool nights. Except for the morning that we chose, which was cloudy and dull but mild. Nevertheless, the publicity team had done an excellent job, resulting in a very pleasing 30 people turning up. I was particularly pleased to find that Jonathan Jukes, the Woodland Trust Regional Manager responsible for the wood, had dragged himself out of bed at such an uncivilised hour, to join us. With the cloud cover, the night was still fully dark, and thus the birds were relatively slow to get going.

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2022 Spring Flower Walk – but no pea shooters

Some of the spring flowers seen on the 2022 spring flower walk

Steve Hallam reports on the 2022 Spring Flower Walk.

This took place on a day of sunny intervals and a strong breeze; 12 people came along and off we went. Except that we did not go too far, to start with, as the first few yards of the track hold a variety of flowers to be discussed.

  • Daisies,
  • Dandelions,
  • Red campion,
  • Cow parsley,
  • Ground ivy,
  • Yellow archangel (domestic variety),
  • Garlic mustard,
  • Greater stitchwort and
  • Buttercup

… may not set everyone’s pulse racing – but they all contribute to a rich flora and they each have a story to tell. In the hands of a knowledgeable and articulate expert guide, these can weave a fascinating spell.

Unfortunately for the group, however, they had me – you get what you pay for!

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The return of guided walks at Hillhouse Wood

Two Guided Walks Return to Hillhouse Wood

Guided walks return to Hillhouse Wood

After a gap of three years, guided walks return with two great walks to enjoy with Steve Hallam in the next few weeks.

  • Spring Flower Walk on 23rd April, and
  • Dawn Chorus Walk on 7th May.

Spring Flower Walk

The last Spring Flower walk took place in 2019 in the company of Storm Hannah! Despite the weather, 22 folks assembled for the walk and thoroughly enjoyed themselves; the comic highlight possibly being when Steve was pretty much blown over by the force of the wind! The walk is normally conducted at a gentle pace (storms permitting).

In a typical year you are likely to see the following flowers:

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Winter Bird Walk 2022 – will you see a Waxwing?

Waxwing
Waxwings migrate from the boreal forests of continental Europe to spend their winters with us in search of rowan and other berries.

Winter Bird Walk 2022

The first guided walk at Hillhouse Wood since 2020 takes place on Saturday 26th February when Steve Hallam leads the Winter Bird Walk 2022.  Walkers should meet at the Old Church at 10 am (weather permitting), wearing stout footwear and warm clothing & with a warm drink in a flask.  They can expect to see a range of resident woodland and meadow species as well as some winter visitors, the Woodland Trust lists the following as the top-15 winter potentials:

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Day 23 of Lockdown – Don’t Go Down To The Woods

Bluebells at Hillhouse Wood
Hillhouse Wood is renowned for its bluebell display every spring

Day 23 of Lockdown

Day 23 and the sun continued to shine down on us.  Wonderful with a bit of a but.  Each year our popular Hillhouse Wood becomes an attraction as the spring flowers create carpets of colour.  The paths, though, are rather narrow and social distancing will become a problem if the same numbers come along this year.

If you are not a  local resident can you please put off your visit until next year when, all being well, there will be no lockdown.  In other news:

Mediaeval PaintingOld Church Refurbishment

The last update on this project left us with the conservators planning how to deal with the Mediaeval Paintings discovered during refurbishment works.  Well, the plan now is to complete the refurbishment of the interior walls but leaving the paintings Continue reading “Day 23 of Lockdown – Don’t Go Down To The Woods”

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