December and the shortest days.

There were a few cold days at the beginning of December with frost still evident at midday.  Apart from that first week, temperatures were very mild until Boxing Day and the forest floor is still green with bramble leaves.  I love walking in a frosted landscape under the low winter sun and those first crisp days were a delight to the eye.  A Robin perching on the fence by the entrance to the sawmill's track completed a classic winter scene.

A Robin perched on the fence at the entrance to the sawmill's track, a classic winter image.

The seasonal visitors to the private pool on the Apedale Road have mostly moved on, though a couple of the Canada Geese seem to have decided to stay.  I was lucky enough to get closer than usual to the Moorhens on this pool, allowing reasonable photographs.

Early December - Moorhens on the banks of the Apedale Road private pool, the ground still frozen at midday.

Lichen and small tree fungi often go unnoticed until a splash of light picks them out.  Common Orange Lichen is wonderful to behold, especially in close up.  I didn't notice the small pink and red spots of Red Brain Fungus growing on a nearby tree until I pushed into the hedgerow to get the photo of the lichen.

The complex form of Common Orange Lichen.

Red Brain Fungus growing on a small branch.

I don't think I can remember the forest floor being so green at this time in past years.  I presume it is the mild weather that has persuaded the brambles to stay green.  Some of the leaves are pale and fresh and it is clear that the plants are even putting out new shoots.  It is still not uncommon to see blackberry blossom.

 Though the bracken has died back the forest floor is green with brambles, there is even blossom still to be seen.

A splash of colour, flowering brightly here and there, is the reliable Gorse.  It is never seen in the large masses that blaze their yellows on Peak District hillsides, but individual shrubs do dot Apedale.

Gorse, ever in flower somewhere.

Two of the expected seasonal greens are the Holly and the Ivy.  The Ivy climbs in pillars in the woods and creeps along the drystone walls that are often hidden by sprawling hedgerow plants in warmer times.  Though holly's green is seen often in the hedgerows and woods, there are few berries, except on one tree that I know of.  That tree is a magnificent exception and provides a cheery splash of colour in a landscape that is often a little drab of late.

Left - Ivy.  Right - Berries on one Holly tree, a magnificent splash of colour.  Seen here with rare blue sky as a background.

There are fewer people about in the area since the weather has become colder and the days shorter.  This has given me the chance to watch birds where they would normally vanish every time a person passes by.   In this way I was fortunate enough to see Nuthatches and Great Tits feeding and a Tree Creeper on a nearby tree.  Though there were no humans to disturb the birds, a squirrel was making its presence felt.  The birds waited a metre or so distant rather than flying away, so I could still see them.  Contrary to popular belief (tree) squirrels do not hibernate so the birds will have to endure the nuisance all winter.

A charming little Nuthatch in Watermill's Wood.

Though the days are still short, it is comforting to know that they are now steadily growing longer, the distinctive scenery is adequate compensation for freezing temperatures for me.

Out of autumn and into winter

While the woods and the hedgerows have been opened up by the leaves' fall, there has been little light around on my walks and runs in Apedale recently.  While birds have been more visible, dark skies dashed any hopes of photographing them.  Despite being overcast, November was warm for the time of year and there were still dragonflies around in the first week.

The few opportunities I have had to walk or run in Apedale recently have all been on overcast days.  I suppose it is that very same grey blanket that has kept the overall temperatures unseasonably high.  Light has been so poor that my compact camera's auto focus has thrown tantrums on occasions.  The warmth and damp conditions have been good for fungi at least.

Honey Fungus (Armillaria mellea)

I encountered a very fine growth of honey fungus on one long dead tree in Watermill's wood.  I don't think I have seen this fungus looking quite so pristine before.  It was growing quite high on the tree trunk and I think this accounted for the excellent state of preservation.

Turkey Tail fungus (Trametes versicolor) growing on a log in Miry Wood.

Until recently, most of the Turkey Tail fungus that I have seen has been old and shriveled.  Fresh growth is now quite plentiful on the logs lying in the clearing in Miry Wood.  There was just enough light, even to get a close up of the pores on the underneath of this fungus (below).

Left: Pores on the underside of a white variety of Turkey Tail Fungus.  Right:  What I think is a Bay Bolete (Boletus badius)

I found what I thought at first were a Ceps in Miry Arena.  They were rather past their best and the wet caps were quite slippery to the touch.  This made me think instead that perhaps they were Slippery Jacks, though they seemed a little pale.  There was no sign of any veil on the stalk,  on closer inspection, which is a feature of Slippery Jacks so I think that they were most likely Bay Boletes.

Wood Ear fungus - Watermills Wood

I found a good growth of Wood Ear Fungus, I have bought this stuff from Wing Yip's in the past, it is more or less tasteless, but prized for its texture in China. I do like it in hot and sour etc.  I left this lot where it was growing, for others to see.  This fungus is also known as Jew's Ear a corruption of Judas's ear, due to the fact that it grows on Elder, the tree Judas hung himself on, and its resemblance to an ear.

I also found more of the 'King Alfred's Cakes' that I saw last month in Burgess' Wood.  Unlike the previous lot, the softer brown type and the bone hard black were growing together here.

While on my run one Sunday, I spotted some small yellow mushrooms growing in the verge at Butters Green/Bignall End.  It was hard to get my camera to focus, but I got a reasonable 'record' shot in the end.  I am not really sure what these mushrooms are, my research suggests that they may be 'False Chanterelles.

I think this may be a  'False Chanterelle' (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca).

Bold autumn colours, prolific fungi and visiting geese.

The clocks have changed and the sun is now down before I get home from work, there can be no more weekday evening photographs until spring.  October was warm this year, I did most of my walking in short sleeves.  I saw Common Darters in Miry Arena as late as Saturday, but this week has brought the first frosts and I think they will be the last dragonfly of this year.

Though many trees have now lost their leaves, there are still some greens to be seen in the hedgerows and there are some wonderful contrasts of red, green and gold.  In places the hedgerows are themselves red with the profusion of haws on now leafless hawthorns.

Above - Fantastic autumn colours to be seen on The Drive/Apedale Road.

There are still a few plants flowering, clover, daisies and buttercups are quite common.  I was surprised to see that there is still the occasional blossom on the bramble.  Of course some plants still have fruit and the ground is littered with beech nuts or, at least, the empty casings.  Chestnut burrs also litter the forest floor, the odd nuts that are seen are very small.  It appears that, like the hazelnuts earlier in the year, the squirrels have no intention of allowing chestnuts to ripen.  I am always surprised that despite the large numbers of oaks in Apedale, I have never seen an acorn on the tree or on the ground there.

Left - The ground is littered with empty beech nut casings.  Right -  Sweet chestnut burrs also abound, the squirrels seem intent on preventing them reaching maturity.

As mentioned previously, the Hawthorn is still in fruit and quite spectacularly so.  I have never seen haws as numerous, as plump or as intense as this year's crop.

Above - A spectacular show from the Hawthorn and an unexpected contrast with the silver leaves on the tree behind.

I was lucky enough to spot a couple of resident birds recently.  The first sighting was a Kestrel high over the ground between Watermills and Apedale roads.  This sighting was in the evening before the clocks' change and I was lucky to have enough light.  The second was a Grey Heron on one of the Springwood pools.  I often see Herons, but is rare that they will stay still for long enough to point a camera at once they have seen you.

Left - A Kestrel, high in the sky late evening in Chesterton.  Right - A Heron perches, Springwood pool west.

As might be expected, there is more activity in the world of fungi than elsewhere.  I was startled in Miry Arena by a clump of almost perfect Fly Agarics.  In good condition they really are a shocking scarlet.

 An iconic Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria) startles the eye in Miry Arena, this was one of a well preserved group.

I think these may be 'The Charcoal Burner' (Russula cyanoxantha), woods near the Audley Road.

Left - Probably Clitocybe rivulosa (False Champignon), Miry Arena near the Agarics.  Right - Bolbitius titubans (Yellow Fieldcap) in the grass, Blackbank end of the park.

Fomes fomentarius (Tinder Fungus) growing on a stump in a clearing in Miry Wood.

 Left - Probably ink caps (Coprinopsis atramentaria), hollow Sycamore in Watermills Wood.  Right - Part of a clump of Suillus luteus (Slippery Jack), near Blackbank.

An unidentified bracket fungus, marked like a rusty orange version of 'Turkey Tail'.

I have also seen a small white bracket fungus similar to the orange one pictured above.  I have a feeling this and grey examples I have seen in the past, are all varieties or colours of the same fungus.  I have also seen green examples, though I am pretty sure that this is just algae growing on the fungus.

Daldinia concentrica (King Alfred's Cakes), Burgess's wood.

There are other mushrooms growing in the grass, most are difficult to identify when examples are few or are at one particular stage of growth.  I am pretty sure I have seen Egghead Mottlegill (Panaeolus semiovatus) growing in horse dung on the path from New Woodhouse Farm to the Audley Road.  What looks like Mower's Mushroom (Panaeolina foenisecii) can also be seen in the same field.  The resident horse gets very inquisitive when I crouch or lie down to take photographs.  Though he seems quite friendly I do feel rather vulnerable when lying down with a horse standing over me.  When I walk or run through the field he pretty much takes no notice.

As well as the resident birds, the season seems to have brought visitors.  It is now quite common to see geese in flight in the area.  In the afternoons of late, fifteen or so Canada Geese have been making a regular visit to the private pool on the Apedale Road.  Birds on this pool tend to be very well fed by several local people.

 Canada geese (Branta canadensis), an evening visit to the private pool on the Apedale Road.

The last of the year's evening light.

As the nights draw in there are fewer and fewer chances of taking successful nature photographs during my evening walks.  The moon is already just visible when I set out after work.  I am determined to enjoy what I can in these last days before the clock change finally puts an end to this year's evening light.

Weekends offer the best chance of photographs nowadays.  While walking in Burgess's wood the other Sunday, I sat down on a fallen oak tree to enjoy my sandwiches.  I was fortunate enough to have a charming little robin perch in the branches closest to me.  I put my sandwich down and got my camera out, though I did feel a little rude pointing my camera instead of just enjoying the company.

A charming little robin that came to say hello when I sat on a fallen oak to eat my sandwiches one Sunday.

I hope to see my little winged friend again though the robin may, like myself, have just been passing through.  I do seem to have made the friend of a tiny pony in the fields between Watermills Wood and High Lane.  I realised that the footpaths there had not been mapped for OpenStreetMap so decided to survey them.  The pony now comes over to say hello whenever I walk into the field.

My little pony friend.  I seem to have made friends with two more ponies from the next field now.

The path on the ground, at its eastern extremity, is not as shown on the current Ordinance Survey map.  Both the OS and definitive map show the path (Audley 97 Newcastle 50) continuing east past a small pool and running through trees on the western side of the car park.  There is no sign of the original right of way and the wooded area is fenced all round.  The waymarked path in fact turns north east before the small pool and joins the cycle path via a stile.  There are a few examples of this sort of thing in Apedale, while I do not know of any that prevent progress from one path to another, it must confuse walkers trying to navigate with an OS map.  This is one of the reasons that OpenStreetMap, with its local knowledge mapping and frequent updates, is so useful.

The waymarked paths added to OpenStreetMap, the airbrush yellow highlight illustrates the Right of Way as shown on the definitive map.

I have been surprised that since the fungus mentioned last time died away, I have made no new sightings.  All I have seen recently is Birch Polypore which is around all year anyway.  There is Turkey Tail fungus on some damaged oaks, but shrivelled remains rather than new growth.  While searching for fungi in Watermills my eye was caught by some very striking seeds on the common Hogweed growing at the side of the path.

Attractive seeds on this hogweed, still with some flowers left, growing at the side of the path in Watermills Wood.

The Apedale Road stile entrance to Watermills Wood is home to a Snowberry.  Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) is a species related to honeysuckle, introduced from North America and now naturalised in Britain.  The flowers are small, pink and bell like and can still be seen.  The fruit is round and as you may have guessed, white.

Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), a naturalised foreign plant.  I had to go down to 1/6 second, even at ASA 800 for this shot taken at twenty past six in the evening.

There are still a few dragonfly, I now see only Common Darters and the Hawkers though I have not seen a Brown Hawker for a week.  There are a few birds around, I saw a Grey Wagtail on the sawmills track, a new spot for me.  The lack of light resulted in a photograph that is very grainy though clear enough to distinguish this pretty little bird.

The sun is so low that it is in my eyes as I set off down the Apedale Road in the evenings.  To make the best use of what light there is, I walk to a chosen destination as quickly as I can and then turn round, slow down and enjoy my surroundings with the sun behind me.  I choose my routes now to maximise the time I will not be in shadow.

The moon hangs low over the top of Apedale Road as I turn homeward as early as half past six.  Soon, it will be dark before I get home.

Past the autumnal equinox.

While Autumn in Europe is generally considered to start at the beginning of September, 'Fall' in North America, is considered to start from the autumnal equinox.  This makes sense to me as it is once the equinox is passed that the leaves really begin to fall and swirl around one's feet. 

Though the Guelder Rose and some Acers have been blazing the trail of autumnal hues since early August, it is in the last couple of weeks that a general colour change in the landscape has gone from insistent to overwhelming.

Left: Guelder Rose and Acers earlier in the month, blazing the trail for autumnal hues.  Right: Watermills Wood, autumn now overwhelming the landscape.


The darker evenings mean that there is now little chance of long focus shots of birds on the wing or even static shots of small birds, fortunately some larger birds rest sometimes.  I have noticed that  Herring Gulls (or a close relative as they seem smaller and sleeker) now equal black headed gulls in number on the Apedale Road pool.  I know little of the movements of these birds, so whether they have moved here due to cooler weather or due to some feeding opportunity or just by chance I cannot say.

Above: Gulls, Herring Gull (perched) or close relative on the Apedale Road private pool, probably still young guessing by the 'tweedy' neck markings.


There is a variety of fungus to be seen in Apedale at present, though the quantity in any one place never seems to be very large.  The most frequently found ground fungus must be the Common Yellow Russula, though for quantity of fruiting bodies the Honey fungus has it.  The Honey fungus, of course, grows on wood, but is often seen on the ground at the base of trees and even fence posts.

Left: Russula ochroleuca (Common Yellow Russula), classic yellow ochre colour.  Right: Armillaria mellea (Honey Fungus), growing at the base of a tree.

The best fungus find I have had so far was some very impressive Oyster mushrooms growing in the hollow of a Sycamore, each one was about twenty centimetres across and condition was perfect.  These mushrooms are good to eat and one would have been enough for a generous serving.  As there were only three and as these are the only examples I have seen, I left them where they were growing.  I will keep a close eye on the tree though.  Quite a large area of the hollow was covered with a white growth that I think may be growing spores.  There may be much more to come.

Though Oyster mushrooms are seen growing on dying trees, it is not thought that they are parasitic, they simply feed on decaying wood rather than cause wood to decay.  Honey fungus, on the other hand is parasitic and destructive.

Above: Very impressive Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus ) in perfect condition, growing in the hollow of a Sycamore.  I am hoping this is just the beginning.

Also impressive in size is the Birch Polypore.  The polypore grows all year round, but there seems to be a flush of new growth at the moment, there are certainly some pristine examples around just now.  The Birch Polypore was apparently used both as a razor strop and as a wound dressing in the past.

Above: A pristine Birch Polypore (Piptoporus betulinus).  They have a lovely velvety feel when in this condition.

A walk through the woods near the Wood Lane pool revealed more fungi.  I recognised one as Fly Agaric, the other I had to look up.  This second fungus was a type of puffball or stemless mushroom, but was not smooth like those I have a little familiarity with.  These turned out to be Common Earthballs.  The Common Earthball is poisonous, unlike many of the puffballs.

 Left, Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) and right: Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum), both enjoying the growing conditions provided by leaf litter in Miry Wood near Wood Lane pool.


I was walking the track from Apedale Road into Watermills Wood late one evening, when an airborne yellow object caught my eye.  I thought it was a falling birch leaf tumbling in the breeze, then I thought it might be a butterfly, then I thought it was a birch leaf again.  I investigated anyway and it turned out to be a moth.  I managed to get some photographs despite the poor light.  I have since found out that this was a Brimstone moth, as it is a night flier I was lucky to have what light I did.   The Brimstone is around from April to September so that autumn leaf disguise has only been useful for a week or two.

Opisthograptis luteolata (Brimstone Moth) - Around from April to September, mainly flies at night.


There is always something particularly entrancing about the experience of something familiar doing something unexpected.  I have had a couple of 'chroma shocks' recently, where very familiar plants have appeared in very unfamiliar colours.  The first shock was a bright one, Rose Bay Willow Herb in outrageous autumn colours.  Elsewhere along the footpaths there are stands of this plant, green at the bottom yellow in the middle and red at the top, bright as an upside down Ethiopian flag.  The other colour surprise was seeing perfectly even blue-black rose hips near Loomer Road.

Left, Rose Bay Willow Herb in outrageous autumn colours set off by a background of still green leaves.  Right, perfect blue-black rose hips on what is probably Rosa canina.


I was very lucky one day when out on a morning run.  I have written more than once about the difficulty of trying to photograph the large hawker dragonflies which never seem to land in daylight.  I have gone out early in the morning, when they are supposed to be less active, but have failed to find any at all.  This particular morning, not particularly early, I found a Southern Hawker soaking up the sun in the trees near the main pool in Miry Arena.  As I was running, I had only my compact camera with me.  The compact is excellent just so long as one can get close enough, so it was with more than a little nervousness that I approached the magnificent insect.  As it happened I managed a few different angles and he was still perched when I left.

A magnificent Southern Hawker soaking up the sun in the small oaks bordering Miry Arena.  This image demonstrates quite well how an insect that is very brightly coloured, can actually be surprisingly well camouflaged in the right environment.  There is an image from another angle in the dragonfly gallery here.