John C. writes:
Last Sunday, inspired by Peter Creed’s talk at the 1 October meeting, we decided to visit a couple of local woods in the hope of finding some interesting fungi. The first we visited was Holly Grove, near Ramsden. Perhaps because it has been quite dry recently, we saw only a few ‘LBMs’ (Little Brown Mushrooms) until we came across an eye-catching group of small orangey mushrooms on a piece of dead wood.
Brenda B writes:
Last Monday as it was sunny and warm I took my lunch outside to eat in the garden. My attention was soon caught by a dragonfly which was flying round the pond.
On Sunday 3 October, our group of eight was blessed with a warm, dry and sunny morning following the deluge of the previous day. The paths were, however, quite dry – perhaps there’s a clue in the name! We were under the expert guidance of Lesley Dunlop, who introduced us to the wonders of the Corallian succession in this former sand quarry, which is a SSSI and BBOWT reserve.
On Sunday 19 September, Jeremy Biggs, the director of the Freshwater Habitats Trust, led eighteen people on a pond dipping walk at Pinkhill meadow ponds near Farmoor Reservoir.
John C. writes:
I have a patch of autumn-fruiting raspberries at the bottom of my garden and over the past two or three years they have become very popular with some rather ugly ‘bugs’.
David R writes:
Jean found what looked like a dead bat on the carpet near the vestry when she opened our church in Shilton at 10 a.m. yesterday, 22 September.
David R. writes:
Following on from my blog of 27 July about an Orphan Swift, Gillian, the lady who took care of it, contacted me to say that our little Swift had put on weight and grown into a nice strong bird.
Mary E. writes:
Thirteen members came along on the morning of 13 August to inspect the contents of three moth traps that had been placed in different locations the previous evening in and around a private garden in Shilton.
Sue M writes:
I have detected far more crickets than bats with my bat detector recently. On a recent walk near Ascott under Wychwood I pointed it, set at about 20kHz, at a sunny field edge and heard a continuous buzzing, rather like the noise you can hear near an electricity pylon.
Everyone will recognise the welcome smell of rain after a hot dry spell, but where does it come from?
