Lindsay Fisher writes: We don’t often go fungus-foraging at this time of year, but several Witney Woodland Volunteers noticed some flourishing clumps of fungi while working at Deer Park Wood this week, perhaps surprising after all this cold weather. Here are a few snaps. Identifications would be appreciated.
Sue Morton writes: How about a trip to the seaside? My old colleague Emma Woolfenden now lives in Cornwall and volunteers with the the Cornwall Seal Research Group Trust. It was through her that we were able to arrange Sue Sayer’s zoom talk to the Club on seals during lockdown. Emma likes to visit the local beaches, and sends us this fascinating blog about some of the creatures she has met on her walks. It’s nice to learn about things we don’t normally see in land-locked West Oxfordshire!
Club visit to Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, Sunday 8 January 2023.
As I am writing this the weather is wet and claggy, so we were lucky on Sunday when six of us arrived at Slimbridge for 11am and it was bright and clear. Starting at the Rushy hide we worked our way down to the Holden Tower before lunch.
It was snowing in Witney; the mercury had fallen to minus four the previous evening; there were warnings of freezing fog, and England were out of the World Cup. On top of that there was a report that the lake was almost completely frozen. It didn’t look good for our birding visit to Pit 60.
David Rolfe writes:
During the spring of this year, I carried out a breeding bird survey for the Wychwood Forest Trust at Gibbets Close Farm. The site comprises approximately 50 acres of permanent grassland, that has been left to go wild, and a small farmyard. Main field boundaries comprise untrimmed hedgerows, with many mature oak and ash trees. There are also extensive rows of mainly dead elm trees on higher ground.
St Sepulchre’s Cemetery, 20 November 2022
A Field Club visit to a long abandoned Victorian graveyard hidden off a back street in Oxford’s Jericho area to study the geology of the gravestones might not seem to have an immediate appeal. However, this visit proved to be fascinating on many different levels for those who came. St Sepulchre’s, we discovered, was a haven of quiet and has become something of a small nature reserve in the heart of the city.
Pop-up Fungus Foray at Foxholes, 30 October 2022
At this time of year, fungi pop up like, well, mushrooms – and so do Field Club walks! Our second pop-up walk of the winter season was at Foxholes, a BBOWT reserve near Bruern, which is always worth a visit at this time of year for fungi.
Alison Weaver, who has very keen eyes, has recently seen otters in the centre of Witney.
Alison writes: During this year’s very hot summer an island emerged in the Windrush where the river goes under the Witney bridge.
Visit to Thenford Arboretum and Gardens 21st October 2022
We have been treated to some glorious weather over the past year for our walks and outings, but today – Friday 21 October – was an exception. The rain came down in torrents. However, five doughty club members donned waterproofs and braved the downpours. It was well worth the effort.
Sunday 16 October was a glorious day when ten of us met with Peter Creed for a morning’s fungus foray. Peter led us through a variety of habitats, each very different and thus providing a variety of fungi.
WEST OXFORDSHIRE FIELD CLUB