Reports of WOFC meetings
Rather disappointingly, only five members came to the exhibition at Nature in Art in Twigworth, near Gloucester, on 15 February. Perhaps it was the distance that deterred people or maybe just lack of interest, who knows? However, those who did come along were able to enjoy some really exceptional photography.
What a surprise! We arrived at Whelford Pools, near Lechlade, on Saturday 10 Feb in pleasant sunshine. We almost felt that spring was in the air… and we weren’t the only ones.
The forecast for our walk at Bury Down on the Ridgeway on 10 December predicted heavy rain and wind between 10.30am and 1pm, the exact time for our planned ramble. It was spot on. Nevertheless, six noble – or possibly foolish – souls, donned waterproofs, determined to defy the weather and complete the circuit.
While those who came along to the Fungus Foray enjoyed blue skies and sunshine, we who gathered for the Blenheim Community Path on Sunday 19 November weren’t so fortunate. Grey sky, drizzle and a chilly wind greeted us, but undaunted, seven doughty Field Club members set off for what turned out to be quite a fruitful venture.
On Sunday 5th of November about 25 of us, including some visitors, met Peter Creed on Watlington Hill for a foray to look at (mainly) grassland fungi. It was a beautiful day, sunny and dry with a breeze, good conditions for seeing fungi.
In the last couple of weeks the leaves have finally started to take on their autumn colours. Alas, this was rather too late for us to appreciate them during our visit to Harcourt arboretum.
Thursday 24th August 2023 was one of those beautiful, warm days when eight of us gathered to visit Sydlings Copse, one of my favourite nature reserves, close to Oxford city. I was already worried that the flowers would be over so late in the season, but when I learned on a recce a week before that BBOWT’s roving sheep were going to be released to ‘mow the grass’, I really felt like cancelling the trip. However, with both Julia and Maggie’s optimism and the reassurance from the BBOWT warden that the sheep didn’t like the sharp taste of herbs, we went ahead.
Gavin Hageman writes: At 7:15pm – about ten minutes after sunset – on Friday 22 September, fourteen of us, including Maggie’s two enthusiastic and bubbly grandchildren, met at the Woodford Way car park in Witney to look (or rather listen) for bats.
Thirteen of us met with leader John Baker in Stonesfield Church car park on the grey but dry Sunday morning of 17 September. Owen Green from the Oxford Geology Trust came along too, so we had a full quota of Geology experts! Thus began a fascinating and rather exciting morning of discovery.
On the mercifully cooler afternoon of Sunday 10 September following a week of temperatures regularly reaching 30 degrees C, a group of non-arachnophobes assembled at North Leigh Common for an excursion led by Lawrence Bee. Lawrence’s background was in ecological and environmental education, and he developed specific interests in spiders and insects, and has co-written several beautifully illustrated books on the subject.
WEST OXFORDSHIRE FIELD CLUB