Sunday 4 October 2009

Last Sunday`s Forest Walk

There is no time for a longer walk today and the weather has turned. It rained last night and a grey chill is in the air. Is this the end of our Indian Summer? Time to revisit last Sunday`s walk, when the sun burned hot in a blue sky and we went, in shirt sleeves, across the moor and down to the cool of the woods.



A thirsty foal finds water in a streamside pool.



Out across the moor, where two dun ponies feed in the yellowing grass near a Forest stream.



Felled by a storm, an ancient beech lies twisted on the Forest floor. A sculpture in wood, it gives homes and food to the invertebrates and fungi that will help disintegration and decay.



In the beech wood. On the left, an old tree stands. Younger saplings grow close together on the right, where they will vie for space as they grow up towards the light.



Pollarded hollies. Holly is cut each year and leaves and branches become a meal for hungry New Forest ponies. The ponies,who often have thick "moustaches" to protect their upper lips from thorns and prickles, sometimes wait until the holly leaves have dried before they enjoy a winter feed.



Someone lives here......




Rosehips at the wood`s edge.



Rowan trees bursting with ripe berries on the hill.

2 comments:

Bovey Belle said...

Thankyou for that my dear - I was matching you step for step in my mind. The Forest looks so beautiful and I wish I were there right now.

Dartford Warbler said...

I`m glad you enjoyed it BB. Thank you for all your encouragement. Did you spot the wobbly photo where the dog jogged me? I think he saw a rabbit just as the shutter clicked!