Spring Catkins

The sun was out today so I decided to do a bird count for birdtrack (see link right). But I also spotted this year's trembling yellow catkin crop on one of the few coppiced hazel stools at the side of the track. They look so delicate but are robust enough to survive the fierce winds we've had lately.

I had a rummage in the leaf litter and found plenty of last year's nuts and shells, including this one.

I'm pretty sure it's a bird that's been at this nut. There were many other half shells around with no sign of rodent tooth marks. Would be great to find a wood or dormouse in this patch, but magpies are much more likely nutters....

Ancient redwood

I recently had a brief interlude in my Welsh ramblings and spent a little time in California. Big Basin State Park, on a sunny and still day is silently awesome. The occasional birdsong or the tapping of woodpeckers sounded crystal clear in the quiet forest.

The great coast redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, can be two to three thousand (yes thousand) years old and at over 200 feet are the tallest trees in the world. Older and taller than any tree in a welsh hedge.

The forest edges are somewhat hedgerow-like and make sheltered foraging and breeding areas for the many smaller birds and animals that make the forest their home.

We spotted this little newt crawling across the path in front of us. It's possibly a rough skinned newt, Taricha granulosa, which would give off a strong neurotoxin through it's skin. A very good reason to look but not touch even the smallest of creatures.

The very descriptively named Banana slug, Ariolimax californicus. Their amazing yellow colour doesn't camouflage them well in the deep leaf litter. Is it a warning to other creatures not to eat them because they may be poisonous? Banana slugs are certainly a good meal for raccoons, garter snakes, ducks, geese and salamanders so maybe the slug is just pretending in the hope it will be left alone.

Winter trees

 Among the fierce storms of recent weeks I've made the most of the odd day of sunshine, donning my wellies and setting off up the lane to take a good look at the differences between trees in winter. The largest oak (above) has untidy looking wiggly branches and twigs, and dark, grooved bark, while the sycamore bark is smoother and branches gently curve giving a more rounded silhouette.

 The ash (below) has a windswept look even on a still day, and grey tinted bark.