Day 117 - Willowherb fluff

Willowherb fluff (seeds) in the bright sunshine this afternoon...

I wrote a post about willowherb a couple of months ago, in Summer. Now we're into autumn and most of the plants are covered in fluffy seed bits, though there are still a few in flower. I noticed some foxgloves in flower too and found some herb robert growing beneath a hedge in the garden too.

Day 116 - Mini Mushrooms

I noticed quite a few of these tiny mushrooms amongst the grass in the garden this morning.

I'll hazard a guess at 'Brown cone cap' and will have a look through the mushroom books later to see if I can find it!

Day 115 - Rudbeckia (?)

Autumn begins...

I had a long day at school today and then it was so dull and grey this evening - then the mist and drizzle came in - so my 'wild' time was severely limited today.

I noticed some more colourful flowers on my way home this evening...

and, before the drizzle began, spent a few minutes in the garden putting out some sticks I've collected recently for a little 'wild project' which I'll write about soon (or perhaps not if it fails!).

I also noticed the change in the light as the light (and rain) faded. The sky was completely grey and overcast but with a strange orangey purpley light - I spent a while at  an open window looking at it and smelling the wood smoke in the air.

Day 114 - A Mirid Bug

Today I found a mirid bug in my car. It must have been there since yesterday, trapped inside overnight. I took it over to the shrubs and left it on a birch.  It's a Pantilius tunicatus. I knew it was a mirid bug and it's a very easy one to identify properly.

Having looked it up this evening, I'm glad I chose the birch leaf to put it on as the link above says the are found on hazel, alder and birch!

Day 113 - A Digger Wasp

A rainy day.

I had a wander around the garden in the rain but didn't find anything interesting...

Later in the day, when I got home from school and the sun was shining, I spotted something on the hedge as I parked. I got out of the car carefully so I didn't scare it away, at first thinking it was an Ichneumon wasp of some sort, but on closer inspection I realised it was a different kind of wasp and have since identified it as a Field Digger Wasp.  

I found a short video of one of these when I was checking my identification -- here -- and here's a -- link -- to some information about field digger wasps.

Day 112 - A Walk in the Woods

A walk from home today, into the nearby birch and oak wood...

I found a lot of fungi but all of it was past it, damaged or had been eaten - not a lot of it was fit for taking a photo of!

Day 111 - Forest School

A day at Carsington Water for Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's first Forest School sessions. The day started with a parent and child forest school session, aimed at younger children, and then in the afternoon there was a 'kids only' session for children aged 9+ to stay with us without their adults.

It was a lovely day for it...

At the parents and children session this morning we made 'blobsters' and then built shelters for them.

This one is my favourite, made by one of the dads...

This shelter came with a working see saw!

This one was very well camouflaged at the base of a tree...

One of made part way up a tree, with ferns for the roof and a soft carpet of leaves on the floor...

There was a garden below...

and a path which led from the garden to a swimming pool!

This was the entrance...

Quite a shelter!

I liked this simple design too...

In the afternoon the main activity was learning a bit about fire and using flint steels and a Kelly Kettle to make hot chocolate. I didn't take any photos of that but you can see a few on the Wildlife Trust facebook page if you wish --> here.