Patch: Late November

The storms of a week ago did a pretty good job of stripping the leaves from all but the most sheltered of trees. Certainly the scarp woodland is completely bare. This highlights the Ivy, the ferns and the occasional young Yew Tree.

Wrens and Robins are noisy and highly visible on the lower slopes. Up on the Downs, Dunnock and Goldfinch seem to be everywhere. Gorse, looking great in the sun, is the only plant flowering, but it has lost its spicy coconut smell.

Bare Ash, with Ivy clearly visible.

The unexpected sunshine was a real bonus, as I made my way south to the extensive area of scrub above Beachy Brow. I was hoping to see some Greenfinches, a species that has eluded me recently. After some looking I was lucky.

In the excellent light these large finches looked marvellously green, like small parrots. Walking north along the ridge, I passed Foxholes Brow. The whole area has been extensively mown recently, which reveales the impressive ditch around the Barrow there. It is almost possible to imagine it as a small henge.

The colourful stalks of dead Rosebay Willowherb. Combe Hill can be seen through the trees.

Descending down what must have the old East Bourn to Jevington route, there was a fallen Ash over the path. It was heavily covered in Ivy, which must have caught the wind during Storm Angus.

Flowering Gorse.

Down in Further Plantation a few Sycamores still held some bright yellow leaves, everything else was bare. Some of the Yews are massive and their green foliage means they now dominate this patch of ancient woodland. I was pleased to spot a small Laurel.

A Goldfinch.

Goldcrests, Great Tits, Wrens, Blackbirds, a Treecreeper and about half a dozen Redwings, feeding in a Yew tree, were all busy in the wood. Stock Dove live in this area too, and I saw one in the top of a Beech tree. The wood is still quite dry underfoot.