Bluebells in May

Our nearest local woods are noted for their bluebells and this last week has been a good time to see them.

Hem Heath Woods are maintained by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and I think in a previous post about them I mentioned the many trees lost to the Ash Dieback disease. 

 Lots of Ash trees have been felled, the tree canopy is more open and the paths seem wider but the bluebells soldier on regardless.

Trying to spot birds amongst the trees.

I could hear Robins, Wrens and Blackbirds but missed the Song Thrush, Nuthatch and Chiff Chaff that Merlin told me I should have heard. 

It was a lovely bright sunny day, and this seemed to add to the vividness of the green and the deepness of the blue.  I'm afraid my old camera didn't do justice to the intensity of colour and the heat and scent in the woods.

We seemed to have the wood mostly to ourselves, just two or three dog walkers from the nearby houses.

We spotted many other wildflowers along the way.

All for now.  Have a lovely weekend.

A Woodland Walk

It's raining again today but over the Easter weekend we did have a couple of rain free, mostly dry days when walks could be taken and some garden tidying could be done.  The garden wheelie bin was full.  We now have to pay for collections and had done so a few weeks ago but hadn't received a sticker for the bin.  It was due for collection on Tuesday and we put it out not knowing if they would take it without a sticker.  Thankfully they did.  The sticker arrived in the post about three hours after the bin had been emptied.

On Saturday, as the sun was out and the sky was blue we decided to walk in our local Staffordshire Wildlife Trust Reserve at Hem Heath woods.  We parked at the World of Wedgwood (V&A Stoke) and  had a morning coffee in the Six Towns Cafe Bar before heading into the woods.

In just a few weeks time these woods will be full of Bluebells but for now there were Lesser Celandines along the paths.

We walked down to the pond listening to the birds.  A Woodpecker was heard but not seen and there was song from Robins, Wrens and Blackbirds.  

 

Some of the paths were very muddy but we had changed into more suitable footwear to tackle them.

We didn't see any waterbirds but we did see signs of Flag Iris.  This will look wonderful in a couple of months time.

 

On the way to the pond we passed many trees that had been chopped down.  There has been a programme of work over the winter to tackle the presence of Ash dieback disease on several of the Trust's reserves including this one.

It was sad to see so many trees had been felled.  The Trust have taken down those trees considered to be a high risk to safety.  Mostly along the paths.

Ash dieback is a fungal disease for which there is no cure.  It was first discovered in Europe in 1992 in Poland and reached the UK in 2012.  Symptoms of the disease are dead branches, blackening leaves and discoloured stems with diamond shaped leisions where fallen leaves were.  This causes the tree to weaken and drop branches and to eventually collapse.  The disease is spread by the wind.

On a happier note there are these beauties to look forward to in a few weeks time.

 

Definitely something to return for.

 

The photos of bluebells above were taken on previous visits.  A walk amongst them has become a yearly ritual.

Bluebells

Bluebells, a day later than promised but then it is a Bank Holiday Monday here and I always include those in a long weekend.

I took you to Hem Heath Woods a couple of posts ago and mentioned that we would go back again to check on the bluebells.  We returned on Friday but this time parked at the other entrance off the Wedgwood Estate.  The factory shops were open but of course, the Museum and cafe were still closed. 

 We wandered into the woods first and made our way along the paths we knew led to the areas where the bluebells grew closely together.  It was warm in the dappled sunlight and the birds were singing, robins, chaffinch and blackbirds.  Also the gentle cooing of wood pigeons and the tap, tap, tap of a woodpecker in the distance.

Below are a few of the photos  I took along the way.

We left the bluebell wood and wandered along to the pond which was surrounded by gorse and had cowslips growing on its banks.

Then we wandered back to the car park past the musem and visitor centre.

The willow sculptures are still in place by the show gardens

 

and Josiah Wedgwood (1730 - 1795)  is still standing in pride of place.

I think the bluebells will still be there for a week or so with some areas still to achieve their best display.  We may go back again as being in the wood early morning with the intensity of warmth, scent and colour is just wonderful.

I was upset and horrified to hear the news about the dreadful and inexplicable vandalism  of both the Osprey nest at Lyn Brenig Reservoir in Wales and the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire.  Also more locally the destruction of the bird hide at Doxey Marshes in Stafford. 

 

Why?

 

I've put links on the places mentioned above.  Here is a - link - to the post I wrote in July 2012 when we visited the Avoncroft Museum, I noticed on yesterday's  local West Midlands news report that three of the buildings I'd taken photos of have been vandalised.  

 

Again, Why?

 

A Woodland Walk

Tuesday was such a lovely day that we decided, now that a few restrictions have been lifted, to go just a little further afield for a walk.  All the walks we've taken over the last few months have been on foot from home but we went in the car, all of three miles and still in the confines of the city, to the local bluebell woods.

Hem Heath Woods are on the site of the old Hem Heath colliery and are managed by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.  You can park either side of the woods off the Trentham Road opposite the Hem Heath Public House or at the other side of the woods at the Wedgwood factory, museum and visitor centre. 

In a couple of weeks there will be lots and lots of bluebells and we will go back to see them as we missed them last year during lockdown.  I was looking for Wood Anemones but didn't see any.  We did find one or two clumps of bluebells.

Also lots of Lesser Celandine.

It was quiet in the woods.  Birds were singing and wrens, jays, robins, blue tits, wood pigeons, blackbirds, nuthatch and thrushes were spotted.  Most of them succesful at evading our cameras.

Pathways have been improved since our last visit.

The ground was firm underfoot.

We sat and watched the moorhens on the pond.

Skies were blue through the still wintry looking trees.

Thrush

It was wonderful to be out and about somewhere different even if just for an hour or two.