Tuesday, 22 January 2013

A Walk in the Snow


I don't generally like snow. It's cold and wet, it disrupts transport and people's plans, and its dangerous to walk on when it freezes. Nonetheless, Sybil seems to love playing in it so we took a stroll through the woods and park today.

Entrance to the woods
Listerdale Woods used to be a private woodland, as you can see by the sign. There are still the remains of a building not too far down the track, possibly the remains of someones house. A footpath now runs through it and it is the regular haunt of many dog walkers and others who enjoy the woods.

Winter scene
A couple of days ago we walked through here, and the snow had barely infiltrated the woodland. Now the paths and trees were covered and the whole area looked completely different. Sybil was running around excitedly as snow dripped from the branches above, chasing imaginary snow squirrels. After convincing her that all the squirrels were tucked up somewhere warm she was running back and forth, shoving her nose down in the snow as she ran like a little snowplough. I wonder what is it about dogs that they feel they have to eat snow?

Interesting fungi
Last time I walked through here I spotted a large mushroom (toadstool?) growing on a tree just off the path. Today I had my camera so I wonder if anyone knows what it is? After passing this tree, we entered the ornamental part of the wood, which is more open and seems to be both mine and Sybil's favourite part of the wood. I saw quite a few tracks in the snow, mostly dog, human and rabbit. We then walked down through the housing estate to the park, where Sybil had a good play with several dogs.