Silverwood in late summer

Sybil and I spent another couple of hours up at Silverwood today, to admire the changes as summer turns towards autumn. Last year most of the fields were planted up with oilseed rape; this year the main crop is wheat. Unlike the blackberries in the woods, which were still small and hard, the ones on this walk were ripening with more than a few ready to pick:

Blackberries

They were a more than welcome snack. The two fields of long grass we walk through on our way to Silverwood had already been cut, either for silage or hay, I'm not sure which.

Having a breather

We reached the nature reserve and had a quick breather, taking in the views which never get old. The trees have really grown since the first time I came here. The rowan trees already have berries on; I must come here in winter and watch to see which bird species visit them.

Then it was round to the lake, which again has become more established in the two years or so I've been coming here. Indeed, the first time Sybil waded in quite deep and got stuck in the mud, so I had to rescue her! Now, however, there are some reed-type plants around the edge so she is less tempted to leave the shore; not that she does much swimming anyway!

Sybil "swimming"

There was plenty of wildlife on and around the lake today, including two swans and their four cygnets; plenty of coots and their young; black-headed gulls; a moorhen; and plenty of large dragonflies flying around the edge. We lazed by the lake for half an hour or so before heading up back onto the main reserve and watching a kestrel fly past.

On our way back round the top of Silverwood I noticed several peacock butterflies on the buddleja. The scent of the buddleja alone is heavenly enough but the fact that it is good for butterflies and bees is a good enough reason, I think, for every garden to have one. We have Buddleja globosa in our garden, which attracts magnificent numbers of bees in early summer, and I have just bought a dwarf buddleja with lilac flowers to put in a planter.

Peacock Butterfly

I tend to stare down at the ground when I'm walking, and although not always the best strategy for noticing wildlife, it paid off this time as I spotted a shaggy ink cap fungus just off the path:

Shaggy Ink Cap

We took a steady walk back to the Rusty Bump where we sat and had a rest for a while, watching the wheat being harvested. It was quite fascinating watching the machine suck the crops up like a giant hoover, and leave them cut in neat rows behind as it moved on:

Harvesting the wheat

Saves the job of quite a few men, I would imagine!