Headley in the winter sun


Yesterday saw one of those afternoons when the sky just wouldn't settle down. One moment it was dark, then there were sharp showers, soon followed by the sun peeking through a thin veil of cloud, finally a full sun that was so bright that it lit up the winter panorama in a burning amber light. The photograph above (taken at Headley Heath) sums it up pretty well. And yes, I did see a H**finch, but just the one. They seem to have largely moved on from here.


What hadn't moved on, mainly because they possesses neither wings nor legs, are the clumps of Spurge-laurel (above and below), to be found on the westerly border of the site. Headley is a strange place, with acid heathland rubbing shoulders with chalk downland. It leads to a right old mix of flowering plants which makes any botanical walk there interesting to say the least.

Comments

David M. Gascoigne, said…
For a naturalist with multi-faceted interests every walk is a great walk with discoveries of all kinds. Even in the dead of winter here there is much to be learned and enjoyed.
21 January 2018 at 12:31
Steve Gale said…
That is very true David. Even turning over the leaf litter reveals springtails and spiders, the woods host fungi and walls and banks are choked with mosses and painted with lichen.
21 January 2018 at 12:45
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