Tuesday 24th. November 2015

The weather , conservation work starting up on the Common , the hedgelaying season in full flow and the fact that it has been difficult to find things of interest , have all contributed to the lack of a post recently , but with a miserable day today , here goes with a catch up .
The Down House bird survey produced just 16 species on a cold and dull visit , but that didn't affect the fungi , with Wax Caps being found all over the grounds , which included :

                                                    Scarlet Hood / Hygrocybe coccinea ,

                                                             Hygrocybe ceracea,

                                                Meadow Wax Cap / Hygrocybe pratensis ,

                                               and Snowy Wax Cap / Hygrocybe nivea .
Sadly , no sign of my favourites , the pink H.calyptraeformis or the yellow/green H.psittacina .
A walk over the Commons only produced one out of the ordinady fungi , and hoping you're not 

eating whilst reading this , Dog Sick Fungus / Mucilago crustacea . Along the banks of the River 

Ravensbourne in Padmall Wood , Liverworts , a family of plants that have been around for millions of years . On a trip to Sevenoaks Reserve , a stop at a very low Bough Beech Reservoir found very

little apart from the juvenile Shellduck , who are now starting to get their adult plumage . A walk around the reserve at Sevenoaks failed to produce the hoped for Siskins , nor did I spot any Common

Snipe . Interest found included Stinking Iris /Iris foetidissima , showing it's orange fruits , a stand of 

Glistening Ink Caps / Coprinus micaceus on a fallen log , and around by Slingsby Hide , the biggest

Cep or Penny Bun / Boletus edulis , that I have ever seen . A 35mm. film cannister in front for size comparison .
A visit to the small reserve with the feeders in the woods , failed to find the hoped for Siskins or Redpolls , although a small number of each have been seen there recently . As usual , at this time of year , the area around the feeders was where most species were seen . They included ,

                                                                       Goldcrest ,

                                                                        Marsh Tit ,

                                                                    Treecreeper ,

                                                                         Coal Tit ,

                                                                            Nuthatch , 

                                                 and Great Spotted Woodpecker , a female .
One of the many wood-piles around the reserve produced a very sluggish queen Common Wasp /

Vespula vulgaris , if fact she was so sluggish that I was able to almost rest the lens on her nose . The most unexpected find was under a piece of corrugated sheet , a Mole , that just stayed still for a

couple of seconds , before disappearing down a hole . On a road verge on the way home the way

home , a pink form of Yarrow / Achillea millefolium , and near Keston church , the first flowering

Winter Heliotrope / Petasites fragans , found this winter , both members of the large Daisy family .
And finally , having heard from neibours that new benches with carvings on them had been installed in the wood at the top of the road , I decided to go up and have a look . One bench had a pair of bears

carved on the supports . Another had a Badger looking out of it's hole on one support and what I

thought at first was an Owl on the other one . But when I looked closer , the owl's head was in fact a

Bat with a hedgehog just above the seat , and butterfly , moth and spider around the other side Apparently they are a great hit with the children , and I was very impressed with the 

workmanship too .