November 2011

A rush of fungus and slime molds were scattered around the Parkland. Some of them known, some I have learned to know and some remain a secret.
Several guides fail to help identification and I believe that this has a purpose.

There are quite a few that are edible, even described as edible and good, but, for me, many of them carry an unwritten warning that shout death. And that I feel is why the guides do not make identification easy. Even an expert can be taken in by the subtle way some carry imitation to a fatal extent.

The stag and his coterie are enjoying the still mild weather. Close to the Rotunda, he bells on seeing you and lets you approach quite closely, before he casually wanders down his line of females, encouraging them away to the shelter of trees. No panic, no rush, just a gentle stroll amongst them to start the movement. Young males keep a safe distance of course, perhaps some fifty metres or so but still in the line of vision of the stag. Just enough, perhaps, to post a warning.
The trees still carry quite a covering of leaves, as the wind has remained quite gentle. Looking down the Parkland from the house towards the Serpentine, no gale force winds have yet occurred to strip the branches naked. But the whole place has the feel of autumn moving to winter; the colours fade, the mist hangs around and the air is cooler.

The clocks have been reset to GMT and the afternoon patrols run into the darkening hours and towards the month end the temperature were beginning to dip.

October 2011

October has carried on with dry weather, with the parkland pale and brown. The activity of the month is very much with the red deer. A stag, with handsome head, is the boy of the the year and has been seen seeing off the challenges of the rising youth. He has clearly chased away any of the advances of others towards his coterie.













October is part of the year which sees seasons in transition, hanging on to the best that is autumn whilst, this year at least, giving only gentle hints to the month ahead. The hints this year are very gentle.


Looking towards the house, the parkland has still a greenish edge to it. I am still wearing my summer boots with gloves, hats and coats awaiting their emergence.

No place for complacency, however, with the English seasons. In a week or two, all may change.

September 2011

The weather continues to be dry, with a blissful hot spell closing down the month and making a second summer. The red deer stags can be heard belling and the autumn rut will be soon underway. Fungus patches emerge throughout the parkland, in woods and along grassy path ways. Naturally, the trees are adopting their seasonal shades of brown and already the leaf litter is accumulating.

In Shed Plantation, a young stag has hidden with a small coterie away from the main herd. We saw him silhouetted in an almost mystical pose.
He stood his ground and watched us walk by. I would guess the only thing he might be really wary of is the large stag.



Due to holidays and other commitments, I made only two patrols this month, but the weather cannot be faulted.

Ian and I are trying to recognise and name of the various fungus we encounter. We take photographs of the growths, but, despite many sources, naming them is certainly not an easy task. A few we know now, but we will have to wait another year before we see some of them again.

Birds do not present such a problem. Buzzards are about and, on one occasion, we watched a kestrel swoop and hover. It was lit by the low, bright sunshine against the dark wall of Ivas Wood. Stunningly beautiful, we watched it for several minutes as it went about its way.

It will be interesting to see this view from Serpentine Bridge, looking towards the house, in three months time when all the leaves have left the trees.The house is on the top of the hill somewhere. The chimney stacks can be picked out in the dip of the tree line. As write this, in October, the weather has cooled and there has been quite some rain. Tomorrow (October 10th) will be my first October patrol. There will be some changes to note.

August 2011

And as the schools return, the rain that has abandoned this summer is still markedly absent. Browner and drier is the Parkland which has taken on a Serengeti appearance before a deluge. Deer appear as antelope shapes, occasionally popping up their heads to sniff out the approaching disturbance to their grazing - no big game here however.

Butterflies - speckled wood, gatekeeper and meadow brown - are still in number as they flit before your feet, landing and allowing a photograph as their wings are spread. The trees are just on the edge of turning their leaves from green. The sunshine is still bright and warm but shadows indicate the increasing cloud cover. The trees appear sculptural as the morning and afternoon sun, being increasingly lateral, cause deeper shadows amongst the branches.
The absence of rain has dried up Keeper's pond which has become no more than a small mudflat. The resident mallard have moved on. They could have joined the annual introduced influx of the ducks on the Serpentine. If they have, it may well be a short stay once the guns are brought in for sport.

The water at Walker's Pond must have been so low that the owners of the area have had the pond cleared of silt, roots and dead trees. Heavy plant has been used for the job but with little disturbance to the foot path below the eastern parkland.

And to continue a pond theme of the month - odd, given the dry nature of the two so far - Lady Lucy's Pond, smaller than the others and less open, has provided a rather beautiful display of willow herb spikes and reed mace. Against the dry and browning landscape, here is a cool and vibrant green palette. More of spring than autumn, it is a restful and hidden corner of the parkland.

July 2011

It is, for all schools now, the end of term. Around the parkland, there is an end of term feel too. The plants and trees are at their zenith. There is no more growing and bursting forth to do. Seeds and fruit begin to form. Indeed the beech mast is there in great abundance. No doubt some weather sage will read something into it. All is ready and resting for the coming season of closing.

The flowers of foxgloves and rose bay willow herb are climbing up their respective spikes. The weather remains generally cool and dry, so little overall change is noticeable in the general parkland landscape, but it is all there in the detail, however - seeds and fruits.

Much clearing has gone on. The ground around the Queen Anne monument and its drive ways have received a good clipping and from the Rotunda, many trees have been removed. It would be hard to tell that they were there.

June 2011

The weather remains very rainless and the ground, hard and parched in places, begins the browning I associate with July. The return of the red deer to the lower east parkland is very pleasing to see as spotted fawns are scattered among the herd. The grass has been allowed to grow in their absence. This, I guess, is two fold. The long grass not only provides fresh food but also cover for the fawns to drop into should any need arise.

When they do drop, they are well hidden. I had to let Terry, the deer man, know about a rather distressed and separated fawn, lying hard by the fence next to the eastern edge of the Serpentine. They can find the heat and sunshine quite exhausting when so young.

News, too, for the whole place. A grant of £2.4million has been received towards restoration of the conservatory and a new director is in place. I have begun working with the conservation volunteers, as well as continuing as a ranger. June, however, like last year, has had other diversions to be there every week.

Soon be July.

May 2011

May could not deliver as April had. Breezy, cool, cloudy but dry days seemed to be the order of the month. The bluebells were still stunning at the month's open, but soon the unfurling fronds of ferns dominated the woodland floor.
Another change within the month is the increasing density of the leaf cover, making it harder for bird spotters to find their target. Spring cleaning has to occur. The conservation volunteers are, like a secret nomadic tribe, dwelling in the woodland, lighting their fires and clearing bit by bit the various areas of woodland, and then moving on.
These almost mystical glimpses are very inviting and I have had to re arrange my ranger walks to join them and learn the dark arts. It is quite amazing to effect visible changes to the landscape, to open up access and make views more open. The work they have achieved is quite significant, especially in Menagerie Wood and below the castle wall. There are other areas I am sure but, these are two to which I have been introduced.

The area around the Argyll monument is recently typical. A team of about 20 cleared the overhanging trees and blocking bushes, whilst strimmers and brush hooks cut down the floor.

April 2011

And what an April it was, Royal wedding apart. The weather was almost full summery and of rain, that was becoming a distant memory as the ground dried and went from brown to grey with finger wide cracks.

Of course, April brings the bluebells, but they will last until the year runs into May. Flowers splash the gardens with colour and leaves fledge their greenery as some add flashes of blossom.

The season is busy and when complemented by the glorious weather, April 2011 was a fizz of a month. The lambs, of which a few in March, are now every where, but the red deer are away and no doubt births are occurring. They will no doubt return with young soon.

A key feature for years, long before the 21st century transformations to the gardens and parkland are the rhododendrons. Vibrant and plentiful, they once again break up the green with stunning colour.


Not native, and uncontrolled can spread wildly, visitors to the grounds have for decades enjoyed this visual feast.

Camellias, too, are blooming, flowering before the foliage.




Birds are arriving for the summer and that now rarity, the cuckoo, has been heard in the parkland. Chiffchaffs, willow warblers and blackcaps are amongst the arrivals and, while in April, they can be seen clearly, soon the flood of green leaves will render the job of seeing them more and more difficult.

March 2011

The trees are still bare and the lansdscape is distinctly chilly and ghostly. And the wildlife is very quiet indeed.

By the month end, there were brighter days. When the sun shone, the shadows of the afternoon were long and dark and, out of the feeble heat of early March sunshine, you needed to keep moving briskly. Gloves were dispensed with but a hat was still needed. The early new farm life was clearly and noisily evident as the month progressed and the parkland below Archer's Gate was soon filling with the new season's lambs.

The Parkland is always stark and clearly defined at this time of year, but it reflects that the time of year is early and not yet warm and green as it will become in April

February 2011

Bright days, dull days and nothing days filled February. During the dullest days, I was full of cold and, indeed only managed two patrols. It may even have been only one. When the sun shone, which it did at the month start, the views are clear, the trees are stark, the light is low and the shadows long.

Buds are at the branch tips and in March will begin to show leaf and begin greening up. The plantations will look denser and become more like the woodland they will be over the next few years. Skylarks are clearly heard and buzzards are about.

Lenny has been about the parkland and is known to many who have met him. On one day, he met us entering the parkland, below the house and walked with us over to the gate that exits for the Argyll monument. An hour later we walked up the parkland from the Rotunda to the house, and as we climbed the steady slope, away to our left there was Lenny, still at the gate where we left him. He is too fond of humans to be a herd animal - a vulnerable creature, too fond of people.

Ian, hard on the trail of a little owl, reached for his mobile phone to play the call of the bird. Lenny, on seeing the hand go pocketwards, was up close, hoping for a nice nibble. His disappointment was certainly not in evidence, as he hung around until we went throught the gate.

January 2011

A new year and a new approach. Now that I am more familiar with this glorious spot, a more reflective approach has been adopted. More photographs, less history, but still with the magic of the changing year.


The flattened grass, spiky in November, has been laid low by the heavy snows of December.

January has been and now gone. The weather, after the scary big winter noises from the end of the last year, has been generally dull, cold but, on some weeks, spectacular - cold with big bright skies. The parkland is recovering from the winter hammer. Not much growth yet, not much about in the wild life, but there is the sense that the parkland is resting.

The stones at the foot of the Queen Ann monument are being split by elder. By comparison with a photograph from last winter, an increased movement is not in evidence.

The volunteers are busy and still the noise of chain saws is perhaps the dominant sound of the month. Two recent recruits are chaps I knew in more vigorous and competitive fields. Good to see them and share the days experiences. I ought to work with these workers in their outdoor gym of a Wednesday. This will have to be every other week, but I might be able to change my patrol day perhaps. Now there's a thought.

Although the weather is chilly, there are many bright days to start the year, but one 24 hours can very unlike the preceding or the following one.
It has been remarkable that rain has been rarely encountered though in the past year's patrols. The waterproof clothing has only been so much luggage for twelve months.

That is not to say that the threat or rain is never far away. Dark clouds can gather, often to the south and west, and showers have been seen scudding away in the valley below Broomroyd Plantation. But we count our luck. Perhaps, next month, we can start to lose the hat and gloves. And the birds may have more reason to shout.

Year end

The final weeks of December were cold with brightness and mist fighting for dominance. When either had the upper hand, the effect on the landscape was always of interest, but during the many struggles with each other, the change is rapid and frequent.

Like a mysterious force, often noticeable only by the changes they make, the conservation volunteers are not often seen. As I walked below the east parkland I could here them in the woods above the Serpentine. By the time I had reached the bridge, smoke could be seen rising. And there they were, like a band of ancient wood dwellers, silhouetted against the smoke from the fires they were stoking, carrying branches here and there.

It was the occasion of their pre-Christmas fuddle, with the steam from pans of chilli being added to the woodsmoke. The activity was gentle with groups stood chatting over coffee to which I was invited. I would have stayed for the chilli too, but for the fact the piece of woodland had to be cleared.

It has to be remembered that the parkland is also used for shooting and today it was such an occasion. The many mallard that have been crowding on the Serpentine ponds through the year were being flushed and made to become targets for paying guns. The guns were below us, on the other side of the water. We could see the dogs working to collect the fallen game.

It can be said to be a traditional English country scene. Even the beaters our side of the shoot were dressed in the suit of tweeds with checked short and flat cap, the countryside uniform used by pursuers of wild birds complete with a broken shotgun carried over the arm. It goes without saying that the wellington boots were green.

The year is ending and with fieldfare and redwing adorning the bush and tree tops, but it was a delight to see the bright splash of colour that is a yellowhammer. A buzzard, too, briefly showed itself around the Argyll monument, but only briefly.

The parkland is ready for the new year. The recent snow has flattened the ground which has taken on the appearance I recognise from twelve months ago. The trees are bare, poking their branches against the darkening sky and on Tuesday, 4th January I will start my second full season.