Tree Felling

Last night’s storm has abated and it’s been a bright and breezy day. There are lots of trees down in the area and a few telegraph poles too. I went to a conservation volunteering work day with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust at Skerne Wetlands. It’s a brand new nature reserve, not yet open to the public. It has the potential to be a superb wetland site, but it will take a lot of work. Today we’ve been thinning out a line of trees along the edge of the reedbed and burning the brash. The bonfire was pretty hot by lunchtime – just right for baked potatoes! In the afternoon we found a stunningly vivid red fungus called Scarlet elfcup, growing on a rotting log.

The log piles will make good beetle habitat
 
Scarlet Elfcup fungus

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