Webs in the Fog

A thunderstorm last Wednesday blew up ‘my’ circuit in the local telephone exchange, so I’ve had no internet connection for the last six days.

The gorse was covered in spiders’ webs

On Sunday we had our regular monthly work day at North Cliffe Wood. It was a foggy morning and when we arrived at the heathland area the gorse bushes were covered in spiders’ webs, with every strand of silk lined with water droplets, like pearl necklaces. It’s quite remarkable that there can be so many spiders which normally go unnoticed. The webs come in different designs, according to the type of spider, some a neat arrangement of silk strands while others are just a great tangle.

Web design varies...

...according to the type of spider.
 
We brushcut some of the rushes that have come up amongst the heather and raked up more of the bracken which was cut with the mower last month. The heather has come on well this year – new clumps have appeared in the areas we’ve mown in previous years.

New heather clumps have appeared in the mosaic of vegetation

The local botanist says that some of the birch trees here are not Silver birch (Betula pendula) but the Downy birch (Betula pubescens). These are hairy and better suited to damp conditions. It’s the young twigs and leaves that are hairy, so I may have to wait until spring to see the difference.

Button mushrooms in the dead bracken
 
The fog lifting by mid-day

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