Dead Wood

So yeah, I've been out on my day off.

Is that wise? Well lets put it in context; I am not having to self-isolate as yet for any reason, and next week I will be back at work on the in-plant rotation. For today specifically:

Literally staying at home:
No. other persons in direct vicinity - three (one other out at work)
No. of potentially vulnerable persons - maybe one, me (though I'm sure the chemo is long worn off by now)

Social distancing in woodland:
No. other persons in direct vicinity - zero*
No. of potentially vulnerable persons - still maybe one, but I was isolated for the duration!

Okay, not quite a simple as that. I drove there in the car; there is the risk of breakdown (unlikely in a <1yr old car with <8k on the clock) or an RTA (but there are less drivers on the roads)**. But none of this happened and was no more likely to than when I am on my way to work or the shops***. I could have fallen and broken my leg requiring medical assistance (it's not happened as yet in over 20yrs of stumbling around woodland in the dark whilst moth trapping). I could have fallen and broken my leg at home

Was this a 'necessary journey' - well it was for my sanity and mental wellbeing!

Anyway, I went out and spent some time poking dead wood. There was lots of it.

Trouble is, the promised dry day with sunny spells stubbornly stayed a dull day with showery spells. The sun made a token effort once or twice, briefly. Whilst I enjoyed the fresh air, solitude and overall experience, I did come to realise that I am very much an impatient wood-poker. If I'm not finding much, my effort and enthusiasm wanes, which I fully appreciate then creates the catch-22 that if you're not looking hard enough you won't find anything. I was colder and wetter than I expected which did not help, as I am also very much a fair-weather wood-poker too. Nevertheless, I found some bits.

This small stump yielded the biggest surprise for me ..

I've never found a Smooth Newt like this. I managed to carefully replace the bark that I'd pulled back so hopefully it will hunker back down for a few more days.

I also found a harvestman that I've been hoping to see, and actually ended up finding three during the visit. The first two were found under logs, and it was only the movement of the first one that lead me to it - much smaller than I realised.

Nemastoma bimaculatum

The other one was found by sieving beech leaf litter, which overall was not as productive as I'd hoped.

I've got a few beetle pics that I'll save for another post, and a few larger Staphylinids to have a go at. On the way back to the car, I noticed this coppiced tree. Just how many trunks can one tree support!

* I fully expected to perhaps see one or two people walking around the site, though I timed my visit to give the best chance of avoiding local dog walkers. In the event, I saw literally nobody whilst there.

** My experience today is that 70+ drivers (I'm being presumptious, I didn't stop and ask them to confirm age) are not in any way staying at home! One drove at well under the speed limit all the way along the minor road into Ketton before stopping suddenly with no indicator to pull into a line of parked cars with no space .....

*** After getting home, having a nice cuppa and a warm shower, I had to go out to the shops for some veg. There were lots of people, many unavoidably in close proximity. One child coughed.

Notwithstanding all of the above, there are likely to be changes next month: my daughter Isabelle finished her nursing degree in early Feb, and today got the news that she is being awarded a 2:1 - absolutely fantastic and so proud of her. It's a shame that there will probably be no graduation ceremony though. They are also fast-racking the registration and employment of newly qualified nurses, so she'll be working a few weeks earlier than expected. The job she applied for and got - and you could not make this up - will be on the Infectious Diseases Ward.