Wonder in the woods
Everyone loves going to the woods! A visit to the woods for me is always a little journey of discovery – there are always so many cool things to see if you keep your eyes peeled (as my Gran used to say).
Things do change, with the seasons, at a speed that is incredibly grounding in our high speed, hi-tech age. In essence, the woods require us, or maybe remind us gently, to give up our time ‘to stand and stare.’
Look at the limbs of that tree over there. No, REALLY look at it, tracing your minds eye over the tree from ground, up the trunk, to the tips of its top twigs. Each twist and turn of the branches tells a story, each is a solution to forces then and now so that within those ‘tree solutions’ is a history of its existence, of its slow, silent, striving battle to survive.
Standing between trees, I feel a deep sense of calm, and curiosity: what is that sound? I was at Pressmennan Wood in East Lothian going in a bit of awe at the oak trees. They are Sessile Oaks with much smoother lobed leaves, and I kept hearing woodpeckers. Except they weren’t! I clocked the sound near me now and on the trunk of a great oak was a nuthatch, head downwards, repeatedly whacking a green acorn with its chisel bill. It would take the nut out of the crevice in the bark, readjust, and whack some more. Eventually it flew off with the nut although whether to eat the inside or to keep trying after a rest I don’t know.
Pressmennan Wood is full of wildlife and fungi, and with of course the fabulous loch nestled in the hollow, a remaining feature from its previous life as a grand design for the estate many years ago. Next time you are looking for a place to visit, go check it out, and there are strange creatures called Glingbobs and Tootflits to find…!
Pressmennan Wood is a Woodland Trust site.
Wild Tree Adventures
Wild Tree Adventures