Thurs 8th November 2012 - Habberley Valley NR

With my car now back and  I could start getting out and about again to get my nature fix.  This morning I decided not to do the patch but to head to the local reserve of Habberley Valley, in the hope of catching a some more of the autumn's fungi before the season is over.

On walking the reserve,  t soon became apparent that many of the fungi I had encountered on my previous visit had gone over with only a handful of rather tatty old specimens of Cep, Ochre Brittlegill and Earthball noted.

The most productive area was the wooded slopes on the western side of the reserve.  Here I noted a few interesting species of fungi including Hairy Curtain Crust, Peniophora quercina, Purple Jellydisc and Stagshorn.

After spending a while mooching about in the leaf litter I decided to take a walk onto Ridgestone Rock, the highpoint at the North end of the reserve, to take in the views.  I took the fairly steep track up along the western edge and after a short walk along the lane dropped back onto the summit of the rock.   The views and the autumn colour were rather spectacular.

For the descent I walked down the zig-zag series of steps known locally as Jacob's Ladder (or as my mate Tony once called it Jehovah's Staircase!).  On the decent I connected with a Tit flock and was rather pleased to see a Marsh Tit amongst them.  Other birds of interest during the walk included 2 Common Buzzards, a ♀ Great-Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Jays and a ♀ Sparrowhawk.

The walk back to the car was rather uneventful, although I did hear a Nuthatch calling. Still it was a pleasant walk around a pleasant reserve and a far better way of spending a couple of hours than watching day time TV!

Autumn Colour at Habberley Valley

Peniophora quercina















Purple Jellydisc (Ascocoryne sarcoides)