It was time to visit the Sentinel Trees on the Christie's Copse side of the Reserve so I jogged down the track and then walked along the paths, spotting my six trees along the way.
One is an oak whose condition worried me a great deal when I first saw him in the summer. Now, I don't think he looks so bad.
See the mark just below where the trunk divides? I thought it looked like a heart of oak.
I passed through an area where we cut a load of conifers and ash saplings, as well as a patch of scrubby trees, hawthorn and apple.
The stumps have some rather pretty purple jellydisc fungus on them.
I say "pretty", but maybe "distinctive" is a better word. Apparently, this is edible but not very tasty. I didn't try.
Then I saw this new oak tree and was immediately struck by the shape and individuality of her.
And so, I climbed.
As I sat up there, a muntjac walked right under the tree. She stopped, sniffed, listened, looked around, sniffed.... but where was the human? Reassured, she walked on. Her gait was stochastic, a tiny pause after each footfall to allow her to hear anything else moving. I had never seen that before. Never been close enough to an unafraid muntjac.
Then a squirrel dug up a cache underneath me. He looked as though his ears had been torn off - there were only pink stripes where ears should be instead of pale little crescents. He rubbed his cheeks along a lower branch. Do squirrels scent mark?
I guess so. And this site confirms it. With a video of a slightly more dramatic scent-mark than I witnessed.
Little conversation with the tree. Just a sense of it being good to be part of the place, not an outsider.
I left a symbolic gift as a sign of gratitude.
Comments