Teasels(Dipsacus fullonum) are around all year either as new tender heads with their delicate purple flowers or as brown sentinels in winter sometimes snow catchers. They provide seeds for birds and food for insects. We often ignore them but on closer inspection the beauty of them becomes apparent.

Quite different in the cold weather in January.

There are huge numbers of flowers on the brambles this year which means plenty of blackberry crumbles and jam !

Today the brambles were bustling with visitors. Large skipper and red admiral butterflies( the red admiral refused to be photographed) and the Small magpieMoth. There are still clouds of damselflies the blue , blue tailed and today the banded as well ( this also kept flying off at the wrong moment!)

The Damselflies are so numerous they seem to rest for a chat on any surface even the fence!

Guaranteed to make everyone smile, sitting on the beach edge of the lake this morning was a family of swans.

The cygnet was so fluffy it looked like a soft toy. Sitting between its parents enjoying the sun it definitely made everyone smile and ooh and aah !

Families of ducks and coots were also enjoying the weather, birds are booming at the lake.

A walk around the lake in Rushden this morning was greeted by a singing robin perched in the willows.

These willow trees sent their cotton wool fluff across the lake a few weeks again and are now fully leaved and providing perches for birds . Shelter for snails and anchors for cocoons as well as nest sites and food for insects.

These silken tents were amongst the willows , hard to see but may have been home to spiderlings.

The snails that earlier in the year were lining the tree trunks sound the lake had today moved into the willow leaf canopy.

Over the last 10 days I have driven around some tiny wriggly roads around the wonderful Forest of Dean.

Things that stand out are obviously the amazing trees, tall straight Beech , spreading chestnuts even a lane lined with wild cherrys. The Oak trees stand out for me, here is a beauty close to Goodrich castle.

The River appears around corners , through towns and can he spotted from high viewpoints across the forest . Here it is from Yat Rock.

Crops fill fields at every turn ,there are potatoes around every corner in the gorgeous red soils ,some white flowered and some pink all in lush bushy rows looking really strong. There are fields of wheat beginning to glow.

The forest has an interesting past full of mining and quarry’s and these add human stories to the landscape. Disused quarries behind Barriers look like lost jungles .

During this visit I have seen deer, buzzard, a jay, orchids, foxgloves, wild ponies, free flowing sheep , squirrels at every turn, tadpoles, scarlet tiger moth. Lots more too many to list BUT I have still not spotted a wild boar!!

Need to go back soon 🌳🌳🌳

We have been Up high above the Forest of Dean at beautiful May Hill . We were welcomed by a pony who was standing guard at the side of the road. The meadows in front of us were crammed with buttercups, clover ,stitchwort and many more flowers. In the distance the Welsh hills and mountains shimmered in the heat haze.

Just at the foot of the path was a very muddy , rather boring looking pool , however it was teeming with toad tadpoles some with their back legs . All of them very active and fast ! Over the surface ,blue chaser dragonflies were hunting,pond skaters and whirligig beetles were dancing.

Up the hill the foxgloves were superb .

May Hill stands high above the forest with its characteristic crown of pines and can be seen from miles around.

An evening walk at St Briavels in the forest of Dean revealed an amazing castle where in 1199 using iron from the forestry they manufactured cross bow bolts! This is now a youth Hostel but also open in the day to explore. I’m adding this to the places to explore list.

Following the footpath down the steep hill with amazing views of hills and forest below I noticed these lovely wall pennyworts also known as navel wort ‭(Umulicus rupestris) ‬growing as a group on the wall. They seem to appear from nowhere flowering perched on nothing !

Further along the footpath down the side of another wall it was decorated with a sea of red valerian (Centranthus ruber)in all its shades.

Along the walk we were watched over by these two chaps.

As you drive from Chepstow over the Severn Bridge you will see very distinctive red cliffs with a white band at the top. These are the Aust cliffs.

This is the best site in Britain to collect Triassic fossils such as bones and teeth of reptiles along with other finds. These Triassic fossils are found in the top bed the ‘bone bed’ to find the fossils you need to search the beach.

An evening expedition with nature table explorers yesterday was full of great finds and even a bone fragment in the bone bed! Very exciting.

The team of explorers after some great finds.

The nature table in a new site while staying at the Forest of Dean . Lots of interesting finds.

The distinctive cliffs no fossils are found in the red and green layers.

The bone bed with a bone fragment Triassic .

The bivalves in the first picture are still attached in their pairs in a layer of tiny shells.

Above is a perfect cockle like bivalve.

These strange structures and shapes are pseudomorphs caused by evaporating salt in hot conditions as lakes dried up .

The spectacular bridge lots of cars but surprisingly quiet on the beach more of a clunk as the cars and surface met.

A trip to Aust is fantastic ,great fossils , amazing views look left, the old Severn bridge look right, the New crossing, ahead of you is Wales to your back is England. Definitely worth an explore and many return visits .

Along the road on the way to the river Wye in Riss on Wye are some brilliant red rock exposures.

This is Devonian old red sandstone , these sediments were laid down 400 million years ago.

There is a really informative board which explains the formation of the rocks and also says that there is a geology trail around Riss available at the tourist information office. I’m off there to see if I can find some more wonderful geology while down here.

In the Forest if Dean in an area called Wigpool.

The fir cones were great littering the ground like confetti . Walking through mixed woods . The coniferous areas were carpeted in the softest moss rather like a posh carpet at the end of this corridor in the clearings were fantastic foxgloves.

Interestingly there are only three native conifers to Britain , Scots pine, yew and juniper the rest are either grown in plantations or as specimen trees in parks and gardens.

The long cones above are Norway Spruce some having been nibbled by squirrels.

The other two cones are a mixture of Scots pine and lodge pole pine.

Moss carpet through the woods was very springy. It was surprisingly dry.

The Victorian language of flowers lists foxgloves as meaning insincerity and moss as maternal love. This book of meanings makes very interesting reading !