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A SPARROWHAWK skims over the hedge clutching prey which falls to the ground. It is a Fieldfare which still warm as I pick it up. Cool winds from Scandinavia have just brought in large numbers of wintering thrushes, so this unfortunate bird might have been in Holland or Denmark a few days ago.
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Oak leaves are spotted with yellow patches. Turn over almost any leaf and you'll see Spangles Galls, small discs in which the young stage of a gall-wasp (Cynips quercus-baccarum now known as Neuroterus quercusbaccarum)develops. On one leaf we also found two Cherry Galls caused by a similar gall-wasp (Cynips quercus-folii). There were a few Marble Galls (Andricus kollari) on the twigs.
In contrast to the wintering thrushes the sun brings out a couple of fresh-looking Comma butterflies. On the farm gate at the entrance to the wood at least one hundred flies are basking. They are mainly blow-flies; bluebottles and greenbottles, with the odd dronefly.
Sweet Chestnuts are scattered beneath two old twisted trees on the path through the woods. They're not as big as the Spanish Chestnuts you can buy in the shops, but the whole crop must be a welcome addition to the food supply for the birds and mammals of the wood.