hi all, new here, so i thoight i would kick off with a post about one of my favourite places :)
Budby Heath,
One of the many jewels in Nottinghamshires wildelife crown,
A place that i love to visit is a large area of heath land tucked up alongside Sherwood Forest, which i have always known as Budby Heath, but i think its proper title is Budby South Forest,
and now one of the RSPB sites,
Its a large area of open heath, with pockets of woodland scattered throughout the area, it is broken up into fenced areas with lots of paths threading through and between them. Perfect for a walk at any time of the year, but particularly splendid in the autumn with its rich array of colours, which show to their best on a nice sunny autumn day,
Its not just the scenery that makes it a great place to visit, as its a rich source of all kinds of wildlife, but especially fungi, which is my favourite subject, ranging from the minuscule Neottiella rutilans
to the large Boletes,
and not forgetting the varied selection of the very colourful waxcaps,
And a rather special one, the cordyceps militaris, or the Scarlet caterpillar club so named for its habit of growing from the chrysalis or pupae of insects buried in the ground, can be found on the heath,
Lots of wild flowers can be seen, like Agrimony, and Red Bartsia, a semi parasitic plant that feed on the roots of grasses etc,
The springtime is when you will find frogspawn in every available puddle and small ponds scattered about,
Lizards and snakes can sometimes be seen too, along with deer, lots of birds like the Nightjar, and suchlike,
Looking at it now, its hard to believe it was the scene of mock battles with tanks, guns and soldiers practicing war manoeuvres on the heath, luckily the army has long since departed the heath, and nature has slowly reclaimed it for itself, for the benefit of everyone .more
Images of much of the wildlife mentioned above can be seen here https://wildlifebytes.co.uk Which is a wildlife forum with several members from the local area, who record lots of their finds there, with lots of recent photos of the heath too,
The many paths and trails across the heath, and its close proximity to the expanse of Sherwood forest means you can visit the heath on numerous occasions, and not follow the same route twice !
A note foe visitors with dogs, they must be on lead during the breeding season when visiting the heath, this is to protect any ground nesting birds and other wildlife that live there,
And also the heath is home to a herd of Long horn cattle, these are usually docile and don’t bother visitors, but can be unpredictable where dogs are concerned, especially if there are calves present, That said, if you avoid them then they are no problem to you,
so if you are interested in nature and all its various aspects, then the heath is one of the must visit places, you cash find more information here Budby South Forest