Had we still been on Skye then we would be expecting to see otters regularly and often at this time of year. Late autumn in north Oxfordshire is a lot less exciting, but the weather is better. So on a sunny but cold day yesterday we went to Foxholes, a BBOWT reserve , around 10 miles from Hooky, looking for signs of otter on the stretch of the River Evenlode which runs past it, and to see what plants were still in flower.
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| Evenlode |
We did find some spraint, where 15 years ago I found otter spraint to the disbelief of many because unlike now, otters were far from widespread on lowland rivers. But yesterday's find turned out not to be otter spraint; it was mink. They look similar but you have to smell the spraint; that of otter is rather sweet - and fishy. This was just unpleasant. We saw nothing in the river, only a moorhen, and no confirmatory footprints.
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| Spraint site - view from river |
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| Spraint site |
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| Mink Spraint |
On the riverbank were a few flowering plants, - all common - even this late in the year (Skye by contrast 'shuts down'). White Dead-nettle comes into flower in the early spring and must be a contestant for the plant with the longest flowering period. Quite why it should be flowering now, when there are few if any pollinators (bees?) is a bit of a mystery.
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| White Clover |
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| White Dead Nettle |
In the wood itself we found a few fungi; Amethyst Deceiver and what I think is Ivory Woodwax. There were a few grey squirrels, blue and great tits. We put up a pheasant and heard in the distance a buzzard. The juxtaposition reminded me of the irony that a Northumberland gamekeeper won a court action last week to allow him to shoot buzzards which take his young pheasants, the birds which he was rearing to shoot. Pheasants are everywhere, and a nuisance on the road. I am for the buzzards.
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| Probably Ivory Woodwax |
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| Probably Ivory Woodwax |
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| Spores of Probably Ivory Woodwax x630 |
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| Amethyst Deceiver |
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| Amethyst Deceiver |
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| Amethyst Deceiver Spores x630 |
