Storm damage and a snakeskin grisette

Storm Barney howled through last night, leaving us with a power cut for an hour (which the kids thought was great fun) and two fence panels blown down in the garden. It was still windy today, but much calmer than last night, so I headed up to the top of Pulpit Hill to see if there was any storm damage.

I love all the huge trees up there and they make it feel so atmospheric.

I was just thinking that there was surprisingly little damage when I walked into the Hill Fort and found one of the huge beech trees had been blown down.

It's such a shame that a big old tree came down, especially one from the Hill Fort. It leaves a big gap in the canopy, which will just let more wind in next time there's a storm, putting more of the trees at risk. It will make a good home to all sorts of creatures and fungi though, so it's not a complete waste.

The roots had been ripped up, which are surprisingly shallow for such big trees. Makes you wonder how the trees stand up at all. I may have to take Bug Mad Girl back up there are the weekend, as she'd love hunting for fossils in the disturbed soil. It's an Iron Age hill fort, so you never know what treasure we might find! 

 I carried on through the Hill Fort and spotted a snakeskin grisette sitting in the leaves. I've never seen one before and it's quite rare, so was quite an exciting find. It had an olive coloured cap that was darker in the centre and it had a striated edge. It was covered in thick grey remnants from the veil that initially enclosed it and the stipe had a characteristic scaly snake-skin appearance.

I also found this large funnel - not rare or unusual, but it was huge and I just liked the photo, with a slug underneath having its lunch.