News from the wood

On Saturday morning between 40 and 45 people braved the wind and drizzle to meet outside May Park Wood. Sadly, no-one was able to enter the wood lawfully because there was a fearsome ugly fence across the gap from Rosemary Green and security guards at both entrances ready to escort people off the premises. Instead of tying them to a tree, people attached their written wishes for the wood to the fence spikes. 
Thanks go to the Evening Post for photos and stories in both the Saturday and Monday editions. Thanks also to Steve Comer, LibDem Councillor for Eastville, and Kerry McCarthy MP and Mahmadur Khan from Labour for coming to the event and debating the issues.

Meanwhile back in the wood, sharp-eyed children may have noticed that hazel catkins are out - a reassuring early reminder that spring is coming and longer, warmer days. Hawthorn bushes in the most sheltered part of the wood have also broken bud this week.
The other catkin-bearing tree in the wood is the alder tree, which can be recognised at all times of winter by the little acorn-sized cones on its branches - the only deciduous tree to bear cones.
From a distance the young trees all look similar in winter, but there are many ways to recognise one type from another. Last year's 'keys' still cling to the branches of some ash trees and oak and beech leaves are also still holding on in some places.
Bark can be helpful in identifying other trees in winter - cherry bark is distinctive, as is the birch bark on the viaduct - but buds are the best way to tell one tree from another in winter. The coal-black buds of the ash tree are the easiest to spot on branches (ash and coal may them easy to remember too), but with a little study and practice, it is possible to recognise the buds of many common trees.