With the wet and stormy weather we have seen through December and January the woodland around us has changed dramatically in terms of the number of trees that have been broken or uprooted. Silver birches have simply fallen like skittles in places after their insignificant root systems have become waterlogged and just not been able to stand the force of the prevailing wind.  Older trees such as beech have lost substantial boughs with huge girths. An old and admittedly diseased horse chestnut was simply uprooted and toppled by the strong winds. Others such as some of the taller pines have just snapped from being bent over so fiercely.

As sad as we may be to see some of the older trees fall, it’s interesting to see how quickly the woodland just gets on with life after such storms. New tracks appear overnight skirting the fallen trees. New opportunities arise for wildlife to live or forage around these apparently desolate scenes. Light suddenly reaches parts of the wood where it has previously been densely planted, allowing new plants to take the advantage of the space. Life goes on…