No-Go-November?

 Nov 4th  Mousehold Heath

A second lockdown was about to occur, though with a few differences to the one in the spring as schools were allowed to continue. For me, it meant I was likely back to being restricted to searching for plants and other wildlife within the city for at least another month. Of course, plants are thin on the ground at the moment as we move into winter. Even the trees were losing their leaves, providing me with very little to photograph for my lockdown plant collection for November. However, the lack of leaves on the trees can actually be a good thing if I was to seek out one of the most festive and fascinating plants around.

Mistletoe

Walking down to Mousehold Heath along Wall Road, I discovered clumps of green balls hanging within the bare branches of a few trees lined beside the end of the road. Mistletoe. They were all very high up to get any clear close up, as typical of this parasitic plant. I noticed a few white berries that weren't eaten by the birds already. It is the birds that got the mistletoe up there in the first place. When they eat these berries, it causes very sticky poops when they pass through their digestive systems. When it comes out, it sticks to their glands and the only way to rid of them is to wipe their bottoms to a bare branch. With a new location and instant fertiliser from the bird dropping it came out as, the mistletoe is then able to sprout and tap into the host tree to leech out all its nutrients without needing to set root into the ground. Despite all this success in manipulating the birds to carry its offspring elsewhere, I haven't actually found that many clumps within the city or even around Mousehold itself.

At Mousehold, I was only able a few trees that I hadn't added yet, such as hazel. I felt that my visit was more of an escape from the reality we're currently in for at least a few hours. I was able to forget about lockdown and surround myself with the visual beauty of autumn as well as the smells and sounds that accompany it at this time of year. The colours of the leaves, the fungi sprouting out here and there and the foraging activities of squirrels and jays and even seeing the several moths that are found on the wing during the winter months are enough to lift my mental state for at least a few minutes. 

Nov 8th  Titchwell

Travelling many miles to Titchwell during this second lockdown with my parents was not exactly my idea. It goes against what the government wants us to do in keeping the virus from spreading any faster. The way I see it though, as long as you stay within your 'social bubble' and keep your distance from other people, I can't see why you can't visit nature reserves. As much as this second lockdown is important, keeping yourself from going mentally unstable is also important. Being out and enjoying nature is the best medicine of battling depression and other mental illnesses. It has been proved that being amongst nature gives you the endorphins you need that help relieve stress, even if it is just a short walk in the park. Still, that didn't prevent us from getting some disappointed looks from the few volunteers left manning the reserve that made us feel rather guilty for our visit.

To begin with, it felt like no one else was around. Walking around the boardwalk section of the reserve, we encountered a muntjac deer grazing near the path and we managed to get within a few metres of it without scaring it off. In fact it never ran away when we got too close while trying to pass it, the deer just casually backed away, focusing more on its grassy meal than at us. 

Muntjac Deer, Golden Plover and Pintail

As all the hides were closed off again, we could only view the birds on the pools from the main path. This was fine by me. We sat on a bench overlooking the freshwater pool and had a little picnic, while watching hundreds, maybe thousands of golden plover take to the air and swirl above our heads, unsure if to land back down or not. A fantastic display to entertain us while we were eating. During our visit, we also saw grey plover, ringed plover, redwings, brambling, brent and pink-footed geese, marsh harriers, avocets, bearded tits, curlews, oystercatchers, redshanks, little egrets, turnstones, sanderlings, linnets, stonechats and 3 handsome pintails with one female. Out at sea, I scanned up a great crested grebe and a red-throated diver as well as a blackbird flying over the waves and landing into the dunes behind us. All in all, it was a great day at Titchwell, guilty or not.

Nov 17th  Catton Park

Today, I decided to make my monthly walk around my local park to search for plants. A bit of a waste of time, I know, but I did find a few plants that I've seen in the spring and summer that for some reason got their seasons wrong and decided to bloom now. Buttercups, green alkanets, mayweed, bramble, the list goes on. Though it's just a handful of each (up to a single plant to a small group of 2-3), it is still a very odd sight. Besides that, it was just another walk to keep my sanity from going over the edge and enjoying what was around me.