The Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii) is in flower on the side of the rail trackbed. The strong sweet scent and pink lilac mini-trumpet flowers with an orange eye are usually a big attraction for butterflies but not here.  I watch for ten minutes or so and there are no visitors. A man walking past with […]

On the north side of Dulwich Wood where it borders a cul de sac, there’s a picket fence of around 200 metres long with a two metre high cherry laurel hedge (yes, ugh!) running along outside it.    Between the hedge and road kerb is a grass verge which varies from about one metre to […]

I have baby birds on my mind as I set off into the woods this morning. Our blue tits fledged earlier this week and as the families before them flew straight into the oak tree opposite our house. I was pleased to see them all make this first survival milestone successfully but it seems very […]

This week the elder flowers are ready for harvesting. My May ritual is burying my nose in a spray of flowers and inhaling the heady scent.  The smell is not universally appreciated but it has good associations for me with summer picnics and parties. To be clear, I don’t pick the ones in the woods […]