My first visit to Cwmsaerbren Woods in August was quite early in the morning, and although the sun was already up there was still a lovely soft light over the little waterfall.
And the Pixie Bridge was bathed in sunshine.
There were still a few toys left around from the fairy trail, and this little unicorn made for some fun photos 😊
There was lots of bird song, as you'd expect on such a nice morning, but the foliage is so dense it's hard to spot anything at the moment. But this sparrow sat in plain sight long enough for a photo.
The sunshine had also brought out a few other visitors,
I wasn't expecting to see any new plants, but this Red Bartsia had sprung up since my last visit.
And there's still plenty of Rose-bay willow-herb and Himalayan balsam lining the paths.
Towards the middle of the month the weather became incredibly wet and windy as first Storm Ellen and then Storm Francis hit. Everything was looking distinctly bedraggled.
The blackberries were all ripening now, but looking very soggy.
But at least all that rain had left everything looking very lush and green, even if the paths are a bit muddy underfoot.
Some of the leaves are beginning to turn colour already.
If you haven't had enough of the rain yourself yet, you can watch (and listen ) to a short video of the rain in the woods
HERE
And boots rather than sandals are definitely needed for a stroll in the woods now 😊
Thre's still lots of Knapweed around, providing a lovely splash of colour.
And plenty of cleavers, or Goosegrass. Did you know that the small fruit can be dried and roasted and used as a coffee substitute?
The Oxeye daisies have definitely suffered during the bad weather.
But there's still lots of Angelica around.
There's still lots of Ragwort too, but the Cinnabar moths have pretty much decimated it now.
And there's still plenty of Yarrow around.
While the woods themselves are looking soggy and bedraggled the small meadow just to the side is thriving and looking quite beautiful now.
There's lots of trefoil there
And a few patches of heather in flower.
And lots of common eyebright.
But even here there are some definite signs that Autumn is on it's way, there are lots of berries on both the Cottoneaster and the Rowan.
And a few acorns starting to appear now too.
Although there has been the odd fine day the rest of the month continued to be mainly wet, but the mild damp weather brought out plenty of bugs, insects and little aphids.
The highlight of the month has most definitely been the wonderful news that the
Skyline Project has received almost £250,000 of funding from the National lottery
There's a great article from BBC Wales
HERE explaining all about it, and myself and other Welcome To Our Woods members were interviewed in the woods about the project, and you can see the interview
HERE It's going to be exciting to see how the project progresses and how the woods develop over the next few years.
I started this month's blog with an early morning visit, and I'm ending with a late evening visit. On the last day of August the light as the sun went down was beautiful.
The woods were lit up with a gorgeous golden glow.
And the Pixie Bridge looked beautiful in the evening light.
And I even spotted a couple of Pixies hiding in the trees 😉
Let's hope we have a bit more sunshine in September.
