Eyeworth - 15th Dec 07

Walked from Eyeworth pond first thing this morning. As soon as I got out of the car I could hear Redwings near the car park. It was still too dark to see anything on the pond, so I headed on up the hill through Eyeworth Wood.
I left the track & walked through the trees for a few minutes until I found the fallen Beech that had the fungus Hericium erinaceus that I got a pic of back in November, just on the off-chance it was still there & I could try my new camera on it. No such luck, as expected, it’d gone to mush.
It was getting light now. Robins & Blackbirds were everywhere & the silhouette of a Woodcock flew over the leafless trees. I walked back to the track & then carried on up the hill. Two herds of Fallow does looked at me as I walked past as did a lone Fallow pricket (yearling buck) further up.
As I walked through the wood I could hear Nuthatches in the trees, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Green Woodpecker, Wrens, Goldcrest, Marsh Tits, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Redwings, Brambling & a Buzzard took off from the lower branches of an old Oak. On the ground were some old Earthballs, some Mycena’s & Collybia’s, & on the stumps, Fat Polypore & Candle-snuff.
Just before the track led out on to the heathland I struck off left down to the stream that joins Latchmoor Brook. Following the stream I went into Islands Thorns Inclosure, then followed the main track south for a bit. It was very quiet in here except for a flock of Siskins going over. A Roe doe was further back in the trees & three Fallow does were behind her.
I took a grass track towards the boundary of the Inclosure (this Inclosure has been ‘thrown open’ so there’s no fence), then into Eyeworth Wood & down the hill.
Back at the pond there were Coots, Moorhens, Mallards & hybrids, 3 Goosander & a Pied Wagtail.

Edit: nearly forgot there were a few Mandarin Ducks on the pond too.