Wet October
Ideal conditions for Fungi

October was a remarkably wet month, with almost 225mm (9inches) of rainfall recorded in my rain gauge, which I think makes it the wettest month I’ve recorded, since I started working here in 1972. Water from the Pit* at Littleheath began to overflow for the first time this winter, towards the end of the month, and we’ve seen lots of flooding in and around the village, and sadly several houses were filled with stinking water and sewage.

*This is now a regular occurrence, and an amazing change in fortune from the last forty years or so, when the Pit Group searched the surrounding area for a further source of water, to supplement the water depth. In 2021 the Pit overflowed 5 times, whilst last year it occurred twice. The now constant depth of water throughout each year is a wonderful bonus for us, to keep this superb village amenity full, and a welcoming place for anyone to visit.

We have had some good sightings and sounds in the village with skeins of Icelandic pink feet regularly flying over, and the jackdaw with one white wing feathers regularly seen in the church car park. The wintering mistle thrushes are clearly also back, judging by the amount of yew berry flesh on the footpaths and gravestones. The Pit has had the usual group of twelve shovelers, and an almost permanent pair of cormorants can be seen on posts. I also managed to catch a black headed gull advertising that there is No Fishing from the banks on the Alms Houses side. The big fish continue to leap out of the water, but the presence of the cormorant suggests there are plenty of smaller fish too. Lots of smaller birds have returned to gardens, and we have a regular queue of house sparrows hiding in our hawthorn hedge, and devouring the food we put out for them. Starlings, blue and great tits can usually be seen feeding on the fat balls or wedges of suet.

The highlight of our month has been the sighting of a pair of bearded tits at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve, together with a pair of marsh harriers flying overhead. I’ve visited Leighton Moss many times, but this was the first clear sighting I’ve ever had. A visit to Tarn Haws in the Lake District brought sightings of an elusive willow tit feeding with coal tits in the NT Car Park. There were also siskins and redpolls present, and these two species were reported to be seen visiting Hockenhull Platts regularly during October. We had very late sightings of both red admiral and small tortoishell in the garden, and also spotted a rare male brimstone flying over the canal hedge. This was extremely late in the season for this species, but is the culmination of one of the best summers for butterfly sightings for many years. (Full report next month)

The wet October provided ideal conditions for fungi, in and around the village, and some of those spotted can be seen in the accompanying photographs. The now annual patch of fly agaric under a silver birch in Quarry Lane was once again the highlight of the sightings in the village. They could be seen in various stages of growth, and are the most colourful of fungi to see, although the bright yellow chicken in the wood fungus seen along Littleton lane are also spectacular. Once again there has been a good number to view, I guess promoted by the extremely wet conditions we all experienced.