This stump of a freshly felled tree in Anderton Nature Park caught my eye when walking there yesterday. It’s quite sad to see the remains of what must have been quite a large tree – maybe it had become diseased, maybe it was getting dangerous. We did hear the branch of a nearby tree creaking loudly and a bit alarmingly in the wind, as though it might have been loosening, ready to break off. We moved on sharpish!
The path took us through a wood full of past-their-best bluebells. Most of them were shrivelling and going to seed, but a few of the fresher and younger ones still looked magnificent. Right now the ground under the trees is carpeted with ramsens in full bloom, looking like soft white feathers.
The tree stump was surrounded by ramsens, and along with the ferns growing there they formed a wreath of green life, an appropriate memorial for a felled tree.
This reminds me about a story I read about a park in the states, Yellowstone I think. One year a fire devastated the park old trees. Revisiting the park a decade later, the park was pulsing with new life of all types, young trees, flouring species that came out of the fire devastation and the new forest being reborn.
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Devastating as fires are, new growth for trees is promoted. I remember learning about this aspect of bush fires when I visited Australia. Sadly the extensive fires earlier this year took a huge toll on wildlife. I like the way old tree stumps, if left, provide a good environment for insects/beetles.
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