Ashington Community Woodland

Earlier in the Month I paid a visit to Ashington Community Woodland  I been before a couple of years ago looking for dragonflies  so I thought it time for another visit , access can be had either from the Lynemouth road or as I did from near Ashington  parking just down from Asda at Morrisons the glazer and walking along the track of which there are numerous , eventually coming to the large pond a gut I was talking said they had cleared out all the channels  causing the pond to drain  but it was now sorted ,but the channels are bare and stark only a couple of  Moorhen  and coots on the pond plenty of Damselflies about also a few  Common Darter . A Southern Hawker patrolled the path eventually landing you have to fix  your gaze on them as you follow them to the perch  it's easy to lose them and you can flush them before they are located  to photograph.  There was an abundant show of Common Centaury  which I forgot to photograph it seems to like the harsh soil here not sure of the makeup  but it's typical of old mine workings , the mostly pine woodland was rather dense perhaps they will thin it out at some stage allowing the deciduous trees to flourish , it's well worth a look  , there is also a boardwalked dipping pond and numerous tracks to follow , it must attract Crossbills in the Winter surely. There is a railway line along side most of the track  holding pins have been stolen and at a point nearer the road even some lengths of track  have gone ,must have been some effort  to cart them off in a little Corsa, you would have to stick it through and out the window  again , everybody lean over to the other side please  !!!! Wait how stupid of me they where probably on bikes !!

 Southern Hawker

Southern hawker not sure of the function of the hair , the wings have a fantastic structure

 Southern Hawker with the Desperate Dan expression

 I have seen this Funghi  before in a similar place it seems to spread out widely