Friday, 9 December 2022

Walking Around Leugny

On Thursday 1 December I joined Denise and Joel for a 9 kilometre walk around Leugny. We parked by the church, then headed up to the Fontaine Saint Hilaire before slogging it up the rest of the slope to the plateau between the rivers Creuse and Vienne. After circling around in the forest centring on Rond de Chene we descended again to Leugny. Along the way we heard cranes bugling twice and we saw them once, flying in their serious migration V formation.

A building in Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
A building in Leugny.

Fontaine Saint Hilaire, Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
Fontaine Saint Hilaire.

Earthball Scleroderma sp, Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
Earthball Scleroderma sp (Fr. Scléroderme).

Bearded Amanita Mushroom Amanita ovoidea, Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
I think this might be Bearded Amanita Amanita ovoidea (Fr. amanite ovoïde).

Forest, Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
In the forest.

Oak leaves, Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
Oak leaves on the forest trail.

Sulphur Tuft Hypholoma fasciculare, Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
Sulphur Tuft Hygrophoma fasciculare (Fr. Hypholome en touffes) was abundant on the forest floor, growing on stumps and buried wood.

Fallen oak, Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
A fallen oak near Rond de Chene. The problem with these oaks destined for timber production is that they end up being long poles. The removal of all lower branches means they do not have a natural canopy shape which would keep their centre of gravity low. There is also more and more space around them allowing them to be unstable.

Chestnut leaves, Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
Chestnut leaves on the forest trail. In a couple of parcels all the chestnuts have been felled recently to leave the high value oak they mingled with to grow to full maturity.

Beech, Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
The beech leaves are looking very orange at the moment.

Bracket fungus, Vienne, France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.
A bracket fungus.

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