Antics...

I spent the morning at the appropriately named Ugley rubbish tip, reviewing the success of an area of wild flower seeding. Actually it was three hours of driving, half an hour's health and safety induction including a written test and about three-quarters of an hour actually on site!

This afternoon Chris and I took the dogs up to Bedford Purlieus for a walk. It was cool, grey and very autumnal - the first few fungi were popping up, the birch trees were just starting to show the first touches of gold and there were very few insects around, apart from wood ants Formica rufa which were introduced to this site many years ago, and have thrived ever since.

We found a veritable ant motorway- a scurrying mass of individuals constantly moving to and fro. The action of millions of tiny footsteps had worn away the grass over a track about 20cm in width. I always find the level of organisation in an ant colony absolutely remarkable and we spent some time just watching them, some carrying food back to the nest while others were off to forage for more.

Their constant movement made them difficult to photograph, but a small piece of wood in their path made a natural barrier which slowed them down. On this barrier it was possible to observe the ants checking each other out - touching antennae to ensure that they were not intruders from another nest - which is what they're doing in my blip.

Their large visible nests are constructed of dry plant stems, leaves, or conifer needles, usually based around a rotting stump. Wood ants typically secrete formic acid; Formica rufa can squirt the acid from its acidopore several feet if alarmed, a habit which may have given rise to the archaic term for ant 'pismire'.

When we returned home Chris did some apple picking. We now have two giant bags of eating apples, which don't store, so tomorrow I may have to distribute some to the neighbours. At the moment we're considering the best way of using them - apple juice and apple wine seem to be the favourites so far! There are also two bags of cooking apples, but at least they'll store quite well in a cool place, as long as they're carefully wrapped.