Brightness in the gloom

Mild but mostly overcast today. Castor Hanglands NNR was strangely quiet this afternoon - I had the reserve to myself, and even the wildlife was sparse - a pair of Red Kites drifted lazily over the treetops above me, a Raven cronked in the distance and at one point  I was surrounded by a large flock of Great Tits, foraging in a ride-side Crab-apple tree, shimmying through the branches and then dropping to the ground. 

No prospect of  a sunset - the light gradually seeped away. Silver Birch and Bracken provided splashes of colour among the woodland which is now mostly shades of brown. Golden Hazel and Field Maple leaves carpeted the forest floor, and I spotted the bright leaves of a Wild Service tree on one of the narrower paths. And on a rotting log, the fruiting bodies of the slimemould Trichia decipiens shone out like miniature Belisha Beacons.

After dinner I drove out to Helpston to deliver some photographs to Helpston Village Hall, ready for an art exhibition to be held on Sunday to raise money for people in the Ukraine. There were lots of people helping to set up, so I dropped my contribution off and then left. Kathryn was also there and we spent a long time chatting outside in the gentle mizzle before we both headed home.