Bats-in-the-belfry

A day off from brownfield surveys, thanks to overnight rain. This gave me a bit of a chance to catch up with paperwork and food shopping. 
In the late afternoon I drove Pete down to Gamlingay Wood to empty and collect his traps. While he was working I wandered round with my camera. The woodland flora is now largely over, apart from the elegant pale-blue flowers of Nettle-leaved Bellflower (also rather oddly known as Bats-in-the-belfry) which shone out under the rather gloomy canopy. The rides were still sodden, with many flooded areas, but their margins were a riot of purples, yellow and white, a wonderful mix of Purple Loosestrife, Betony, Meadowsweet, Hairy St.John's-wort, Tormentil, Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil and Marsh Thistle. The first fungi of autumn were also present - a group of The Blusher on the woodland floor (see extra) and profusion of Oyster Mushroom on a fallen tree. It was strangely quiet - virtually all the woodland birds have stopped singing and there was no longer the insistent cheeping of fledglings, which was so noticeable on my last visit. The year rushes on...