The patterns of decay

Checking out lichens today and got some great photos, but in the end this large fallen beech trunk with the bark gradually cracking and rotting held my attention. Elsewhere it is home to mosses, lichens, fungi and lots of different invertebrates. This section made me think of somewhere quite organised yet still organic - a straggling urban brutalist housing scheme or aerial image of a vast housing estate - which is kind of just what it is...on a different scale.

Nearby, I watched all three of our native woodpeckers and flushed a Woodcock from a ditch at the edge of the wood. Despite the dull weather, all in all a very enjoyable walk.