Foraging for mushrooms near Sidmouth and birdwatching at Dawlish

Today saw me getting out of the flat and into the countryside for a bit of foraging action with the chaps and chapesses from Devon Foraging Courses. We met near Sidmouth this morning, and headed off into the woods to see what we could find. Not a great deal, as it turned out, but we did find a few chanterelles, porcelain mushrooms and a large number of dubious - if not downright poisonous - specimens. The woods were beautiful, with the beech trees just beginning to change colour. We all had a good chat along the way and it seemed like a fair few folks were ex-Londoners who'd decided to head to Devon for the good life - and found it! I will definitely be going on the next forage in October.

From there I drove along the backroads near college (followed by the usual Sunday driver mentalists), aiming for Dawlish Warren nature reserve on the other side of the Exe. Took the wrong exit on the M5 but found Dawlish eventually. Dawlish Warren itself is a weird combination of tacky seaside resort and nature reserve, out on a long spit of land. Once away from the crowds and arcades, it's lovely and quiet, with lots of birds to be seen - including a lovely female Stonechat and a beautiful, tiny olive green warbler (too dark to be a Chiff Chaff so I'm left wondering what it was) among other things. The weather was stunning - you'd not know it was October in a few days. There are vast amounts of brambles down there, all covered in blackberries, so I'll be heading back there next weekend to go picking.

Now I just need to find myself a source of sloes and I'll be sorted! Devon is proving an excellent choice so far...