100D 挑战 D84 Into the woods

今天终于去了传说中的Wytham woods. 我们经Wolvercote绕来绕去，看到好几条河还有一大片开满黄花的草地，就进入了森林。

树林里很少人来。我们先走了一条小星星徒步路线，谁知走偏了，里面草木茂盛，一个路标都没有，绕来绕去又绕到马路上了。回到carpark再仔细看看地图，还是没看懂。犇犇上次来过，让他带路。我们推开一扇门，穿过一大片草地，经过好多只正在吃草的绵羊，又进入了一片树林。树林出来之后，是一大片油菜花田，然后又是树林。我们边走边吃，小犇儿和小安累了，需要一些糖果，薯片和饼干的鼓励才能接着走。

后来有碰到跑步的几个人，还有两个和我们一样迷路的徒步者。爬Log的时候，远远瞥见一辆拖拉机突突突的开远了，后来又碰到，原来司机是个女人，她风一样的疾驰而去，一会儿又风一样的回来。问了问她，原来她是搞population study的，她先把铁丝笼子散放在林中各处，过些时候再一个个捡回來。原来是这样，之前看到的笼子原来是她们抓badger獾用的。

我们在这片绿色的森林中走走停停，跑着跳着，嘻嘻笑着。我们给看到的花花草草起名字，有叫毛毛虫的草，有叫Squirral tail的草，还有叫小兔子尾巴的花园嘟嘟的一朵，还有叫seven stars的小白花。路上经常可遇到供人休息的长椅，坐下来美丽的田园风景尽收眼底。小羊们成群结队的，尝尝这个山头的草，又跑去尝尝那个山头的草。它们也和我们一样幸福啊。

走了两三个小时，等快到终点时小安看到我们的车，高兴的说：I am so happy! 

Wytham Woods are an area of ancient semi-natural woodland to the west of Oxford, UK, owned by the University of Oxford and used for environmental research.

The woods were bequeathed to Oxford University in 1942 by the ffennel family, after the death of their only daughter, Hazel. The University agreed to maintain the natural beauty of the Woods, to allow their continued use for education and research, and that the woods be enjoyed by the inhabitants of Oxford.

Wytham Woods (390ha) contain a variety of habitats including ancient semi-natural woodland, secondary woodland and plantations as well as calcareous grasslands, a valley side mire, an arable weed plot and a variety of ponds. The SSSI citation states that the site has an exceptionally rich flora and fauna, with over 500 species of vascular plants and 800 species of butterflies and moths.

Wytham Woods are one of the most researched areas of woodland in the world. Wytham has a wealth of long term biological data, with bird data dating back for over sixty years, badger data for over thirty years and climate change data for the last eighteen years. Although the majority of the research activity is Oxford based, any organisation can utilise the site.