Heart This Oak

I went to Panshanger Park again this afternoon. It was quite a different experience from last week when I had it nearly to myself. I was very surprised to read on the notice board that an Osprey had been seen. In fact one of the former gravel pits is called Osprey Lake and September is when sightings are likely. I didn't see that bird of prey but I got a reasonable shot of a Hobby with a dragonfly in its talons. Soon afterwards a brace of Spitfires flew over and I captured them too.

I then walked past the orangery, which it seems is no longer a secret, and spent a long time in the shade of the magnificent five-hundred-year-old Panshanger Great Oak. It is the largest maiden, or clear-stemmed, oak in the country and is believed to have been planted by Queen Elizabeth I. The large branch that can be seen in my pic touching the ground has rooted and produced a daughter tree. A couple on the left hand side of the trunk give a sense of scale.