16th June 2011 - Upton Heath Fire

The continuing work of volunteers kept me out all week, and a couple of images of the scenery are here.

Just visible is the distant land, unburnt.  The pools of water still stand from the excellent work of the Fire Service.

I turn around, and I can just make out life in the distance.  The eerie quiet is disturbing, all that moves are occasional spiders rescuing egg sacs.

Again, this individual did not perish in the fire, but likely many months if not years before.  The bushes would have been around 6-8 feet tall, from the 3 stems that still stood over, but are otherwise reduced to little more than 6 inches tall. 

Perhaps the fox lay here, as a final resting spot, having moved away from the family den to keep the area cleaner for the following generations.  The skeleton would have remained undiscovered had it not been for the fire.

But in the second image, the clump of grass lying behind the skull, fresh shoots are breaking out already just a week after the fire has passed. 

With fewer reptile finds, and chances of further work being of any aid to those that survive, seeing the heath regenerate itself is heart warming.