THE Wyre Forest District Council Ranger Service has only been looking after Hurcott Pools and Wood nature reserve for a couple of years. This follows its purchase by the district council with grant help from both English Nature and the New Opportunities Fund.

During this time the rangers have got to know the site pretty well. However, when it comes to navigating through the areas of wet woodland, the rangers still have some things to learn.

The area of wet woodland is what makes this nature reserve so important for wildlife.

Wet woodland was once found in abundance in our country, lining the sides of streams and rivers.

However, it was not long before man discovered how fertile these areas were. The process of clearing wet woodlands for agriculture began until today we are left with only a fragment of what there once was.

To help save what still remains, many areas of wet woodland, like that found at Hurcott, have been declared as Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

Three factors make finding your way around Hurcott's wet woodland difficult.

Firstly, in the summer, when the ground is at its driest, the vegetation is at its most productive and the area is covered in clinging hairs, stings or thorns.

When you are busy weaving your way through this, a vast array of blood-sucking mosquitos and horseflies will be alerted to your presence and eager to take a bit out of you while you are distracted.

Secondly, in the winter, when things have died back, the site is much wetter and there are some areas of quite alarmingly deep mud which you can blunder into.

Thirdly, once you think you have found your way round, rain up-stream in Blakedown changes everything. The water level across the site can change rapidly and, in some circumstances, you can pass one spot one minute but, on your return, you can find your original route barred by flowing streams which just seem to appear as it gets wetter.

Hence this recent autumnal dry spell has been great for further investigation. Possibly the most spectacular find which came from this was the discovery of giant puffball mushrooms.

These fungi are truly enormous. They are part of the stomach fungi family and get their name from the way they resemble a large bag or stomach which is filled with the fungi spores. These giant puffballs are almost alien-like circular domes of white flesh. The largest rose out of the ground to what must have been around a metre tall.