November Journal: Quiet Transformations
November 1st
The month begins auspiciously on World Ecology Day - a timely reminder of how deeply we owe our understanding of the natural world to ecological science. As the clocks fall back, the sun now slips below the horizon around 4:30pm. One evening by the wild swimming pond, an arrowhead formation of swans carved its way across the lowering sun. We hadn’t seen that winter sight since last year and it felt like a quiet welcome to the darker months ahead.
November 5th
Remember, remember the Fifth of November.
Here at Elmore, we spent the day hosting our friends at Earnt and 100 Acres for a rewilding event. We invited key voices in the rewilding space to experience our treehouses, share local food and join us in planting 120 native trees. These young trees will one day form beautiful groves - vital wildlife corridors running through the heart of our land.
Afterward, we thanked everyone with a wild swim and a fireside meal out on the rewilding land. Standing beside the fire pit, owls hunting around us in the deepening dark, felt truly special.
This gathering helped raise awareness for our ongoing work and encouraged others to join our monthly volunteering programme. You’re warmly invited to take part in a half-day of hands-on conservation.
→ Book your place here:
https://events.earnt.co.uk/shop/elmore-court-vip-status
November 8th
Leaves are gathering - lining footpaths, piling into hedgerows, blanketing the woodland floor. This leaf litter is far more than autumn scenery; it becomes essential habitat as we head into winter. Hedgehogs, invertebrates, and vital pollinators burrow into these soft layers to rest and shelter until spring. As the leaves decompose, they enrich the soil with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium - nature’s own fertiliser.
This autumn, we challenge you to “Leave the Leaves” and join a movement that puts nature first.
November 11th
Exciting news - our trail camera confirmed an otter visiting the land!
After noticing footprints on the banks and piles of freshly opened freshwater mussels, we set up a camera at the pond. Three days later, we were rewarded with a beautiful clip: an otter padding along the shore, pausing to sniff the air before slipping silently into the water. Elusive and mostly active at dusk and dawn, otters are rarely seen. Knowing they are visiting Elmore is something worth celebrating.
November 14th
A powerful weather system swept across the southwest, soaking the land and finally saturating the soil. Our channels, ditches and wetland scrapes brimmed with water once more - the first time in over five months.
Within days, waterfowl returned: mallards and teal, moorhen, geese and swans all taking advantage of the revived wetland. Even waders such as green sandpipers, snipes and a water rail were spotted exploring the newly restored habitat.
November 18th
Temperatures have finally dropped from unseasonably mild to our first hard frost. Winter’s arrival was unmistakable as we spent the morning cracking ice from the cows’ drinking troughs.
A nature photographer visited to capture our oldest oak in the soft, fading light of sunset. Mist clung low around its ancient trunk, the sky fading clear and cold. As night settled in, only the call of barn owls broke the stillness. The Old Oak stood timeless - witness to yet another turning of the year.
November 22nd
Today marked our first public volunteering morning, organised with Earnt. Heavy rain dominated the session, but our volunteers worked tirelessly to plant countless native scrub species across the rewilding land. We’re deeply grateful to everyone who gives their time to this project.
These young shrubs will stabilise soil, improve air quality, store carbon, provide wildlife habitat, and help buffer the effects of climate change. Their impact will be felt for generations.
November 25th
Moving quietly through the land today brought a whole host of wildlife encounters: snipes darting in the wetlands, a muntjac deer crossing a field, a cormorant diving in the wild swimming lake, and a grey heron basking in the cool sun among the reeds.
Though the trees have shed their leaves and settled into dormancy, the land remains alive with movement. Nature adjusts her pace as winter takes hold at Elmore - some creatures resting, others endlessly active - but always enduring, always adapting.
