I visited again yesterday, mainly to take some things and bring back some logs. I had some wooden pallets and an old garden seat to take and as we have just had a wood burning stove fitted at home, am trying to build up a store of logs for the winter. I haven’t got my felling licence yet so can only cut dead or diseased trees. There are a number of dead ones standing in the sycamore compartment and because they are upright, are relatively well seasoned and dry already. They are small trees and therefor easy to fell and cut up with a bowsaw. Here’s one I cut.

A small dead sycamore tree I felled for logs.

Now, about the title of this post. I spotted a large round hole in the earth, a few inches deep. It was fresh and looked like a badger had made it. I went over to get a closer look and spotted two squirming masses in the bottom, about the size of an apple. I had no idea what they were so moved closer to find out. I realised they were swarms of hornets which presumably had been disturbed by the mystery digger. Normally, my curiosity would have kept me there to watch and take photos. One of my woodland neighbours had mentioned how he accidentally shredded a nest of them while using his brush-cutter. He was attacked by a large number of them and got stung about 30 times and was very frightened at the time. This warning and the fact that they were starting to take flight in my direction, prompted me to leg-it as fast as I could. I ran back and jumped in the car for safety. I felt a sharp pain in my lower back and discovered one of the little critters had climbed down the waistband on my trousers and managed to sting me three times before I snuffed it out. I think I escaped lightly there.

I found these pretty little mushrooms growing. Haven’t identified them yet but couldn’t resist posting a photo of them.

Two pretty little mushrooms.

Yesterday was the culmination of a busy week of preparation. Being a bit of a perfectionist, I often tend to procrastinate but then find myself feeling frustrated that I haven’t achieved as much as I’d like to. Time to knuckle down and get things moving. There are lots of things I want to do in my woods but not enough man-hours so I try to prioritise jobs so that my time there is used most effectively. We are having a log burning stove fitted this week, so bringing logs back is high on the list. But what to do with them when I get them back is another problem. So I ordered a log store for the back yard. That arrived (flat packed) on Tuesday so a couple of hours spent putting it together and levelling it up was the first job. Then putting my few logs in it. A satisfying feeling, like a food in the fridge.

My newly erected and partly stocked log store.

There’s nowhere for anyone to sit if they visit the woods, and nowhere to put my gear, other than on the ground. So I decided it’s time to get a few home comforts in there. While waiting for delivery of the log store, I was busy varnishing an old builders plank that I thought would make a simple and easy bench. I also figured, if I could get some free wooden pallets from somewhere, I could make a rough and ready log store down at the woods for the surplus logs to start seasoning. A few calls here and there and I located about eight of them. One has the slats placed very close together and looked like a table top. So next job, using some scrap wood I have been storing for about 15 years, I made some legs for it.

Time also to get some power tools to help the jobs along, namely sawing up lots of logs from the deadwood and clearing the masses of brambles. That’s an area I have procrastinated about, so some internet research done and a Husqvarna chainsaw and brush-cutter are now on order. And talking about sawing logs, there will be a lot of thin and sickly trees to fell but there’s a TPO on the wood (Tree Preservation Order) which means I need permission before cutting any. The best way is to apply to the Forestry Commission for a thinning licence. To prepare my application has taken a lot of time and study. They need estimates of the total number of trees, the species and ages of them, and the hardest part – the estimated volume of timber. I pushed myself this week to get that finished and sent off. It’s done, just a waiting game now till they authorise it. Finally, I needed some concrete blocks to act as legs to stand my plank-bench on, so a trip to the builders’ yard for those.

So to top the week off, car loaded to the hilt, I visited the wood yesterday to take my new bench and table and set it all up and bring back some more logs for the log store. It was a very dull and dreary day weather-wise, so the wood had a very sombre feel about it. Signs of autumn are taking effect and a feeling of winding down now was very much evident. First job, put the plank and blocks in place to make my bench. For now, I decided to place it where I have my base for resting and brewing coffee. Next job, assemble the table and give it a coat of preserver. That went in the same area, so now I have a picnic area set-up and somewhere to put my bits and pieces when working. I placed another pallet underneath and loaded it up with some small dead sticks to keep them dry ready for campfires. A large sycamore is lying dead on the ground, so I started hand sawing logs of it to bring home. Hard work – can’t wait to get the chainsaw. All in all, a very productive and satisfying week.

My new base-camp, bench and table.

Had a day at the woods yesterday. Warm dry and sunny but signs of autumn are showing. In particular I noticed lots of new fungi appearing. I can identify very few accurately so it was a case of consulting my fantastic Collins book of British fungi and trying to find them. I found an amazing stinkhorn being devoured by a giant slug.

Stinkhorn fungi – seen them in books but not in the flesh before

Next was a flush of small mushrooms growing on an old larch stump. I think they are called sulphur tuft.

I think these are sulphur tuft fungi

I have quite a few dead and decaying birch trees. These beauties are called birch polypores or the common name of razor strop due to their leathery texture inside which can be used for “stropping” a blade edge.

Birch polypores or “razor strop” fungi growing on dead birch trees.

Finally I found some beautiful small white fungi growing where I have cleared a path. I think they are some kind of puffball in their infancy and possibly these are “common puffball” but also look like “pestle puffball”.

I think these are called common puffball. They are very small though.

Evidence of the shoot-chewing culprit – roe deer tracks

I’ve put in some overtime at the woods lately. More a case of trying to get the ball rolling with my thinning application. On the first visit there was more measuring and calculating of the compartment sizes and counting numbers of trees to thin. I ordered some tree marking paint and went around the sycamore stand looking for the obvious stems that need to come down. Just “getting my eye in” now. The diameters vary quite considerably although they were all planted at the same time. So it’s a case of looking for the thinnest, sickliest stems and the forked and badly shaped ones first. I’ll do a second trawl to find the ones I missed first time and any that I think need to go just to favour the more healthier ones close by.

I continued with my machete, “bramble bashing” down the boundary line and eventually got a clear enough path to run my blue rope all the way down. This will make it so much easier to see where my plot ends now. An exhausting but satisfying day. Spotted some deer tracks in the mud and on the way out, there was a roe deer in the adjacent field. Beautiful as they are, they are a nuisance to the woodlander. They chew off new shoots and stunt the growth of plants and young trees.

My second visit was to meet the man from the Woodland Trust again. Another interesting experience, new ideas and tips to learn. More bramble bashing just to fill in time. Spotted some very interesting fungi. Haven’t identified them yet though. It’s getting to that time of year where they are springing up all over the place. There’s always something new to see with each visit if you take the time and be observant.