I’m still focussed on getting a lot of work done before spring. Mainly thinning and coppicing but there are lots of other jobs, so I try to do a bit of them all. Not necessarily a good mode of work but one that satisfies. It was a lovely sunny morning, though slightly misty yesterday. Lots of birds calling as I stepped out of my car into my woodland paradise. That’s how it feels to me. A woodpecker was calling nearby, it’s unmistakeable sound like a machine gun being fired. I spent a good hour just walking the woods, observing with camera in hand. I stopped at the bird feeding station and immediately a robin arrived, obviously waiting for me to refill them. It hopped from branch to branch, a few feet from me as if to hurry me along. As soon as I filled them it was joined by several blue and great tits, previously unseen by me. It’s just another soul-inspiring aspect of owning a woodland and being able to take my time to enjoy it. Feeling that I am a component part of this incredible matrix of nature.

Time to get busy. There was still the felled tree to deal with. First cutting it into log sizes, wheel barrowing them back to the logshed and clearing brash. I have shoved most of it into the dead-hedge I started last year. It’s now incredibly dense and hopefully a source of protection for small birds to nest in this year. Maybe some of my robin friends will like it. After that I decided to have a crack at felling an incredibly tall sycamore. It was standing next to an oak tree that needs more light and space. It was recommended to me that I “halo thin” around it. The aim is to take down neighbouring trees until a halo of sky can be seen around it’s crown. This will “release the crown” and allow it to grow more rapidly as it is being supressed by the sycamore. The oak being more valuable than sycamore, it gets priority in my management of the woods. That particular area was planted with sycamore about 50 years ago and it needs thinning anyway. I’d already removed about four smaller ones but that hadn’t had the desired effect. There were three large ones that need to come down. These are some of the biggest I have tackled so far, so I was a bit daunted by the prospect of doing it on my own. As it started to topple, of course it got immediately hung up in the one next to it. Such a tall and heavy tree, there was no way I could shake it loose. I had to use wedges, hammered into the saw cut and carefully nibble away at the remaining hinge of wood that was still attached. I saw it start to move and backed off to see it crash it’s way through and hit the ground with an almighty thump. The surrounding trees were sent into a manic dance as it bounced them around. I kept my distance until they had all settled down again, relived to have felled this giant. I always feel a little sad to have cut down a tree and this one was a really nice staright stemmed tree. But for the good of it’s neighbours, I had to make that decision. The photo does not really give you a good idea of it’s size. It must be around 50 feet long.

I finished the day with some bramble pulling in an area of ash saplings that I fenced off two years. It was to protect them form deer browsing and it has paid off. They are looking pretty good but it remains to see if the dreaded ash-dieback disease eventually claims them. So far it has not reached the woods here. I headed home very tired but happy.