I’m late with this post due to nasty DIY jobs at home which are pressing and time consuming. It was last Saturday when I went to the woods. I decided to continue with the bramble brush cutting, clearing the areas that had regrown from last year and making better access to some trees that I want to fell this winter. As usual I had a walkabout first. Even after three and a half years, there is still an area I really don’t know very well. It’s right in the centre of the lower half and there is no reason to go into it because it’s not a target for any work yet and quite brambly. Well just for the hell of it I waded in. I found the scattered remains of what was probably a wood pigeon. I don’t know what predated it but guessing it was a buzzard. No sign of the carcass, just wings and feathers.

I erected some deer netting around a couple of healthy young hazel trees that had been donated by a friend in spring. Doing really well but looking quite tasty to a hungry roe deer and standing out like a sore thumb where I’ve cut the bramble back.

I noticed this harlequin ladybird on the top of the hazel. They are a non-native species from Asia and killing off a lot of our native ones. They are much bigger and apparently eat ours. Can you spot another small predator on the same twig? It’s so well disguised it took a while for me to notice it.

I covered a fair bit of area with the brushcutter, you can see what a difference it makes to the woodand floor compared to the bramble in the background. It looks severe now but the bluebells and wood anemones will love the extra light in Spring and hopefully other ground cover plants will take advantage too.

I had a nice surprise this week. The Woodland Trust are writing a fairly large article about their Heritage Lottery project for PAWS woodland owners that is ending soon. It will go in their next quarterly magazine. They were pleased with the filming they did with me and wanted to include some of the material in the magazine. I had a long conversation with a very nice lady about my work here and it looks like my fame as a woodland is spreading! It’s a nice compliment and am looking forward to seeing the article. Hoping to go again on Sunday and bash some more bramble.