Grey, windy and drizzly when I left home yesterday but as usual, the weather at the woods was better and it stayed dry. My good friend Phil gave me some clear plastic roof panels to replace the tarp on my shelter. The whole thing needs rebuilding which I hope to do in spring. I took the panels over and stashed them. During my usual walkabout I noticed a Great Tit investigating one of my new nest boxes. It walked all around it and eventually went inside. This one is meant for larger birds like Nuthatches and has a wider hole – 32mm. Great Tits are meant to prefer 28mm. Someone needs to tell this bird!

My neighbours arrived and I helped them release a hung up tree they had felled a few days ago. I’ve been busy watching online videos of different felling techniques. The tree was well and truly wedged between a fork. The only thing we could do with this one was to undercut it so it would drop a metre or so, then using a long pole as a lever under the butt end, “jump” it backwards until it fell out. Success then I headed off to do some felling of my own. The target was two more large sycamore in the coup I’ve been creating. This is how it looked after I finally got them down.

The first one fell perfectly. The second one looked challenging to start with. Although pretty well balanced, it looked like it might naturally want to fall into my neighbour’s plot. I planned it to go the opposite way and made my first “gob” cut. As I made the back cut it felt as though it was tightening on the saw slightly, indicating it wanted to fall backwards. I managed to get the tip of a wedge into the cut to hold it while I finished the back cut. While trying to bang it in further it fell out and the tree leaned back, settling on the cut at a disturbing angle towards my neighbours plot. This has to be one of the worst situations to rectify. The tree was now unstable. It would be almost impossible to make a new gob cut on the back side as the cut would be under tension and would close up on the saw. I guess the solution might be to start a new one above it but I didn’t want to be so close to it for that length of time.

With the help of my neighbour, we got a rope over a branch high up. The plan was to stand slightly to the side and in front and try to pull it forward again. It wouldn’t need much movement to tip the balance back the way I wanted it and after a few tugs it fell perfectly. I felt so much relief and was thankful I had a helper. On my own I would have been panicking! We sat and had a coffee and I decided it might be time to end the felling here for this season and start clearing up. I noticed that some of the fresh stumps from a couple of weeks ago were now oozing sap. The first stirrings of spring and new growth. Some of the stumps will be allowed to re-sprout and provide some bushy understorey which can be coppiced in future.

I spend the rest of the day clearing some of the brash and pottering. I’ve been wondering how I can fix the mini tarp over my work table when it’s raining. Last week it caught me out and my gear got wet. There aren’t any trees near enough to it to attach the lines. I could move the table but underneath is full of logs drying, making it a big job and anyway I like the position. There’s a long thin hawthorn branch behind it which has toppled over forming a natural arch. I like that feature. I rammed a post into the ground and pulled the branch forward, lashing it to the post to stabilise it. Two tarp lines could be attached now and with the aid of two long vertical rods at the front, I should be able to put the tarp up sheltering most of the table. I didn’t have time to try it but here’s how the arrangement looks. I might plant some honeysuckle to wind it’s way up the arch.

Saturday was dull and incredibly grey but little sign of rain. I’d made three new bird nest boxes last week. Two were slightly bigger than usual and intended mainly for nuthatches. I recently discovered that there’s no necessity to place boxes high up, other than to prevent people looking in and disturbing them. Most small birds prefer to nest low down anyway and as my woods aren’t open to the public, it makes sense to place them low enough to reach without using a ladder. However the nuthatches do prefer to be higher. This is one of my new boxes in position near my logshed and work area now. Last year a pair used an old woodpecker nest nearby. I often see them in this particular area so there’s a good chance of them using it. It’s close to where I often sit for a coffee break, so I can watch them come and go.

I thought it a good idea to go around all the other boxes, look inside to see if they were used last year and clear out the old nesting material in readiness for the new season. I had ten boxes and eight of them had been used. They would probably all be members of the Paridae family – blue tits, great tits or coal tits which are common here. Sadly one of them contained about eight tiny skeletons, so either the parents abandoned them or were killed by predators – owls, buzzards etc. Two of the boxes had fresh fecal matter, suggesting that birds were using them for nightime shelter during the winter. Many small creatures were also taking advantage – a queen wasp, a yellow coloured ladybird, spiders, millipedes, and various unidentified larvae. So the boxes are useful in many ways. The two boxes that weren’t used have been repositioned by stuffing them low down into the brash hedges. Robins and wrens might make use of them as they like overhanging cover. This is the other new nuthatch box.

The other main job was to fell some more sycamore. My next door neighbours were in which was reassuring when using the chainsaw. We help each other out when trees get hung up which is a regular occurance. The first one was easy and came down where planned with no fuss other than it “barber-chaired”.  A term used when tree stems unexpectedly snap off above your cut. It causes the bottom of the tree butt to pivot backwards on the fixed portion rather like the old fashioned barber’s chairs when they laid the customers flat for shaving. It’s dangerous and the reason you should not stand directly behind the tree when cutting. It was my fault, my lack of expertise. My back cut was too low. Must try harder!

The second one was much bigger and judging where it’s natural lean was and planning the cuts so it fell where I wanted it to, quite challenging. As I make the back cut and it gets close to the front “gob” cut, I usually pause to see how far I am and if my cut is parallel. This time I noticed the cut had opened slightly, suggesting the tree was starting to go. You daredn’t look up while cutting with the chainsaw, so it’s the only sign you get and time to stop and retreat to see if it falls. It didn’t fall but had started to lean. This is the part that is most nerve-wracking for me because it’s unstable and I have to get close again and take action to get it to fall. My first method is to hammer a wedge into the open cut but if that fails I have to take another small cut with the chainsaw. It fell with a reassuring crash exactly where I wanted it to. The feeling of exhilaration and relieve that it is safely down and I am uninjured, might be similar to what people get when participating in extreme sports. The “barber chair” can be seen in the foreground and the deceptively large tree behind. They look like large sticks in the photos but scale is misleading. Bare in mind they are probably forty to fifty feet tall.

One more to go and this one was at the top of the woods and would need to be felled partially across the track/ride. One of my neighbours watched out for anyone walking while we attempted to fell it. The base of the stem had a steep curve which would make it’s natural lean opposite to where I wanted it. Rightly or wrongly, I decided to cut above the curve, taking it out of the equation. It’s not probably how a professional would have done it but it made sense. However, cutting at face level feels very wrong. This one got hung and seemed to be still joined by a sliver. Wedgeing the cut proved useless. Taking a few more centimetres out with the saw didn’t help. By far the most comfortable option is to sling a rope around it as high as you can and pull sideways to dislodge it from neighbouring branches. It’s usually a case of rhythmic pulling and releasing, to get a nice swing going. I spent half an hour snedding and tidying up the ride. I was tired and it was time to quit while winning. I pottered for half an hour or so, taking the luxury of just looking at my woods. Standing quietly I spotted numerous small birds – tree creepers, nuthatch, various tits and a robin. They are quiet at this time of the year, so unless you stop and observe, you tend not to be aware of their presence. Birds are my favourite creatures.

Happy New Year to you all and looking forward to my fourth year as a woodland owner. I have to say I have not lost an ounce of enthusiasm for it and it’s one of the best things I have ever done. If you read this regularly you don’t need reminding. Thankyou for following my blog and the nice feedback you have given.

The year seems to have gone quickly yet I feel I have achieved quite a lot. A mini review might be worthwhile.  My hazel coppicing has been successful after felling several largish sycamore. The extra light brought more birds and dragonflies to the area and the regrowth on the hazel reached around two metres. Several more hazel stools have been cut to increase the coppice area and about fifteen new ones planted.

Two new brash hedges and an underground pit built to encourage wildlife and add interest. The felling of sycamore to create an open coup for replanting has progressed quite well and I’ve taken around ten more down this winter and more to come before spring.

I completed a full year of “fixed point photographs” for the Woodland Trust and a short film for their website. Sadly, my mentor and friend Robin has finished his role with the W.T. but we have exchanged contacts so hopefully he will drop by occasionally for a catch-up.

Several camping trips in the bag, an underground fridge and two new fireplaces built, plus a shavehorse for wood working. Sadly, ash dieback disease was first spotted.

Yesterday was frosty but sunny. My daughter bought me a small tarp for Christmas. It’s called a Magic Carpet made by DD hammocks. It can be used as a quick form of shelter or as a groundsheet. It’s small and light so can be kept in my bag or taken on my walks and bushcrafty adventures. I was keen to try it out and find a suitable spot in the woods for it. I love it. Dare I say I’m looking forward to a bit of rain to try it out for real. Shouldn’t have to wait too long for that!

My main job for the day was to fell some more sycamore in the coup. I took four down. Two got hung up but with the help of my neighbours, we were able to get a rope around them and shake then sideways until they fell. They were all quite tricky as their natural lean was not where I wanted them to fall. I used a wedge in the back cut to stop them leaning back and trapping the chainsaw blade. The last one I felled was in danger of crushing several oak saplings I planted a year or two back. I’m pretty chuffed with myself for missing them but look how close it was! By the way, the tree guard on the ground had already fallen over when the stake rotted.

The felled trees have been left on the ground for now as I am keen to get as many down as I can before spring. I can log them up later in the year. It looks like Armaggedon but the coup is starting to look more promising now and should let a lot more light in for the new trees. Some might ask “why cut trees down to plant more?” Well it’s part of the plan to gradually introduce a more diverse range of native trees into an area that is almost 100% sycamore to create a more semi-natural woodland.

The coup is situated close to the border with my neighbours. I chose that as they have a large open area there which allows a lot of light onto mine. Of course the bramble have taken full advantage of that and grow at an alarming rate. I’ve strimmed mine down and they have also done the same to a large area in theirs but the two were still seperated by a wall of bramble. I suggested it might be beneficial to us both if they were to cut the wall down to connect those two. Ground cover will have chance to migrate between them and it will also create a wildlife corridor between our two plots. They did that yesterday and this is how it now looks. I’m excited to see how that develops during spring and summer.