The forecast yesterday was looking great amidst days of wet weather this week, so off to an early start for my woodland therapy. I’ve been building a new picnic bench/table at home. The top is made from wooden slats I rescued that from a pine bed base. The legs are made from coppiced hazel logs. I built it as a sort of woodland flat-pack that would easily go into the car and then could be assembled on site. It will make my camping/cooking experiences so much easier. Remember bushcraft is not about “roughing it” in the wild, it’s about “smoothing it”. So why not allow myself the luxury of a woodland fitted kitchen. It complements my log coffee tables.

One of my neighbours here had contacted the local Bat Society and had had an interesting walkabout, here and in some local woods. He learned a lot about their roosting habits which has inspired him to build and erect some bat boxes. It’s something I have had in mind for a while, so was interested to hear what he had learned. By luck, he was coming to the woods yesterday so we arranged to meet. We spent some quality time chatting and later he showed me the boxes he was building using hollowed logs from a tree he had cut. I have plenty of material to build some, so might have a go later. Apparently they are best positioned in groups of several boxes in the same location rather than spread around. Birds will try to nest in them, so a canny ruse is to site a bird box nearby too. When a bird takes residence, it’s territorial behaviour will deter other birds from invading the bat boxes.

It was a gorgeous sunny morning, I put the bird feed out and as usual birds arrived within seconds. I made a coffee and just sat nearby watching them. Earlier I had been communicating with a nuthatch. One of their calls is a distinctive three-note call, a simple whistle which rises in pitch. I can copy it pretty well and it was replying straight away. I spent a few minutes enjoying that simple connection with a wild bird. I wish I knew what we were saying!

I was amazed at how much the groundcover had progressed in a week. The wood anemones were only just coming through last visit and already some are starting to flower. This little patch is the most advanced. In a couple of weeks the floor will be carpeted with them. I was also pleased to see my small patch of wood sorrel is doing well too. I’ve been nurturing it for a couple of years now. It has a lovely tangy, apple flavour.

wood anemones

wood sorrel

I’ve been growing some oak trees from acorns gathered from our local woods near home. They are about a year old and a few inches high. I took fourteen with me and planted them up in the area where I have been felling. They join some others that have been there a couple of years. I know it seems odd that I cut down some large semi mature trees, then plant a similar amount of tiny ones. The reason is to introduce some different species into an area that is almost exclusivley sycamore. This area was planted about 40-50 years ago as a timber crop. They have never been thinned, are overcrowded and of poor quality for timber production. So by felling some, I am opening up an area to extra light which will allow me to plant other species and also allow the groundcover to flourish. By keeping the brambles down as well, I am already seeing an increase in bluebells, wood anemones and one or two other species. The green tree tubes will protect them from browsing deer. Here’s how its looking now.

The woodland is awakening to Spring now, so the next couple of months will be an explosion of growth and bird activity. I can’t wait to get back in there.

We’ve been having Siberian weather all week which has been named the Beast from the East. Bitingly cold wind and driving snow. To attempt the fifty mile drive to the woods earlier would have been crazy but yesterday looked like a chance to see my woods under a decent bed of snow. It’s something I have been waiting for since I took ownership, having only seen a small covering a couple of times. I was eager to see what animal tracks might be around, to give me some idea of where to place a trail camera in future. I had a couple of small jobs to do but mainly it was to be a day for exploring and some campfire cookery. My neighbours arrived around the same time and as we stood chatting about the animal tracks, a couple of robins appeared and were almost at touching distance. I never tire of sharing the closeness of a wild creature that has clearly sought me out.

I found a few tracks leading from my parking/work area down my paths into the lower woods. Mainly rabbits or hares which I think these are but I did see a much larger track with a regular gait which must be a fox. There were several large areas where the snow had been disturbed revealing the dead leaves but there were no tracks leading to it. The detective in me figured it must have been a bird and a large one at that. Maybe a buzzard or owl. Time to make a fire and a brew and create some decent embers for cooking my lunch. Fried eggs and Quorn “bacon” slices in a bread cake. I haven’t tried the veggie slices before and the attempt by the manufacturer to emulate real bacon slices leaves room for improvement. They look like insoles for childrens wellies. They tasted ok though. It amuses me why vegetarian food is designed to try to copy the meaty versions.

Where I have been felling this winter, there was still a lot of brash lying around, so I spent some time using it to extend the dead hedge at the top corner of my plot where it is accessible from a ride (track). I had heard that the neighbouring farmer has had lots of his logs stolen and that the thieving b******s were using quadbikes and had been seen entering the forest. The hedge will make it more difficult for them to gain access to my healthy stack of logs though they can still get to them if they are determined. I’m hoping that because I am a few hundred metres in from the field edge that they might not want to risk being spotted so far in, with no quick escape route.

One of the interesting affects of the snow is showing up the thousands of small saplings springing up all over the lower woods. These tiny trees are about two years old, mainly sycamore and ash. The snow has covered the dead leaves but not the saplings which has made them easily visble. Here’s just a small patch of them. I guess most will eventually die, unable to compete, otherwise I have a heck of a task thinning them out!

By the time I left, the snow had already started to thaw so the chance to see the woods like this again might not happen for another year or more. It was a rare chance to see it in a different light and have the pleasure of exploring again. I’ll leave you with a few more photos.