Arriving early 7.30am, I stopped the car way down the ride and walked to where I’d seen the roe deer, camera ready, in the hope of seeing and photographing one. No luck this time. My main curiosity though was whether the blackbird eggs in the nest I found, had hatched and if they were safe. I’ve been watching Springwatch on BBC and at this time of year, wildlife breeding is rampant. Everything is trying to reproduce but at the same time, protecting their young from predators who are also trying to feed their young. It’s a harsh world for birds in particular. A low nesting bird like blackbirds could have the eggs or chicks taken by a number of predators – foxes, rats, squirrels, stoats etc and if they survive to fledge and leave the nest, other birds such as owls, woodpeckers, jays, magpies, buzzards and sparrowhawks can take them. So I was please to see they have hatched and safe so far. You can only see three beaks on the photo but I think the fourth one is in there too. Looks crowded already!

I love a good cup of real coffee. Instant is convenient, drinkable but not an enjoyment. To take a break and sit for a while in the woods, watching and listening to wildlife whilst drinking a good coffee, is one of the small pleasures. For a while I’ve been trying to find the ideal way of brewing it in the woods. Percolators and cafetieres are bulky and a little too refined. I have been using one-shot filter coffees which consist of a plastic cup with coffee grounds enveloped in a filter paper in the bottom. You place it over a mug, fill with hot water and leave it for a few minutes. Tastes good but you then have the wet, used plastic cup to dispose of. Well I think I found the ideal. It’s called a Phin and it’s a Vietnamese coffee filter. It’s uses the same filtering principle but it’s stainless steel. There are tiny holes in the bottom, you place two or three teaspoons of coffee in it, then there’s another removable plate with holes in it which goes over the coffee. Top up with hot water and leave it for a few minutes. You obviously need to take some fresh coffee grounds but you simply wash it out after use. It also gives you the choice of using your favourite blend. It works great and takes little space. Here it is sitting on my stainless steel mug – before, during and after filtration. The disk thing is a lid to keep it hot while brewing.

My main job was to carry on with the shelter re-build. The roof is more or less complete. I had one sheet of the clear plastic left so I cut it in half to make two small windows for the sides. The plan was to remove all the old logs which were propped up forming the walls. It worked to a degree but was not totally water or wind proof and they had started to fall down. I figure to form a sort of “stud wall” by screwing some poles to cross members, then staple a waterproof plastic tarp over them, then lean more logs up over the top to hide and protect it. The ones screwed in place will help prevent the top layer from slipping sideways in future. You can see the stud wall idea in this photo where I have started it on the back wall.

Whilst working, I disturbed a log bench I had built. It’s a simple device, a wide piece of sycamore trunk split in half and sat on two shorter pieces with V-grooves to act as feet. When I lifted it to reposition it, I discovered a resident hiding in the V-groove. If you are squeamish about toads (and I know someone reading this who is) then look away now – sorry but I had to include it! It’s a common toad and it quickly wriggled away to find cover. I wanted a photo and managed to snap this one. I felt guilty at disturbing it from it’s secure home so I chased and caught it and popped it back under.

One final wildlife incident which is a little bizzarre. Whilst dismantling the old poles, I found a bright green, smooth caterpiller. I tried to pick it off to put it somewhere safe but it was anchoring itself to the tree bark. An hour or so later I put my hand in my jacket pocket to retrieve some screws, pulled my hand out and opened it to find the caterpillar. Obviously I had dislodged it whilst working but what are the chances of it happening to fall into my open pocket? Every visit there’s something new. I love it.

I arrived yesterday before 8am to a dark and quiet wood. Birdsong was surprisingly scarce at first. The other day I  discovered my camera has wifi connectivity. I knew it had, but never explored it’s usefulness but I found an app for my smartphone that allows me to remotely view and control the camera. I set up the camera on a tripod, aimed at the blackbird’s nest I found last week, behind my logshed. I thought by now the eggs might have hatched (no she’s still sitting on them) and hoped to capture some close-ups of her returning to feed them. It was a failed idea, you need to be fairly close-by for the devices to communicate properly. It does have potential though for catching birds on the feeders. I had my usual walkabout, the Great Tits nesting in the tree hollow have gone. Close by, a Roe deer doe was disturbed by my presence. She looked at me then hid for a while behind some trees before elegantly bounding off.

I wanted to continue with the shelter rebuild. The new roof leaks like mad, partly due to it not having enough slope on it. I spent half the day lowering the back and tying in upright log supports. A quick test with the watering can looked promising but there were still one of two leaks. The panels are old ones and have a few holes which I thought I had patched o.k. but still a bit of fine tuning to do. I took down the old support poles which has opened it up now. Still got the sides to deal with but this is how it’s looking so far.

I have a massive pile of logs to chop and stack for seasoning from the Winter’s felling and time is flying by, so I spent an hour at this tiring but satisfying work. The lower pile is the new one. As you can see there’s an art to stacking, building it well so it doesn’t collapse.

I’ll leave you with a few photos from my walkabout. The vegetation growth is phenomenal at the moment and soon I will need to do some slashing and pulling of nettles and brambles to keep my pathways clear.

New second year growth on a coppiced hazel.

This is the same hazel in full frame. It grew around two metres in one year. Felling some big sycamores around the copse payed off and the area is flooded with light now. I can take the deer netting down later in the year.

This area near my campsite is shaping up nicely. A donated hazel plant in the foreground. Behind it a couple of young silver birch given to me as saplings and planted three years ago are healthy and clearing the brambles here has encouraged the ferns to grow massively.

Finally I had to include this shot because the flower is so simple and pretty and the small fly adds a sense of scale. It’s Herb Robert and is growing profusely amongst the stone chippings on the ride. This is what Googling it says about it’s medicinal properties. Herb Robert is used for diarrhea; to improve functioning of the liver and gallbladder; to reduce swelling (inflammation) of the kidney, bladder, and gallbladder; and to prevent the formation of stones in the kidney, bladder or gallbladder. Some people use Herb Robert as a mouthwash or gargle. The fresh leaves are chewed to relieve soremouth and throat.