Yesterdays visit was specifically to meet the new woodland Trust Outreach officer who had heard about our woods and my work there and wanted to meet me and any other owners to see what we had been up to. He was due to arrive mid morning bu I was bright and early at 7.30 to get a few jobs done too. First job to try to get the robin to feed off my hand again. No problem, it filled it’s belly then sat on a nearby twig and sang it’s little heart out. The weather was great and there was a definite feel of Spring to it, the birds being very vocal. The hazel catkins are looking beautiful, hanging like yellow lamb’s tails. These are the male flowers, the female ones are tiny red things you hardly notice. pollination is mainly by the wind carrying clouds of pollen from the males on the off-chance that they will land on a female flower somewhere. Isn’t nature amazing.
Next job was to re-secure the bent hawthorn branch that I had created an arch with by my table. It had been flattened by the fallen tree last week. I’ve propped it up with a Y-shaped pole and lashed it to another tree for stability. At the end of it, I re-fitted a stake to tie it to. Looking good again.
I finished the compost toilet wall which looks like a small fortress now. I shall enhance it with some brash at some point. I retrieved my trailcam but there was very little on it other than squirrels. I headed off to the gate to meet my visitor Jonathan.
A young and very enthusiastic guy who comes from an ecological background. We had a good long walkabout in my plot and he offered snippets of advice and approving comments as we went along. He was very knowledgeable about plant and bird species pointing out and identifying things I didn’t know. He enthused about my brash hedges and hazel coppicing and suggested installing a few dormice nest boxes to test if there are any present in the woods. They like to dig a small burrow below hazel trees to hibernate in. That would be fantastic if there are any. During the afternoon we wwlaked some of the rides and I took him to meet two other woodland owners for a chat them with too. It was a very pleasant and educational day. I’m buzzing with ideas now.
