Speckled Wood butterfly basking on wild raspberry leaf.
Last Saturday it was still very warm but we had had some very heavy rainfall and thunder storms around the region. I was glad the woodlands had been given a good watering after such a dry year. I just had three aims for the day – to clear some of my paths which had become badly overgrown with bramble and nettles. To try out an ex-military tarp and to see what my trail camera might reveal from it’s new position. I was stunned to find approx 250 video captures. It was going to take some time to trawl through them. I look at the black and white night-time shots first because they are likely to be the most interesting. Lots of the daytime shots were false triggers with nothing on. But the thrill was to see a Tawny Owl drinking and bathing in a bucket of water. I had purposely left it under the overflow pipe of the water barrel so that it would automatically top it up when it rained and the barrel was full. Have a look at the compilation video here but it’s best to view on a large screen rather than a smart phone (you won’t see much otherwise).
Strimming the internal paths was hard work but necessary for me to be able to get around unheeded. The growth of bramble and nettles in one area was phenominal. Whilst it is great for wildlife, it’s not so good for me. This is an area I did and where I had found a deer bed earlier in the year.
One more task was to try out an ex-military tarp I bought a while ago. They are relatively cheap to buy but getting harder to find unissued ones. It’s called an IPK which stands for Individual Protection Kit. They are just a sheet of very strong waterproof material supplied with cordage and aluminium ground pegs. They were mainly intended for emergency cover for soldiers out in the field. The idea was to dig a trench then cover it with the IPK and peg it down. They are supposedly strong enough to hold up a truck when done correctly. There are no hems or tie-down tabs or rings, so I modified it and added my own to make it into a more conventional tarp. I have been toying with the idea of using it temporarily to extend the cover at the front of my shelter when I want to do some woodworking and the weather is not so good. Of course I need some places to attach guy lines to so I wanted to experiment with using nearby trees and the shelter itself. The photo show the best arrangement I could find so far. Not particularly good and maybe the tarp needs to be a bigger one.
August 11, 2019 at 5:23 am
Hello – lovely blog – I have just bought my retirement home for when I come back from working overseas and am lucky enough to have about 2 acres of mixed woodland at the bottom of the garden. Its overrun with invasive Laurel mostly – but where it isn’t there are primroses and bluebells – I am just clearing the first of the Laurel and taking an audit of all the trees, oak, birth, sycamore, ash (some die back). Reading your blog – dipping in and out – lets me see that a little and often will be a good way to go. Absolutely understand how you feel about it. I barely touch the garden – I spend every minute I am in the UK with my saw, loppers, binoculars – stopping to look at birds, or butterflies. Thank you for your inspirational blog – I have been tapping away a tough at http://www.ourfewacres.com
August 12, 2019 at 7:36 am
Neil thanks for your kind comments. I took a quick look at your blog too. a fantastic house and so lucky to have the wood with it. I have to drive 50 miles to get to mine (but it’s worth it) You have some beautiful photographs I shall spend some more time exploring yours when I get chance. Be very careful with that laurel and don’t burn it if it’s still green at all. It’s persistent too, keeps popping back up. And remember, don’t spend all your time working in it, take some time just to be there, walk about, sit and observe. Best of luck.