Yesterday’s nature treat on arrival, was a buzzard. As I drove up the ride it flew up from the ground and into a nearby tree. I inched forward slowly to get a good look and it delighted me three times, stretching it’s huge wings to fly a few metres and land again. They are impressive birds and it’s not often you see them so close. I have an idea to do a Springwatch type of exercise – find some roadkill and place it on a prominent tree stump with my trail camera to see what comes to feed.

My main mission was to fell the birch that was uprooted during the storms earlier this year. It was in a dangerous place where I work and ferry things back and forth to the car, so it had to come down. As you can see in the photo, it was firmly lodged between other trees and would need winching out.

It was still anchored by the roots, so the first job was to cut through at the base and winch it sideways to clear the root. Then a change of position to winch it straight out to a point where it would clear the trees it was hung up in and drop. Here’s the set-up. It worked but was much tougher than expected. I pulled it about twenty feet and the butt of the tree was almost up to the winch. It dropped but not enough and I had to undercut it several times and reattach the winch straps and pull some more until it finally came out. It’s all cut up ready for splitting for firewood but hopefully I can make a few nice crafts items with some of it. It was diseased but still very solid.

I spent some time just sitting in the lovely spring sun, watching the many small birds on my feeders. How perfect that was. Being in the moment, at peace and happy. I can’t help thinking about the massive contrasts in the world. There, nature is quietly getting on with simple daily life. These harmless bundles of feather just minding their own business, taking only what they need to survive and looking for a mate. Across the other side of Europe, a power hungry, egotistical pyschopath is responsible for the death and destruction of innocent people and their homes on a massive scale which will have a knock on effect for all of us. You know what I mean – enough said.

I had a few more small jobs to do – clear up the brash from the birch tree, repair the collapsed wall around my composting toilet, move some branches I had previously cut when felling and pot up a tiny yew sapling that was growing in the end of a small rotten log. I’ve brought it home to nurture until it’s big enough to return it to a permanent position in the woods. What a fantastically satisfying day. I’ll leave you with some more photos. The first is an old chair that has been hanging around my cellar for a few years. I had ideas of renovating it but don’t have the time, so I decided it could be a guest chair at the woods. I like to treat my visitors to a bit of opulance!