above – Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma Fasciculare) fungi on a dead tree stump.

We’ve just had a few days caravanning in Southport on the Sefton coast and the sight of thousands of pink footed geese flying in formation as they head out to the salt marshes at dusk everyday is awe inspiring. It was the last morning of the mini break and as I head to the toilet block, I see and hear them returning inland. On a cold October morning, a warm toilet seat is a mixed blessing! I try not to think too much about who the last occupant might have been and turn my thoughts to going home, inspired by nature then another visit to my woods.

It was dark and drizzly when I left home to go on Saturday but I was ready for another visit and had a few tasks in mind. Last time, when I was preparing the hazel rods for basket making, I discovered that the riving break used for splitting rods, had rotted away. I needed to make another. I also wanted to do a few little jobs at the pond which is next to my workshop/shelter. It was still drizzly, so an ideal place to spend the day.

The riving brake consists of two upright posts with two horizontal ones, angled to form a shallow triangular shape. When splitting hazels rods for example, you place the rod between the horizontal poles which allows you to bend it which is needed when splitting them. It’s also called cleaving or riving them. The triangular shape allows you to put rods of different diameters in it. There’s still a few finishing touches to do but this is how it’s looking.

The large clump of fungi that I discovered last time is even bigger now. This photo shows my foot next to the biggest one so you can see how big it was – around 20cm diameter. I do believe these are Clouded Agaric the Latin name is Clitocybe Nebularis and I found more in different parts of the woods.

It is a good time for fungi now and the recent wet weather has sparked off a lot of fruiting bodies. For those that don’t know how fungi grow, the main organism is a hidden web of root-like fibres called mycelium. They are under the earth or inside rotten wood. The mushroom part is just the fruiting body, just like an apple on a tree. It contains the spores that will eventually be released to the air or the ground to reproduce and spread. So picking the mushroom does not kill the organism any more than picking an apple does. It just limits it’s capacity to reproduce. It has recently been discovered that mycelium of certain species of fungi are symbiotically connected with trees. They attach to the trees roots and are usually particular to one species of tree. Both parties benefit. The fibres are minute and known as Mycorrhizae and they can extend for miles underground. They can bore into rocks extracting vital minerals and water which are passed onto the tree roots and in return the tree provides them with carbohydrates which they cannot manufacture for themselves. Amazing!

These gorgeous tiny fungi growing in moss I believe are one of the Bonnet (Mycena) family and below is a tiny Common Puffball (Lycoperdon Perlatum) growing on a dead stick. It’s about 2-3 cms high.

The autumn colours on the trees are just starting to show, so next time there might be some photos of those. I am still working my way through the 300+ video clips on my trailcam and hope to post some compilations later this week. Bye for now and get out there and enjoy nature and see what you can find.

I set off in the dark and rain yesterday but as often happens, the weather had cleared en route. Last Saturday I attended a fungi foraging event organised by the Woodland Trust in one of their woods. It’s a subject that overwhelms me by the sheer number of varieties, yet I’d love to be able to safely identify a few of the edible ones. And as the instructor said, “First you should learn the lethal ones”.

The event also included a cook-up and tasting session of the ones we had gathered. It was interesting and informative and I think I can ID half a dozen accurately. I have never seen anything that looked edible in my woods but it has fired me up to have a really good look and see just what I could find, edible or not. This beautiful and stunning fungi was growing just inside the main gate to the woods and I believe it is a Magpie Inkcap – not edible (not more than once anyway!)

I spent a good time looking around mine and immediately found these, not seen them there before and still haven’t fully ID’d them yet but they look like Clitocybe Nebularis also known as Clouded Agaric

I also found these small fungi dotted around but no idea what they are. If there are any expert fungi folks reading this and know what they are please leave a comment.

Having set my trail camera at the pond last time, I was keen to see what was on it. There were over 400 clips and that is taking some wading through. I can say that wildlife is very much enjoying the facility. The main customers are Grey Squirrels, Wood Pigeons and various small birds. Night time shots did not come out well but several pairs of small shiny eyes were seen which look like Woodmice. Once I’ve had time to sort and edit them I shall post a compilation video. It’s satisfying to see how my work on the pond is paying off. I have finished it now apart from perhaps adding a few plants around and some oxygenating weed in it. This is how it’s looking. The mossy rocks make it look quite well established.

Remember my award for this blog? The second box arrived and I was so excited to find it contained a storm kettle. Sometimes called ghillie kettles or Kelly kettles, they were developed by Irish fishermen who wanted a simple device for boiling water, that would work in windy weather and use easily found materials fro fuel i.e. twigs. It’s basically  a double walled hollow tube. There’s a dish to contain the fire and the kettle sits on top. It acts like a chimney drawing up the flames. The water sits inside the double wall and is heated quickly. So I had to try it out didn’t I? I have to be honest and say my first session with it was not a huge success and I started wondering if I should just use my camp stove. But also being honest, it was due to my lack of experience and stupidity. So, first tip, don’t fill the water right to the spout. When it boils it will spill out and potentially extinguish the fire. In this case it didn’t but I was lucky. Secondly you need good dry sticks and plenty of initial tinder/kindling to get the fire going quickly. Having a small area of fire in the base means not a lot of heat to ignite the little sticks you drop down the funnel. Note to myself – get your act together next time you numpty!

The night before, I had been watching a video of someone making a basket from strips of hazel. They looked really attractive and as I have plenty of nice hazel rods, it made me want to have a go at making one. I would love to be able to use some of my trees for crafts and this would be ideal. I cut a couple of nice straight rods. You cut a nick in the bark and top layer then bend the rod which causes the top fibres to split away from the rod. You keep working your way along, bending and lifting until you have a long strip of flat, thin, flexible but strong material which is used for the weaving part of the basket. You can get 4-6 pieces from one rod and the remaining piece is cut and trimmed to make the hoop around the top of the basket and the longitudinal ribs. It’s not a quick or easy process but quite satisfying and for first attempts I got fairly good results. Here’s a photo of the strips and remaining rods.

The afternoon came bringing with it some rain, so I retired to my shelter to do this work.  The sound of the rain on the tree canopy and my shelter roof was calming and I just sat for a while taking in the beauty and peacefulness of the woods. The sun poked through now and then, illuminating the wet leaves and for a while, all seemed well and I was in my heaven. I didn’t want to leave. As Van Morrison says at the end of Coney Island

“I look at the side of your face as the sunlight comes
Streaming through the window in the autumn sunshine
And all the time going to Coney Island I’m thinking,
Wouldn’t it be great if it was like this all the time.”

October is here and yesterday saw the first frost on my car. It was dark too when I headed off to the woods. Thoughts of the coming winter and short days passed through my mind. Time seems to elude me these days and it seems only weeks ago that I was seeing the woodland coming back to life after last winter. It will soon be shutting up shop again and I will have to get busy with the chainsaw.

I was meeting a guy (Miles) from the Forestry Commission who was going to assess my application for a thinning licence. My present five year one runs out at the end of the year and in order to carry on felling any trees, I will need a new one. The whole woods has a TPO (Tree Preservation Order) which is set by the local council to prevent people felling important trees. As the woods has an ancient status I guess they felt it necessary to issue it. We met with another woodland neighbour who was also having his application assessed. The morning went quickly as we walked around our woods explaining our plans and what we have done so far and Miles gave us some helpful advice too. He told me that what I had done so far was good and that he would approve my application. Good to hear.

I was keen to see the how the new pond was after a week of very rainy weather. Had it filled up much?  It’s in a very sheltered position and I doubt it will collect much direct water, hence the need for the hosepipe idea of topping it up from my rainwater butt.

This is how it looked and it appears to have gained a couple of inches of water – an encouraging result. I set to and dug a shallow trench to bury the hosepipe. Now here’s a mini story about what I call Cosmic Ordering. Sometimes when in need of something, if you focus your mind on finding that thing, it will often come to you one way or another. Often in unexpected ways. I have experienced this many times. Well I didn’t want to have to buy a new hosepipe just for this little project and have been looking around car boot sales, online second hand sales etc but with no luck. I started thinking I would have to buy a new piece because I can’t progress the pond much until I have one.  Earlier this week I started clearing some rubbish out of my cellar and took a car load to the council tip. As I was dumping it, an elderly gentleman was heading toward me carrying a pretty expensive looking hosepipe and wheeled trolley dispenser. You are not allowed to take anything out of the skip once it’s in there but if you intercept it before it’s dumped, you are not transgressing their stupid rules. Kindly the man allowed me to take it off his hands and I headed home excited with my find! It’s better than the one we use in the garden so I swapped them and brought the old one to use in the pond.

Next job was to fill it to it’s maximum. The water barrel was full again and it took another half of it before it started to overflow at it’s lowest point. Now to start pinning down the edges of the liner and making it look more natural. Nearby there are a numerous large stones, many are covered in moss. It was a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, fitting them as best I could to hide the plastic as much as possible. At the shallow end I placed smaller stones which will give a firm base for birds and small animals to stand on and maybe take a bath. It still needs a few finishing touches, I transplanted a couple of clumps of sedge and I shall plant more next time. I am pleased with it and hopefully so will the local wildlife.

The title of this post mentions an award. One of the large woodland sales agents (woodlands.co.uk) also has a really helpful website with articles, a newsletter, blogs, videos etc and earlier this year, announced a competition for various “bests” – blogs, photos, forest schools, dogs, tool recommendations and lots more. A number of people who read my blog have commented on how much they enjoy it, so I thought “let’s have a go” and I entered my blog details. I’d completely forgotten about it until a few weeks ago when an email from them said I had won an award for it and would be shortly receiving some gifts as the prize. When I got home from the woods yesterday, a large box was waiting for me on the table.  The competition details suggested the prizes might be a book and maybe a woodland tool. It felt like my birthday as I eagerly opened it. Wow what an nice surprise, There was a book but also an enamelled mug, a nice notebook, woodland related poster, tea towel, ferro rod fire starter, and a bizarrely, a collapsible silicon dog bowl! (I just need a dog now to go with it). The cover letter said that there is another box containing something to come direct from the manufacturer. Maybe it’s a dog from God himself? Now that would be Cosmic Ordering! Here’s a link to the competition and thank you, my readers for your kind encouragement.

https://www.woodlands.co.uk/woodlands-awards/2019-award-winners/

Well that was the elemental flavour today at the woods. I bought a gunked-up cast iron pan at a car boot sale for £1 and want to restore it. The best way to get rid of all the nasty black greasy stuff is to throw it in a nice hot fire. It will burn it all off and leave you with a bare metal finish which you can clean up easily and re-season it. I haven’t had a fire at the woods for months so I was looking forward to having one. This is what the pan looked like before I started. obviously you have to remove the handle before you stick it in the fire!

I got some good hot embers going and put the pan in, turning it every so often. Left it in the fire for a couple of hours while I got on with the other job – the water element. More later but first some more photos of the pan.

Doesn’t look great yet does it but all the grease and old seasoning has been burnt off? Next step, to give it a good brushing with a wire brush and brillo pad. The pan will oxidise very quickly when subject to damp so I shall dry it thoroughly after scrubbing then apply vegetable oil straight away. To season it you heat it up pretty hot until the oil starts smoking. The pan should turn dark brown or black then a light rub over with more oil and you’re good to go. I’ll show you the finished item in my next blog.

So what about the water element? I have bought a small pond liner and want to make a pond near my shelter. It’s a pretty bad place for a pond to be honest. Best not to have them overshadowed by trees but it’s the only place I can really have one. There is no natural watercourse in the woods but I have my water butt nearby so the plan is to use the surplus water from the overflow. I shall connect a hosepipe to it, run it below the surface to the pond and that should keep it automatically topped up. The pond won’t thrive like it should do normally because it needs more light for oxygenating plants but it’s better than no pond and it’s mainly intended for birds, insects and animals to find a drinking source and maybe home to some frogs in spring.

This is the area where it’s going. First job was to clear the area of brambles and dead sticks. Then mark out a rough area with some cord. The pond will be approx 1.5 metres square.

Now the hard bit, digging. The ground was very dry and very hard, full of tough roots and soon I hit limestone rocks. The topsoil is only about a foot above the rocks. The pond doesn’t need to be very deep and a foot is deep enough for the edges (you need some shallow parts for birds to bathe in and small animals to drink from). I do want a deeper area somewhere so that anything that decides to live in it won’t freeze up in winter. So I shall have to return with a pick axe next time to dig out some of the rocks. I had hoped to get a little further with the project but I made a good start.

Meanwhile back at the camp, lunch was needed, so a veggie sausage and egg fry up to go in my bread bun was just the job. I sat and ate it whilst watching the little birds on the feeders. You see the skillet I used? Well that was also a £1 buy at a car boot sale a few years ago and that is how the other one below it will look when I’m finished restoring it. They are amazing to cook with on a open fire. Virtually indestructible and non-stick.

Today’s nature treat occurred on my way out on the ride. There’s an area where power lines cross and the ground has been recently mown. I glanced across to see three young roe deer fawns grazing. They didn’t seem disturbed by me so I stopped, quietly got out of the car with my camera and crept back. Sadly they had disappeared into the undergrowth by the time I got there. Pity a photo of them would have been great.

Next week I am going on a two day pole lath building course – exciting.

Small White butterfly

Yesterday the temperature was predicted to hit the high 20s Celsius. I left home around 7am and a low mist hung across the landscape. There were some fantastic photography opportunities but my mission was to get to the woods early. One of my neighbours had been camping overnight but needed to get away by mid morning and I wanted to meet him and have a catch-up before he left. He is a keen bushcrafter and nature lover and we always have plenty to talk about. One of the joys of having friends who share your interests, is being able to chat, swap ideas and stories without the risk of boring someone to death! His camp is minimal in true bushcraft fashion and I admired the simplicity of it compared to my more elaborate set-ups. A hammock slung between two trees and one rucksack for his gear. A cooking tripod made from hazel rods stood over a small smouldering fire. It felt good and I was grateful to be invited into someone else’s woodland sanctum. I wished I was staying over and we made a loose plan to possibly do an Autumn overnighter together.

Speckled Wood butterfly basking on a fern

It was to be another day where nothing much was planned, just to enjoy being in the woods and it’s cooling atmosphere on such a hot day. I eagerly checked the trailcam but disappointed again to find that it mainly contained shots of wood pigeons and grey squirrels drinking from the bucket. The night time shots of the Tawny Owl had been cut short to two seconds and I think that was due to low battery power. After lots of walkabout and photography I decided I should do a couple of jobs. I still have lots of logs lying around, waiting to be split and stacked for firewood, so I set about splitting a pile. Most were small and split easily so it didn’t overheat me. I sorted some from an older stack to take home for firewood.

I packed up a little early with some reluctance but decided to take one more short walk around, just to absorb the beauty of the woods. I looked up through a small opening in the tall tree canopy which formed a perfect woodland picture frame. I was rewarded with a beautiful blue sky, dotted with little fluffy clouds and a magnificent buzzard way up high, wheeling around and simply enjoying the thermals. A perfect ending. I leave you with a few more photos.

Spider web on holly

Small fungi

“Male” fern in sunlight

Yesterday’s plan was to meet some friends at the woods but a mix-up meant they had to cancel. I felt disappointed, I like showing people around the woods and I hadn’t made many plans as to how I was going to fill my time. I knew that once I got there, I would find plenty to keep me busy though. It was a day of doing a few small jobs and at the same time, having the opportunity to take my time, have a good look around and just savour the woods. I have mentioned before how special it feels when entering the woods. There is wildlife all around us to see in our towns and countryside but no habitat on dry land is as rich a place than a woodland. It’s like a natural zoo and botanical garden rolled into one but nothing is caged or manicured. Sometimes when you enter, you feel like you are about to watch a play but you are also one of the actors and there is no script. It’s a very subtle play and most folks would be bored after half an hour. But keep your eyes and ears switched on and you will be rewarded with small gifts from nature. Like this Meadow Brown butterfly on a bramble flower.

I was excited as I took the trail camera down to upload it’s 105 shots, hoping for some good video of the Tawny Owl that has been visiting the water bucket. Then disappointment as I discovered it was configured wrongly and had only taken still shots, none of them worth showing here as the quality is poor. The main visitors are Grey Squirrels and Wood Pigeons but there was a couple of the Tawny taking a bath.

The gifts – later as I worked, I was rewarded with sightings of a tiny shrew as it darted from one log pile to another, a tiny froglet in my camp area and the best of the day – a Green Woodpecker. I know there are some around and thought I saw one scrapping with another bird last year but never seen one for definite. I was alerted by a strange, very loud and unusual bird call, high above in the trees. I soon spotted it and tried to get a photo but it flew off before I could. I put some food out for the birds and sat for a while on my bench. The woods had been almost devoid of any bird sounds but within seconds a Robin, Nuthatch and various members of the Titmouse family descended. Later in the day I caught this unusual slimey “bird” gorging itself on the crumbled fat ball I had left on a log. Various butterflies flitted around feeding off the brambles in the sun.

I mentioned earlier that I was due to meet some friends there. They had given me a bat box earlier in the year and I hadn’t got around to fixing it up. So now was a good time and that was job number one. They need warmth so a South East facing position is good. I found what seems like an ideal spot, overlooking the small clearing I made in the Sycamore plantation where it gets plenty of sun and is the sort of open aspect they like, to hunt for flying insects. I may never know if any inhabit the box as they are protected by law and once the box is up, you are not allowed to take it down or open it up unless you are licensed to.

Having seen the Tawny trying to bathe in the water bucket, I figured to make it easier by installing a dish under the barrel overflow. I also want the bucket to refill too so the dish was strategically placed to catch the water first, then when that’s full, to overflow into the bucket. I think it’s going to work unless some pesky squirrel displaces it.

Next job was to dismantle the fireplace in front of the shelter. In September I am going on a pole lathe building course and hope to use the area for more woodworking. When we built the shavehorse earlier in the year, the fire was in the way and as it rarely gets used, makes sense to dispose of it. I left the concrete hearth in place so I can always light a small fire on top of it if needed.

Before

After

Last job was to mark up some trees for felling/thinning. The whole wider woods has a “blanket” TPO on it – Tree Preservation Order which means you need a license or planning permission to cut any live trees down. My current license expires in December so I have applied for a new five year one. The trees intended for felling need to be marked up in some way. Most have already been done but it seemed a good time to go around once more and see if any others needed marking. It also gave me the chance to have a really good look around and spot some more gifts from nature. I’ll end here with a few more photos .

Some type of small bracket fungus growing on dead log

Elderberries ripening

Berries from Arum Maculatum. Has anything got more common names than this plant? Snakeshead, adder’s root, arum, wild arum, arum lily, lords-and-ladies, devils and angels, cows and bulls, cuckoo-pint, soldiers diddies, priest’s pintle, Adam and Eve, bobbins, naked girls, naked boys, starch-root, wake robin, friar’s cowl, sonsie-give-us-your-hand, jack in the pulpit and cheese and toast.

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.

It was almost three weeks since my last visit when I went this Tuesday and I was badly in need of some woodland therapy. I had been emotionally battered for a few days after hearing that someone I considered a very close friend, appears to have a different and unjust opinion of me now. No need to explain further but it reminded me how fickle humans can be and how easily the balance of a relationship can so easily swing the opposite way.

I arrived nice and early to a warm and sunny woodland. Low, dappled light was highlighting these delicate Wood Meadow-grasses which grow along the ride edges. It was very quiet, the birds are still around but now that breeding season is more or less over, they have no need to advertise themselves by singing and calling. They just quietly get on with their lives, foraging for food. I sat on my bench near the bird feeders. In no time, small birds appeared obviously noticing my presence and anticipating an easy meal but landing on empty feeders. A robin advanced toward me as if to say “Hello again, I’m still here. How about breakfast?” These particular friends are non-judgemental and it warmed my heart a little. I filled the feeders and left them to it.

I had no particular jobs in mind. I just wanted to be there and reinforce my connection to the woods. I still had some photos to take for the Woodland Trust but once that was done I was free to walk about at leisure, with an openness to nature and the gifts it had to offer. To bathe in the peace with innocence and intrigue and absorb it’s beauty and soul-healing qualities.

I am slowly compiling a list of anything growing or living in my four-acre patch that I can identify. This mushroom grows in a particular place under some oak trees. I think it is called a Suede Bolete.

I felt I should at least do some work, so set about pulling bramble and nettles which were taking over an area previously cleared. It’s hard work and somewhat painful but also immensely satisfying. I piled it up at the edge of the ride and it will slowly rot down but in the meantime, provide habitat for lots of small creatures. It was here that I spotted this gorgeous butterfly basking in the sun. I didn’t recognize it but I now know it as a Comma. During the mid 1800s they were in deep decline but are now making a big comeback, firstly in the South but as the climate warms up, are making their way North. They lay their eggs mainly on stinging nettles, hops and elm. I don’t have hops or elm but have plenty of nettles in one area, some of which are now in a pile rotting down. Oops! I’m learning all the time and although there are still lots growing nearby which I will leave for sure, maybe I should wait until later in the year to pull any in future, in case their are larvae still feeding on them.

Not much else to report, it was a very quiet day. I met no-one and did little but it what was needed, so I’ll finish with a few photos of the day. Below – Speckled Wood butterfly

Below – Crab Apples growing profusely, going to be a good year for them. Might have to have another go at making jelly though after the last attempt I swore I never would!

I went to the woods yesterday but hadn’t got around to writing about the previous visit which was Saturday the 29th June. It was a sunny and hot, we were experiencing a mini heatwave and the shelter of the trees was welcome. I met up with one of my pals who is going through a tough time and was in need of some woodland therapy. I have said it before but will repeat, that spending a day in the woods is a real tonic for one’s mental and physical well-being.

I had no jobs planned, just taking the day as it came. The usual walkabout and fresh coffee kicked the day off well. I checked the trail camera footage but it was disappointing, The night time shots were cutting off after 2 seconds so I need to find out why and try to fix it. I knew some of our neighbours were going that day, the ones who have made the bodgers’ shelter that I described last time. My pal knows them too now, so we headed around to their place to spend an hour chatting and looking at the workshop.

One thing I did want to do, was have a go at making a small useful, wooden item together. I recently bought a new book about green woodworking and as we both like crafting things from wood, decided we should have a go at making something from it – a coffee bag clip. It’s basically a big peg that holds the bag shut after it’s been opened. I cut a hazel rod down and cut two 6 inch pieces to make a clip each. It turned out to be more difficult than I thought and I didn’t quite finish mine. My pal’s clip did get finished and it’s here showing how it is used.

So onto my solo visit yesterday, another lovely sunny day. This time I had two missions – my Woodland Trust fixed point photography project, which needs no explanation as I have mentioned it many times before. But the other one filled me with excitement, an experiment in sound recording! But first, my walkabout revealed a gruesome find. A big bunch of feathers that used to be a Wood Pigeon. I am guessing a buzzard made a meal of it.

There was virtually no sign of the carcass, birds of prey make a good job of plucking the feathers first, then perhaps removing it to another place to consume. A few jewel-like flies were cleaning up the tiny remains of flesh and blood.

I heard voices in the plot next door and was pleased to see some neighbours I hadn’t seen for a while. They have a young boy who seems to have taken to me (and me to him). I showed them the bees in the owl box and let them use my binoculars. We discussed the new pond they have created and the little lad offered to show me “his” woodland pointing out the dormice boxes they have put up (no sign of any dormice yet though). He told me they had seen Muntjac and Roe deer. It’s so good to see him getting a woodland schooling from his parents and I really enjoyed his guided walk.

Now what about this sound recording thing? One of my hobbies is playing around with music and recording. I like to experiment with unconventional equipment and methods to produce music and soundscapes. Another pal had suggested trying to record the sound of the bees in the owl box and using the drone sound somehow to make some music.  I liked that and it led me onto another idea which quite excited me. To record various sounds around the woods – birdsong, movement in trees etc and to edit them together to make some sort of audio experience of my woods. Recording the bees was going to be the most difficult. The box is mounted about four metres high and there was no way I was going to scale a ladder and get close to them with a mic. A few years ago I made some experimental microphones that use a small component for the actual mic but it requires a power source. I had mounted a battery, sockets and switches in an old OXO cube tin. Why? Because  had one and it looked cool! This arrangement allowed me to fasten the mic to the end of a long hazel pole and attach a long lead via the OXO tin and then connect it to my digital recorder. If your head is spinning with technical mumbo jumbo then here’s the photos of it. Basically it allowed me to stand well below the hive and poke the microphone up to the hole where they enter and leave, then record the sounds.

Armed with the high tech recording gear (grin) I gently positioned the mic outside the hive hole. There was a low and continuous, gentle hum which I took to be the sum of all the bees inside. They vibrate their wings to create air flow around the colony to maintain a healthy temperature. Superimposed on the hum were the sporadic and shrill buzzes as worker bees came and went past the mic. What an amazing experience and one that deepened my admiration and respect for these little creatures.

I carried on recording birds songs (and what a lot there was) a tree creaking over my shelter and my own footsteps rustling the leaves and cracking the dead twigs as I walked about. Plenty of material for my project. It could be a while before I have a finished sound piece but I will put a link to it when it’s done. What a lovely and interesting day. woodland ownership never gets boring for me.