It was a dreary, cold and foggy day yesterday but I got straight into some tree felling and soon warmed up. I took down six more weak sycamore trees, cut them into various log lengths and started the heavy task of shifting them to stack somewhere. Already the bluebell tips are lurking under the dead leaves and it won’t be long before they are readily visible, so the next few weeks are crucial to drop a few more trees and clear up.

Intriguing title eh? Well my woodland neighbours decided to take down a huge beech tree to open up an area and create a small light-filled glade. They enlisted the help of an experienced mate but unfortunately it didn’t fall quite where they planned and got very badly hung up on another large beech tree. These trees are about twenty metres high and about two metres circumference at the base and must weight several tons. They came back yesterday to have a go at releasing it. Here’s what it looked like.

It looked impossible to shift but between us we managed it. Their pal had a winch which he attached to the base and tethered at right angles to another large beech. He had a heavy-duty jack which he placed under the base. A combination of lifting and side winching eventually started it moving sideways and outwards. There was a loud crack as the supporting branch snapped and the whole thing came crashing down with an enormous loud thump and cloud of dead twigs and debris. It was scary and exciting to witness. I know how relieved everyone felt to know it was down safely and nobody died!

I took a break from working and watched a little woodmouse scurrying around and venturing onto my little fireplace where I leave birdseed for the robin. The mouse has discovered this source of easy food and often pops it’s head out to check for danger, then grabs a piece and disappears to eat it. It’s always a thrill to see these little lives close up.

The day was pretty much about hard work and here’s one of my log piles ready for splitting and stacking for firewood. It’s a sight that always gives me a sense of satisfaction. Still plenty more to shift which I hope to tackle next week.

An odd title? Well I have this thing about “The New Year”. People celebrate it as if it’s a new car or a new pair of shoes, bound to be better than the old ones but in reality, it’s just the next day in a long series of chance experiences. Optimism is a good thing but I’m sorry to say that life experience has shown me that it’s really a game of roulette. You win some, you lose some. The last two years have been pretty crap for most people due to covid19 (unless you are a manufacturer of face masks, hand sanitiser or lateral flow kits). Isn’t it ironic that the kits that we so much rely on are made in China? Enough of the cynicism, I really hope that things are going to improve but right now it’s not looking like a great start to 2022.

What is great though is spending time in nature and that helps us to focus on the here and now and forget the bigger and uglier aspects. Yesterday I headed off to my woods intending to start tree felling. It’s a long term plan to thin out the overcrowded sycamore plantation. One of my faults is to underestimate the time it takes me to do anything. I thought I might get ten small trees down – in reality it was three.

When I left home it was very windy, not good for felling but it was calm when I arrived at the woods. I figured the wind might follow me later that day, so set about with chainsaw straight away. At the start of the felling season I try to rebuild confidence by tackling the smaller trees. Actually they are more difficult because they tend to get hung up more easily but they look less daunting. Having said that, they are only smaller in diameter, still a good 15-20 metres tall. As predicted, every one got hung up and had to be wrestled out of the neighbouring trees.

Cutting a tree down never comes easy to my conscience. I am doing it for the right reasons – to remove the weak and sickly trees to give more light and nutrients to the bigger healthier ones. It’s standard forestry practice but the more sensitive of us still realise it’s a life being taken. Sometimes the stump will send up new shoots. Some will soon die off but others thrive and form a coppiced stump which can then grow on and be cut again in years to come. Some species coppice better than others and some don’t at all. Sycamore is a very vigorous tree and given enough light will do well. Hazel is a classic coppice species and this photo is a stump that was cut right back about 5 years ago and has now produced these lovely straight rods which can be cut again in a couple of years and will make lovely material for various craft products.

My neighbours came and started some felling in their cherry plantation. Inevitably one got hung up and wedged between a large forked tree. That’s probably the hardest to tackle by yourself and can’t simply be shaken free, so I lent a hand and after much head scratching, pulling and wrestling, we eventually got it down. It’s always a relief when the last piece hits the floor!

My daughter gave me a wood gasifier stove for Christmas. It works differently to the simple metal box types where you light a fire of twigs and have to continually drop more in to keep it going. This one you stack fairly tightly with twigs or in this case, kindling I prepared at home. You wedge pieces of thin bark between to light it (took some doing) but then the hollow casing draws air up and out of the holes at the top, and creates a more stable, efficient and useable flame, almost like a gas ring. It lasted about fifteen minutes, enough time to heat my tin of veggie curry and brew a coffee.

The forecast for the day was great, the wind did arrive and eventually by mid-afternoon so did rain. I’d done as many jobs as I could, so simply retired to the shelter listening to the raindrops on the metal roof and just enjoyed the peaceful woodland scene for half an hour before heading for home – tired but happy. Bye for now.

Who would have thought we might have a blackberry flower at this time of year?

Technically speaking it was the day after the Solstice but it’s officially the start of Winter. That always puzzles me because it’s the shortest day in terms of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere, so logically it should be midwinter. Well it was still dark when I arrived but lot’s of birds were up, presumably looking to “catch the worm”. They flew up out of the undergrowth as I drove up the rides. I sat in the car for a while enjoying the warmth and watching the morning get light. It was frosty and I headed to the shelter and lit my homemade fire-bowl for some comfort.

One of the main jobs on my list was to coppice a hazel tree. I wanted some thickish straight rods to make stool legs but they need to season for awhile. I picked a tree that had plenty of light above so the new growth would go straight and worked my way through the rods and limbs by hand. Far more satisfying than using a chainsaw. I got some nice forked pieces out of it too which can be used to make coat hooks or rests for fire cooking. I trimmed all the rods and stored them in the shelter to season.

I’m really pleased with some of the hazel I coppiced a few years ago. They have grown abundantly and quite straight and already are probably thick enough to cut again for walking sticks and such but I’ll leave them another year or two.

I wanted to try my fire bowl for cooking on, so I took my trusty cast iron skillet, an egg and veggie sausages and made a delicious fat sandwich. It worked well. Oh and I do like my yolk broken otherwise it oozes out and drips!

Before I left home I joked with my wife that I was having our woodland works Christmas “do”. My guests were my two little buddies – the robin and the wood mouse who regularly appear in the area of my mini fireplace by my car. I put seed on it, at first for the robin who always hangs around me. Then I spotted a tiny mouse popping it’s head through the rocks and when it feels safe, it takes a seed and disappears again. We did have a party for a short while, both turning up at the same time to tuck into the grub. They left me gifts of companionship and sheer pleasure!

Apologies for the slight lack of quality to the photos. My camera batteries were flat so had to use my phone. This might be my last visit before the New Year. Thanks to those who regularly follow my woody ramblings. I hope you can all enjoy your Christmas despite the crappy Covid situation we have to live with still. Best wishes.

Almost three weeks since my last visit and I was in need of some woodland therapy. Numerous small tasks to tick off but I wanted to embrace the experience and get that lovely feel-good factor. It was just coming light when I arrived and a low thin mist hung through the ethereal woods and all was quiet. It was a good start. We had storm Arwen after my last visit, so first job was a walkabout to check for damage. Apart from a few small dead branches, all was intact. My shelter was just as I’d left it and the sight of it warmed my heart. I was going to spend some time here, do a few jobs and just enjoy the place. I felt real gratitude for my friend who had helped me build it – thanks mate.

I have made a fire bowl from an old helium gas tank that I cut in half, drilled holes in the bottom, added legs and a removable grill. I don’t want a permanent fire place at the shelter but something I can move around, have a brew on and maybe cook a simple meal on. I wanted to try it and hey, it worked fine. Here are before and after photos of the inaugural fire – and the “elevensies” to celebrate it – filter coffee and a mince pie and what could be a better setting to enjoy them?

It was a good time to get to know the shelter better, make a few adjustments and plans and just simply enjoy. I filled my trugs with logs to take home, each time I took one to the car and came back to the log pile, my friend the robin was there. Taking advantage of the newly exposed areas where tasty titbits might be lurking, all the while checking me out to see if it was safe. I just love that interaction with wild creatures.

Some woodland neighbour friends arrived who I haven’t seen since early Spring and it was great to catch up. This year I have seen very few of any neighbours, I guess the covid thing has put some people off travelling though I can’t think of a safer place to be.

Below is a tiny Yew sapling growing in the rotten centre of a small birch log. It speaks volumes to me, a symbol of the tenacity of nature, hope and positivity. It also poses a certain moral issue – leave it or transplant it? Well left alone it will never make an adult tree. It will outgrow it’s source of water and nutrients and die. Often nature film makers will just let nature do it’s thing. They feel they have no right to interfere but I don’t agree entirely. We interfere all the time just by being here and ruthlessly using the planet’s resources. So if it’s not robbing another creature of it’s food source but helping another life to survive longer, then I feel it’s justified. So I will pot it up, nurture it at home for a few years then return it to the woods to live out it’s (hopefully) very long life.

Having done all the jobs on my list I took time just to walk around and take some more photos. We have this misconception that nature goes to sleep in winter but there’s still plenty going on and some nice photo opportunities to be had. The lack of foliage reveals things we wouldn’t see in Summer. I’ll leave you with a selection of wintry scenes. First one is some new hazel catkins. They will stay dormant now until Spring when they will open.

There’s just something deeply satisfying about lighting a fire in the woods and sticking the kettle on, then sitting back with a brew, watching the flames and admiring your surroundings. For awhile it seems to say “Everything’s alright in your world”. As Van Morrison said in his song Coney Island, “Wouldn’t it be great if it was like this all the time”

Yesterday was a mixed bunch of activities at the woods. I planned to stay late, until it was dark, to try out a night vision camera device that a mate had lent me. More of that later. I recently acquired and old fashioned scythe and I wanted to try it out on some brambles. I have a heavy-duty, petrol-engined brushcutter which does the job well but it’s heavy, smelly and noisy. For some time I have toyed with the idea of a scythe, maybe not so much for the dense bramble but more for keeping the new softer growth down. I’ve never used one before, so my technique wasn’t great but it did seem to work quite well, even on some of the tough stuff. It needs a bit of a clean up and sharpen but I think it’s going to prove useful. Might come in handy at Halloween and New Year too!

I took a whole mackerel to cook for lunch. People who know me also know that cooking is not one of my natural skill but it turned out perfect. I had planned to do it for my evening meal but figured that cooking and eating it in the dark was just a bit too much of a challenge. Picking the small bones out is definitely something to do during daylight. I simply marinated it with some sweet chilli sauce, wrapped it in foil and cooked slowly over embers, turning it half way through. It took about half an hour which seems quite long for fish but I raised it fairly high over the fire so as not to burn – always a danger when cooking on fire. It went lovely with some salad. Not the prettiest of presentations but who cares?

A job I have been meaning to do is to cut and burn the ash saplings that have died from chalara – ash dieback disease. There is no obligation to but there are numerous small, naturally regenerated saplings and although 90% or more have the disease, some are resisting it so far. So by removing as many as I can, it will make it easier to see any new ones that have succumbed to the disease against those that are resisting. it will be a long project. I one small area I filled three barrow loads.

Now to the stalking element in the title. As mentioned, I have been lent a device that uses infra red to illuminate the dark and allow you to view it and take photos or videos. I wanted to try it in the woods with the off chance that I might spot some wildlife – deer, fox, owls etc. Although it was very effective at showing the area in the dark, it wasn’t easy to use in this situation. The device has an illuminated screen so for me, I needed to wear my reading glasses. Looking for wildlife in a large forest is like a needle in a haystack. Also very difficult to navigate as you can imagine. A good torch is necessary to see your way and if you are shortsighted – distance glasses. So it was a case of walk a hundred metres, swap spectacles, torch off, device on then scan around through the dense trees for something animals shaped. Nothing. Then device off, swap spectacles again, torch on and walk some more. Repeat previous steps. Conclusion is that if you were in a more open area where you knew there would be wildlife and you could stay in one spot, then it would be fantastic but it this case it just didn’t work well. Interesting to try it though.

As I sat by the dying embers ready to pack up and head for home I heard two tawny owls not far away. One hooted then other other replied with a gut wrenching screech. The screech conversation lasted a short while and I could tell one of them was flying by my woods. Was this the opportunity I wanted with night vision camera? Well if I knew where they were in amongst the thousands of trees and get there before they left, then yes but sadly it wasn’t the case.

I was excited to be spending a whole day in the woods again yesterday. The autumn colours are just amazing at the moment but I know from past experience, they could be mostly gone in a week or so. A bit of frost or strong winds will blow away most of the leaves. The sycamore and ash have already fallen but the trees that produce the most beautiful colours – oak, beech, hazel, birch are still giving us a show. I had a long list of small jobs to tackle but intended taking plenty of time out to just walk around, observe and soak in the beauty and health giving properties of the woodland.

I had numerous tidying up jobs to do in and around the new shelter and set-to with those first. It had become a crowded dumping ground for everything that was in the old shelter plus new additions and so a bit of reorganising was priority. It’s looking a bit more workmanlike now and I’m really feeling at home in it and looking forward to doing some work there or just sitting in it listening to the rain falling on the metal roof. I find that experience very calming and enjoyable. I need to plan some projects and instead of just choosing fair weather days, make a point of going when rain is forecast!

Next job was to inspect and empty all the birds nest boxes. Glad to say that most of them had been used. While the ladder was out I wanted to take a look at the owl box that has been home to a colony of feral bees for the last three years. I haven’t seen any activity there for a few months and suspected they had left. I was correct. I carefully cracked open the inspection door to finally see what the wild hive looked like. Amazing how they have built the combs in layers without any frames to support them as they do in regular beehives. I guess they know what they are doing! I can see that some of them are dark and rotting and wonder if those are the oldest ones that eventually go that way over time and maybe that’s is why they have left – they have reached capacity and need to start again. I am a bit sad they have left but feel privileged to have had them for so long. I shall probably remove the box now as it will be probably be no good for anything else.

I spent some time just observing the woods and enjoying the autumn colours. I will be doing some tree felling before long to continue the necessary thinning in the sycamore plantation, so I made a mental note of some that need to come down. I took plenty of photos especially around the hazel copse. The new growth is around five to six years old now and the area has turned into a beautiful vibrant place. The colours were bright yellow giving a sunny appearance even though it was a dull day. I’ll leave you with a few more photos.

Now that my shelter is functional, I wanted to spend a day with the two pals that have helped me build it, mainly just to celebrate it, enjoy their company and have a good laugh. Simon, the chief clown, seen here demonstrating how a wheelbarrow can be a comfy chair while he tells one of his ribald stories. I had a very difficult job that I wanted to do which was to erect the tawny owl box I built last year. So having a couple of good mates to help was essential. After some tricky manouvering at the top of two ladders, we got the box strapped into place on a magnificent beech tree. I am really hoping to get some owl residents next spring.

It’s an incredible time of year for fungi spotting, here are a few of the most stunning. This one is Amanita muscaria commonly known as Fly Agaric looking like the typical fairy tale mushroom.

This is Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare)

This one is Lycoperdon perlatum – Common Puffball this one about the size of a golf ball

Yesterday’s visit was dedicated to shelter work. I wanted to fit a rain gutter to my new one and demolish the old one. The recent rain has sparked a lot of fungi activity. This little lot are growing on an old log I placed by my bench a few years ago as a sort of coffee table!

Now that the new shelter is more or less completed I really wanted to demolish the old one and tidy up. I had considered getting my pal to help me as he did such a lot of work building the new one but he said something that seemed odd at first but then made sense when I thought about it. He said I should do it myself as it was sort of spiritual. I believe that when we make something and use it regularly, we sort of imbue it with something of ourselves. I can’t explain it scientifically but you will perhaps understand it when you think about your home. Why does it feel especially comfortable when you have been away from it? What makes it feel like home when clearly a hotel or other person’s home feels alien? So having put a lot of me into the old shelter, it did feel right that I dismantle it on my own. Here’s a last photo before I took it down. It was about to collapse due to the insect damage and rot.

Ive had a lot of pleasure from it but it only lasted three years. It was the second one I built and I expected it to last longer but the sycamore poles just got eaten away. I’ve sat in it during thunderstorms, done woodwork, sat in it in the dark and cooked a meal just for the experience and just enjoyed sitting in it and taking in the beautiful woodland scene. The new one doesn’t have that natural rustic look but is already getting me excited with it’s potential for more activities. As I took the old one apart, at one point a feeling of sadness washed over me for a few seconds, like saying a last goodbye to an old friend. Yeah I know I’m a big softie but I like it that way.

Going

Gone

It was surprising how much timber had to be cleared away and how much stuff I was storing in it which had to be moved to the new shelter. Some of it will eventually be removed or used up. So how does the new shelter look? I haven’t posted any photos of it yet but here it is. I love it!

There’s still some small work to do and it will be an ongoing project for a long time but it will be a fantastic asset to the woods and my work and hobby activities there. I worked pretty solidly all day and didn’t get time for a walk around so didn’t get chance to take many nature photos but here is a marvelous oyster mushroom which I believe is edible, growing on a dead fallen birch tree. Looks like something beat me to it!

It was around 7am and still dark when I left home for the woods yesterday. A reminder that summer has truly gone (my internal calendar is always a month or two behind) and before long we will be changing the clocks back an hour. It’s a day in the year when I feel sad because the dark nights are even longer and it heralds the end of the growing seasons. I was rewarded by a beautiful sunrise. It was a still day with little cloud but as the sun rose, it lit up the underside of the wispy clouds in a palette of beautiful colours.

Yesterday I went specifically to do lots of small jobs on my new shelter but I took some time out to wander around with camera to see what nature had to offer. The photo above is Magpie Inkcap and there were lots growing on a large heap of rotting wood chips just inside the main entrance. I don’t have any in my patch but decided I would like some. I have a pile of wood chips now so decided to take a few of them and transplant into my pile. Hopefully the mycelium (sort of the root system in fungi) will spread and produce some of the fruiting bodies next year.

I came across quite a few small downy feathers. Not sure what bird they are from but suspect wood pigeon and that it had been predated, possibly by a buzzard or fox though I couldn’t find the remains of the body. As I sat eating my lunch I was joined by two woodland friends – a robin and a wood mouse. I put seeds out for the robin on a concrete slab that I sometimes use for a small stove. Suddenly a small furry head popped up to scout for safety before then grabbing a seed and disappearing again. I aimed the camera and waited. A few minutes later it reappeared and I managed to get a couple of shots.

This next creature is a hawthorn shieldbug. They look like beetles but are part of a different family. They don’t scare easily so you can get right up close for a macro shot like this.

My last surprise was finding some sloes on my blackthorn bushes. Shortly after buying the woods, I found a pot of half a dozen saplings in a nursery and bought them. I planted them near my border in a light area not knowing if they would really take to a woodland environment as they normally grow along field edges. I thought it would be nice to have some of those beautiful creamy white flowers in late winter/early spring and wondered if they would ever produce any fruit. For the first time I have some. Quite pleased with that.

Soon it will be time to start doing some tree felling to continue the thinning out of the sycamore. I’m still hoping to get motivated enough to do an overnight camp trip but of course it will be dark all evening then. Let’s see!

I can’t believe the Spring and Summer have gone already and Autumn is now officially here. I haven’t done any camping this summer despite penciling in several. I just haven’t had the head space to plan one but hopefully I will get one in before long. I haven’t posted on here for the last few visits as I’ve been very busy with a big project and there was nothing much to report and I didn’t have time to take any photos.

I have a new robin friend, I think it was one of this year’s brood as it didn’t have it’s full red breast. It hangs around the area where I sit for breaks and lunch and I’ve been offering titbits of food which it takes and scuttles off into the brambles to eat. I’d like to try to train it to eat off my hand like Bertie did. I had an interesting encounter with a grey squirrel whilst sitting. I spotted it heading down a path straight toward me so I sat as still as possible. Amazingly it stopped about 30cm in front of my foot, totally unaware of me. I moved slightly and it was off. On my walk I spotted this charming specimen. I’d say it’s deer poo but is it Roe or Muntjac?

I’m not sure my feral bees are still here. There was no sign of them at the owl box where they’ve been for the last three years. Sometimes if it’s wet or cold, they stay inside but it was neither so I’m wondering if they’ve left. Might put a ladder up and have a listen and if it’s quiet, have a peep inside if possible.

Before long the trees will be turning brown and it will be time to start some more tree thinning. I’ve still a way to go before I am satisfied I have done enough but conscious that I need to start taking things a bit easier and just enjoying the place. I’ll leave you with a couple more photos while it’s still green.