Returning to the meadow

A comment on my previous posting regarding the wild flower meadow, made me realise that I had not fully explained the way that managing the meadow benefits the wildlife that inhabits it. So I am grateful that this was pointed out to me. Sometimes it can be difficult to know if by assuming some knowledge or experience, I am going over the heads of people. Or worse still by over explaining I know I risk sounding condescending. Therefore I do welcome comments and questions, I may not know the answer mind you as I am only a simple mouse.

It is true that by cutting the vegetation off of a flower meadow will open up the area to some predators, especially airborne ones, but the overall effect is much more positive. In the winter a lot of the vegetation would die back anyway exposing the voles, frogs, mice etc to predators. However, by cutting now, the small creatures are able to relocate from breeding areas to what will become their winter quarters sooner. Over the many centuries of cutting meadows for hay, there has been an evolutionary behaviour shift that allows them to cope with this. Also by cutting down the vegetation, some will inevitably get left in the field, this becomes food for the insects and the insects become the food for the frogs and toads. Further, by cutting the meadow, more seed from the wildflowers drops to the soil. Some of these will be eaten by the mice, voles and shrews, some will be eaten by birds, some however will have the chance to spread to fresh ground via wind dispersal, or passing through the guts of birds, complete with their own manure package, or on the feet and paws of other larger animals.

The tricks of old agricultural practices often did have a beneficial effect upon the wildlife. That is one of the problems with modern chemical and industrial methods; they leave little or no room for the wildlife. Therefore to protect crops from insect damage, crops have to be sprayed, as the absence of wildlife means that there is nothing to stop the insects from eating its way through a crop. Sometimes we forget that while yields were lower in the days before chemicals, it was the wildlife that did most of the protecting of the crops. It was not perfect but it worked well for nearly two thousand years.

Incidentally, in recent years farm subsidy payments have been encouraging farmers to take better care of the wildlife by creating wildflower strips and beetle banks etc, and the farmers that have done this have needed to spray less frequently. Thus reducing their costs of production. There is obviously a lesson for us all to learn here.

The Image is of a Greenbottle Lucilia caesar

Just a picture of one of the paths into the woods that I use

The UK Biodiversity Action Plan

Today I have been doing a little light reading, the new Biodiversity action plan. This is a plan drawn up by a committee, for government, to highlight the species that are under threat in the UK.

What is most interesting, almost alarming that since the first one was drawn up ten years or so ago, the list has doubled in size, from over five hundred species to over one thousand. Yet while there is reason to be concerned, locally we do seem to have healthy populations of some of the animals listed.

Just yesterday I was able to share one of the pictures of a common frog taken yesterday, yet this amphibian is on the new list. Also listed are many species that I have seen myself in the local environment.

It will take me some time to read and absorb all the details, but one thing that makes me feel positive with what is happening locally, is that many of the planed projects in the wood, and in other places are being done specifically to help much of the Flora and Fauna that has appeared on the new list.

While that doesn’t mean we can be complacent, it does mean that the efforts of so many people are really important for the health of our countryside.

The picture is of a Diamond-back Moth plutella xylostella I don’t think its on the list but it just happened to turn up the other day and I was able to get this picture. What is remarkable is that it is only six or seven millimetres long.

Dealing with damage and creating something special

While I am a strong believer in allowing open access to the countryside, I also realise that there are some people who don’t care about the environment and come into the natural environment set on causing damage. The photograph of this damaged tree is just one example of the damage that irresponsible people do.

Today, the Mouse and the Chair had to complete the cementing in of the rocks in the Coal Tubs. This was becoming urgent as already the mindless ones were trying to destroy the work already done. Some of the content of the tubs, not concreted in, had been removed and the rocks used as projectiles to attempt to damage the tubs and the work already done.

It would be all to easy to become despondent, but with a pragmatic attitude, we worked to complete the task and ensure that there is little that can be damaged. I personally have never understood the drive or motivation to destroy. I suppose that because it’s easier to destroy something than to create, it must provide the brainless some form of creative outlet.

With that task completed we only need to get our willing band of volunteers to join us to paint the tubs now. You are welcome to join us.

That done, the Chair and myself were not finished as we also had the job of dealing with the wildflower meadow.

As the British landscape is an artificial one, created by thousands of years of human intervention, the traditional wildflower meadow is a habitat that requires careful management. In the past, meadows would have been clearings created when trees were felled to provide hay and herbage for animals and livestock. Because there was no active inputs into the soil from manure, as would happen in a pasture meadow, and the grass and herbage are removed, the soil remains poor and denuded of nutrients. This makes the land poor for growing crops, but a perfect environment for the wild flowers, as the grasses are not able to take over.

Thus with the changes that have occurred in agricultural practice over the last fifty to sixty years, many of the traditional wildflowers have become scarce. By recreating a wildflower meadow, we ensure that the flowers exist as well as the insects and the reptiles and amphibians that feed on the insects. While the biodiversity is much grater than just that, it gives you an example of why these areas are so important.

But, as people no longer keep the odd pig, or a house cow, or even a goat or two, traditional meadows are no longer a part of the agricultural necessity. Thus managing them becomes more labour intensive. Thus the work falls to us volunteers to do the work.

Fortunately, the Friends’ have some good contacts and supporters and we got the woman who has the Alpacas in to cut the hay. But the real work is raking up and removing the hay. That is what the Mouse and the Chair did today.

The benefits to the wildlife were obvious right from the start as there were several common frogs Rana temporaria in the area and as the herbage was raked up they were hopping away to find cover. Also as the ground was cleared a large number of vole and mouse holes were revealed too.

While all of this was hard work, the benefits to the natural environment were obvious and while it is harder to create something worthwhile, that effort is justified.

Part Two

Cutting the Meadow

Part Three

Raking the Meadow

Part Four

Loading up the Hay

Part Five

One of the Common Frogs found in the meadow.

New toys for the wildlife

Recently, a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I had to get a decent pair of binoculars. I used to have three pairs; one was a compact pair, one was a normal size but very bright and made them excellent for low light levels and one pair that was a zoom with both high magnification but bright as well. However, as an ex of mine had been an alcoholic, she disposed of them for the price of a drink or two, hence my need to get something decent again.

So I looked on Ebay, and while I saw many that were cheep, I wanted to be sure that I didn’t end up with cheep and nasty ones either. I also noticed that there were many that also have a digital camera built in. While I was interested, I was also concerned that the quality of both the camera and the binoculars would be compromised. However after a couple of unsuccessful bids on normal binoculars, I was successful on a pair that has a camera built in.

I must say that the binoculars are actually better than I expected, and quite bright, brighter than most compact ones. And while the blurb on the box says that they are ideal for wildlife, I have used better, but unless I suddenly find that I can afford the best quality ones, they will serve me well, as binoculars that is.

The camera part is useful, but doesn’t even match the focal length of the binoculars. T the binoculars being an eight times magnification the camera is at best only five times. Also as with so much electronic equipment it is full of bleeps with every operation, making it nearly useless for anything to do with wildlife.

I have tested it out, and it has some uses as the picture above of a moorhen shows, but I will not be expecting to create anything spectacular with them. But who knows, I may just be surprised myself one day. Though it is in helping to gain a positive identification that it can be most useful. As this picture of a House Martin shows, I was being told that the birds were swallows, yet by getting the picture and checking in a field guide it was clear that it’s a House Martin.

Catching Up

Today and part of yesterday I have been playing catch up. I have been so busy out of the house, that even my cat, was asking who I was when I came in. So it was down to all the boring housework bits. However, because of where I am living as I hung my washing out on the line, I saw two of the Red Kites glide over in the distance. It even made me feel less peeved at having to do the housework.

In between doing essential bits around the house I have been trying to catch up on some emails and letters, so if anyone is expecting a message from the mouse it will be coming, soon…

Its not all been hard work though and I did get some time for a stroll That’s when I saw this Phaeoulus schweinitzeii although I took this image off it a few weeks ago. I was surprised it was still there, as frequently the kids destroy any of the fruiting bodies of fungi they see.

Because I was playing catch up, I was able to find the time to read some of my friends Blog's, and one made an interesting point. Because of where she lives, it sounds like a paradise the way she writes about it; she has to use wood as her fuel. However, it concerns her that it adds to her carbon footprint.

The simple answer is no it doesn’t, as it is part of a closed carbon cycle loop. The tree grows, capturing carbon, which is only released when it is burnt.

However, it is a little more complex than that as that carbon that is released will be around for about fifty years before it is reabsorbed. Thus while it still is that closed carbon cycle it is the timescale that prevents the answer being simple. This is also why carbon offsetting is so unrealistically simplistic.

This is where people pay for trees to be planted as a salve for their conscience when they jet off on holiday. Even if everyone did that from now on it would not be for fifty to seventy five years that those trees would start to have any impact upon carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

The real problem with burning any fuel is understanding its source. If that fuel was produced using the suns energy from the last couple of centuries, then it is part of a closed loop carbon cycle. With using the suns energy stored in fossil fuels is that it old energy and ancient carbon, that became locked away to provide the breathable atmosphere we have to day.

By releasing that old carbon we are changing the atmosphere back to a state when life barely existed. Not forgetting that plants were first, we are in danger of wiping out all animal life on the planet.

An Amazing Experience

At this moment I am sitting nursing a myriad of small cuts and grazes from having walked through some very overgrown brambles and such like. The reason why I put myself through such torture is simply that I was tracking some of our not frequently seen wildlife. Although to be precise, it is because these rare sightings have been seen that I was looking for them.

I knew where to look, as I have been on the trail of the Roe Deer for a while now, and I got to see exactly where they were. It was too early in the morning to take pictures when I first got myself into position. But I thought that as I had not disturbed them I would wait and see if they would stay until there was enough light.

Laying down on brambles is not my idea of fun at the best of times, however I was close to getting a picture, and I just needed to wait about an hour for the sun to rise over the trees and illuminate the area where the deer were. From my hidden position, I was careful not to make any sudden movements, nor did I want to make any sounds either. But after twenty minutes or so I had my camera ready and the deer were still there, totally unaware of me, the wind had been in my favour when I approached and I just needed to keep still and quiet.

After about forty minutes I could see the light levels were increasing, my light meter was saying that I could get a quarter second exposure, but as I had only brought a monopod with me, a tripod being to cumbersome, I knew nothing would come out but a blurred shape if that. My heart was pounding as knew that this was likely to be my best chance for ages.

Then the deer started to move away a little bit. I could still get a reasonable image, but the light was still to dim. If I changed to a longer focal length lens, I would also need more light still as that lens was a slower one and with the increased chance of camera shake, a higher shutter speed too. I decided to wait it out, I was amazed that I had been able to observe the Deer for what must be close on to an hour, when all of a sudden they bolted away.

Was it something I had done? I didn’t think I had made any sound. It was not until I stood up did I realise that it was a woman walking her dog that had startled the Deer.

Well another time perhaps, I did try and track them, hence the lacerations, but their stronghold was to well concealed in the undergrowth for me to be able to make any silent progress. At least I can be sure that they are wary enough of humans to remain safe.

Whilst I didn’t get any pictures I got an amazing experience.

Encounters with Bats

Wherever I go, no matter whom I talk to, people do have a love of wildlife. People remember their own encounters with wildlife and can recount when and where they saw something or other.

Last Night I was lucky enough to go out on a “Bat Walk” with a real expert, not only on Bats but on Chopwell Wood. The event was organised by the Forestry Commission and there were over fifty people who turned up for the event. The weather and conditions were perfect for watching and it was a beautiful moonlit night. Even walking across the woods to the assembly point was a great experience with the soft golden light of the evening painting shadows across the landscape.

Going on any event like this does pose a dilemma for me, as while I am there to learn myself, I am also there as a representative of the Friends of Chopwell Wood. Therefore, I cant just be like a little kid who is excited by the experience, I have to remain, a bit at least, like a responsible adult. That doesn’t stop me enjoying the experience of learning.

While I do have some pre-existing knowledge, it is always a joy to garner more from others that have an in depth knowledge of their topic. I did learn quite a bit, and I also realised that I knew more than I thought I did too.

Last night we saw half of the six species of bats that inhabit Chopwell Woods; Common Pipistrelle, Nocturnes Bat and Daubenton's Bat. The Last I spent half an hour trying to photograph, unsuccessfully I suspect, but I will have to wait until I get the film processed. I went towards home with a real buzz and a spring in my step. It was a good job as it was up hill all the way in the dark.

Stopping off in the pub on the way home, I was asked where I had been, upon telling people, I was regaled with other people’s accounts of their encounters with bats.

A Late Summer Meander

While often when this mouse wanders about the countryside it is with a purpose, there can be nothing more delightful that just experiencing the feel of being out in the open and enjoying the stimuli around you. Yesterday, as the weather was dry and hot, it was great to hear the seedpods on the broom as the sun dried them and they popped open spilling their seeds. Or the soft scent of the flowers as you wandered by.

The colours of late summer are there to remind us that autumn is nearly upon us. Yet the too provide a visual delight to the wandering eye. While not as full as the orchestra of spring, the songs and calls of birds still fill the air.

The days of late August are a time to relax and enjoy the sun.

To Task or Not to Task, that is the Question

One of the difficulties that the Friends of Chopwell Wood has with the work that in undertakes in the forest is simply the availability of volunteers. Every one of the volunteers that come out on days when there is practical work to do puts in an amazing amount of effort. However, as an organisation we always have more work to be done and not enough “volunteer days” to do and complete the work.

The task last weekend was a case in point; because of the weather we could not fully complete the work that was scheduled. Thus the Chairman of the FoCW and this mouse decided we would try and get some of the important elements done between us.

This does create a dilemma for us as an organisation as by doing the work between us, we can reduce the opportunities for people who genuinely want to help. However, with the job not fully completed, there was a real risk that vandals or other intent on destruction could undo all the work that had been completed. As the main reason why the task was necessary in the first place was due to an act of destruction, placed the site at risk. Therefore we needed to get the work to a point where it was at less risk. This is what this mouse and the Chairman did.

The rest of the work will need to be completed soon and will be rescheduled as an additional task thus providing the opportunity for volunteers to help.

This one of the greatest challenges for any organisation that relies upon the help of volunteers, that of ensuring you can provide them with interesting work. I know myself when volunteering with the BTCV, there were some tasks that were just plain monotonous. The work was necessary but boring. Therefore, we, the Friends of Chopwell Wood, need to be aware that we don’t just do all the interesting bits ourselves and we keep all our tasks open to the public.

It may surprise some of my readers (Okay Reader), that we are open to anyone. Volunteers do not need to be members or to become members, but we will try and get you to sign on the dotted line. As a small organisation we do not have enough members who are capable and willing to undertake some of the work required. For instance, one of the tasks that will be occurring soon (Watch this Space) is the construction of hibernacula for grass snakes. Because of the location of these structures it will require some manual digging. Not everyone is capable of such hard labour, but by being open to all, we may find that we have some very capable people on the task. Also volunteering for a task like this does mean you get into bits of the wood you never normally would have access to. It is one of the aspects I love about doing stuff like this myself.

Therefore, yesterday the Chair and the Mouse did some of the heavy work on the Tubs Task rescheduling the rest for the weekend of 1st September. So if you have nothing to do…

Just a picture in the woods

With so much that I want to talk about and so little time, I thought I would at least post this picture of the clear blue sky that I had in the woods today.

Two Unexpected Encounters

One of the delights of any form of wildlife watching is the unexpected encounter. Last night was a perfect example; this mouse had gone to one of the pubs in the village to see someone. Unfortunately he was not there, so I moved to another hostelry and had a couple of pints of the Irish stuff. Then because of work that the new owners are doing there, I offered the loan of some tools that could assist making the job easier. The offer accepted I went home to get them, while marching home I saw and heard an owl in a tree. I didn’t have time to stop but once I had given the tools to the people in the pub I headed off and took a look for this barn owl.

It was still there, and it was busy looking for food. I then spent the next two and a half hours following its movements around the village as it hunted the many greens in the village. It appeared to be hunting with its mate, but all my efforts to locate the other owl were unfruitful. It was one of those situations where I wished I had a camera with me. While I normally do, I had left it at home deliberately as I didn’t want to take it to the pub. I will not be making that mistake again.

Then today, I went off in search of the Roe Deer that have been seen in the woods. With several sightings by others, and my own sightings, I knew the territory they inhabit. Finding signs of them was very easy, not just footprints, but droppings and quite fresh ones too. As well as the less obvious signs like the tree that bares the marks of the buck deer rubbing the tree with its secretions.

While I did not see any of the deer, I did get the glimpse of something but I cannot be sure it was a deer and it could have been a fox, the signs of them were clear. However following their trail lead me off the beaten track into places where very few people venture. This caused me to encounter some Pleurotus ostreatus better known as Oyster Mushrooms. They are ready for picking and had I needed them for my meal tonight I would have picked a few. But I have my meal tonight already planned. Therefore I leave them and I know where they are the next time I want a few.

Tubs Task Day Two, or here comes the rain again

Yesterday was supposed to be the second day of our task to restore the coal tubs that sit on display in Chopwell Wood, but like a cricket match, rain stopped play. While we do have access to a couple of Gazebos courtesy of the NEFA (North East Free Ride Association) lads, any rain would have ruined all the good efforts put into restoring the Tubs so far. This would only have lead to us needing to carry out further maintenance sooner too.

Calling off a task is never an easy decision to make, but if the work cannot be done properly then it becomes pointless trying. Although for me safety will always be the other major consideration as volunteers are far to valuable to risk injuring, we just don’t have enough to spare!

While this work is not conservation in the natural history sense, the local history and especially the industrial history is important to many local people. Thus the work is important as it preserves the work that the friends of Chopwell Wood have already done. Further, it provides some amenity for the people who visit the forest.

Personally though I think the woods are beautiful in themselves and worth visiting for that reason alone. But we live in a time when people need to have allsorts of reasons to visit a place and everything has to be explained to them. I my opinion it stops people from thinking and wondering. This mouse loves to try and discover things for himself; it’s the child in me, that sense of wonder and discovery.

There is though a great sense of discovery with the additional elements that have been placed in the woods. There are a number of sculptures in the wood and it can be a delight to just stumble upon them as I did when first exploring the woods. I now know my way around well enough that I can head for them and to us, the people who know the topography of the woods reasonably well, they can provide useful reference points when discussing layout or encounters in the forest.

Well as the work has been postponed, it looks as though another task will have to be arranged to complete the work. I just hope that we still have the enthusiasm of the people involved this time on the next attempt to complete the work.

Climate Change and Bird Populations

While the effect of a warming climate will have many predictable consequences, it is the impacts that the majority of the population don’t think about that are in fact the more serious ones.

In some migrating birds choosing not to winter in the UK, many people will assume that this is just a minor matter. Interesting to note but what will be the impact upon my life, they will say. Well, the impacts could be greater than people assume.

Because of the importance of the UK as wintering grounds our agriculture practices have been modified to accommodate these influxes of birds. This is not just about the crops that are grown but the husbandry of farm animals. When you have large populations of birds migrating to the UK there has to be a food source for them, geese and ducks will help clear large areas of grass, thus reducing the cost of farming these lands. Also some of the birds will feed on grubs and insects that present over winter, keeping that population in check. Who knows what the effect on human and animal health this change will bring.

Further there is the impact upon tourism in the areas where these birds flock; there are many small communities that are reliant upon the tourist pound that the bird’s presence brings.

Then there are the problems for the communities where the birds are now choosing to over winter. Will the birds be competing for valuable or scarce resources? Are they competing with man for these? If the answer to any of these is yes the populations of these many species of birds will be at serious risk.

Climate change is already creating a serious problem for the summer breading populations of sea birds. The warming of the seas is reducing the populations of sand eel’s that so rely on to feed and raise their young. This means that populations of internationally important species are in decline. But its not just the effect upon the birds that this should be causing concern, what about the rest of the food chain and the fish that humans eat? In the North Sea fish stocks are already looking as if they are in terminal decline.

There will be some people who will think that this doesn’t really matter, there are other more important issues to worry about, but the reality is this is the most important issue of the day. Unless we act now, we not only risk causing the mass extinction of animal populations, but our own extinction as well.

Tackling the Tubs Day One Part One

Today was an important milestone for me as this mouse was leading a task for the friends (Friends of Chopwell Wood) for the first time. While I have experience of leading conservation tasks in my past, getting lumbered with this was almost an accident.

During a previous meeting it was decided that we, the Friends’, needed to do some work on repairing the coal tubs that we have on display in the woods, as they had suffered from vandalism and the local kids had empted them out several times in the past. The last indignity had been that a stolen car had been pushed or driven into the cutting where the tubs sit before being torched. Therefore we, as an organisation, needed to do something that would stop this looking like an eyesore. Also, we needed to plan the work so that hopefully we could prevent the vandalism occurring again, or at least minimise any effect.

So like a complete berk this mouse piped up and said he would look at the site and access the work that needed to be done. Thus myself, and two of the other friends were assigned this duty. Having worked out what work we needed to do, a written plan of works was drawn up. However, because of the Forestry Commission rules that the FoCW have to abide by, suddenly one of us needed to stick our neck out and not only take charge of the task, but ensure that all the risk assessments were completed so that the work could go ahead. At that point I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and instead of scuttling away to a dark corner, I became task leader.

Now, today was the first day of this two-day task and it has gone well so far, I don’t think that I have misplaced any volunteers, nor have we injured any. More importantly the work has progressed at a cracking pace and we reached a point where over half of the task is done.

There was a moment when due to finding a nest of Wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus in one of the tubs we had to stop work to relocate them, but even this has not caused any real delay. The most amazing part though was the effort made by the volunteers that means that we probably will get the work completed, something I was having my doubts about only yesterday. That success today was in no small part due to two new volunteers. The Friends of Chopwell Wood have always been open to everyone, and recently one of volunteers has been learning British Sign Language, and is regularly available to provide translation support. Thus we have acquired two willing volunteers from the deaf community, who if today’s efforts are anything to go by, are hard working and capable. Here in the Friends’ we are not prejudice and welcome everyone, especially when they work like Trojans. But more importantly they enjoyed themselves, and that for me is what all this is and should be about.

The picture at the top is what the tubs looked like a week ago.

Tackling the Tubs Day One Part Two

This image shows that many hands make light work.

Tackling the Tubs Day One Part Three

One of the mice we had to evict from the tubs

Tackling the Tubs Day One Part Four

The Tubs are looking good with their undercoat of red oxide in place

Wildlife and the Supermarket

I had hopes that today I could take some time out and obtain some much-needed rest. But as the old saying goes the best laid plans of mice… Well this mouse found that his plans were all put to rest a long while ago. Thus apart from tackling housework and all that, I had to make a trip to the supermarket today as well.

Where I have been so busy combined with the exertions of yesterday as well, I over slept this morning. Normally I do rise much earlier than do most people, half past four to five in the morning is not an unusual occurrence for me. But today it was gone nine. That had the consequence that I missed the free bus to the Tesco store in the main town. Not that this was a major problem as I could still get the afternoon one. However, with all that I needed to do I suddenly found myself running out of morning. Thus I shot up to the post office, we are lucky as the government have failed to close this one down yet, and on the way I saw that the council were cutting the long grass behind the village bus shelter.

This large expanse of grass is allowed to grow long providing shelter for insects and wild flowers. While far from a perfect natural history site it is still a good place for wildlife. Further, as I was walking towards the post office I was thinking that it would not be long before the Red Kites find this and start looking for food there. Then as I look up, there was one of the Red Kites, seeing that cheered me up no end.

Walking back I tried to see where the Kite might have gone but I couldn’t see it and guessed that it must have gone further a field than the village. Just in case it was lower down or even on the ground picking up a feed I scanned the area of the cut grass, to
My astonishment I saw a hare suddenly run out of a small hollow in the ground and disappear rapidly from my sight. While I knew that hares were around, it is the first time that I can positively say that I have seen one and that I may have seen a rabbit that I had misidentified as a hare.

Then a short time latter while waiting for the bus to take me to the supermarket, I spotted the Red Kite again, clearly quartering a field. They are a magnificent sight, so graceful and elegant, it made me feel less frustrated at having to waste my time doing the weekly shopping.

The picture is of quarry pond that others and I were working on yesterday.

The Intellectual and….

For my sins and since becoming involved with conservation in my local area, I sit on various committees. While it is the least favourite aspect of my duties, it does mean that I can have a positive input into the discussions regarding what is happening. However, I enjoy meeting with other people who share my passion for the local woods and the surrounding countryside. Last night for instance it was great to hear one of the local farmers talking with passion about seeing four of the red kites, quartering a neighbour’s field, as they were cutting corn. For me it was fascinating as he detailed behaviour that I have never observed myself but have only read of in books, the lucky chap.

Attending these meetings also have another advantage as it provides me the chance to take a regular route into my woods and see what is happening at various points where I have seen wildlife previously. Frequently I will see signs of activity and occasionally some of the wildlife its self. One of the other advantages of this is people will tell me of what they have seen too, and this all helps build up a picture of the vitality of the local habitats and the environment in general.

Last nights meeting was one of the better ones, as we covered a lot of ground and in a very positive manner. Further, the concusses of the people at the meeting was very much in favour of a much more conservationist approach to the work and activities in the woods. It is when we have everyone trying to find workable solutions to some of the problems that tackling the intellectual aspects of conservation can be so worthwhile.

Then today it was back to doing the practical. Rather than just do work on my beloved woods, I have started doing other conservation work as well. This helps me re-acquire skills, as much of the work will be the type of work that I have done before. Also it will allow me to discover the different approaches to solving similar problems, which other organisations use. Additionally by working on different habitats I get to see a wider range of wildlife.

For example today’s work was grassland management at a pond and wetlands site. It’s a nature reserve on a former quarry site that is rich in reptiles and amphibians. Cutting the grass and removing the sward and vegetation to keep the soil denuded of nutrients thus providing the perfect conditions for many wild flowers. This vegetative cover provides the habitat that voles, mice and birds need as well as the reptiles and amphibians. Further because of the wild flowers, it attracts numerous insects that can feed the birds, amphibians, reptiles etc.

While it was a bit windy the weather was great and the work while hard was not arduous and we could see results as the work progressed. However, while we saw no small mammals there were plenty of Toads and frogs to be found as we raked the grass up.

There were plenty of volunteers attending too, so that a number of objectives were fulfilled. This included litter picking, a job that I am trying to get all conservation organisations to call "Womballing", as well as trimming back some of the trees along a main path to make access safe and easy.

For me though the high light of the day was getting this picture of a Common Sympetrum Dragonfly Sympetrum sanguineum as it rested for a moment on some ones hi-visibility coat.

…. The Practical Work

It matches my thrill at getting this picture last night of the Common field grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus.

One Success One Failure

Last night I attempted to get out and see if I could observe the badgers at one of the five setts there are locally. However, almost as soon as I set off the heavens opened. I don’t actually mind the rain and while I dressed appropriately, the rain was making the ground slick and very slippery. I am normally a good stalker and can often get quite close without making my presence know to any wildlife I am trying to watch. But last night because of the traitorous conditions under foot, I found it very difficult to move silently. While I could not see what I had disturbed, I think I alerted the badgers to my presence. Even so I found myself a spot to locate myself and waited to see if I could see the badgers.

Locally in the five setts there were seventeen cubs this year that I can be sure of. The number may be as many as twenty-three but that could be an over-estimate as there could be that chance that I double counted some of the cubs. Thus I will settle on the number of seventeen as a definite number of new cubs this year. There have also been losses as I know of at least three adults that have been killed by traffic and I have been told of two that were shot by a farmer. Something that is illegal but without proof or the bodies there is no way of proving the cause of death. However over all the population is reasonably healthy and stable.

Thus I was hoping that I would get to see at least some of the badgers, I was in an excellent spot but not a sign did I see. After four hours I was very cold and wet, so I decided to make my way home. Some times that’s the way you make good plans but see nothing.

However, as any reader that has followed my move of Blog site will know, any day that I see the Red Kites is a good day for me. Rather than calling them red letter days, I call them “Red Kite Days”. Therefore I have been excited to see over the past few days one of the red kites coming to feed in the fields near my home. I spotted it initially less than a week ago out of the back window, as I sat typing. I had my binoculars to hand and my eyes were not deceiving me. Then it was there the following day too. As the breading season is now over for them, incidentally we had nine chicks successfully fledged, they are now venturing out looking for food further away from the nest sites. As they will follow methodical patterns, it is possible to see them on a regular basis at reasonably predictable times. Thus it is with this Red Kite.

I can happily report that today is a Red Kite Day.

A Shared Love of the Countryside

Today has been a rather interesting day for me as I am to become a local countryside ranger. As the readers of my previous Blog will know, but my new reader will not, I am actively involved with trying to do my bit to help look after the local environment and the countryside I love. Further rather than just complain about this or that not being done, I get involved with taking practical measures to keep the natural environment a great place for the flora and fauna as well as for the people who I share it with.

This lead me to apply to become a local countryside warden/ranger, the titles are interchangeable as the only real qualification is to be foolish enough to want to get stuck in to doing the messy work. However, for this I have had to undergo a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check. Now I have nothing to hide nor anything to fear, as this purely about child protection. The only difficulty is trying to get all the dates right of when I lived at different addresses. As my life has been somewhat peripatetic get those details right can be difficult. For people that stay in the same place all their lives, it is no problem, for me it is. I don’t always have the best memory for dates and an anniversary as it is (Is that why I am Divorced?) therefore trying to remember that sort of detail is difficult to say the least. But with that done I can at least start doing more practical conservation undertakings.

Then quite by chance I got on the bus to go home and found my neighbours on there too. I have not that long moved to my present address and I am lucky to have some good, no great, neighbours. They are an elderly couple, and while on the bus from talking I discovered that we shared an interest in wildlife and the countryside. Further they now understand why I have been seen wandering about in the early mornings or late at night looking like an extra from Springwatch!

This is not the only bit of practical conservation work that I am involved in either, as this weekend, there is a task that I am leading for another organisation called the “Friends of Chopwell Wood” (FoCW). It will be the first one that I have lead for this organisation, but I have lead tasks before when I volunteered with the BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) in London. However, this will be a whole different ball game as with the FoCW we only have a small core group of volunteers to carry out the practical work, and we never know if any of member of the public will turn up to help. Incidentally if anyone reading this wants to help you are welcome to come along to Chopwell wood we meet at the forest classroom at 10 am. (Blatant Plug over)

However my activities today has prevented me from getting out and taking one of my regular wildlife walks. I am lucky as I do live in a wildlife rich environment, and while there is no guarantee that I will see wildlife, I must say that I normally do see something worth commentating on. It was this fact that initially prompted me to start keeping an on line journal in the first place.

Welcome to The Wood Mouse’s Diary.

Previously I was using Yahoo 360 to keep a web log or a journal on line regarding my activities in and around the bit of countryside that I live. However, yesterday I discovered that Yahoo was passing on details to the Chinese government of its users and the web sites they visited. As a result of this the Chinese government has jailed dissidents or decentres in china, this includes one journalist who has been given a ten-year sentence for trying to seek out the truth.

Thus I decided not to support Yahoo in any way shape or form, and have moved my Blog from there. Now I will be posting here. I hope that other people will support Human Rights and refuse to use Yahoo. As Yahoo have only done this for financial gain, if no one uses their sites or products they will soon discover that they will be the losers here.

One thing that my readers will discover my politics are neither of the Right nor the Left, my political philosophy is Green. Not a green tint, but a deep green that flows through everything I do. I am a strong believer in Human Rights but not where some so-called rights infringe upon other peoples liberties.

I try hard to make my postings entertaining and interesting. At times they will be humorous, but at other times they will be challenging. I hope that you folks enjoy my Blog. You may disagree with what the mouse says but I moved here because of freedom of speech and I will only ever say what I truly believe

Mouse