Woodland Bird Song

As I learn to use the video editing software, I discover there is more that I can do. Here in a short film shot in Chopwell Wood I have been able to add a soundtrack of some common birds, Blackbird, Great Tit and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

New Badgers on an Old Sett

Late on Saturday I got a call and was invited to do some wildlife watching the following day. As the weekend was very wet, as per the forecast I was not sure about this. But I did agree and at a quarter to four on the Sunday morning I was picked up.

As my regular reader will know, I helped with a site survey on some private land that contains a remnant of ancient wood. This lead to me being asked to help with relocating some rabbits where I saw Golden Eagles. That only happened because the wife of one of the land owners had just given birth. Therefore, in spite of the poor weather and my lack of sleep, I had agreed to go. While I too my cameras with me there was little prospect of my filming as while I can and do protect them in the rain it was very heavy rain we were having.

Anyway I explain all that as my expectations were not that high. As had happened on my previous time there, they had set up a tent that we could use as a hide. When we got there the mother and child where there already. While I didn't say anything, I did think that having a baby there was reducing an already small chance of seeing wildlife. And as can happen even when I am enjoying myself, I did think that I really should be in bed. As the tent was cramped I set up my Tripod outside but kept the cameras in the tent. If the rain stopped then I perhaps could use them. In the low light levels the slow shutter speed means that trying to use them without support was a waste of time.

Talking in whispers we had a long stacarto conversation about some of the ideas I had brought forth when I had looked at the site previously. One of them being the removal of lots of galvanised netting that had been placed around the perimeter of sections f the wood to prevent deer grazing a number of years before. This had been done and they had seen more fallow deer in the wood since. That had only taken ten days or so to create that effect. So was it the deer they had brought me to see?

Then the baby started crying, I really thought that would be the end of any hope of seeing anything. Fortunately as I was laying at the entrance to this tent, mother was able to sit at the back and feed baby G. As I lay there I could hear the noisy suckling noises and this nearly obscured the sounds of an approaching animal. Even I could not believe what I was seeing, a badger, a young Brock.

In their Forest was the remains of an ancient badger sett that had not been occupied for at least twenty years. The sett had been raided by Badger diggers in 1987, and the last badger was seen a year latter. One of the works that had recommended was where the chicken wire could not be removed, holes should be cut into it so that other mammals could gain access. I had even found a spot where it looked as though foxes were worrying at the fence. Anyway, within days of them creating holes in the fencing for the wildlife, they noticed that one of the old badger holes was being re dug. So the wife not following a conventional sleeping pattern anyway, had had the tent erected here so that she could bring the baby and feed her while seeing what was going on. There are two other young sows and an older female with cubs that have moved in too, but I only saw the Brock. At the time when I suggested the fencing removal, I had said that eventually the set would be used again. I was thinking two or three years, but this was amazing. Then in the distance we saw two fallow deer with a calf. That was all to brief as they caught the whiff of human sent as someone in the tent needed her nappy changing.

For me what is remarkable about these people is that they are quite clearly from the upper echelons of society, they do have a rather posh accent. Therefore it does seem strange them being as hands on as they are. But for them it is about ensuring they keep this bit of land and countryside healthy for their children.

That brings me to an aspect that I spoke about in a previous posting. As with all land in Britain there is an interaction between man and the landscape. This wood is no exemption, in fact the previous owner of the land, a farmer, so valued the land and the people who share it, that when he sold it he placed a covenant on it to keep it safe. He also went further and split the wood so that when the farm land was sold, no one person or company had complete control of the land. However one of the buyers, even though he had agreed to this had wanted to develop this wood for commercial reasons. As I suspected the fencing had originally been put there so that pheasants could be raised there. But the economics of shooting ensured that was not viable. Then he wanted to build on the land, but that meant acquiring the rest of the wood. Had it not been for me legal friend and his wife buying the farmhouse, stables and land, the developer could have succeeded then.

Anyway, a group of local residents got together to keep the wood safe, but their efforts were being undermined at each turn. Until it emerged that one of the group was apparently helping landowner who wanted to develop the site. This was all rather puzzling, until it was discovered that the man who had been a hand on the farm and is now retired, was struggling financially. Thus the developer had offered to buy his cottage and rent it back to him for helping him. So the layer and his wife have made the same offer to the old boy, and that has resolved that problem.

While I am uncomfortable with one man having that much control, at least for the moment this has all helped keep the little wood safe. Further, because of the fact that the site has four rare and endangered species on it, they are now able to move forward to get some form of legal protection for the site too.

I hope that I will be able to return there soon to share the beauty of this hidden gem.

Improving Habitats and Stag Beetles

While I know that some of my readers (Well I have two cats and a human that reads this) don't like me posting on political issues, they would rather I just posted on wildlife and Environment topics, but Zimbabwe is an environmental issue. To put the situation in context, my ex wife went to Zimbabwe on a School trip, in my school the best we got was a visit to the Natural History Museum, the year of their first anniversary of their independence. What she brought back was the very real feeling of hope the people had. Additionally, the country really did think that it could help feed Africa. While we now know that hope was dashed and the bread basket for the region is now facing the worst harvest for sixty years, the environmental impact of this will seriously effect the ecosystems in the region. Desperate hungry people will kill the wildlife to eat, and if crops are poor, more wild land is taken to try to grow crops.

Therefore, the environmental impact of injustice and human rights start to become obvious, so I feel justified in posting on that topic.

Anyway, back to the wildlife. On Monday, I went to visit a private wood for the owners. It all started a couple of weeks ago when I had a telephone call form someone I did not know. The call was memorable as the gentleman that called did not even know my name, and I thought it was rather fishy. Was it someone trying to sell me something? Or was it someone trying to garner my personal details? In the end I told my caller that he had to tell me the purpose of his call or I was going to hang up. It turned out that someone else had given him my number as they were looking for some help with declining wildlife in their wood.

I don't know how or why, but I seem to have earned a reputation.

What had sparked their concern was that when they had bought the wood some ten years back, they had quite a good population of birds, insects and wildlife in general. But they had noticed a decline in the birds last year and even fewer this year.

So they had contacted various people to see where they could get help from and it turns out that a former landlady had given them my number. They, the owners, had bought the wood to provide free wood fuel for the folks in the syndicate. But also they loved having the wood as a place to walk their dogs and to have gatherings, parties and barbecues.

Anyway, I had to travel to Durham to meet the to guys who were going to show me their woods. Their forest looked fine as we approached but as we walked into the woods, it struck me that there was no dead wood at all. Also, the normal under brush was missing.

What they have been doing is collecting all the fallen and dead wood for fire wood and by not leaving any for the insects, they were removing the food for the birds. Also they have been spraying brushwood killer to get rid of much of the brambles and such like, again this has removed much of the natural habitat the wildlife needs. Brambles are important as they provide cover and food for a lot of wildlife. It turned out that there had been strong disagreements about much of what they had been doing, so much of what I suggested was what they had already realised they needed to do.

What they also needed was guidance on how to harvest the wood so they were not cutting down all the trees. So I suggested coppicing some of the trees, I even ended up marking the trees for them, and it looks as though I will be going back to show them how to coppice in the autumn.
It is a shame that they hadn't sought better advice when they first bought the wood, as they do have a lovely setting. By buying their local wood they have ensured that the wood will stay. Also by utilising the wood in a sustainable way for their fire wood, the fifteen acres provides fire wood for more than twenty households, so while it was never intended to be a green project, this is what it has become.

Further, while I did not see any this time, they did have Lesser Stag Beetles their when they first obtained the wood, and if they haven't destroyed all the dead wood they could return. Its an insect that I would love to see. I have permission to return too at any time, so I left them with instructions that they have to improve the habitat so that I can come back to get pictures of the wildlife.

You Meet Some Great People Watching Wildlife

Firstly, I have just been asked the question most often asked of me, that of how do I get around without a car? Part of today's events illustrate just how easy it can be. While yesterday I had some shopping to do, I had a further trip to make today to the supermarket. I acknowledge that for many people doing a weekly shop at the local supermarket is most convenient, in spite of the advertising claims, it will not be the cheapest. Thus, I shop carefully, buying on quality. Therefore, I buy my Fruit and Veg from Green grocers and Meat and Poultry from the Butchers. I have made comparisons and I frequently find that by going to good small local shops I save around twenty five to forty percent off the price of Meat and Vegetables. To give one example I can buy stewing steak at half the price in the butchers compared to the supermarkets.

However, one of the main effects that doing the shopping without a car, is you are more conscious of the weight you will have to carry. Therefore, you stop buying much of the food that gets wasted. In the UK that's ten billion pounds worth every year. I contribute about ten pounds per year to that, well even the most frugal shopper makes mistakes.

From my village there are two bus routes, one that goes to Consett, the other that goes to Newcastle. But that one goes via one of the many hubs in the region, so I can get to most places, it just take a bit of planning and forethought. Just as with the shopping, it comes down to thinking about what's needed rather than buying on impulse. That said, I always keep options open so that if I see something on a special offer, I can adjust a planned menu to include what's cheap that day.

However going back to the main point, using public transport is not that difficult. If I go into Newcastle for an evening, I just need to ensure that I allow myself enough time to get the last bus. I can use taxis too, but as its over twenty pounds for that fare, why waste the money?
Anyway, I had a trip to the supermarket today. The supermarket provides a free bus twice a day five days a week, so that adds to the ease of shopping. Had my cat been prepared to do her own shopping then I could have left it until latter in the week.

I didn't know what it was, but at the moment I seem to be a child magnet and I found another child that wanted to talk to this strange hippy that is this “Wood Mouse”. I kept her entertained by pointing out the Horses and the sheep, or clouds with legs as I was calling them.

Then on the way back, I had this same chatter box telling me all about some children's television programme that I had never heard of. And she wanted to move in to my house, I told her that she could not as I had only just trained the birds to feed at my feeders.

What's been happening is, because from the first time I used the supermarket bus, I helped the many senior users of this service with their bags, I now have a couple of the old ladies that are trying to play matchmaker and any and every single woman are being steered in my direction. That's why I seem to be attracting all this attention. Fortunately it is a village and sooner or latter they will run out of women to try and pair me with, and using the kids is not fair. I was finally told that this is what's happening. Well I will chose my own partner.

Anyway, the other thing I needed to do was send off a cheque, as I have just bought, second hand, an Infra Red video lighting system. I got it at a price I could just afford, but it will open up possibilities that at the moment I can only dream about. Will I be able to film the badgers? Watch this space.

As the weather forecast had been for rain by lunch time, I wasn't sure about going out. But as it had not yet arrived, I decided I would risk it. So with no real purpose or destination, I decided I would just see what was in my local woods.

There is a delight in just wandering around with no reason, just there to experience the delights of the natural world. While there was nothing exceptional that I saw but I delighted in taking pictures of the wild flowers that proliferate along the tracks. While I had not planned it that way, I went looking at the effects of the thinning that has been occurring. While I am pleased with the effect, I was annoyed to see that it has been happening throughout the nesting season. This will have effected the birds in general but its the impact upon the rarities that we do have here that makes this criminal.

Well I can see that I may need to speak to someone over this.

However, during my walk, I put that at the back of my mind, and just enjoyed being at one with the forest. One thing that was a delight to find though was where the deer are hanging out with the disruption of the current work in the wood. This could be the first job that I use the Infra Red light for.

I had expected to only be out for a few hours, it was nearly eight before I got home. Even that was delayed when I stopped to talk to a chap who told me of a couple of other good wildlife watching locations near by. Its one of the great things about any form of wildlife watching you just meet some great people.

Forest Fungi

Here's a little clip of some filming that I shot when I first moved to the village, before the camera I was using decided to become indisposed. Not brilliant I know but I was just learning and this was my first attempt at filming.

International Dawn Chorus Day

Today, 4th May, was International Dawn Chorus Day. I decided to mark the day by heading out to listen to the dawn chorus. While I was tempted to try and record it, as I had other matters on my mind, see previous posting, I just wanted to absorb myself in the experience.

I headed off to a track in my local woods where I know that many species of birds sing in the morning. Even though it was before four in the morning, and before sunrise, there was still enough light to see reasonably well. I spotted a barn owl out hunting almost the moment I got to the edge of the forest. I spent the next hour watching this pair of Barn Owls as they were hunting on some marshy ground. The ghost like forms were a delight to watch. As one flew silently from one side of this open ground to the other and landed in it perch, so the other would fly back. Initially I thought it was one bird, but I soon realised it was a pair. The behaviour was rather unusual so I stayed to observe. Eventually, one of the birds, I think it was the male but as they kept crossing the field I lost track of which was whom, caught a vole or a mouse and upon regaining its perch next to the female gave her the food. When she ate it, they both flew off in the same direction. I tried to track and follow, but I lost clear sight of them.

I did find a pair close to where I know a pair do nest, but I don't know if they are the same pair, but based upon the direction the pair I had been watching flew off in it is a reasonable hypothesis. Yet being honest I cant say for sure.

I was by this point quite deep in the woods and as the sun was now begging to rise, I walked home slowly and shared my joy with the birds who were singing for me. I never saw anyone else in the forest, even though I was traversing the most frequented areas of the wood, so there was no one to share my joy but the birds who were singing their hearts out for me.

Breathing Places

The Wildlife Trusts

Getting a Mud Bath

Following my rather spontaneous trip out yesterday, I considered cancelling my planed trip out to watch one of the trails. There is a location in my local area where I regularly see wildlife tracks, however it is also crossed with regular human traffic.

Therefore, I needed to ascertain when the human traffic stopped and when the animal traffic started. That required me to venture out in the night yet again. Because my plans were adjusted during the day, after getting back and feeding and watering myself, I was tempted to stay in the warm. But, I also knew that because the weather was less than clement, there was less risk of getting disturbed by people.

Now while I don't have a problem with others sharing the countryside, the number of times that the presence of other people does impact the behaviour of the wildlife. Also, as I want to at a latter date set up a camera trap, I needed to discover a time block when I can leave the equipment set up without the risk of this expensive piece of kit disappearing.

Now dear reader, you understand why I was wandering about in the dark, in the forest, in the cold, you also need to understand that with the recent rain and snow, the ground was very muddy and slippery under foot.

In the summer, no matter how much repellent I use I become the picnic for a variety of insects, but as it is early spring I was not expecting to suffer that problem. I do love being in the woods after dark. While it is cold and damp, sitting or standing comfortably often you can hear much of what is happening in the Forest.

In the wood the wildlife gets on with there lives far from us humans and at night is when most of the activities go on. So settling down I set about discovering what was active. Listening just to the sounds of the forest does not always tell you exactly what's there, but the scampering of small mammals was evident. I also heard the sounds of Owls out hunting. I could not positively identify what species, but I heard the sound of one taking a vole or a mouse. As I peered into gloom, I think I could see the bird fly off, but with no clear view I could not say what it was. I also saw and heard a fox go by.

As I sat I could hear the deer were active too, but I could not see them. After I thought they had passed I decided I would have a drink from my flask. I don't know if it was some sound that I made, or the aroma of the coffee but some fifteen feet from behind me came a burst of sound as four or five Roe Deer burst into activity as they made to flee from my presence. This caused me to drop my flask in the mud. It took me about half an hour to gather my gear back together. I ended up looking like I was doing an impression of a hippopotamus by the time I was finished.
It is not the first time that I have been startled by wildlife, I doubt that it will be the last. I am just glad that I do not have a wife or partner to go back to, or else I would be sleeping in a kennel.

However, my primary objective was fulfilled and I know that it will be possible to set up the camera trap. There was no human disturbance and this will mean I can avoid doing my impressions of icicles or mud loving animals.

Scamper on By

Yesterday, Thursday, I was up very early as I wanted to try and film the Roe Deer. Using the techniques utilised by professional film makers, conservationists and ecologists, I set up a camera overlooking a known path that the Deer use. Once set running, I was able to withdraw back and watch a secondary route.

While I had chosen my path to the location carefully and the prevailing wind was in my favour, eddies and fluctuations made me doubtful that I would have any success. This lack of expectation didn't make me feel disillusioned as the air was filled with the myriad sounds of birds singing their mating songs, welcoming Spring. While I was cold, I was kept busy as I tried to film some of the birds while I waited. I had baited the ground with seeds to attract them, but in the gloom before the sunlight threaded its way through the trees, was not conducive to filming. So I stayed and drank in the delights of chill spring morning with only the the local ecology there to keep me company.

While I did not see that much, it was a delight to see yellow hammer and Bullfinches in their pristine breading plumage. I also was able to see pheasant wandering about, normally they will run, its one of the quirks of pheasant that they are very reluctant to take to the air so they normally run away. As I was still and quiet the wildlife was getting quite close to me before realising I was even there.

Then after nearly three hours, I realised I was not going to see the Deer, but I could have recorded the Deer on the other camera. I had three tapes to review. As I knew that it was unlikely I would disturb the Deer now, I slowly walked up the route I had expected the deer to come from. I saw fresh prints and droppings so while I was hopeful it also appeared that the deer had not traversed the path in front of the camera but had taken another track.

Well the short compilation of what did appear shows that there was plenty of wildlife activity but no Deer, well not this time anyway.

Red Kites Nest Building

On Wednesday I went out into the woods to see if I could work out where the Red Kites were likely to nest. Previously, I had seen the courtship flight and a pair of the kites get together. Also Last year I discovered a nest that had partly fallen out of the tree while being built. You have to remember that as reintroduced birds, they don't have the skills garnered by observation of other breeding pairs, and the birds are quite young. I was told by the head of the Northern Kites Project of one pair that tried to build a nest on the ground in the first year they breed.

Thus, I started looking around the location of that previous nest site. Because of the thinning work in the wood and the high winds that have battered the area over the winter, there are plenty of twiggy branches on the ground. However, I was not prepared for what I saw next, at a distance of about one hundred and fifty yards, a Red Kite came majestically swooping out of the sky and picked up one of these. I had not seen the bird coming nor could I through the maelstrom of branches see where the bird went.

So I decided to set up the camera and see if the bird would come back and if I could film this collection of nesting material. I found what I thought was a discreet spot and set up and waited. I got brief glimpses of the Kite as He or She glided overhead, but no more collection occurred.
While waiting I was tantalised by the brief sighting of the Goshawk who appears to have returned, this one was carrying a wood pigeon. Again I hope to locate the nest site latter. But for now I was more concerned with the Kites.

After a couple of hours waiting, I heard behind me a sound, as I looked round I saw the Kite rising with another branch in its talons. This time I was at least able to move quickly to see what direction it went off in.

I waited for a long time, until the light started to fade but no return did the Kite make that day.

Co-evolution and interdependence

While reading an article in the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS, on the co-evolution of Ants and Large Blue Butterflies, I had this mental image come into my mind. As the article was about the pheromones that both critters produce, I had this picture in my mind of the scientists going around sniffing Ants and Caterpillars. I wish I could draw as I would have drawn a cartoon of it.

However this posting is not about my warped state of mind, but the importance of understanding the co-dependence of species within a habitat. Further, as I have just been talking to someone via email about this in relation to the conservation potential within the habitats of my local area, I thought it apposite.

While most people will know of the food chain, we probably all did that at school. But the way that its taught is misleading as its better to think of the interactions more like a web rather than a chain.

Locally we have Green Woodpeckers in the wood, they are even breeding, as a very rare bird that’s great news. The only reason that they are here and able to breed is because we also have Wood Ants. During the breeding Season the woodpeckers rely on the ants lave for food. Thus if there were no ants there would be no Woodpeckers, further, the ants need to have trees like Larch and Pine so they can utilise the needles to build its formicary. That obviously is an example of an interdependence chain. Yet when you start adding species like the fungi that need pine or larch and the mammals that feed on the fungi and each of these chains start to spread out to form a multi-layered web not of feeding but of interdependence.

When the objective is just observation, one of the best ways of making an initial assessment of the health of an ecosystem is by looking at or for the top predators in that habitat. Often this will be the birds of pray, as in the UK we do not have any of the top mammal predators here. But as I have previously written about, in Yellowstone National Park in the US, the health of the whole of the reserve is dependent upon the wolf packs. However, it is not as simple as just introducing native predators to a habitat, to ensure the health and biodiversity in any environ, you have to start at the bottom.

This is why in the UK we have to manage lands carefully to conserve what we already have and to provide the conditions needed to enable any expansion of species. Taking my local wood as an example it has a fairly rich mosaic of habitats, in spite of it being a plantation wood; there are enough broad leaf trees in the mix to have kept much of the wildlife there. However, while there are plenty of species their, there are gaps where via previous neglect and poor management, important species have disappeared. Even in my short time here I have witnessed the loss of the Red Squirrel from Chopwell Wood.

Having scoured the wood for the last three months, I can find no sign at all of them.

Yet with careful thought, planning and execution our local woods could become the real haven for wildlife it needs to be. We are lucky as in and around the wood we have about ten percent of the species that our government has recognised as needing special protection, with careful habitat creation and management we could expand that to nearly twenty percent. As the list contains over one thousand species, that would make our local woodland an impressive haven for wildlife.

There are parts of the wood that are very boggy, this aspect of the mixtures of habitats means that we already have plants like the Marsh Orchid growing in profusion. Yet by careful interventions we could provide sites for many other rare orchids. This could then attract some of the endangered bees and other invertebrates too.

The key is understanding the interdependence of the whole of the ecology and not carrying out work in isolation. Especially if it involves sniffing ants!


The Picture is of the Common Spotted Orchid Dactylorhiza fushsii (Try saying that after a few pints)

The Mushroom Hunter

On Sunday was the annual fungal Foray organised by the Friends of Chopwell Wood. The chap who acts as our guide is extremely knowledgeable as well as being entertaining.

Personally I learnt a lot, for example that all fungi are edible, but some only once!

While that is a humorist quote, it does emphasise just how careful we all need to be when harvesting wild foods. There are some that I can recognise and know are safe to eat. Further, I have come back from many a walk with a few for a meal in my pocket. But I will only eat what I am sure of and only harvest a little. Unfortunately there are some people who will totally strip a site. In the summer I found a place that was full of chanterelles, but the following day they were gone. That has the effect of not allowing any new spores to be released and while there is lightly to be another flourish there will be less and less if that type of unsustainable harvesting were to continue.

This year there are far fewer fungi around, the wet summer and the warm dry autumn has made this year a poor year for fungi but as we have around one hundred and sixty species of them in Chopwell Wood we are not in any danger of loosing them just yet.


The Top picture is of Gordon, the mushroom hunter.

Russula nigricans Blackening Russula, it is edible but not worth eating.



Russula fellea Geranium-scented russula, edible when cooked but best avoided (Unless you like eating rubber that is)



Piptoporus betulinus Birch Polypore, Not poisonous or Edible and is better used to strop a knife than for anything culinary

Mycena vitilis

Cavatia excipuliformis Edible when young and firm

A difficult week and encounters with Deer

This has been a rather eventful and stressful week for this mouse. Unfortunately on Sunday I received a telephone call from my brother that my other brother had died. While it was not unexpected, he has been ill with cancer for several years now, it is still a shock. However, because of other things going on, I was not able just drop everything and get down for the funeral. I will however make that trip back down to London soon.

It will be strange as it will give me the chance to revisit Epping Forest, the place that inspired my awe and wonder for the natural world. And if that is not strange enough, at the weekend on Ebay, I bought a copy of a book that first made me realise that I was not unique in my love of the forest and started me going off to watch wildlife. In this book about one mans nights of badger watching, as well as watching other wildlife, was a map that showed where the badger sets were. As this book was published in 1966, there were not the same concerns about revealing the locations of animal homes, as there would be today. That enabled me to go looking for badgers; my parents would have done their nut, if they had ever found out.

It was on one of these illicit trips out that I saw my first deer, although I didn’t know that was what I had seen. I was quite nervous of what were then strange sounds emanating from the woodland. Then while looking across the entrance to the sett where I was awaiting the return of the badgers, I saw a shadow. It was darker than the surrounding darkness, and it appeared to be a large bush that was walking towards me. I was perched in a tree so that my scent could not be detected, but it was clear that what ever it was could smell something as I was hearing a snuffling sniffing. It was not like the badgers, that I was getting used to hearing and starting to recognise. But this was different, I had torch with me but I was reluctant to use it. I had followed the guidance that I had read of placing red cellophane over the beam to make it invisible to animals, but that had not worked at all and using the torch just alerted the badgers to me thus far. But I wanted to know what it was that was by now nearly beneath me. I tried to be quiet as I pulled the torch out of my pocket but I must have made a noise as the animal below my perch snorted and galloped off, it was only as it did that was I able to discern the outline of a fully horned stag Fallow deer.

I was shaking with fright and excitement, something I will never forget. Even this week, on Tuesday, when I was out with two of the Friends’ when we saw Deer in the wood in broad daylight, I felt that same thrill, but this time I was not likely to fall out of a tree.

The one person who knew that I was going out illicitly was my brother who has just died, I am so grateful that he never let the cat out of the bag as I would have lost out on so many life shaping experiences.

The picture is of a pair of jackdaws that I saw the other day.

Many hands make light work

Today for me every thing has turned full circle. Last year I went out and helped collect some of the acorns from the wood. I rather rashly agreed to look after them in the back yard of my house. And in spite of hoards of ravenous corvidae a good number survived.

It was in fact the third activity I had carried out with the Friends of Chopwell Wood, and it makes me realise just what a remarkable year it has been for me. Last year I would never have expected to be elected to a committee position nor to have re-found my link with the natural world, all this because of a small wood that happens to be right on my doorstep.

Today quite literally I was able to give something back to that wood, in the form of baby oak trees. Fortunately I was not alone as we had a good number of volunteers arrived from Newcastle University Conservation club. The majority were planted and those that were not can be planted as two-year-old trees next year.

It was remarkable that the place chosen for the planting was clear felled about eight years ago, but remarkably it is regenerating quite well anyway and with oak too. That actually made it quite challenging to find the space to plant our seedlings the four to five metres apart we were aiming for. But I must say that the volunteers did a fantastic job and at least two thirds of the trees were planted and we did it without loosing a single volunteer. What is even more remarkable is that they want to come back.

So from the Mouse in the Wood;

Three cheers for Newcastle University Conservation Club.

To Intervene or not to Intervene that is the question…

The anonymous person that made the comment that they feel that in conservation they would like to see a landscape untouched raises an important point. I too would prefer that the land is not touched unnecessarily. However, in the UK there is not a single part of our country that does not show the hand of man upon it. Therefore, ironically to get back to a natural landscape we actually need to intervene and manage the regeneration.

Chopwell Wood is a tiny remnant of ancient woodland; we are in fact one acre short of a thousand acres now, when the original wood was over one million acres. Now there is no way that I can see, that we could even think of expanding the wood beyond its current boundaries. Therefore we need to manage the wood very carefully so we keep what’s good, and improve the rest. We could just rely upon natural regeneration, and allow the sun lovers such as Beach, Birch, fir Pine and Spruce to grow from the latent seed bank. That’s the dormant seeds in the soil already, and if we had even a quarter of the land the old wood used to occupy then that would be the right way to move forward. However, we have only less than one percent of the land occupied by the ancient woodland and if we let nature take its course we risk loosing the gene pool from the ancient trees long before the forest has the chance to regenerate.

In recent history, the last hundred years, the wood has constantly been devastated as wood and timber was harvested to supply the war machine of the two world wars. Going back even further, the wood was destroyed by Charles the first to build his flagship, so warfare has been the greatest environmental devastator of our woods here than anything else.

It is on the steep and inaccessible valley sides that retain the remnants of the ancient woodland. People tell me that the Oaks there are about three hundred years old, but as many of the trees are rooted into the stones of a cliff face, the standard measure of age based upon girth and height are inaccurate and some of these trees could be five or even six hundred years old. And that’s using data from Kew gardens.

Further, because in the North East of England we are loosing our ancient woodland, if we did not intervening positively, we could loose what little we do have. Additionally if we just allowed natural regeneration the small population of endangered or threatened species that we already have in the wood, would be at risk of dying out before we had recreated the habitat for them.

Any landscape management is and has to be a long-term project, even more so when we are dealing with woodlands, as a truly healthy wood requires various stages of decay and re-growth. Therefore, keeping dead wood is vital. Often the greatest difficulty is overcoming ignorance of what constitutes a healthy landscape. Some people want to see the countryside as a nice and tidy place just like a garden. But as anyone who gardens with wildlife in mind will tell you there needs to be some mess; those piles of logs, the nettle patch etc.

Add into that equation the need to ensure that the paths, tracks and bridal ways are safe from falling dead branches, and the balance becomes even more delicate.

While I know that some people don’t like other people using our woodland, it is only people that will protect it in the end. Therefore, while all this regeneration work is being done for the wildlife, ultimately it is for the benefit of all the people who use the woods.

The landscape is a living, breathing place, and just as a rotten apple needs to be removed from a bushel, we need to tend the forest to maintain its health.

Taking the Trees for a Walk

Your friendly neighbourhood Wood Mouse will be appearing in the local paper soon. The reason for this is my obsessive-compulsive behaviour of growing Oak Trees.

It all started when I was first out walking in the wood and I first encountered the ranger. She told me that the forest had a friends group and they carried out practical work in the wood. So I decided I would become an acquaintance of the Friends of Chopwell Wood.

Well you know how these things can escalate; I was foolish enough to offer to plant up the acorns that were gathered during last year’s tree seed collections. If only I had realised that there were nearly six hundred of them. I then had to go out, on the scrounge, to garner enough pots together to put them in. Fortunately the local community helped and soon I had all the pots I needed.

It was not easy, as I had to fight off all manner of birds, mainly the jackdaws but also the odd Jay and several magpies as they were constantly trying to eat their future perches. Eventually in the spring my compulsive, others would say eccentric, behaviour paid off and about two hundred and fifty baby oaks emerged.

It was as a result of doing this that this morning I had to take some of the trees back into the wood so that the Press Officer from the Forestry Commission could take some pictures of me with these trees. Now while I know that some people love performing in front of the camera, I don’t relish it, as I am very much like an oil painting, an old master in fact, cracked and flaking! However I did my duty, I don’t know how the images came out, as I haven’t seen them, but I felt a complete idiot standing there holding pots of trees in contrived poses. Even the Dog walkers were laughing at me, I think even the dogs were too.

Well there was I thinking that this is just for the staff magazine or some obscure place where no one would see them, like my Blog, then I get a call from the biggest paper in the region and it’s the environment editor, and before I know it, I will be in the local paper.

Well at least it will not be saying “Don’t Approach this Mouse” I just wish that the Ranger had not beguiled me when I first met her. It’s all her fault really.

All joking aside there is a serious point to all this, as these trees will be planted so that we can regenerate the ancient wood here in Chopwell. In doing so we can directly aid over one hundred species that are on the UK at risk list of flora and fauna. The reason for the publicity is so that we can encourage other people to become actively involved in collecting seed, helping to plant the trees and do their little bit.

As it was such a great morning it was worth, well almost, the humiliation of having my visage captured on film.

I got my own back by snapping this picture of the photographer!

The Ministry of Silly Walks

Now it should come as no surprise to my reader that this mouse’s life, at times, resembles a sketch out of Monty Python and on Friday I joined The Ministry of Funny Walks, or at least that’s the way it felt.

The Forestry Commission Ecologist had requested help to carry out a Bat Survey in the areas of standing timber that are to be thinned. I didn’t need asking twice, as apart from learning a new skill or new technique, work like this is a vital tool for maintaining the health of the ecosystem that is our local wood.

As I have written of previously, the forest is to start having the plantation conifers thinned out soon and there will be a long term replanting of native broad leaf trees. This will be occurring over a long period, and it will be the next century before this work is near completion. However, to carry this work out so that existing species are protected and not disturbed, this type of surveying has to be done before hand. As the law protects all Bats and here in Chopwell wood we have six species of bat, it is vital that this work is carried out toughly and systematically. In practice that means every tree has to be examined to look for possible roosting sites.

That can be a boring task as it really is like looking for a needle in that proverbial haystack. As on Friday we also had the difficulty of heavy rain, a difficult task was made even more difficult. As the underbrush is at this time of the year covered with Brambles, and to survey properly requires walking up and down making that examination of the trees, we had to wade through the brambles. I nearly considered putting a picture of my legs on here to show just how lacerated I became but as it would put people off, I decided against that idea. Additionally is the problem that because of the heavy undergrowth, its impossible to see the ditches and mounds, so as I am moving forward I was suddenly finding myself chest high in brambles and not waist high.

One of the areas that had to be surveyed, I knew was free of bat roost, as it is one of my regular routes so I do know it well. However, it still needs to be surveyed properly, not only to comply with the law, to ensure that the scientific data gathered is a true and accurate reflection of the roosting sites in the wood. Further, doing something like this can reveal other hidden gems in the wood, I know of a few hidden places where fungi will be emerging soon, as an example.

But after six hours of searching, my legs were aching and while it had stopped raining by the time we finished, I was completely saturated. Even my underwear was soaking and I was ready for a nice hot bath.

Incidentally, on this part of the survey we found seven potential roost sites, and latter the FC Ecologist will return with a ladder and Endoscopes to see if they are occupied. Finding the specific trees or sites will be easy as we used GPS to mark the exact location.

The work will continue in just over a week’s time, and all I can do is hope for better weather on that day. However, as it is vital work, I will be there no matter what the weather throws at us.

Incidentally, should we find that all of these locations are occupied then we can ensure the roosts are not lost by putting up additional roosting places in the form of bat boxes, thus ensuring that our healthy bat population is maintained.

The Curse of the Mobile Telephone

Have you ever had one of those moments when you are thinking of something and it appears that others are thinking the same thing? Yesterday, that’s exactly what happened. While I had been busy in the morning, I wanted to get out into the wood with the specific aim of collecting tree seeds. As our wood is an ancient woodland site, it is going to be replanted over the coming half century with native broadleaf trees, and this will come from seeds collected locally. It is important that they are local as if we planted Hawthorn from seeds gathered from the south, they would flower at a slightly different time and hence not have the same benefit for the environment and wildlife as would the local genetic stock.

So there was I getting myself together to head out when the Forestry Commission Ranger telephoned me, she had passed on my details to the FC Press Officer and he would be giving me a call. This is because from the last acorn gathering, I ended up fostering about Two hundred and Fifty Oak seedlings. There would have been a lot more but I had to defend them from Jackdaws, Crows, Magpies, and even a Jay or two, so the numbers diminished as the birds ate their future perches. The FC press officer wants to do a picture of the trees and me, all rather contrived but I agreed to this. Not because I am looking for some kind of self-aggrandisement, but because I feel that it is vital that we do plant trees and if by loosing some degree of anonymity I help encourage others to help or take the initiative and do the same, it will be worth doing so. It is also why in part, I keep this on line journal, I hate the word Blog, as it may inspire others to do their bit for the environment.

However, when the call came through from the Forestry Commission Press Officer, I was already in the wood and I had just sighted the fox in the picture. It had shown no indication of having seen me, until the cellular phone rang. I snatched a couple of pictures none that sharp. After cursing the contraption I called back and had a chat with this chap.

I hope that I will see this dog fox again, and that I will not have had need to carry the phone with me. But at least I can say that I had another encounter with the wildlife that inhabits my countryside.

Future Forests

Here is an example of planting and planning for the future on this site owned and managed by the woodland trust.

Preparing for a transformation

Here in my local wood we are on the brink of a new era. As the wood is a plantation that sits on the site of an ancient wood, it has been decided that it will be replanted with the native hardwood trees that would have been part of its natural mixture long before it was used as a plantation. Thus I find myself in the luck position of being around to see this happen. Or at least the start of it happening as it will continue long after I have departed.

What makes me so pleased is that if we, the Friends of Chopwell Wood and the Forestry Commission get the management right, we will be regenerating a habitat that has been in rapid decline for years. Therefore we will be helping in preserving many rare and endangered species for future generations.

At the moment I am busy trying to collect seeds from the trees that we will need to grow on and plant in future years. My back yard already looks like a mini forest with hundreds of Oak seedlings in there. I expect that while these will be planted in November, watch this space for details, and there will be a new mini forest in my back yard for years to come.

In the picture you can see the trees marked with coloured dots are the trees that are to be thinned.

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.