BBC Autumnwatch

As my reader in the UK will know on television at the moment the BBC are broadcasting again there Autumnwatch season. I should explain to my overseas reader that this is the second year of doing this although for the last five years they have been broadcasting a similar programme in the Spring, yes you guessed it; Springwatch.

While I know that some people feel they don’t like the presenters, they seem to want their natural history/nature programmes to be rather po-faced, I actually enjoy the style. One of the things I love about the fact that they are live, is that we never quite know what is going to happen or if the animals, the real stars of the show, are going to turn up.

This being on has brought me in from the cold where I have been out watching Badgers and other wildlife, and made me appreciate the warmth of a cat on my lap and a cup of hot soup.

However, it is two of the animals that they have shown that sparks my wish to write here. Firstly are the beavers. Every night they are showing live images of a colony of wild European Beavers that have been breed at a compound with the hope of reintroducing them to the UK. As we lost our Beavers about five hundred years ago, I can see the difficulty in reintroducing them. As we would have to educate people to accept them, and we would have to learn how to change the way we manage our rivers to meet their needs. But on balance I think I am in favour of them being reintroduced.

The second animal though is a bit more controversial, Wild Bore. For many years now there has been a small population of wild bore that have re-established themselves, often as escapes from farming of the wild bore. Again this is an animal that was hunted to extinction, about seven hundred years ago, so while it was native to the UK its accidental reintroduction could be problematic.

The greatest problem is its interactions with people and specifically with people with dogs. Dogs and wild pigs don’t get on, and with wild bore having tusks, I can see some dog owners demanding “something is done” especially if a dog gets injured or killed. Then there will be the farmers who suffer losses from the damage they will do to crops. However, the biggest danger will be when the population starts to rise. As wild Bore no longer have any predators, we killed the Wolf off here about one thousand years ago, and there are no natural controls on the population size.

Thus I cautiously welcome this happening as well. I know that locally, though fortunately not in Chopwell Wood, there is a female wild bore on the loose. I have spoken to reliable witnesses of this fact, but also there appears to be no male in the area. Therefore the population is not growing here. But as this makes my nocturnal wildlife watching potentially dangerous, I have mixed feelings about knowing she is out there. That makes my personal preference for dealing with the actuality of wild bore being present in the UK even more controversial. I think there should be a reintroduction of the European Wolf into the UK.

Now I know that would upset almost everyone, but it would help to control the numbers of Bore, Deer and other potential pest species in the UK.

I doubt that it will happen, but it would restore the balance in nature.

Autumn Colours

As a good friend and fellow keeper of an online journal keeps on posting pictures of the autumn colours over in Maine, I thought I would do the same and show that our trees are not slacking.

Well you can tell that autumn is here.

Changed Plans and A Long Walk

One of the large coppice stools

While I knew that I had a couple of important errands to run yesterday, I was planning to have a quite day especially as I have a load of washing to do. One of the problems with living a truly “Green” lifestyle and being so involved with practical conservation is that my clothes do get mucky. Therefore I needed some time to get my washing done. I don’t have a washing machine so it’s all done by hand. Rather old fashioned but effective. However, I got a call from the Ranger as the Forestry Commission Crew had been in that morning and had coppiced the large trees down where the Friends’ are building the Grass Snake hotels. As I seem to have become by default the task leader on this project, I needed to check to see if there was anything else that the FoCW needed done while the crew were still around.

Therefore, I had to adjust my plans and go and visit the site. As building these Grass Snake Hotels, Hibernacula, is a big project and we are relying upon volunteers, we need to keep a sensible balance in providing work that is interesting yet achievable. Had we left the large timber there to be coppiced by inexperienced volunteers, far less could have been done as the site lacks the space for twenty plus people to be working and several tonnes of timber getting felled. Also as the volunteers are inexperienced, by making the work interesting with results that they can see occurring, they are more likely to want to continue volunteering and doing their bit for the environment.

Well when I got to the site, the Forestry Commission crew have done a fantastic job. They have left the smaller more manageable trees there, for the conservation volunteers to deal with, but have opened up the area so that we can work on the Hibernacula. None of the wood will be wasted as it will be required for the construction of the grass snake hotels, and what is not used will be corded so that insects and other small animal can use it. None of the trees have been killed, as the coppice stools will regenerate. The site was chosen as the trees there need to be coppiced anyway, and because of that fact the location is perfect for the Hibernacula. It all goes to become a virtuous circle of enhancing habitat.

As my regular reader will know, previously while carrying out a survey of potential bat roost sites, I had shredded my old boots, so on Monday I went out and bought a new pair. I was glad that I had as the site where the Friends of Chopwell Wood are to build the Grass Snake Hotel is not easily accessible. Access is via a steep bank and you need good stout footwear to get on or off the site. Because the tread on my old boots was so worn on the last occasion that I had been to the location I had to slip down on my butt to gain access. This time it was a piece of cake.

The steep valley near the river

As I had needed to alter my plans I decided I would take some time out and relax by taking a nice walk and see what was happening in the wood. With autumn showing its self in the wood, it was possible that I could get some great pictures. I personally love this time of year because of the colours and the way that the wildlife is feverously preparing for winter.

A New Season

It is remarkable the difference that a few days can make as the seasons turn. Just a few days ago it looked as if there was autumn hint just around the corner, today it looks as if the season has really started in earnest.

The start of autumn marks an important anniversary for me too as its one year since I moved to my village and fell in love with my forest. And what a year it has been. If last year someone had told me that I would be living my life as I am now doing, I would not have believed that person. While living in this former mining village has had its difficult moments, where I was living was far worse. It was a very deprived inner city area, which was so depraved that in the morning I could look out of my window upon the view of people injecting drugs, openly, in the street. It was so rough that it was impossible for the town to get twinned, but I believe it did have a suicide pact with Beirut.

Thus moving to this village was and has been a breath of fresh air for me. I have always been in love with the natural environment and had I not been able to reconnect with nature in the way that I have been able to do, then I think I would have gone mad. Not in any metaphorical sense, but very much in a literal sense. I already had to take anti-depressants, what I called my happy pills, as I had to live in conditions and an environment that no human should have to live in. But that was then, now I have a beautiful forest on my doorstep, and I have encountered so much wildlife that I have to remember that my old life and living space is still only ten miles away.

The other positive aspect of the move to this village has been the reawakening of my creative sprit. While I tried hard to retain previously, it almost impossible to be creative when all you can see is destruction and destructive people around. As I have said before its far easier to destroy something than to create something.

That’s not to say that there are not destructive forces around the village, but fortunately they are still in the minority. Nor am I saying that living here is some kind of rural ideal, it is far from that. But I would rather live with the beauty of the countryside and wildlife than in some inner city hovel.

The picture is of the reflected wood in the Derwent River.