What happens when you give a 4-year old a DSLR camera?

Don't worry, he didn't break it! But he did take lots of pictures!

The photographer is my nephew Joshua, and he's actually not quite four, but will be in a few weeks. He's with us because my sister Cath and my brother Andy, plus Rachel, Joshua and Chloe are visiting this week. It was interesting to see the photos Joshua took, as it showed what interested him. It was people first, of course, such as his Mum and Dad with Tracy:

My sister Cath:

His Dad and his uncle Mike:

and his sister Chloe, sleeping in our firewood shelter to get some shade:

but then he moved onto objects that interested him, like where the water came from:

the fire:

his name written on a stool with charcoal:

coppiced trees:

part of the firewood shelter:

The base of an oak tree (remember this is all from a height of 3 feet, so the top of the tree is a LONG way off, and maybe not interesting because of that...):

and finally some lifting tongs:

When he wasn't taking photos he was either toasting marshmallows:

looking cute:

looking strange:

or looking scary!

After lunch we went to the other side of the wood to pick up some more materials for our firewood shelter. There wasn't room for everyone in the car, so Andy and Joshua rode in the trailer, which was great fun!

Oh, and before I forget, Cath had a go driving the car as well, up the woodland track, as she doesn't have a driving licence so can't normally have a go.

Over the other side of the wood, the foxgloves are looking amazing now:

But after admiring them we got down to work:

Even Chloe found she could help:

and Joshua found he was easily strong enough to get involved (and earned himself £1 to go on a fairground ride later as well...)

One last pic - Joshua's been looking for things he can take back to his pre-school class to show them what he did over the holidays, so he was delighted to find this pheasant feather to add to his collection of stuff:

That's all for now...

Mike

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A Hornbeam woodland

On Sunday we went to a SWOG event in a Hornbeam woodland near Gatwick. It couldn't really look more different to our wood:

Much more open, and also less flat and wetter. It wouldn't suit what we do in the woods, but it makes for very nice pictures:

The first part of the visit was hosted by Gatwick Green Space, which is run by Sussex Wildlife Trust. They're renting part of the woodland for their activities, and for them it was an opportunity to form links with other nearby owners. They took us on a tour of the wood, explaining how they are managing it to promote wildlife habitat.

They also brought four Kelly Kettles - the most I've seen lit at once:

and used the leftover embers in them to light this 'upside down' fire:

The fire worked well, with the heat at the top drying out the wood below as the fire burned downwards. Later on they cooked us a great lunch of soup, sausages, venison and baked beans!

After lunch we went to visit David Plummer's wood, which is nearby. He's a professional photographer who runs training courses in the wood, where he has everything set up for ideal photos of birds, using perches with food in them and hides:

He took us round the wood, telling us about the wildlife and what happens on the courses he runs.

There's even a toilet for visitors!

Because he's there so much, and feeds the birds, some of them have become very tame. This Robin came along and sat close enough for me to get some nice pics:

That's nothing compared to what you'd get in a proper session with David though - you can see his courses here.

Finally, two interesting pics I got while walking round; a fallen ash with a huge burr on it, the biggest I've ever seen:

and a land rover Defender that's much more beat up than ours is!

That's all for now. It looks like it'll be cold again soon, so there may be some more snow pictures coming...

Mike

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First frost in the woods

Yesterday was the first proper frost in the woods. I know it's been cold in more northerly parts of the UK already, but it's a bit warmer where we are. The grass and leaves were crispy with ice, and the soil had mostly frozen solid.

In the shade, the frost actually stayed all day, so I expect it will build up over the coming week, as it looks like the weather will stay cold.

Anyway, this kind of weather is great for working in the woods, as you don't get too hot, the ground is firm underfoot, and it's often sunny. Here's the view as I arrived not too long after sunrise:

My first job was to fill the bird feeder. I also had to refill it seven hours later when I left, as they'd eaten this much in that time:

I did of course stop to get some pictures before starting work, as the birds arrived as soon as I'd filled it. Mostly Coal Tits, with one Blue Tit:

I also tried getting some fast shutter photos of birds in flight, but as the sun wasn't up very far I had to do them at ISO1600, so they were a bit noisy, but here's the results anyway:

I need to be there nearer to midday to have another go...

I heard some rustling noises nearby, and saw a pheasant trying to be inconspicuous with its white, red and blue/green head...

Coincidentally, Tracy saw a Reeves's Pheasant a few miles from the wood today. Would be interesting to get a picture of one if they spread over to us...

On to the work... as I was there on my own yesterday, rather than tackle too many big trees, I worked on some awkward Hazel stools along the edge, as these take quite a bit of time but there's not much to go wrong. I've cleared a nice gap here:

and another one here, though a few stems have been left as I need a rope on them to pull them back into the wood:

There was also some windblown Chestnut that I finished dealing with. The stool is still alive, so perhaps it will recover...

In the meantime, it made a neat vantage point to take a photo from:

Here's a view from the reference point at the bottom, followed by one from before we started:

It really does feel like the end is in sight, though there's a few more weeks to do yet, especially roping the edge trees back in.

Mike

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