Cleaving chestnut

We popped up to the wood on Saturday to collect some materials for the roof and walls of the firewood shelter we're building at home (pictures will come soon, I promise...). It's not the usual time of year to fell trees, but we need some wood of a certain length for the roof and we're certainly not going to buy it! Felling in the summer means the wood is wetter, and therefore may not be as durable, but these pieces will be under a tarpaulin once they're up, so we think it'll be OK.

Tracy got stuck into cutting some of the regrowing chestnut along the footpath - we want to keep this region as a kind of shrub layer, as this will be more beneficial for the wildlife.

It's also of a size now where we can use it to weave the walls of the firewood shelter:

While she was doing that, I felled a few selected chestnut stems which were beautifully straight - I got five 2.8m logs out of one of them. I then used a froe and mallet to cleave the logs:

The wood has a really nice grain, very straight:

It was also dead easy to peel with the wood being so wet - after cleaving I was able to peel the bark off the whole log in one go for some of them. Then home they go to be bolted onto the roof of the shelter...

Mike

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Woodpeckers and butterflies

When we arrived at the wood yesterday, I saw a black and white bird take off from near our camp. At first I thought it was a Magpie, as we do get them there occasionally, but when it landed in a nearby oak I realised it was a Greater Spotted Woodpecker! Sadly the light wasn't that great, but I still got some of my best photos yet of this bird, and it was great to see one down in the coppiced area by our camp - a first since we bought the wood.

Later on the sun came out, and with it the butterflies. I was pleased to get my first photo of a Red Admiral this Spring, and also this was the first time we've been able to take a photo of one at the bottom of the hill in Sweep Wood, as the coppicing has let the light in:

They're not the only things flying around though - there's swarms of St Marks Flies up the hill in Sweep Wood (thanks to Patrick Roper for help with the ID):

The dangling bits are just their legs:

Here's a male one landed:

Their name comes from the fact that they're often seen around St Mark's day - 25th April.

Also in Sweep Wood are lots of flowers, including some new ones since the coppicing. The Bluebell flowers are fading now, and the seed pods are swelling:

But they are being replaced by some white flowers:

Not sure on the ID for these, any comments welcome!

The Foxgloves are preparing to flower, though I expect we still have a few weeks to wait:

There's also this new one, which I think is a Stitchwort, but not sure about that:

The Buttercup is another new arrival, though I guess it will only last until the trees close canopy in a couple of years:

The plum tree at the top of the hill finished flowering a while ago, and a strange thing has happened - not only has it been growing fruit, it's also grown some strange pods, which are now going a bit mouldy. Any comments on what's going on here would be appreciated! Here's a pod next to a fruit:

Some fruits and a pod on their own:

and here's the inside of them:

Back in our camp, the pears on one of the fruit trees are looking more conventional:

The trees in the part of Sweep Wood we coppiced in 2009/10 are doing really well now. The trees we singled to grow on as possible future standards have a lot of side-growth, now there's more light. Here's a Sweet Chestnut and an Ash:

and even the Hazel that got chewed by rabbits last year is having another go at growing:

The whole area is really looking amazing now, a bit of a low-level jungle!

Mike

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All the trees are growing!

My parents are visiting, and yesterday we took a walk in Sweep Wood to see how it's getting on after our two winters coppicing there. And it's looking great!

All the trees we cut last winter are growing again now, here's Sweet Chestnut, Hornbeam and Alder:

The year-old trees are doing well too, here's some Ash back in leaf:

And of course, until the trees grow back to close the canopy, everything on the ground is going crazy:

Compare this to a similar bit of the wood a few years ago:

Quite a difference, eh?

Here's another one from a few years ago:

but this area doesn't look so different yet for ground flora, as we only just cut it - it'll need another year's growth to change visibly.

The bluebells have just started to pass their peak in this part of the wood now, so here's a few photos, as there may not be many more.

The ride between Sweep Wood and Chestnut Coppice is looking pretty good too:

and not far from there is some Hawthorn in bloom - a bit later than the ones you might have seen in hedgerows, as it's shaded to some extent. But once again, there's a coppicing benefit here, as this is a tree that didn't flower at all until we cut along that ride:

One final exciting thing we saw, which bodes well for the summer, was hundreds of caterpillars on our crab apple tree. I'm no good at identifying them, so any help appreciated! They did an amazing job of looking like twigs:

Though when they do it on the edge of a leaf it's probably a bit less effective as camouflage:

Anyway, that's all for now. We walked some of the High Weald Landscape Trail today, so there'll be pics from that in due course...

Mike

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Close up experience with an Adder!

Well, look what we saw in the woods this weekend!

We have of course seen Adders before, but this was the closest I've been able to get to one, and it wasn't in a hurry so I got plenty of pictures. Here's some more:

I especially like that last one. It's not as sharp as I'd have liked, but I'm very pleased to have captured the forked tongue. The amazing thing was that as we stood there quietly watching, the snake appeared to be unaware of our presence, and it was only when I took some steps closer (after taking the photos), that it started to hurry out of our way.

Anyway, it was great to see the snake, not least because with the leaves coming out the time for photos of birds is past - this was the best I could manage this weekend - the back end of a Blue Tit!

Talking of leaves, here's the top of an oak tree:

The Sweet Chestnut coppiced last winter is also growing like crazy now:

and the Wild Service leaves are coming on too:

Here's a view down the public footpath, where we coppiced the edges a couple of years ago. We've not yet decided when to cut again along this strip, but we don't want to let it grow up again, as we want to keep the light coming in as it's brought some real benefits for the flora and fauna.

Talking of which, along the path we saw this Common Violet growing.

Nothing special in itself, but before this year there were none of these along the path, so clearly the extra light we let in has made a difference.

Back near our camp, the fruit trees are all doing well. Here's the blossom on the wild Apple:

and here's some on one of the other trees we planted:

Some of them have finished, so we're picking off the flower heads to stop fruit growing (again), so the tree can devote its energy to growing bigger. This year we might leave just one or two to grow into fruit though.

OK, the next lot of pictures are all from the area of Sweep Wood where we've been working the last two winters.

It's the busiest part of the wood for flowers. Let's start with Bluebells, which are further on here than anywhere else in the wood, though still not quite at their peak:

A few weeks ago a couple of people identified a plant for me as Yellow Archangel. Well, they were right, as these pictures now prove:

I'd assumed this was a garden escapee, but on further research I've discovered it's often found in woodland, though not as common as it used to be, so nice to see it here.

We've also seen some Purple Dead Nettle (or Purple Archangel as it is sometimes known). This is more of a wasteland plant than a woodland one, but it's growing in a scrubby area right at the top of Sweep Wood, so maybe that's not surprising. Apparently it's a great nectar source for insects at this time of year, so again a nice one to see.

Nearby are various other plants you'd expect in scrub land, such as Goose Grass and Dandelion:

and not far away are genuine garden escapees, such as Forget-me-not, and one I don't know:

Anyway, that's the end of the flower show. We could actually do with some rain now, but there's none forecast for weeks yet...

Mike

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