More clearing up windblown trees

I carried on clearing the windblow today. Here's how part of it looked at the end of yesterday:

and here's how it looked at lunchtime today:

As before, some of it is firewood, but some is useful for other purposes, such as these sections which will make nice waist-high chopping blocks (glove for scale):

and these which will be turned into stools:

Finally, here's a stem I left on the upturned coppice stool, to see what kind of shape tree it grows into:

Mike

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Windblow into produce

With the Ashden Awards successfully completed last week, I've got a week off to catch up on everything else. One of the jobs in the wood was doing something with the windblow that came down a few months ago. The first batch is now converted into split logs for firewood:

big, straight logs for use in making benches and stools (click for videos):

and longer straight logs for building stuff, plus some logs for making stakes:

There's still some more windblow to clear up, though I think I might leave one of the stems as they're growing new shoots from the side now, so it might make an interesting tree one day!

Mike

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Chicks hatched at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

The Black Headed Gull chicks are out!

Here's a short video of them:

Interestingly, they've only hatched in one of the lakes, I guess the birds nested there earlier. On the other side there's no chicks, and lots of Sandwich Terns:

Plus a few Oyster Catchers too:

Next update in a few days...

Mike

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Great Tits nesting in an iron pipe!

Birds nest in the strangest places... Check this video out, showing a Great Tit going to feed its chicks inside an iron pipe we left leaning against our log store in the woods:

Here's a few still pictures too, showing the parent waiting near the nest to check the nearby humans aren't a threat:

About to enter the nest, with a beak full of food:

And finally, coming back out, ready to go and collect more food:

Nice to see them doing well, when you're near the pipe you can hear the chicks chirping.

Mike

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Common Terns and Sandwich Terns mating at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

After our last trip to Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, I resolved to visit about once a week to see the progress of the birds nesting and the chicks emerging. Well, the Black Headed gulls are still there, and making an awful lot of noise!

I took a short video so you can get an idea of the racket they're making:

Some of them seem to have got a bit carried away with their nest building....

The gulls are now sharing the islands with Terns, some of which are mating:

Again, a short video:

This weekend I learned how to tell the difference between a Common Tern and a Sandwich Tern, both of which were present. Here's a Common Tern, which has smooth head feathers and an orange beak with a black tip:

while at the top right of this picture (click for a larger version on Flickr) are Sandwich Terns, whose head feathers look like spiky hair and whose beaks are black with a yellow tip.

Looking forward to seeing some chicks hatching soon!

Mike

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