More to follow when we get something interesting...
Not far from that was a dragon fly as well:
Going back into the wood, the first thing I saw was this juvenile robin, just beginning to grow its red feathers:
Carrying on through into the wildlife corridor, I saw at least four White Admiral butterflies, but they weren't landing, at least not anywhere low down, so I didn't get a photo. I did get lots of other butterflies though. This one's a male Meadow Brown:
And here's a female for comparison:
With their wings closed they look like this, though you can't always see the black spot, if the wings are folded in more tightly:
There was a Comma sunning itself:
It's very well camouflaged once its wings are closed, especially among leaves:
Last but not least is a Speckled Wood, of which there were several enjoying the dappled sunlight at the edges of the corridor:
One of the reasons there are more butterflies in there is that the honeysuckle is now flowering, so there's nectar to be had. This is also the key food plant for the White Admiral's caterpillars.
That's all for now. We're going to go swimming in the sea this afternoon, and maybe metal detecting early evening, to see how much loose change the tourists have dropped!
But we also collected bits of litter to put in a bin, and had a nice walk.
They like to come down to the beach in the evening
and scavenge for food the careless humans have dropped
back at home we have herring gull chicks now:
and the parents watching over them carefully:
We're off up to the wood today, first just me to meet a guy who's interested in buying a wood for producing wood-fuel, and then later with friends from church. We had a big group up there last Saturday, many of them students on the Christian Rural and Environmental Studies course that a friend runs. I did a presentation for them on Peak Oil, then one on woodland, and we then went to the wood for lunch, a walk round and discussion.
There was about 20 people, and they all seemed to enjoy the day!
A quiet and peaceful woodland, soon to be shattered by the excitement of 27 children age 10 ish! The children from the local primary school love coming to the woodland. This group came to learn about coppicing and local, sustainable forestry. They are going to compare low impact coppicing with logging.... very interesting! They had a go at felling a tree, walked around the wood finding out loads of stuff and enjoyed creating their own tasks. This young man is building a safe house around a baby oak tree to protect it from rabbits.
and the lasses, using a huge log for something!
They were all fascinated by the boar leg someone hung in our tree..
Many thanks to National Trust for these brilliant guides.
We had a super day. I am only sorry I can't post pictures of smiling kids faces!
We did do a couple of jobs while we were there, mainly trimming back trees along the edges of the track up the wayleave, and also clearing the public footpath where it crosses the wayleave, which did look like this:
and now looks like this:
I was also pleased to see the young oak we pollarded is growing some better shoots now, and has avoided the attentions of grazing animals:
We've left some bracken growing around it to try to keep it somewhat hidden from them...
There was also this moth(?) that I've not been able to identify yet:
and here's a random weird insect to finish:
Mike
Next is Scarlet Pimpernel, which is growing in the wayleave just outside the wood. Apparently it likes growing in disturbed ground, so no surprise it's where the tractor was driving with the oak thinnings just over a year ago:
And down at the other end of the wayleave, near the gate, is Ragged Robin, growing where there's a seasonal pond in the winter:
Also in the coupe are more common plants, but still good to see as they weren't there a couple of years ago, like Dock and Nettle:
Oh, and the bluebells are getting ready to scatter their seed now:
We're pleased to see so much new stuff growing in the coupe we cut in 2007/08, and as we're going to keep the rides cut back, much of what's there should be able to establish itself.
After half an hour's work with loppers, an axe and a spade, I was left with this:
It's important to remove rhododendron wherever you find it in a wood, as it's an invasive non-native species, and can take over if left to itself. I know I didn't get all the roots out for this one (which is in the wayleave), but will check back over the coming months for any shoots indicating the presence of roots to be removed.
Mind you, the gulls didn't mind - lots of scraps for them to eat. I think someone must come and clean the mess up each morning, otherwise it'd be several feet deep by now...
But not as cool as this Great Black-backed Gull:
As sunset approached the beach emptied of people
and we were left with the moon overhead
and the sun setting over the dunes
but now it's back to work, which is very busy for both of us over the coming two weeks.