tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68450170131850181772024-03-12T16:41:49.057-07:00Peplers In RyeFind about what we're up to in Rye, East Sussex, and what's going on in our wood, Chestnut Coppice.Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.comBlogger861125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-25881063111477464592023-05-13T04:07:00.000-07:002023-05-13T04:07:03.073-07:00Astrophotography<p>It's been a while since my last post here, there's a lot to catch up on. I've got back into astronomy after a break of many years, so this post shows you a few pictures I've taken through a telescope in the past few months. It's a Skywatcher dobsonian 200mm reflector, the photos are taken with a DSLR camera in prime focus, which means effectively using the telescope as a huge camera lens. You have to take quite a few photos and then combine them using a computer to produce good images. Here's my best so far:</p><b>
Andromeda galaxy
</b><p style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52713056215/in/dateposted-public/" title="Andromeda 25 Feb 2023"><img alt="Andromeda 25 Feb 2023" height="416" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52713056215_5af87658f7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Pinwheel Galaxy</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52894491495/in/dateposted-public/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Pinwheel 18 March 2023"><img alt="Pinwheel 18 March 2023" height="457" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52894491495_957b2dbd03_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><b>Pleaides</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52712902139/in/dateposted-public/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Pleiades 8 Jan 2023"><img alt="Pleiades 8 Jan 2023" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52712902139_57eea19259_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><b>Comet c-2022 e3</b><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52712118647/in/dateposted-public/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Comet c-2022 e3"><img alt="Comet c-2022 e3" height="451" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52712118647_a14fe5b50d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>More posts on other topics to follow soon...</p><p><br /></p><p>Mike</p><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-30672275620881748912022-08-20T10:48:00.001-07:002022-08-20T10:48:19.697-07:00Cockatiel news!It's been a very busy summer, both in the woods and getting used to the new job. I'll post some pics from the woods soon, but there's some important sad and good news to post first.<div><br /></div><div>Sadly our cockatiel Pete, who lived with us for 16 years, died a few weeks ago. We miss him lots, and have made a memorial video of him here:
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/35PZIFqo8qM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><div><br /></div>
We thought we'd try not having a pet for a while - we lasted just two weeks before deciding to look for some new birds... and today they arrived, so here's a short welcome to Floyd and Dusty!
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They're brothers (the breeder assures they are males), with a mixed Pied and Pearl heritage. They're a bit tired in this video, having just put up with a long drive, but they settled in very quickly. We're looking forward to getting some proper time with them out of the cage tomorrow. We intend for them to be out of the cage all day eventually, but initially we'll only have them out while we're around, until we're sure we can trust them.
Their parents sadly plucked their feathers out at 11 days old, so they've been hand reared since then, and it really does show in their behaviour - though in this video they're still a bit nervous as they only met us a few hours earlier. They don't have flight feathers yet, because of being plucked, but they should grow some during their next moult - and Dusty in fact has a few flight feathers already growing, and can manage a short hop through the air.</div><div><br /></div><div>More videos to come soon...</div><div><br /></div><div>Mike</div>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-24299278687386034652022-04-18T04:38:00.001-07:002022-04-18T04:38:48.827-07:00Spring arriving in the woodsThis is always one of my favourite things to spot in Spring - the first Wood Anemone flower in our woods (taken on 19 March):<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006781940/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-03-19 13.47.07"><img alt="2022-03-19 13.47.07" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006781940_c9ebc0997a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> <div>I've also got quite a few interesting videos of wildlife on the trail camera! But first, let's rewind a bit, because back in February there was Storm Eunice! The storm knocked over some coppice stools towards one edge of the woods, which we've cleared up to some extent but will go back to later - we're converting some to firewood, and others to dead wood to leave on the ground. There was some more immediate damage to sort out though, like this holly branch that was blocking the footpath: <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006260561/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-02-18 16.34.43"><img alt="2022-02-18 16.34.43" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006260561_d7f8d1ecb1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>More of a problem was this two-stemmed coppice stool that had also blown across the footpath. This was sad to see, as we'd saved this tree when coppicing here over a decade ago, to allow it to grow on to become larger. But, the intention was to fell it at some point for timber, it would never have stood for decades with two stems, so I guess the wind just did the job for us:<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006261201/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-02-18 17.19.19"><img alt="2022-02-18 17.19.19" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006261201_84a022c069_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006320383/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-02-18 17.20.07"><img alt="2022-02-18 17.20.07" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006320383_0a6bbab816_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006320428/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-02-18 17.20.53"><img alt="2022-02-18 17.20.53" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006320428_3b7b5548ff_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>Tracy and I cleared a path right away, on the afternoon of the day the storm hit, when the wind had died back a bit: <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52005239422/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG20220218173145_061204"><img alt="IMG20220218173145_061204" height="480" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52005239422_d2616406a3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006514924/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-02-18 17.38.27"><img alt="2022-02-18 17.38.27" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006514924_c859ed8382_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>And then a few days later I carefully removed the stems, and the stool settled back into the ground: <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006515644/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-02-25 15.24.24"><img alt="2022-02-25 15.24.24" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006515644_5b40efa637_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006262091/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-02-25 15.24.32"><img alt="2022-02-25 15.24.32" height="395" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006262091_78d8e927a1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>There's also been a flurry of firewood deliveries, so we've been collecting the last of the wood cut in winter 2018-19, which is very thoroughly seasoned now! <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006262886/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-03-14 14.04.18"><img alt="2022-03-14 14.04.18" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006262886_fbcbe1dcae_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>Some was processed straight into the trailer for delivery: <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006516234/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-03-14 16.02.59"><img alt="2022-03-14 16.02.59" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006516234_4faca925f9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>The rest was moved round to our main area for storing timber: <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006262851/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-03-14 14.30.03"><img alt="2022-03-14 14.30.03" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006262851_8a7b84f230_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52005240027/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-03-14 14.52.44"><img alt="2022-03-14 14.52.44" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52005240027_47da70ab55_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>I've also been experimenting with using my bike trailer to move timber through the woods, as a way of reducing the use of fossil fuels: <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006417423/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-04-11 15.24.08"><img alt="2022-04-11 15.24.08" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006417423_a49f4943b2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>Moving on to the wildlife, here's three recent videos from the trail camera, showing wild boar, bats (surprisingly!) and a lovely close up of a Roe buck (male deer):</div><div>
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CPBlOMJ2-_s" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XWZVgWD2tQc" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><div><br /></div>
As you could see in the final video above, there's a brilliant carpet of Wood Anemone right now: <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006516719/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-03-24 13.50.51"><img alt="2022-03-24 13.50.51" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006516719_8ea9c911aa_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>The trees are coming into leaf too - here's some Birch just opening up in mid-March, the Oak was a couple of weeks later, and Sweet Chestnut after that, over the Easter weekend:<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52005240512/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-03-19 13.52.43"><img alt="2022-03-19 13.52.43" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52005240512_7dece771c3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>Up in Sweep Wood, where we coppiced just over a year ago, the ground is now looking very green again: <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52005335917/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-04-11 14.07.36"><img alt="2022-04-11 14.07.36" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52005335917_7a79f1a047_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>And by early April the Bluebells were showing. They're usually a bit later in our woods than some other places nearby, because of the local geography. <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006417478/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-04-11 14.08.21"><img alt="2022-04-11 14.08.21" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006417478_5323261a6b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>There's been some warm, sunny days too, so quite a few butterflies out, like this Comma and Peacock: <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006517304/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_0008"><img alt="DSC_0008" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006517304_b6e4908ffe_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006517074/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_0015"><img alt="DSC_0015" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006517074_ea157a4c85_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>I was pleased to get a nice shot of this Buzzard overheard too! <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006517189/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_0027"><img alt="DSC_0027" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006517189_688f57afa3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>Winter did have a sting it its tail though, this photo was taken on 1 April! <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006610224/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-04-01 08.41.30"><img alt="2022-04-01 08.41.30" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006610224_b7bfd9d0d5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>Back at home Pete has been enjoying this playground (some old cardboard packaging): </div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006317453/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-01-11 12.49.07"><img alt="2022-01-11 12.49.07" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006317453_2760dc4996_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>We also brought him a 'tree' home from the woods. At first he needed to be tempted into it using millet: <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006876235/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-04-03 08.09.26"><img alt="2022-04-03 08.09.26" height="416" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006876235_afa12fda88_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>But now he flies straight into it and perches there! <div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006876440/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-04-07 16.04.38"><img alt="2022-04-07 16.04.38" height="423" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006876440_a29ca02833_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div> </div><div>And finally, sunset on Camber beach in late January:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/52006318163/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-01-29 16.28.47"><img alt="2022-01-29 16.28.47" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52006318163_848d919a4b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
</div><div>That's all for now. Mike</div>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-49055875209361243272022-04-16T05:43:00.000-07:002022-04-16T05:43:07.818-07:00Final days at Dungeness, and a new job! It's taken me a while to get round to this post, but things have been busy! The day after I finished my fixed-term part-time job as a Ranger at Dungeness, I put in an application for another job, and am now on the point of finishing work at <a href="https://ashden.org/" target="_blank">Ashden </a>after over 15 years there! I'll be working at <a href="https://www.citizensadvice1066.co.uk/" target="_blank">Citizens Advice 1066</a>, leading on energy efficiency and energy advice projects. Part-time though, so I still have time to spend in the woods, of course.<div>But let's get back to my final days doing the Ranger job. Despite being mid-winter, there were still some nice days in December as the end of my contract neared:</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51979201999/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-12-28 14.54.35"><img alt="2021-12-28 14.54.35" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51979201999_8cd903f767_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><div><br /></div>
I'll certainly miss spending long days in the unique shingle environment there, which looks barren but is incredibly diverse when it comes to plants, insects and birds.<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51979484125/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-01-03 14.07.17"><img alt="2022-01-03 14.07.17" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51979484125_06d507b6ae_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51978996123/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-01-02 15.23.35"><img alt="2022-01-02 15.23.35" height="480" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51978996123_5585f79766_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br /></div><div>I did have a special treat in my final week there, with this bin lorry managing to get stuck: </div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51978925386/in/dateposted-public/" title="20211210_091717_101344"><img alt="20211210_091717_101344" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51978925386_06ea67af25_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><div><br /></div>A breakdown truck came to help get it out, and it got stuck too....<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51978997353/in/dateposted-public/" title="20211210_135306_035038"><img alt="20211210_135306_035038" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51978997353_ce87698916_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><div><br /></div>Quite spectacularly stuck! People don't seem to realise that the shingle goes down for many metres...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51979203249/in/dateposted-public/" title="20211210_135510_035117"><img alt="20211210_135510_035117" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51979203249_cbb904aeb8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><div><br /></div>
It took a second breakdown truck to pull the first one out, and between them they got the bin lorry out too, several hours after it got stuck!<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" height="427" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51979481195/in/dateposted-public/" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51979481195_3ac5538f39_z.jpg" width="640"></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br /></div><div>I can of course go back to Dungeness any time I like, and one of my first trips there after finishing was to try some night-time photography. This is Orion, from the end of the boardwalk at the Point of Dungeness, taken using multiple exposures combined into one image using <a href="http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html" target="_blank">Deep Sky Stacker</a>:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51979481195/in/dateposted-public/" title="Orion, from Dungeness"><img alt="Orion, from Dungeness" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51979481195_3ac5538f39_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><div><br /></div>And then a few shots around Dungeness, showing the lighthouses, power station and some other buildings:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51979199089/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_0036"><img alt="DSC_0036" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51979199089_2f7d6faaf3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51978993563/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_0038"><img alt="DSC_0038" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51978993563_0c05e7d9dd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51979482095/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_0062"><img alt="DSC_0062" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51979482095_2fd2d18f06_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><div><br /></div>And finally, I popped back in late February to see what Storm Eunice at done to the Dungeness A power station!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51979480565/in/dateposted-public/" title="2022-02-27 15.41.35"><img alt="2022-02-27 15.41.35" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51979480565_0442fa5b5d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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News from the woods coming up next...
MikeMike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-11666065199674793912021-12-05T07:31:00.004-08:002021-12-05T07:31:27.452-08:00Nearing the end of a busy 6 months - news from the woods and DungenessWell, things have certainly been busy since July, while I've been working as a Ranger at Dungeness as well as doing my desk job. I've only got a few more weeks to go on the contract at Dungeness now, I'll certainly miss the work and my colleagues when I stop, though I'll appreciate getting some time back in my life. Fortunately there's nothing to stop me still visiting there and staying in touch with people, as it's not far away. There's been some amazing views there over the past few months, e.g. sunset looking from the Point towards Hastings:<div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51725761481/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-11-28 15.44.22"><img alt="2021-11-28 15.44.22" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51725761481_5bc6906376_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>Storm clouds over the English Channel:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51724950997/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-11-22 15.00.37"><img alt="2021-11-22 15.00.37" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51724950997_05a332f35a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>Expansive skies and acres of shingle:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51726640300/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-11-28 09.13.36"><img alt="2021-11-28 09.13.36" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51726640300_4bb87fbba1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>Views from the 'Boardwalk', one of a range of features to make it easier for visitors to appreciate the site:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51726002513/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-11-14 10.09.15"><img alt="2021-11-14 10.09.15" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51726002513_822c226028_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51726005738/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-11-27 10.19.20"><img alt="2021-11-27 10.19.20" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51726005738_e90242768e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>There's been some stormy days too, I took these pics just a few days ago:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51726642665/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-12-03 09.31.27"><img alt="2021-12-03 09.31.27" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51726642665_e99973f237_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51726414229/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-12-03 09.32.38"><img alt="2021-12-03 09.32.38" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51726414229_0fde7e9156_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>There's also been any number of stuck vehicles to deal with, from relatively simple ones like this camper van:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51724937147/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-09-18 13.15.52"><img alt="2021-09-18 13.15.52" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51724937147_ea408293df_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>To more challenging ones like a bin lorry weighing over 30 tonnes!</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51724936617/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-08-20 13.01.49"><img alt="2021-08-20 13.01.49" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51724936617_3b918be87e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51724936527/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-08-20 13.02.01"><img alt="2021-08-20 13.02.01" height="514" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51724936527_eb0921f76d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>The moral of the story is to pay attention to the signs at Dungeness, and only park in the official car parks!</div><div><br /></div><div>I've not only been at Dungeness in my Ranger role though, I've also worked at a range of other sites that RMCP manages, and on some of these I've been able to put my chainsaw experience to good use, for example felling some large willow trees at Romney Warren:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51724937752/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-09-27 15.58.53"><img alt="2021-09-27 15.58.53" height="380" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51724937752_2082db1afb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51725991593/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-10-06 10.41.00"><img alt="2021-10-06 10.41.00" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51725991593_52aa2f345e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>These were being removed to get more light into a series of ponds, to improve them as a habitat for newts. That does mean all the willow brash has to be burned up, as we don't want it putting down roots and shading the pond again...</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51725745611/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-09-27 15.59.03"><img alt="2021-09-27 15.59.03" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51725745611_477f9a59db_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>I've also done some interesting work in a very boggy woodland the other side of Ashford, felling trees and then winching them over to create new pools. The amazing thing was that while we were still in the process of winching these stumps out of the ground, there were hoverflies laying eggs around the edges of the pools!</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51724938607/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-10-25 16.44.39"><img alt="2021-10-25 16.44.39" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51724938607_d7fe81d253_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>I've even been trained in how to check on cattle being used for conservation grazing, not something I'd ever expected to do, as I'm not really keen on being around large mammals!</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51726406509/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-10-18 13.44.17"><img alt="2021-10-18 13.44.17" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51726406509_fb099ae595_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>And in this era of deadly airborne viruses, it's been nice to be able to have team meetings outdoors around a fire at the end of a day's work:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51724947852/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-11-12 16.52.10"><img alt="2021-11-12 16.52.10" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51724947852_d40ff3ff9f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>One benefit of doing the Ranger work was that I got a 1-day chainsaw refresher training day, to update my skills on CS32 - felling medium size oak trees. Here's one of my fellow students on the training day, taking down an oak while the rest of us observed:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AzwG7an95-4" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
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</div><div>Back in Rye, everyone was delighted to be able to join in with Rye Fawkes again, after the 2020 event was cancelled due to the area being in lockdown.</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51725742366/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-11-13 20.06.27"><img alt="2021-11-13 20.06.27" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51725742366_5612606f4f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51725742306/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-11-13 21.22.30"><img alt="2021-11-13 21.22.30" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51725742306_a3116851d6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>Despite the extra working days, I've still managed to get a bit of time in the woods, and used the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW4tz8F5Y3M" target="_blank">arbor trolley</a> to get some logs from last winter's coppicing down the hill and into the trailer:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51726617485/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-09-06 14.08.10"><img alt="2021-09-06 14.08.10" height="640" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51726617485_7e991110df_z.jpg" width="432" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51726389509/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-09-06 14.16.11"><img alt="2021-09-06 14.16.11" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51726389509_bc50d9d6c7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51724930087/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-09-06 14.39.21"><img alt="2021-09-06 14.39.21" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51724930087_3db323c1f4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>There's been a bit of leisure time too, sitting by the fire in the woods and meeting up with friends.</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51726616275/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-11-20 10.46.10"><img alt="2021-11-20 10.46.10" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51726616275_326faf0233_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>And just last week I was pleased to be able to get some nice pics of these Coal Tits and Blue Tits arriving and departing the bird feeder:</div><div><br /></div>
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</div><div>I've also had the trail camera back up again, and there's a few interesting bird videos as a result, including a Buzzard, a Jay and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker:</div><div><br /></div>
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</div></div><div>That's all for now, we'll be back in the woods over Christmas so there should be some more photos to come after that...</div><div><br /></div><div>Mike</div>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-45299579736898841822021-07-30T08:54:00.003-07:002021-07-30T08:59:23.340-07:00Summer in the woods and DungenessIt's been a while since I last updated this blog, and there's been a lot going on - including me starting a new job part-time in addition to my existing work! But first, let's catch up on some photos from the woods over the past few months. Spring brought the usual display of flowers, such as these Wood Anemones, but a little later than some years as it was quite chilly.<div><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51346256265/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-04-04 13.35.25"><img alt="2021-04-04 13.35.25" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51346256265_f29818f1c1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51346256150/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-04-09 14.29.57"><img alt="2021-04-09 14.29.57" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51346256150_b6ee202b33_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />The wild apple tree near our camp in the woods had another good display of blossom - I look forward to seeing how many apples develop, not that I'll be eating any of them...</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51345982674/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-04-30 11.10.41"><img alt="2021-04-30 11.10.41" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51345982674_b7c6c863b4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />And of course the bluebells were looking as great as ever in May:</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51345994024/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-05-15 14.55.08"><img alt="2021-05-15 14.55.08" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51345994024_db5dbb068e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />Up at the top of the hill, where we coppiced last winter, things are growing back nicely. Here's some Ash and Sweet Chestnut:</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51345478563/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-06-20 16.10.31"><img alt="2021-06-20 16.10.31" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51345478563_9d616dc900_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51344528727/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-06-20 16.10.45"><img alt="2021-06-20 16.10.45" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51344528727_d14bfaab92_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />The whole area has greened up a lot, and the brash piles are slowly disappearing from view:</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51345478743/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-06-20 16.12.49"><img alt="2021-06-20 16.12.49" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51345478743_9bab1cf11e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />I did also get this great video of a Buzzard eating its prey (probably a pigeon), followed by a fox coming to sniff around after it had gone!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SXZr4jazB3s" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Only one camping trip so far this year, but we had great weather for it and plenty of time to sit round the fire.</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51345479623/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-07-16 21.24.49"><img alt="2021-07-16 21.24.49" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51345479623_6917f668bb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />The big news is I've got a part-time job for 6 months as a Ranger at Dungeness National Nature Reserve. I'm doing this alongside my existing work at Ashden, so I've suddenly become rather busy, and the preceding couple of months were busy too as I tried to 'clear the decks' of any jobs that needed doing at home and in the woods. Dungeness is certainly a nice place to be in the summer!</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51345482253/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-07-12 09.22.51"><img alt="2021-07-12 09.22.51" height="480" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51345482253_9fa1d0ef5b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />I get a truck do drive around:</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51346272205/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-07-12 10.27.05"><img alt="2021-07-12 10.27.05" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51346272205_e6fa965770_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />And it's not just about the sea and the shingle, there's also the 'long pits' which you only get to see if you venture away from the usual tourist attractions near the main car park:</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51344532757/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-07-11 14.04.26"><img alt="2021-07-11 14.04.26" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51344532757_40447165c0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />One other thing I did manage to squeeze in before starting the Ranger work was a day at the <a href="https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/" target="_blank">Hands of Hope</a> site in Hawkhurst, where there's a kind of community garden and also a woodland - my friend Rich and I went and volunteered for a day to help fell some dangerous trees.</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51346273530/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-06-18 16.06.40"><img alt="2021-06-18 16.06.40" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51346273530_7548a84498_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />Finally, closer to home, there was a strange object on the beach at Rye Harbour....</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51345486998/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-06-26 13.53.09"><img alt="2021-06-26 13.53.09" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51345486998_bebef94996_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />It's actually an art installation called <a href="https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/the-beacon-at-rye-harbour-nature-reserve" target="_blank">The Beacon</a>, by Joseph Williams, intended to draw attention to the fragility of the area and the growing impacts of climate change. It's a bit odd to look at, but quite amazing once you're inside it:</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51346003774/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-06-26 13.54.00"><img alt="2021-06-26 13.54.00" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51346003774_d865476484_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51344536847/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-06-26 13.54.10"><img alt="2021-06-26 13.54.10" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51344536847_d4a7298282_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />It's actually modelled on the Yellow Horned Poppy, which grows in the area:</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51345488133/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-06-26 14.02.30"><img alt="2021-06-26 14.02.30" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51345488133_135c2598c9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />Also at Rye Harbour, we recently visited a bird hide at Castle Water, which we'd not been to before. It really has some excellent views:</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51345257231/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-07-28 12.25.58"><img alt="2021-07-28 12.25.58" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51345257231_8810098a49_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />I got a number of nice photos of Cormorants there:</div><div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51346007549/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_0025"><img alt="DSC_0025" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51346007549_cb96a18ddc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51344541452/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_0027"><img alt="DSC_0027" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51344541452_1b63d2af32_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />Did you know Cormarants nest in trees? They look a bit big to do that, but they really do:</div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51344540207/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_0016"><img alt="DSC_0016" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51344540207_a9eb6a53f0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />And finally, a nice little family of Greylag Geese on one of the other lakes in the reserve:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51346008569/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_0008"><img alt="DSC_0008" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51346008569_7c86818a04_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />That's all for now :-)</div><div><br /></div><div>Mike</div>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-47076001412589900702021-03-28T08:20:00.003-07:002021-03-28T08:20:39.674-07:00Coppicing, snow and mushroomsFebruary brought a week of cold weather, giving us the first proper snow in the woods for a few years:<div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<div><br /></div>With temperatures staying below zero for several days, the ground was rock hard and we took advantage of this to get a few loads of logs processed for customers and ourselves:</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>Here's how cold it was - an icicle formed on the corner of the trailer, from road spray!</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>It's nice to see the log store at home beginning to fill up again, ready for next winter.</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>Alongside the snow we had some murky days in the woods, but the coppicing is now completed!</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>We were saved some work at the end because our neighbour wanted us not to coppice some border trees in order to retain a screen for privacy, so they paid a tree surgeon to pollard them instead:</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>We were left with a pile of logs for firewood, and that was all we had to deal with! </div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51058648228/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-02-19 12.35.38"><img alt="2021-02-19 12.35.38" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51058648228_c811f37bbb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div>On the final day coppicing I had a small stem do a 'barber chair' - this is why you don't lean round the back of a tree while felling it, even a small tree like this can give you a bit of smack, and a larger one can kill.</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51059370236/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-02-14 11.37.35"><img alt="2021-02-14 11.37.35" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51059370236_59762f24a5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div>By mid-March, Snowdrops were emerging at the top of the hill:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51058647903/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-02-21 10.46.26"><img alt="2021-02-21 10.46.26" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51058647903_ab2ea0ac0d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51059367241/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-02-21 10.46.34"><img alt="2021-02-21 10.46.34" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51059367241_aac0b62cb2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div>And the Bluebells were steadily growing, we're looking forward to them flowering!</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51058649678/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-03-19 10.15.24"><img alt="2021-03-19 10.15.24" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51058649678_1e28665e21_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>The Wood Anemones were also starting to come out at this point, here's one of the first ones I spotted. There's more now, photos to follow in my next post...</div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51059456367/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-03-19 10.16.05"><img alt="2021-03-19 10.16.05" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51059456367_c317d630bf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>We did have a bit of time to relax with a hot drink too, but a fire was certainly necessary as it's been quite chilly most days!</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51059369791/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-03-06 12.55.06"><img alt="2021-03-06 12.55.06" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51059369791_b104406d2b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>A different project I was working on was mushroom production. Here's some sections of oak branches soaking for 24 hours - interesting to note that green oak doesn't float!</div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51058650333/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-03-11 08.31.25"><img alt="2021-03-11 08.31.25" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51058650333_e19f924043_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>The logs were them drilled and mushroom spores inserted, with a plug of wax melted in on top of them. The logs are now down at the Community Garden in Rye, and we might start getting a harvest towards the end of the year...</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51059369496/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-03-12 16.03.39"><img alt="2021-03-12 16.03.39" height="434" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51059369496_b713786ba2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div>The mushroom logs came off an oak tree our friend Rich had felled. Here's a short video of him using his Land Rover to haul the butt of the tree into place for later sawmilling:</div><div><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yl11NiVu3Lw" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
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<div><br /></div>And finally, back at home our cockatiel Pete is keeping a careful eye on the outside world. Probably a good idea, the way things are at the moment!</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/51059471777/in/dateposted-public/" title="2021-03-15 17.20.05"><img alt="2021-03-15 17.20.05" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51059471777_c837de07e4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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</div><div>Mike</div>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-2939138600541709742021-02-06T07:29:00.004-08:002021-02-19T06:55:52.570-08:00Starting 2021 in the woods2021 has been fairly wet so far around here, but we did get some sunny days and made the most of them in the woods.<div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50914886556/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-17 10.57.53"><img alt="2021-01-17 10.57.53" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50914886556_f4eb7a1dcc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>Although Spring is some way off, especially with a snowy week about to hit our part of the UK, the plants in the woods know that change is coming. Dog's Mercury is getting going:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50914199943/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-22 11.25.23"><img alt="2021-01-22 11.25.23" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50914199943_8ee6f2587b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>Lords and Ladies plants are pushing up leaves that are gradually unfurling:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50914888501/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-22 11.25.01"><img alt="2021-01-22 11.25.01" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50914888501_f43a0f1ac5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>And the Bluebells are poking out of the ground again:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50915015107/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-22 11.27.03"><img alt="2021-01-22 11.27.03" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50915015107_c73d2ca246_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>While we've been coppicing we've saved quite a few chunks of wood like this to pass on to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DengatesFarmStall/" target="_blank">Dengate's Farm Shop</a>, where David is drying them and then turning them into beautiful wooden bowls.</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50914199603/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="DSC_1257"><img alt="DSC_1257" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50914199603_8d443e8b32_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>Here's David with a bowl made from some Ash we passed on to him a few months ago:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50914203243/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="DSC_1259"><img alt="DSC_1259" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50914203243_56c36f8006_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>We have of course been coppicing too - we went back to the top of the hill to fell a few small trees we'd left earlier, which needed a rope to stop them falling into the yard next door:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50915010762/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="DSC_1250"><img alt="DSC_1250" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50915010762_2f03d9568f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>And yes, I ended up working in a water-filled ditch again...</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50914199103/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="DSC_1251"><img alt="DSC_1251" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50914199103_b2c325b487_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>Further down the hill, here's a few views of how things look now, we're not far from the end of this winter's work:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50914887136/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-10 15.12.32"><img alt="2021-01-10 15.12.32" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50914887136_b4b6630e4f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50915013082/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-10 15.13.58"><img alt="2021-01-10 15.13.58" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50915013082_1aea666851_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50915013712/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-22 09.09.41"><img alt="2021-01-22 09.09.41" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50915013712_223f0e14c0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>Just beyond the point where we'll be stopping this year's cutting are a couple of trees that we didn't fell last time round, and they've grown on nicely. First is an Ash:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50914202018/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-22 11.20.23"><img alt="2021-01-22 11.20.23" height="640" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50914202018_4c7764e3be_z.jpg" width="360" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50914888211/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-22 11.22.59"><img alt="2021-01-22 11.22.59" height="640" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50914888211_2782eef95a_z.jpg" width="360" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>And then a Sweet Chestnut:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50915013982/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-22 11.21.50"><img alt="2021-01-22 11.21.50" height="640" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50915013982_e367968161_z.jpg" width="360" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50915012602/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2021-01-22 11.22.14"><img alt="2021-01-22 11.22.14" height="640" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50915012602_a6b35c02fa_z.jpg" width="360" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div><div>Both are taller than the surrounding coppice now, and I hope to leave them to grow into large trees. Here's the Chestnut just over 10 years ago, when it was looking much more slender:</div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/5293774375/" title="DSC_5999"><img alt="DSC_5999" height="429" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5170/5293774375_9377e26ce2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div>And finally, a friend was asking how to make stakes using a chainsaw, so I made this short video to show how it's done:</div><div><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ThByTYoyarY" width="560"></iframe>
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</div><div>That's all for now!</div><div><br /></div><div>Mike</div>
Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-7564742366715747132021-01-03T07:55:00.008-08:002021-02-19T06:56:56.847-08:00Final days of 2020 in the woodsDecember 2020 brought colder and murkier weather, but it was still good to get up to the woods, especially as pretty much everything else around is closed as we're in Tier 4 restrictions here due to the (mis)management of the pandemic.<div><br /></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50795321886/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-07 09.10.41"><img alt="2020-12-07 09.10.41" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50795321886_7e2836acc2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>The weather did also allow for some atmospheric photos. I tried processing this one two different ways in Lightroom:</div><div><br /></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50794572858/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-07 10.26.53"><img alt="2020-12-07 10.26.53" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50794572858_e7eb34756b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50794572693/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-07 10.26.53-2"><img alt="2020-12-07 10.26.53-2" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50794572693_b5014af7d6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>You may remember in <a href="http://peplers.blogspot.com/2020/12/felling-hornbeam-and-dusting-of-snow.html" target="_blank">my last post</a> I talked about the Hornbeam we'd been felling. Well, I'd not got round to splitting it, so that occupied quite a bit of my time in December. It's a tough wood to split, especially in long lengths, so I tend to use a chainsaw to put a slot in one end and then drive steel wedges in with a sledgehammer:</div><div><br /></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50795442627/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-14 12.54.55"><img alt="2020-12-14 12.54.55" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50795442627_2c09c97ccc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50795321396/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-14 10.21.29"><img alt="2020-12-14 10.21.29" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50795321396_99a94d13e6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>As well as the coppicing, we've also done a few firewood loads for customers:</div><div><br /></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50795320956/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-19 11.59.01"><img alt="2020-12-19 11.59.01" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50795320956_9a62ced141_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>We spent Christmas Day in the woods - not just because we were in Tier 4, it would have been our first choice anyway! Fortunately we had a nice sunny day:</div><div><br /></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50795441582/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-25 12.28.35"><img alt="2020-12-25 12.28.35" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50795441582_be7e870915_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>It was of course chilly, but a fire dealt with that</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50794571543/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-25 11.37.55"><img alt="2020-12-25 11.37.55" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50794571543_a3403f6b9b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>and we cooked dinner using the rocket stove made by <a href="https://youtu.be/47LykZkkOus" target="_blank">Greenway Grameen</a> in India.</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50794571373/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-25 12.08.25"><img alt="2020-12-25 12.08.25" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50794571373_a95b9e57ce_z.jpg" width="431" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>We got straight back to work after Christmas, felling the final stem of a large Holly tree that was overhanging a neighbour's barn. I'm pleased to report that our battery electric chainsaw, a Husqvarna 540iXP, had no problems dealing with it:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50794571798/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-24 11.43.07"><img alt="2020-12-24 11.43.07" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50794571798_60c1f90bd2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>We had one more larger tree that was also near the barn, a Sweet Chestnut, and as with all the others we used the Tirfor winch to safely fell it, as shown in this video:</div><div><br /></div>
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q3tHv120c7M" width="560"></iframe>
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<div><br /></div><div>Before long we had it in pieces, some of which will be used to make outdoor furniture for the Community Garden in Rye.</div><div><br /></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>There's still more to do, and we've both spent time staring up at trees wondering where to start!</div><div><br /></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>Once some more coppice is cut, these Holly trees on the border with a neighbour's garden will need to come down, as behind them is a larger Sycamore that will have to be felled. That's a few weeks away yet though...</div><div><br /></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50794570888/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-30 14.07.03"><img alt="2020-12-30 14.07.03" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50794570888_391e3b73ee_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>Finally, on New Year's Eve I went to work in a friend's woodland nearby, and we had a great day for it!</div><div><br /></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50795306576/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-12-31 10.14.53"><img alt="2020-12-31 10.14.53" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50795306576_a95155b6a3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>The main job was dismantling some windblown coppice stools, and a bit of winching too.</div><div><br /></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>That brought the 'interesting' year of 2020 to an end. More coppicing and other woodland activity to come in 2021, and hopefully better news on the pandemic front...</div><div><br /></div><div>Mike</div>
Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-1427631693846199312020-12-05T05:28:00.003-08:002021-02-19T06:57:38.046-08:00Felling Hornbeam and a Dusting of SnowIt's getting a bit colder here now, and there was actually a dusting of snow in the woods when I was there yesterday:<div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<div><br /></div>Of course, this is nothing compared to <a href="http://peplers.blogspot.com/2010/12/even-more-snow-in-woods.html" target="_blank">what was there 10 years ago</a>! And it's also a far cry from the jungle we faced here back in September:<br />
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The main job during November was felling this row of Hornbeam, which included multiple stems on a couple of stools - presumably a seriously overgrown hedge from many years ago. They border a garden, and we were wary that they might fall the wrong way in a storm, so we felt it was best to coppice them. Maybe we'll get a nice hedge here in future...</div><div><br /></div><div>We used the Tirfor winch on most of them, which you can see here, attached as far up the tree as I could get it using a ladder:</div><div><br />
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Here's a view from the other end of the steel rope, courtesy of my friend Ben, who was helping that day. As you can see, we had the rope running through a pully to offset the winch a bit.</div><div><br />
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Trees like this always take up much more space on the ground than you'd think they would, but at least Hornbeam is easier to clear up than Holly!</div><div><br />
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Over the course of a couple of days we progressed along the row, with help from Kitty and Dominic as well as Ben, until we reached the final stem. This was one of the taller ones, and also leaned in the wrong direction and over a neighbour's garage!</div><div><br />
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So, the winch was of course used again, and this time with a pulley attached to the tree to increase the effective power of the winch:</div><div><br />
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After a bit of work with the chainsaw and the winch it was safely down, with no damage to the fence behind it:</div><div><br />
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Although much of the Hornbeam will be used for firewood (and it is really good firewood!), the butts of a couple of the stems have gone to Dengate's Farm Still, as David Dengate is busy turning bowls, and after some seasoning that's what these lumps will be used for. The image below shows two sections split in half to reduce cracking while they dry. It also made it possible to move them, as they were far too heavy to lift on my own in once piece!</div><div><br />
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We still have three more big trees to come down (Holly, Sweet Chestnut and Sycamore) and some more coppice to cut, so there'll be more news to follow in due course....<div><br /></div><div>Mike</div>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0Rye TN31, UK50.949708 0.7372599999999999222.639474163821156 -34.41899 79.259941836178854 35.89351tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-39605010730270839732020-11-27T04:39:00.005-08:002021-02-19T06:58:40.587-08:00Start of coppicing 2020We took a year off from coppicing over the winter of 2019-20, as we'd cut so much wood the preceding two years, but this winter we're back in action again. And for the first time, we're cutting trees we've cut before! Back in 2009, we were working in exactly the same part of the woods; here's links to a couple of blog posts from <a href="http://peplers.blogspot.com/2009/10/more-coppicing.html" target="_blank">October</a> and <a href="http://peplers.blogspot.com/2009/12/last-day-coppicing-in-2009.html" target="_blank">December</a> that year. We're cutting here again because some of the trees we left back then that border a road or neighbouring property were getting quite large, so we felt it was time to take them down rather than risk them falling the wrong way during a storm. <div><br /></div><div>Almost the first thing to do was to fell an Ash tree, which had been relatively small in 2009 but had since grown to tangle with a telephone line. After using a pole saw to trim the branches around the wires, it was straightforward to fell with a rope to encourage it in the right direction. It was also the first decent-sized tree we felled with our new Husqvarna 540iXP battery chainsaw, and it did the job very well!</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50652523092/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-09-13 11.13.14"><img alt="2020-09-13 11.13.14" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50652523092_f8635eb327_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Rather than use it for firewood, the bottom five metres of the tree went to a friend at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DengatesFarmStall/" target="_blank">Dengates Farm</a> for turning into bowls, like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DengatesFarmStall/posts/3440291409393818" target="_blank">these</a>.</div><br />
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<div><br /></div><div>With the Ash tree down, we had space to build a rack to store logs in, and start felling some more trees.</div><br />
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<div><br /></div><div>We try to avoid having fires to burn up brash these days, but given the relatively confined space we were starting in, we had to have one fire near the start to create enough space for us to work. Leaving the brash in piles to rot rather than burning it reduces pollution, creates habitat for various creatures, and is also less work.</div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651691968/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-09-27 12.06.22"><img alt="2020-09-27 12.06.22" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651691968_51e6fc1a24_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>With the volume of brash in our way reduced, progress accelerated:</div><br />
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<div><br /></div>This view is looking back along the footpath towards the road, and to the left of the path in the distance is some Holly, which had grown a lot since 2009 and was leaning over the road and a power line - a potential recipe for problems in a storm....<br />
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<div><br /></div><div>So, we got to work with the winch and chainsaws, and now there's a gap where there hadn't been for a long time! It was a shame to take down a large Holly tree, as it was really good habitat, but the proximity to the road made it necessary, and it will regrow too - but we'll try to keep it at more of a shrub size in future, rather than letting it get large again.</div><br />
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<div><br /></div>It was the same story moving along the bank, where the wood borders a farmyard:<div><br />
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<div><br /></div>One bit there was a bit tricky, with stems so tangled that they could not be felled individually. So these three came down in one go, using the winch.<br />
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<div><br /></div>You can see the grey sling in the next photo, which held the stems together as they fell, and was also what the winch attached to:</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div><div>I did of course have to spend some time working in a water-filled ditch again, just like I did 11 years ago!</div><br />
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<div><br /></div>Here's a view looking back towards the road, the people who live opposite have commented on how they enjoy the light that's now coming in to their homes! Of course, the trees will grow back, but at least they'll get a few years of extra light.</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651703268/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-11-06 14.23.42"><img alt="2020-11-06 14.23.42" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651703268_8005214a1d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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<div><br /></div><div>You can see the effect of that light from further down the hill here, creating some atmospheric photos:</div><br />
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That's all for now, back with another update soon....
Mike</div>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0Rye TN31, UK50.949708 0.7372599999999999222.639474163821156 -34.41899 79.259941836178854 35.89351tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-54046836964765942852020-11-27T02:25:00.003-08:002021-02-19T07:00:15.952-08:00Spring and Summer 2020 in the WoodsWell, 2020 has been a very different year. To be honest I've not felt like writing a blog for most of it, in February and March because I was worrying about the coronavirus pandemic and why the UK government wasn't taking timely action, then in April and May because I was helping with <a href="https://www.ryemutualaid.org/" target="_blank">Rye Mutual Aid</a>, then after that because I've been feeling what some people call 'covid lethargy', where the big picture of the pandemic leaves you feeling that it's not really worth doing anything. And then in the past couple of months we've both been really busy with work and coppicing, but now I finally have a rainy day when I'm not at work, so I thought it was time to do a recap of the Spring and Summer of 2020 in the woods.<div><br /></div><div>Talking of rain, the year got off to a wet start, and in early March a blocked culvert under the road led to this flood in the woods on the access track. <br />
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<div><br /></div>A little before that, the Bluebells were sprouting nicely in mid-February, again quite early due to unseasonal warmth over the winter, presumably due to our changing climate.</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>Before they got round to flowering though, there were some other flowers to come out first, such as Primrose:<br />
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<div><br /></div>And the usual carpet of Wood Anemone:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651990277/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-04-04 14.27.05"><img alt="2020-04-04 14.27.05" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651990277_5a45c7a64d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>Then, by late April, there was an amazing carpet of Bluebells in the area we'd coppiced in 2017-18:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651154723/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-04-25 12.32.37"><img alt="2020-04-25 12.32.37" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651154723_29c8a2e475_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>The other thing that was doing well in late April was this wild apple tree. As we'd coppiced the trees to the south of it in 2018-19, it's had extra light for some time now, and it really showed in the volume of blossom on it:<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651992647/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-04-19 13.43.55"><img alt="2020-04-19 13.43.55" height="640" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651992647_e6b5c58d01_z.jpg" width="427" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651992467/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-04-19 13.44.05"><img alt="2020-04-19 13.44.05" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651992467_48bf5827b1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>As we moved into May, our friend Jim told us he'd spotted a Pheasant nesting in the woods, and we managed to sneak this photo of her. She's very well camouflaged though! We did later see a Raven attacking the nest to take the chicks, but I guess it had offspring that needed feeding too...</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651995162/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-05-15 11.10.06"><img alt="2020-05-15 11.10.06" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651995162_e598031f9b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>May does seem to be one of the greenest times in the woods, especially in an area that's coming into its second year of growth after coppicing:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651996582/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-05-15 14.23.13"><img alt="2020-05-15 14.23.13" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651996582_5d0c5ab6b0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>It's a similar picture over in Sweep Wood, with third-year coppice regrowth on the right here:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651996457/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-05-29 13.54.38"><img alt="2020-05-29 13.54.38" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651996457_32477a429c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>There were still plenty of foxgloves along the footpath there, and I was pleased to capture this image of a bumblebee leaving one of them, as it was taken with my phone rather than my DSLR!</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651910291/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-05-29 13.59.22"><img alt="2020-05-29 13.59.22" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651910291_c333bee4d8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div><div>We got some practical work done as we headed into summer, such as rebuilding the ends of this culvert, which had collapsed a bit. Given that we first built it <a href="http://peplers.blogspot.com/2008/01/culverts-scythes-and-wildlife.html" target="_blank">back in 2007</a>, I guess this isn't too bad! </div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651999647/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-05-18 14.43.34"><img alt="2020-05-18 14.43.34" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651999647_c00a93c109_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651999432/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-05-18 14.44.04"><img alt="2020-05-18 14.44.04" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651999432_ba5a6dd6ba_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div><div>The culvert takes quite a battering each winter, as it does tend to get clogged with all the debris that comes down the stream, leaving me having to unblock it:</div><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/89N-3-e3l_o" width="560"></iframe>
</div><div><br /></div>Summer also provided some woodland food, and our friend Rich brought some 'Chicken of the Woods' (Laetiporus), an edible fungus, for us to eat. It was really tasty! </div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651163708/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-05-31 15.22.55"><img alt="2020-05-31 15.22.55" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651163708_3f6b6e70f9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>The apple tree I mentioned earlier also produced a copious crop of apples, though these weren't any good for human consumption, other than for amusement by offering them to people who'd never tried them before!</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50652003637/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-06-28 13.09.42"><img alt="2020-06-28 13.09.42" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50652003637_764c55cb2f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>Back in Sweep Wood, the area we'd coppiced in 2017-18 was looking great in the summer, with a wild diversity of plant life, including thistles that were taller than I was!</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651170678/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-06-28 15.03.57"><img alt="2020-06-28 15.03.57" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651170678_2048a2b224_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>July was good month, part of the summer respite from the pandemic in the UK, and a long-planned camping trip actually went ahead. We made a few changes to keep it covid-safe, such as everyone having their own tent and there being plenty of hand-gel to use. As the virus mainly spreads indoors, a camping trip in the woods was probably the safest way for friends to meet up.</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651923216/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-07-17 15.38.29"><img alt="2020-07-17 15.38.29" height="401" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651923216_a7ac1af69c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>August brought swarms of dragonflies, so I spent a while with my DSLR capturing images of them in flight. I <i>think</i> this is an immature male Migrant Hawker, based on what I can see <a href="https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/species/migrant-hawker/" target="_blank">here</a>, but I'm not 100% sure.<br />
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<div><br /></div>I had another interaction with insects over the summer, when my friend Johnnie came to help move logs. Unknown to us, there was a wasp nest buried in one of the log piles, and as we removed logs some of them tumbled and the nest was torn in half! As a cloud of wasps exploded into the air, my first thought was that I was really sorry for the wasps, but this was quickly followed by "RUN!" We got away with just one sting each, and I managed to get a cover back over the two halves of the nest in case the wasps could keep using them for a while. The logs weren't moved until much later in the year...</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's pics of the two halves of the nest:</div><div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651173703/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-07-13 16.07.34"><img alt="2020-07-13 16.07.34" height="473" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651173703_5297bd5e1e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50651923296/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="2020-07-13 16.07.31"><img alt="2020-07-13 16.07.31" height="476" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50651923296_2a647e2b6f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div><div>And here's where the logs all ended up eventually, stacked up in an easy-to-access location so we can convert them to firewood as needed over the winter:</div><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/50652016087/in/dateposted-public/" target="_blank" title="DSC_1480"><img alt="DSC_1480" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50652016087_0498408ece_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
<div><br /></div>Finally, here's a few videos we recorded over the year. First, three wild boar on the trail camera:<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UezOx5_BHFM" width="560"></iframe></div>
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Then an owl, also on the trail camera. Do watch to the end (it's just 1 minute), and you'll see the owl fly away:<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/crB-6-QUMKA" width="560"></iframe></div>
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And lastly, a comparison of our new electric chainsaw (a Husqvarna 540iXP) with the old one (a 536LiXP). They both use the same batteries, but the new one is much faster and also more efficient, getting more work done on a single charge:<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/szeWyT-b2A4" width="560"></iframe></div>
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That's all for now, more to follow soon on the coppicing we're doing this autumn/winter.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mike</div><div><br /></div><div>
</span></div>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0Rye TN31, UK50.949708 0.7372599999999999223.845431038096482 -34.418989999999994 78.053984961903524 35.893509999999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-49246388284355004282020-01-18T09:37:00.004-08:002020-01-27T07:49:58.042-08:00Woodland 2020Seeing as we're into a new year, I figured I'd better get a blog post up! As usual, we've been really busy, so apologies for the lack of posts here. We've not coppiced this year, as the volume of wood we got from the last two years' work was sufficient to have a winter off - though I don't know where the time went!<br />
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The trail camera has been busy, here's a video of some wild boar:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/12ctUQqFTD0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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We were blessed to have lovely weather on Christmas Day, so as has become usual for us we cooked lunch up in the woods!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/49403976213/in/dateposted-public/" title="2019-12-25 11.57.44"><img alt="2019-12-25 11.57.44" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49403976213_3dbd156076_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/49404654457/in/dateposted-public/" title="2019-12-25 11.15.49"><img alt="2019-12-25 11.15.49" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49404654457_ccc3abdbb8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/49403976448/in/dateposted-public/" title="2019-12-25 11.43.35"><img alt="2019-12-25 11.43.35" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49403976448_61f7be9ac4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/49404454456/in/dateposted-public/" title="2019-12-14 16.46.36"><img alt="2019-12-14 16.46.36" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49404454456_36aaaf46bb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
Finally, I'll leave with an assortment of fungi from the autumn. I'm afraid I can't identify most of them, so you;ll just have to enjoy the amazing variety there is to see. I'm hoping to get some more blogging done this year, as my hours are reducing at work, so maybe see you soon!<br />
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Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-32601500339167365212019-09-23T12:33:00.000-07:002020-01-27T07:47:21.584-08:00Summer in the woodsIt's been a while since I wrote a blog, things have just been so hectic this summer... so now there's a lot to catch up on!<br />
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Let's start with the wildlife. We've had the trail camera set up deep in the woods, and I was delighted to find a Buzzard had landed in front of it (presumably just missed a squirrel or something?), and then took off!<br />
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Staying with birds, we'd left a nest box stored in our shelter, and some Great Tits decided to use it right where it was! When the youngsters fledged, one got stuck amongst the various things we have in there, but fortunately we were there at the time, and I rescued it to rejoin its family as they started moving around the woods:<br />
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We've also had a pretty tame mouse taking interest in food dropped around our fire pit, so we put some nuts out to see if it would pose for a photo:<br />
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This one is just weird - it's a Giant Horntail, several times the size of a normal wasp, but completely harmless - the dangerous-looking 'sting' is actually used to lay eggs inside pine trees. They'll struggle to find anywhere to lay though, they arrived on some Larch brought in for milling by a friend of ours in the wood next to ours.<br />
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A less pleasing bit of wildlife is the squirrels, whose numbers seem to have exceeded the food supply again, judging by the damage done to this Hornbeam and other trees:<br />
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<br />Away from the woods, there's been some lovely days down at the coast, here's a couple of scenic photos from Pett Level and Winchelsea Beach:<br />
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More alarming was a huge number of dead fish! But apparently this is normal - Mackerel literally chase the Whitebait out of the sea in a feeding frenzy...<br />
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Finally, here's a great demo by Dungeness Lifeboat, showing how they land the boat at high tide - basically ramming the shore at over 20 knots!<br />
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Mike<br />
</span>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-4258478417901472622019-05-26T10:42:00.001-07:002020-11-27T02:26:58.742-08:00Update from the woodsIt's been a while since I last found time to update this blog, as there's been a lot on. The sad bit is that one of our cockatiels, Tom, passed away - there's a memorial video of him <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JkYNC4pwT8" target="_blank">here</a>. We've also been involved in the Extinction Rebellion action on the climate emergency - I've livestreamed from some of the actions <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8esHC48hRiYRovrr82KmCFSWvCqvfYF7" target="_blank">here</a>. The coppicing was completed in early February - here's a video walk-through of the area:<br />
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Winter seemed to come and go, with things warming up enough for sap to flow from the stumps of coppiced Birch trees, and then cooling enough for that sap to freeze:<br />
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I spotted the first Bluebell open on 29 March:<br />
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About the same time as the Wood Anemones were in full bloom:<br />
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A month later, Bluebells had entirely replaced the Wood Anemones in that spot, which was where we'd coppiced just over a year ago:<br />
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Elsewhere in the woods the wild boar had been busy digging up grass to look for food:<br />
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and I tried taking some arty photos of woodland scenes:<br />
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Mike<br />Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-42363987812431817242019-01-02T12:54:00.001-08:002019-01-02T12:54:09.827-08:00Wild boar, rain and coppicingLet's start with the fun bit - a compilation of video clips of wild boar recorded on our Bushnell trail camera. Most animals ignore the camera, but one boar actually saw it, and rapidly changed direction!<br />
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Coppicing got off to a slow start this winter for various reasons, but we got a lot done over the past few weeks. Fortunately the rain we've had has been mostly overnight, though that did mean I had to unblock the culvert on arrival one day. Always satisfying to get that water moving again though!<br />
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Here's the area we've been coppicing before we started:<br />
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We've done 99% of the cutting using our new battery electric chainsaw, a Husqvarna 536LiXP. While slower than the petrol one, it doesn't produce toxic exhaust fumes right in front of your face, it's quieter, there's no starter cord to pull and it doesn't burn fossil fuels. It can cope with trees up to about 12", which covers a lot of what we're coppicing:<br />
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We've made reasonable progress now, the large stool in one of the photos above is down, and yielded some useful pieces of wood as well as firewood:<br />
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We've also got several stacks of wood ready to start seasoning now as well:<br />
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Meanwhile, in the wayleave over the hill from us, National Grid's contractor has come in with a large machine that's eaten everything:<br />
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Although this looks dramatic, it actually results in a really good habitat a few years later. They don't do it to the whole area in one year, so wildlife has some chance to get out of the way.<br />
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I'll leave you with a scenic woodland photo, hope you have a great 2019!<br />
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Mike<br />
</span>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-39143385576158071752018-10-07T03:55:00.001-07:002018-10-07T03:55:01.882-07:00Autumn arriving in the woodsWell, it's been a busy summer, and autumn has caught up with us all of a sudden, making me realise I haven't posted here for a while! So let's start with the kind of views that only come with that early-morning autumn mist:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/43338504610/in/dateposted-public/" title="2018-09-02 08.06.58"><img alt="2018-09-02 08.06.58" height="427" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1964/43338504610_d39d625422_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><span id="fullpost"><br />
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The leaves are beginning to turn on the trees now, and I took this photo about a week ago, so things have moved on since then:<br />
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Fungi have been sprouting up everywhere, such as these Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria):<br />
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But let's rewind a couple of months. The electric chainsaw (a Husqvarna 536Li XP) has been doing a great job over the summer, almost entirely charged from our solar panels at home:<br />
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At one of the shows I was running a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khv_0l5o6yg" target="_blank">Truncator</a> stall at, I cut up all these on just three battery charges:<br />
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So, the firewood store at home is now full, ready for winter - which *may* be a bit colder than average due to the 11-year solar cycle heading into a minimum and a possible El Nino.<br />
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Summer has also been a time for extracting wood that was cut in winter 2016/17, getting it out before the undergrowth gets too thick. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW4tz8F5Y3M" target="_blank">Stein Arbor Trolley</a> does a great job here, enabling us to move logs out from places where we couldn't get the car and trailer in to - one of the best bits of kit we've bought for the woods!<br />
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From the trolley the logs end up on the trailer:<br />
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And then eventually to a stack where they'll be accessible over the winter, no matter what the weather. It does mean double-handling the wood, and we try to minimise this by going straight from the arbor trolley into the Truncator and then home when possible, but experience has shown that if we don't get the left-over wood out into an accessible place while the weather is good, we regret it later...<br />
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We've also been collecting up some larger pieces of chestnut from the past couple of years' felling:<br />
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This is all being stacked near our camp area, and the plan is to use some of it to build a composting toilet in the near future:<br />
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Speaking of which, I've bought a fancy Veritas transfer scribe to help in building the toilet, it's used for marking up logs to make round wood joints. I need a bit of practice with it first though!<br />
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Also over the summer, a friend asked for a variety of sizes of 'mushroom stools', as a variation on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IwOig7sw6c" target="_blank">four-legged stools</a> that I normally make. These are now sitting in the 'forest school' area of a nursery.<br />
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I also felt it was time to make an improved table/workbench in our camp area, so put this together from an old split piece of chestnut. It's higher and a lot bigger than the older table (which you can see to the left), and I drilled holes for the legs this time, rather than using the chainsaw to bore them.<br />
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You get a decent width from a single log by using the two halves side-by-side:<br />
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The halves are held together by two dovetail joints underneath, made using the electric chainsaw:<br />
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Over in Sweep Wood, where we <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfsSgcoG62g" target="_blank">cut some coppice last winter</a>, the Alder has regrown at a phenomenal rate:<br />
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Alder seedlings are also springing up wherever there are gaps:<br />
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The Hazel, on the other hand, has been chewed by rabbits and is struggling... I think this is a good reason for me to have a hawk to eat the rabbits, but Tracy's not convinced yet...<br />
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First-year Foxgloves are also in evidence here, which bodes well for a nice display when they reach their second year and flower:<br />
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This whole area is usually wet, and the region leading into the culvert clearly retained enough moisture even over the dry summer we've had, as it's got a profusion of plants:<br />
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Finally, I wanted to come back to Autumn, with the Ivy coming into flower. While people sometimes don't like it growing on trees, it is actually very important for providing late flowers for insects, so it's good to leave it be if it's not causing an immediate hazard.<br />
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We're now getting into coppicing again, so my next update will show how the electric chainsaw is getting on for actual tree felling...<br />
<br />
Mike<br />
</span><br />
<br />
Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-57952935115646001242018-07-16T12:52:00.001-07:002018-07-17T01:52:57.512-07:00Fox cubs, flowers and insects - summer in the woodsA couple of weeks ago I was wandering down the wayleave, photographing butterflies and flowers, when something made me stop and go back a few steps to look along a path. I'm glad I did, as this was what I saw:<br />
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<br />
After this initial look of alarm, the first fox cub trotted along<br />
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and the second one followed, not really paying me much attention<br />
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I know we see urban foxes all over the place, but I don't see them in the woods so often, so it was nice to see these two young ones. Hopefully they will take their food in the woods, and not stray into nearby farms...<br />
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Despite the hot weather and at least a month without rain, the woodland is looking great, while everyone's lawns are turning brown. I guess that's the difference between a functioning ecosystem and a typical garden!<br />
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Most of the insects don't seem to mind the heat, here's a White Admiral and Meadow Brown butterfly, followed by what I'm going to call 'dragonflies' in the absence of any expertise identifying them!<br />
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The flowers are all looking good too, here's a selection of what's sprouting up along the wayleave:<br />
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The Sweet Chestnut trees are flowering too:<br />
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And Hazel nuts are growing, though the squirrels will get these before we do I expect:<br />
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Where we were coppicing last winter, the regrowth has got going:<br />
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The Alder is much quicker off the mark than the Sweet Chestnut though:<br />
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Next door to that coupe is one we cut two years earlier, which has some nice foxgloves now, some in their first year of growth:<br />
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and others in their second year and flowering:<br />
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Finally, I've got a new toy - a Husqvarna 536LiXP battery chainsaw!<br />
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It's been doing well so far, half a battery charge is enough to process this trailer of logs:<br />
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I'll do a proper review on the chainsaw when I've been using it for a while...<br />
<br />
Mike<br />
</span>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-48635011625376324102018-05-31T08:12:00.000-07:002018-05-31T08:12:38.874-07:00Spring in the woodsAs Spring shifts to Summer, here's a few pics from the last couple of months. Spring started cold, and when it did warm up, everything happened in a hurry - we had a great display of Bluebells:<br />
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We did of course have a good carpet of Wood Anemone first:<br />
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And shady patches started to appear as the trees overhead came into leaf:<br />
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The birds have been busy too, this nesting box we put up has been used:<br />
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And right next to it another bird built a nest, under the edge of the roof of our firewood store:<br />
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As well as the usual work of cutting logs ready for next winter, I also finally got round to winching out two nearly-dead coppice stumps that have always been in the way when turning the car and trailer round. It wasn't easy, but not a lot can resist a tirfor winch with a pulley and a mattock:<br />
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With the holes now filled, getting in and out will be a lot easier:<br />
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Now for a summer of camping trips! :-)<br />
<br />
Mike<br />
</span>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-81740494885035039492018-03-04T07:47:00.000-08:002018-03-04T07:47:29.173-08:00Springtime snow in the woodsThis was the scene in the woods a few days ago:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/38800928480/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_7736"><img alt="DSC_7736" height="427" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4696/38800928480_ed5442578b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><span id="fullpost"><br />
But bizarrely, just a week earlier, I'd taken photos of the signs of Spring emerging, such as leaves on this Elder:<br />
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Bluebells making good progress:<br />
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And Dog's Mercury growing well:<br />
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But the snow had come down, though not as thickly as in some parts of the UK.<br />
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I topped up the bird feeder for the small birds, and this pheasant was straight over to collect what I'd spilled...<br />
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Not much use to the treecreeper though, which went about its business looking for food in an oak tree:<br />
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Of course, not all the animals in wood get on together, I found a trail of blood in the snow too. Well, at least someone didn't go hungry...<br />
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<br />
The snow's melted now, so hopefully the progress towards Spring can resume shortly...<br />
<br />
Mike<br />
</span><br />
<br />
Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-67612599763836669102017-12-29T08:14:00.000-08:002017-12-29T08:14:49.428-08:00Birds, drones and Christmas in the woodsThe coppicing still isn't finished... there's only a day's work left to do, but I've been ill, so have had to take a break from the woodland work. I did still manage to get up there a bit for some less strenuous activities though, such as cooking a Christmas lunch for us and a friend:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/24506705577/in/dateposted-public/" title="2017-12-25 13.50.10"><img alt="2017-12-25 13.50.10" height="360" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4592/24506705577_cb5fa3c550_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/24506706487/in/dateposted-public/" title="2017-12-25 13.59.56"><img alt="2017-12-25 13.59.56" height="360" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4679/24506706487_219445d8c5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><span id="fullpost"><br />
We've changed the birds' food too - they seemed to be rejecting several types of seed that were in the mix we were using in the feeder, so we tried peanuts instead, which proved an immediate hit:<br />
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I also managed to get some shots of a buzzard coming to visit, though I doubt the peanuts would be of much interest...<br />
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Finally, we also had a different kind of aerial visitor:<br />
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This was a DJI drone, brought by Nate of <a href="http://www.buzzardfilms.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.buzzardfilms.co.uk</a>, who used it to carry out inspection surveys of some of our oak trees, to check branches for disease or damage that wouldn't be visible from the ground. Here's one of the videos:<br />
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</div><br />
Meanwhile, back at home, our cockatiels have been eating chilli peppers...<br />
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</div><br />
Hope you have a great 2018, see you in the New Year!<br />
<br />
Mike<br />
</span>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-95243054824352042017-12-17T06:15:00.000-08:002017-12-17T06:16:15.121-08:00Nearing the end of coppicing...With the colder weather and the lack of leaves on the trees, it's easier to get photos of birds in the woods, so here's a Marsh Tit and a Blue Tit:<br />
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The coppicing is proceeding well. Here's a photo from the end of day 1:<br />
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And here's a photo from the end of yesterday:<br />
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Don't worry if it looks a bit drastic, the trees will all grow back and while they're doing it there'll be a great habitat for the wildlife.<br />
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Here's a few other views of the area we've been coppicing this year:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/25242012808/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_7181"><img alt="DSC_7181" height="427" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4646/25242012808_62fa3b0ff2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
There's only about 20 stools left to coppice now, but they'll take longer than you'd think as there's a lot of hazel in there, and processing it is a slow job.<br />
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Still, we should have it done by the end of the year, fitting it around work and other commitments...<br />
<br />
Mike<br />
</span>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-27959191793025153392017-10-18T11:40:00.001-07:002017-10-18T11:40:32.322-07:00Fallow Buck in the WoodsI'm not sure who was most surprised at this meeting, the Fallow Buck or me... He didn't seem to see me at first, giving me time to get my phone out and take this video:<br />
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Meanwhile the area cleared by our coppicing is growing, as are the log stacks:<br />
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</div><br />
I've saved some straighter lengths of hazel and sweet chestnut for other uses - in fact, some of the hazel has already gone to a friend for making besom brooms:<br />
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I've also been making these pegs from branches in the hazel, for future use layering trees to fill in gaps in the coppice:<br />
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And finally, yes, we did get the weirdly coloured sun in the woods too, due to a mixture of Saharan dust and forest fires in Portugal. Very strange seeing a sunset-coloured sun in the middle of the day:<br />
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That's all for now...<br />
Mike<br />
</span>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-54920006212823716322017-10-07T04:32:00.000-07:002017-10-07T04:32:05.088-07:00Storm damage and the start of this season's coppicingWe've had some windy weather over the past week, and a branch fell from quite high in an oak tree, damaging another branch on the way down. Having removed the one that fell, the damaged one was still attached:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/36877664823/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_6942"><img alt="DSC_6942" height="427" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4507/36877664823_262ccd4d18_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><span id="fullpost"><br />
As I cut up the fallen one, it was obvious it hadn't been healthy, with the branch divided in two with a rotten bit in the middle. Hard to spot when it's high up a tree though...<br />
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The Tirfor winch got it down easily (there's a video of me using it on another branch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RkYoa4czsk" target="_blank">here</a>):<br />
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I found the oak was pretty easy to spilt using <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grk7E7yVIUU" target="_blank">the method I learned from Norwegian Wood</a>:<br />
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So before long I had a nice pile of wood stacked to season for future use:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/37547377221/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_6957"><img alt="DSC_6957" height="428" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4483/37547377221_1c3be1a1e1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
I left the knotty bits for wildlife use, though I expect Tracy's class will appreciate them for their dens as well!<br />
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This season's coppicing is also underway now, here's a couple of views, each with a photo from early on, and after a few days' work.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/36877663063/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_6934"><img alt="DSC_6934" height="427" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4511/36877663063_df65830ba1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/36877659633/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_6913"><img alt="DSC_6913" height="427" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4449/36877659633_a28bec0832_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/36877664003/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_6935"><img alt="DSC_6935" height="427" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4505/36877664003_ac0fe6464e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
One of the trees I've coppiced in this area is a Hornbeam, and I've cut it a short distance above the ground to see if I can get it to grow as a mini-pollard.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/37515835092/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_6931"><img alt="DSC_6931" height="452" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4499/37515835092_ab73e18294_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
My goal is that it might end up looking like this one, growing a short distance away:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/2221604020/in/photolist-9PAn1N-9PxwsZ-4ojiqQ-4ojiwy-8X5MEM-4ojitA-8X5PaV-n4xJqt-8fRQLg-8X8Q1Q-4ofeLF-8fV7j7-a2Po7u-8X8NUb" title="P1030274"><img alt="P1030274" height="480" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2194/2221604020_2a04d85d2d_z.jpg?zz=1" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
I've also been trying some layering, which basically creates a clone of a coppice stool to fill in gaps. You make a peg from a branch, like this: <br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/37288802600/in/dateposted-public/" title="2017-09-03 14.33.13"><img alt="2017-09-03 14.33.13" height="360" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4448/37288802600_6be5bb5996_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
Then bend a stem of the coppice stool over to touch the ground - you usually need to slice part way through it near the base to enable this. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/37288803720/in/dateposted-public/" title="2017-09-03 14.36.31"><img alt="2017-09-03 14.36.31" height="360" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4443/37288803720_deeabeca06_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
You then scrape off the bark where it's touching the ground, and hammer the peg in to hold it in place, with a bit of soil over the top:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/36877658763/in/dateposted-public/" title="2017-09-03 14.38.30"><img alt="2017-09-03 14.38.30" height="360" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4487/36877658763_18730bfb1a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
The idea is that it will develop roots, and after a couple of years can be severed from the original coppice stool. Time will tell if it works in this case...<br />
<br />
Mike<br />
</span>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845017013185018177.post-36785027898628236452017-07-09T00:21:00.002-07:002017-07-09T00:21:28.906-07:00Camping in the woods - zip line and a new way to open a wine bottleJune was a busy month for work at <a href="https://www.ashden.org/" target="_blank">Ashden</a>, but towards the end things calmed down, and I had several friends from the office come down for a weekend camping.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/34720776403/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_6768"><img alt="DSC_6768" height="427" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4206/34720776403_b06d5322c2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><span id="fullpost"><br />
We actually cooked dinner for 14 in the evening!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/34720773513/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_6756"><img alt="DSC_6756" height="427" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4205/34720773513_a0a278eb88_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
As well as lots of time spent cooking and eating, we also had a tour of the woods, as some had not visited before.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepepler/35143392770/in/dateposted-public/" title="DSC_6750"><img alt="DSC_6750" height="427" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4241/35143392770_596eb161a9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><br />
And we learned a new trick - how to open a bottle of wine using a tree and a shoe!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KNfPg749zCg" width="640"></iframe><br />
</div><br />
The other highlight of the trip was setting up a zip line in the woods, mostly using existing equipment I have for winching trees over:<br />
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</div><br />
Although there was an earlier version that didn't work so well!<br />
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</div><br />
Looking forward to some more camping trips over the summer, hopefully the weather will stay nice!<br />
<br />
Mike<br />
</span>Mike Peplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14243842323024552383noreply@blogger.com0