A Hornets' Nest, False Death Cap and coppicing update

It's been a few weeks since I last posted, so there's quite a bit to say... First, here's a short video of a nest of European Hornets in our woodland. They're actually quite timid, and didn't bother me at all while I was making the video. I hear Asian Hornets are a different matter all together...

Also of interest is this mushroom - the False Death Cap (Amanita citrina), so named because of its similarity to the lethal Death Cap. It is allegedly edible, but given the risk of confusion with a killer, I don't think anyone actually eats it.

I was working along the edge of the area we're cutting today, so got my rope and pulley set-up out for the first time in a few years, to avoid trees falling over the fence into the wayleave. They're not big enough trees to need the winch, so the rope and pulley is a nice quick solution - I learned how to do all this on the Coppice Harvesting Efficiency Course some years ago...

Here's a sequence of photos taken from the same viewpoint at the end of each visit to the woods over the past few weeks. Sometimes part of the work done was out of shot, so not much change is visible, but I think you'll see we've made some progress...

That's all for now...

Mike

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Great Tits nesting in an iron pipe!

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

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

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

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

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

Mike

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Shrinking log pile...

Six weeks ago:

today:

No, we haven't actually burned all that in six weeks! Just moved it home...

While loading the trailer, I found that a bird had made a nest behind the logs last spring, possibly a Thrush or a Blackbird - not sure which, leave a comment if you know please!

Hopefully we'll have logs cut for next winter back in there before nesting time so that the site can be used again this Spring...

Mike

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Greater Spotted Woodpeckers feeding their chicks

Check out this video of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers feeding their chicks in our woodland! We had heard the woodpecker hollowing out a nest in this tree some weeks ago, but hadn't seen where it was. This weekend I was in the woods preparing logs for next winter, when I heard the chicks, from about 40m away as they were making so much noise as they were being fed! You'll be able to hear them in the video. Photos follow after the video...

Here's a woodpecker approaching the nest:

And here's one of them peeking out of the nest to check it's safe to leave:

Here's a close-up of the nest hole, taken with flash to illuminate some of the interior. It's on the underside of a branch and then turns a corner, so you can't see the chicks. Apparently woodpeckers normally drill sideways into a trunk and then downwards, but I guess this pair fancied a change!

Here's the logs I was processing for the woodburner ready for next winter:

I went home with a nice trailer load!

Mike

Click here to read the rest of this post.

The birds and the bees

Yes, literally. Let's start with the birds:

We saw this Great Tit hanging around a Cherry tree we'd left during last winter's coppicing:

It was only after taking the photo and zooming in we saw the caterpillar in its mouth, so then we waited to see where the nest was. It's amazing how small a space they appear to need:

Anyway, onto the bees. The foxgloves are now in flower, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to photograph the bees feeding there. The trick is to watch the bee go into a flower, and during the few seconds it spends in there you get into position and get focus lock, fully depressing the shutter release just as the bee appears. It works best with flash, even in full daylight:

though without flash you get a nice motion blur on the wings:

There's loads of other insect life around enjoying the warm weather, such as this damselfly

Not surprising really, when you see what a jungle the top of Sweep Wood has become. We might need to go along with a scythe soon and clear the path!

Lower down the hill, where we cut the coppice recently, the bluebells have now faded and are being replaced by goosegrass, or 'sticky grass' as I used to call it when I was younger:

Finally, here's a few photos from the bottom of Sweep Wood, showing it not long after we finished cutting, then when the bluebells were out, and then yesterday:

Mike

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Bird rescue

I walked into Rye at lunchtime, and on my way back found two fledgling starlings on the pavement, one pretty healthy and the other looking weak. A quick call to the RSPB got me some advice (apparently starlings, along with sparrows are now endangered due to cats and loss of habitat). I moved them underneath a bush not far from their nest (two floors up in a gutter) - they will hopefully have some shelter and avoid being seen easily by a cat, but are still close enough to the nest for their parents to feed them.

Hope they make it...

Mike

Click here to read the rest of this post.