Bel's Wood

In March 2021 I picked up a tantalising piece of footage of a mustelid. Opinion was split as to whether this was an otter, American mink or a polecat.  Mink and otter have been seen on the River Gilpin which my beck flows into. I did find some spraint which wasn't fresh enough to smell. Mink spraint smells unpleasant while otter spraint smells of jasmine or violets!    Basically the video footage was too short to tell so I set about capturing more footage although I reluctantly concluded it was probably a mink. I say reluctantly as these animals have escaped from fur farms and are not native to the UK. They cause harm to the ecosystem. While otters are native and rare. They are a protected species and seeing one is always a delight. I set up 3 cameras on the beck with two on loan from a fellow woodlander Andy. I captured lots of interesting footage. Badger crossing and drinking from the beck Red deer and fox crossing the beck As well as roe deer, pheasant, wood pigeons, field mice

Last year we experienced a number of significant storms. Storm Arwen in November 2021 was the greatest in terms of a weather event but then we had a series of three storms in February 2022 - Eunice, Dudley and Francis. Storm Arwen and Storm Francis led to over a dozen trees in Bel's Wood tumbling to a horizontal position. As spring has arrived I have checked on their wellbeing and all but one of the deciduous trees have come into leaf and blossom. There is a holly tree which is hanging on but doesn't look healthy. I have gone over old photographs to see if I can show the trees before the storm, immediately after and now as they are in leaf.  This cherry looked dead when I first got to know the wood in January 2021 so had fellen over long before the recent storms. With that large white fungus working its magic, dissolving the lignin, I had thought it was dead wood slowly rotting into the land.    But as last year, it has produced leaves and flowers and continues to live; just ho