Summer Activity - plant and animal
There has been a rapid change of scenery at the wood with the hawthorn and gorse giving way to blossom from broom, rowan and whitebeam and the foxgloves have sprung up and are giving a splash of colour everywhere.
I have been spending a lot of time up at the wood especially in the cool, light evenings. I was rewarded by coming close to this young badger finding a way under the fence.
The bracken is now over waist high and the beck is struggling to flow. We haven’t had rain for over 20 days now. Some of the trees planted in April are struggling and the forecast remains clear skies with warm days and cold nights for another week. I can’t helping feeling relieved that I didn’t do the major planting this year. The leaky dams have held some water higher up the site but I am not sure this will last; the air is dry with an easterly wind instead of our usual Atlantic damp westerly.
A lovely surprise is the number of saplings coming up. A friend spotted the first oak sapling then we started seeing them everywhere. I have put tree guards around about 20 in areas that will not be bracken bashed or designated for the major planting. Although some deer are coming through the fence it is nowhere near the level of previous years and from now onwards there will be natural regeneration each year. I have found mostly oaks with one rowan seedling, one birch and a couple of hazels.
I am ignoring the hawthorn and blackthorn as they don't need encouragement!
As the water level has dropped I have had some success of capturing some lovely wildlife footage on the beck. No otters this year but my first stoat and birds cooling themselves off.
Stoat
The foxgloves are wonderful this year. They have popped up where the gorse was removed and are going head to head with the bracken.
The plan is to cut the bracken in a week or two just as it reaches full height. I am losing my nerve and thinking instead go early as the plants are under stress with the lack of water so they may find getting the second shoots up harder. I’ll then cut again in August. I may even go for a third cut this year as I won’t be able to cut mechanically once the saplings are in. Amazingly I have no photographs showing the height of the bracken even though I am spending most of my time up there keeping the paths open!
I was delighted to spot 6 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterflies yesterday flying together in their mating pattern. I haven’t seen those before on my land. They are particular in their requirements from their habitat and like to overwinter in bracken and feed on violets. This is exactly the habitat on my land and the violets have been strong this year lasting from early spring into summer in the shaded damp areas. Although I trying to reduce the amount of bracken I have noted where the violets grow and am leaving bracken in these areas near the already established woodland areas with violets. They were all hanging out in a boggy area. They are a high priority for conservation and I am delighted to see them.
There is quite a bit of land preparation to do still. Moving some of the fallen trees and gorse trees that have been removed where these are sitting on prime planting sites. Friends have helped and I feel another working party coming on. The planting is now scheduled for November as soon as the trees are dormant so I am steadily working on this over the summer months.
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