Bel's Wood

Every year feels like a big year at Bel’s Wood! Year 0 2020 - Find and Buy the land Year 1 2021 - Develop a plan to create a woodland Year 2 2022 - Prepare the land and apply for the woodland creation grant Year 3 2023 - Buy and plant the trees Year 4 2024 - Lay mulch mats and control bracken around the 4,294 saplings Year 5 2025 - Watch them grow! As spring arrives I am looking to see how well the trees that were planted last year have established themselves. I will have lost some just through the process of planting and others through the conditions last year. I was lucky with plenty of rain with no periods of drought but by September, the amount of rain we had had, was causing a problem. Those saplings that had not grown beyond the top off the tree guards were going mouldy! I took those guards off where I spotted this happening but some will have perished.  Some saplings were shaded out by the bracken despite the huge effort put in last year to get round them all in time ...

With so much tall grass and bracken triggering the cameras I have been placing them up trees recently to see what is happening in the canopy. I have picked up a good selection of secret goings on over the last month or two including some lovely Woodpecker, Jay and Owl activity. The downside of watching the activity in branches is the number of grey squirrels running up and down. It looks like the numbers are up this year and I am talking to neighbours about managing the numbers as the South Lakes grey population migrate north and threaten one of the last remaining populations of Red Squirrels. They will also pose a threat to the newly planted trees as they become more established as they will be vulnerable to damage to the bark. The ratio on the cameras is about 80% squirrel to 20% something else. Here I am including the ‘something else’.  NB the temperature reported on this camera has always been out by about 8ºc! One of the most common birds I see and hear at the wood is the blue...

The cameras have been picking up activity at the wood over the summer. This Tawny Owl has visited this pool created by a leaky dam over a number of weeks and I have some lovely footage of him drinking, washing and pooping. This Jay poses for the camera perfectly here showing off his amazing colouring and moustache:- I often see the sparrowhawk and always hear his threatening call. Here he is by the beck and below is a chick who looks a little less confident hopping around. I’ve slightly enhanced this photograph to show the detail - the camouflage on Sparrowhawks and the Tawny Owls is amazing and such a different approach to the blue coloured Jayl I have had this Mink visiting frequently. The pointy nose is an indicator that it is a Mink not an Otter. In previous years I have had both visit at the same time. I have one swift piece footage that may be Otter but so fleeting it is hard to be sure so I have not included it. I have this rather nice footage of a stoat slinking around the tree...

I’ve been working hard up at the wood since February - initially laying mulch mats and now deep into bracken management. I’m loving spending so much time up there but have not paid as much attention to the wildlife over the last months. I thought I would collate the footage from the cameras and try and capture the rhythm of the wood as I experience it though videos and stills. These were collected in May and June 2024. Despite the land having been farmed and used for rearing pheasants for regular shoots, there have always been some wild feeling areas that I treasure and I aim to expand them with more  trees and less open space engulfed with bracken and gorse. I have both cameras on the beck just now as it is always a good place to pick up wildlife. Young fox crossing the beck There are always badgers out and about in the evenings. I often hear them but rarely see them in the flesh. I have been hoping to see the otter again this year as he has visited in June the last two years. I t...