Bel's Wood

With the plan to plant a substantial number of trees it has been clear from the outset that a deer fence is essential. This smart new gate has been installed alongside the fence. Deer browse on trees & the newly planted saplings wouldn't last long if the deer continue to wander freely across the land. I captured this footage of a red deer browsing by the beck recently. More established trees can survive this but the smaller ones would not. This young rowan has been nibbled by deer in previous years and there is fresh evidence of damage this year. I took this footage in August and wondered if the fence would come soon enough. I checked the tree today and it still has some leaves and although it looks sickly, with protection from the deer fence it should continue to grow. Having a range of ages of trees on the site will really help avoid that feeling of just having rows of sticks in spirals for the first 5 years once the new woodland is planted. At this time of year the...

I have been moving the cameras each time I download footage to try and pick up different wildlife. I have tried to capture birds in trees a few times and have had some success although the shots tend to be short with birds moving very quickly and I only get a second or two footage. This footage is a different order over a 2 hour period this tawny owl arrives and successfully hunts and eats 2 mice. The camera is in a yew tree which provides a lovely flat platform. There is quite a bit of footage of a robin at 5.19am in the morning when light levels were still low under the tree. At 5.52am the tawny owl arrives and appears to be in hunting mode in this video and another one picked just 5 minutes later. At 6.15am the robin makes a brief appearance At 6.29am the tawny owl returns with a mouthful and sets about eating his prey. I am thinking it's a wood mouse but its ears are not visible! I have included all of the short videos as they show different aspects of the owl but they are...

I have enjoyed watching the deer throughout the year both live at the wood and through many videos and stills. I have put together this series of images captured over the year to show the difference between red and roe deer and to show something of their lifecycle. Red deer female March 2021 with juvenile from last year Their long faces and thick necks distinguish a red deer from roe deer. They also bigger but not seeing them together means this doesn't help as much as you might think when looking at photographs. In the flesh there is a difference with the red deer being noisier and they feel like a larger animal when running through the undergrowth. The red deer is the largest land mammal in the UK according to the British Deer Society https://bds.org.uk/information-advice/about-deer/deer-species/red-deer/   Mature female red deer at night   Standing in profile showing the shape makes for easy identification  Roe deer are slighter and they have a dist...

Having missed the slow unfold of Spring this year due to my fractured ankle, I have spent lots of time at Bel's Wood enjoying summer emerging. It has been windy but the storms have passed and there has been a good mix of rain and sunshine so that the beck has plenty of water. Flowers are out in abundance     Heath bedstraw Thistle with a white tailed bumblebee                                             The fox gloves are grand this year      Water forget-me-knot growing in a boggy area Buttercup       Dog rose.                           Water mint growing in the boggy areas          An abundance of honeysuckle with two different varieties Broom It's bracken time of year again and not having been up there as much as last...