Woodstock...

Hard to spot in the snow! 

Ok a bit of a stretch but wood stocks at Sherborne were low following the recent wintry spell of weather, so with me on tree tongs and Mike on the PALAX wood processor we set to for an all day assault on the wood piles. Good news was the sunny but windy weather,  slightly offset by muddy ground conditions. Wasn't expecting to see the wood processor but Mike had negotiated an extra weeks loan so was anxious to get the most out of it which by the end of the day served to revive the wood stocks at the expense of some sore muscles!

Choppy waters by Sherborne boat house

In the surprisingly good weather enjoyed a lunchtime stroll down the 'snow free' Sherborne brook. The usual inhabitants were all present with the addition of 2 male and 1 female tufted ducks. No the impressive cow in the picture wasn't spotted in Sherborne, my artistic licence, it is a resident at May Hill!

Liked this initiative, vote for nature, from RSPB, its the kind of action which would be even better if all nature related Trusts like NT, Wildlife trusts ....co-ordinated on. It was also interesting to note that the Government are not going to sell the public owned woodlands {18% of the 10% of woodlands in England} and accepts the vision and 'some' recommendations of the Independent panel on Forestry report on England forests. Short on details at this time so how this converts to resourced, prioritised plans is yet to be revealed.

A mishmash

Deep drift blocking path,  Leckhampton hill

Sub zero temperatures and plenty of snow over the past week put paid to any countryside work with the NT. However being a lover of snow from past skiing feats this motivated me everyday to get out into my local Leckhampton and Crickley hill countryside while the white stuff lasted. Although the snow in Cheltenham was a few inches, up in the hills it was considerably more and where it had drifted  as much as 8 feet! The most I have seen in over 30 years in Cheltenham.

Devils chimney, not far from hunting barn owl

 Away from the many youngsters and parents enjoying the sledging opportunities, plus the usual dog walkers, I managed to spot quite a few birds working hard to find food in fairly harsh conditions. The highlights for me were:
 A goldfinch so happy to have found something to eat in the snow it allowed me to approach really closely {sadly on this day I had broken my rule, leaving my camera at home},
A treecreeper and nuthatch on adjacent trees searching hard for insects, and lastly but not leastly,
A barn owl surprisingly on the hunt early {mid afternoon}.

Glad I was walking, gritters don't reach here

Also squeezed in a quick visit to the Sherborne water meadows before the snow disappeared. Good news was the water levels were down to manageable levels so only had the snow to contend with. This proved too much on one of the Barrington estate paths where the snow depth was knee level and even deeper in parts. However I managed to see quite a bit of wildlife although the raptors were mainly in the trees rather than the air. Still no short eared owls or hen harriers but I enjoyed sights of : 6 Red Kites, 3 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel, 1 Heron, 4 Cormorants, Lapwings and Fieldfares (plus lots smaller birds I have yet to ID). Add to this 1 magnificent male Hare (great condition and size) and a herd of fallow deer.

I was amused by an article in one of the Sunday papers where the Environment Secretary Owen Paterson was pleased to declare the start of  tough new controls on tree imports stating " I want to ensure we can quickly trace and destroy diseased ..". Bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted but the various contagious incurable fungal diseases like Chalara - dieback, Phytophthora (and no doubt other strains continue to add to the existing threats to our scarce woodland) from imports means these measure are still crucial although maybe a  bit too late!

Winter count 2013, the Dark Knight returns

The Bat team, Mike, Morris and Simon

New young pair swans, Sherborne Brook

 Sub zero temperatures but lots of 'treats' today, and over the past few days! This covers the Snowshill Manor Wassail last Saturday, an Orchard visiting Wassail with special guests the Happenstance Border Morris musicians and dancers. The weather was kind and the enjoyment factor for this traditional celebration high. Highlights featured 'toasting' the selected apple tree ( literally toast dipped in cider was hung from the tree by all who could reach) and  dancing by all to the unique Snowshill Wassail dance!

Another 'treat' was the delivery of the Dendrochronology report on the Oaks at Lodge Park which provided more details for the October visit. In summary it verified and more accurately measured the ages of the three oaks sampled at 290, 440 and 520 years. Additionally it showed a very slow girth growth rate during the 'formative'  phase but no reason given. Mike proposed this may be a due to a combination of the limestone soil and possibly a long dry spell in the 90 years of formative growth.

 Today joined by Morris (our Dark Night) with additional support by Simon we were to carry out a bat count for the Sherborne area. So with a light covering of snow and sub zero temperatures we headed for the main winter roost at the 'Bat Cave'. At the 'cave' entrance it was amazing to feel the heat from within which was a steady, barmy 9C. The lesser horseshoes inside favour the warmer temperatures and inside were  a very healthy population of 161. No greater horseshoes but its still early days and the April count  may reveal some along with more lessers. (2012 Feb count). We paid a quick visit to the other bat roosts in the village and a further 6 lesser horseshoes were found but also 1 brown long eared bat! Quite a relief for Mike our Ranger and Morris the Bat expert since the wet 2012 with less insects may have impacted the Bat population.  It still is a worry if we have a prolonged cold spell, so until the counts later on in the year show the Bat numbers are still healthy, fingers are crossed.

Spent an enjoyable lunchtime walking around Sherborne village and Brook. Was treated to views of nuthatch, coal/great/blue tits, green and gold finches by the bird feeders. At the Sherborne brook 2 pairs  of swans, one flying heron,  lots of ducks (mallard & widgeon) , and 1 red kite. Bumped into a couple of BT engineers who were both keen on sharing with me the recent invasion of waxwings in Cheltenham which I seem to be the only one living in Cheltenham who missed out on seeing this spectacle!

The afternoon saw us return to Snowbottom Belt for the next stage of thinning. Even with Simon it proved to be hard work again but satisfying and warm in spite of the freezing mist. As with last weeks thinning the trees needed rolling, levering, cutting, and occasionally prayer to get them to ground level. Mike even let me loose with the new tree lever to force a couple of the big beeches to cut through the overhead canopy to reach the ground. In no time darkness brought an end to the day with more cord  wood piles for Mike to gather up with tractor and trailer tomorrow.

What no snow?

Impressive and heavy Beech, start of thinning 2013 

Snowbottom Belt

What a contrasting week which began at Snowshill Manor with me on bonfire duty with temperatures at 12C and that's without including the heat from the bonfire which helped to melt my mars bar. So today in glorious sunshine, but temperatures down to 2C, Mike & I set off for some thinning in Snowbottom Belt  (derivation of this name unknown, but snow does seem to feature in a number of areas/places in the Cotswolds).  Before starting we had a quick tour through the Belt which also included the Rabbitground plantation with its Scots pine. Snowbottom Belt is one of the larger woodland areas at Sherborne and has a healthy variety of broadleaf including Beech, Ash, Elm and Hornbeam.  There's a lot of wood! which although well managed over the years was ready for some serious thinning. It just so happens that most of the trees selected for felling by Mike today were on the big side and included a number of 'dense' Beech. Good news for Mike since he got to use his new extra large tree lever but not so good for me since the wood piles were made up of heavier than normal cordwood. Still we both were kept suitably warm especially in the afternoon with more trees resisting a graceful fall to the ground & needing additional work with tree levers, wedges and cutting.  So although a hardworking day, its difficult to beat being in such a peaceful attractive woodland environment watching the deep red sun sinking below the horizon to end a very satisfying day, even in the absence of snow.

Can't  finish the blog without mentioning (re-iterating) a couple of things. First is if we are to preserve such woodland environments we can't forget there still appears to be no 'sustainable' common response to the threat the fungal diseases pose. Equally there is still no visible evidence of any impetus to renewed & resourced plans to combat pests like grey squirrels & deer which continue to significantly add to the overall threat to such woodland environments and their regeneration. Whether my views on this are actually fair is difficult to say but it would be interesting to survey those rangers and foresters, who are charged with facing these threats, as to whether they are receiving any practical advice and additional support {or changed priorities} to help them respond!

On a lighter note I hope to enjoy an old tradition at Snowshill Manor this saturday, which thanks to head gardener Linda  is celebrating a New Year Wassail!

Jericho? and the walls came tumbling down

Oops, imploded drystone wall

Welcome to 2013 with at least some respite from the wet stuff of 2012 thus far. Was looking forward to starting the new year with a bang but on arriving at Sherborne discovered a bit of a surprise at the estate offices. Unfortunately a large section of the 18 foot drystone wall had collapsed just before xmas fortunately injuring no-one but crushing one of the trailers. Coincidently a similar incident at Chastleton also occured, with age and excessive wet conditions not Joshua being the probable cause on both counts.

The days work was to be in the Nursery to make best use of the wood processing machine before its return to Ebworth next week. So with sleeves rolled up { temperatures pretty high for this time of year} we got stuck in, literally at times given the mud, and by the close of play the wood store was looking a lot healthier.

Quick visit to Sherborne brook at lunch revealed water levels still high something I also experienced down in the water meadows yesterday with the Windrush up at peak levels. Was treated to an impressive fly by of the resident swans who were investigating the brook above the weir.

Mandarin Duck Slimbridge,  not yet at Sherborne but...

Water meadows still 'saturated'!

Was intrigued over the festive break by a new Forestry Commission announcement? regards deer culling {large numbers} and the need to protect new saplings from them especially given the fungal diseases attacking our trees. Not sure I entirely understood this declaration given that good woodland management should be doing this as a matter of course regardless of the current situation. It seems there is evidence that deer will target healthier /disease resistant new plantings so its reasonable to re-emphasise/prioritise the use of woodland compartment management with deer fences etc.