Bog Myrtle & Peat

Having recently mentioned hedges, I was inspired to revisit my first “hands-on” conservation project yesterday afternoon to assess its progress after thirteen years. Footloose and relatively unfocused after leaving school in 2003, I took a job as an underkeeper on a local estate. Finding my weekends more or less empty, I began to cut back a leggy old section… Continue reading

It was impossible to tell when the sound started. I might have been dreaming it for hours, but now I was suddenly awake beneath deep layers of down and wool – feathers and hair. The darkness was apocalyptic, backed only by the gentlest purr of rain on the window. And then he barked again; three seamless coughs. Hairs… Continue reading

Having previously mentioned a recent project to regenerate hazel coppices in a neglected and over-grown swathe of sycamore woodland, it’s worth a very brief update. We returned to the wood yesterday to clear another five big trees in an attempt to let sunlight down to the under storey, and the great dripping monsters came tumbling… Continue reading

It’s been interesting to see a large flock of oystercatchers developing on the rough ground below the house. The gang started as a handful of four or five, but there were more than thirty when I drove past this morning. They operate exclusively on a half-acre of heavily poached ground where the farmer fed his herd… Continue reading

It is hard to ignore a shadow of progress. Tits now sing in the dripping woods, and woodpeckers have started to drum in the stillness. There are already lambs in the greenest and most absurd lowland fields, and their white tails are replicated in custard yellow on the hazel twigs. There is an almost audible growl of industry beneath the fallen leaves… Continue reading

Worth mentioning a brutally sharp and skin-ripping session cutting the new hedgerow I planted in 2013. Now with four growing seasons under its belt, the hedge has exceeded all expectations in terms of producing shelter and food for wildlife, and I have been really encouraged by the growth of experimental species like guelder rose and… Continue reading

Perhaps I (and this blog) am becoming a little preoccupied with agriculture. The original purpose of this project when it was first launched in 2010 was to improve the conservation value of a dilapidated hill farm, and I’ve followed all kinds of threads since then. This latest swing towards farming is in response to my… Continue reading

One of my first projects on the Chayne was to fell an acre of mighty spruce trees which had been planted in the 1940s to form a windbreak. As is often the way with spruces, these trees had grown into monsters, providing little shelter for livestock and simply shading out the undergrowth below into a rabbit-frayed carpet.… Continue reading

It has been interesting to observe the fall-out of Chris Packham’s recent attempt to introduce a moratorium (but really a ban) on shooting waders. Many shooting friends consider this the next major battleground for fieldsports, and it has generated some intriguing PR and research materials from shooting organisations. Looking at comments from the general public, it… Continue reading

It was exciting to see good numbers of greenshank while flighting wigeon on Wednesday morning. These beautiful waders are much more often heard than seen, and finding several mixed in with a larger gang of redshank made me wonder how many times I have seen them without actually knowing it. In flight they were very distinctive –… Continue reading